18. Dear God, You have given us so many fine examples of Your people that have overcome all types of adversity and affliction by turning to You and calling on Your name. I call upon You in this battle of the bulge. I find myself so distracted by this war of the flesh. I turn to You and draw upon Your strength to teach and guide me to be victorious. I have turned this sin over to You. I have asked for forgiveness and now I desire obedience in this area. Having taking these steps we are told, the battle is now the Lord’s, praise Your name forever. I delight in seeing You go before me and clear the pathway of victory, in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen

Day 21 Scripture: James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Application: I believe that in yesterday’s devotion I let it all hang out about being a complainer about my diet and those who never have to. This is humbling when I am known instead as an one who encourages. Yet, this is exactly what Scripture commands us to do before we pray (!) so that our healing might take place. I need this body healed of the abuse and neglect I have punished it with for the past four years. And it is being restored to a normal healthy temple of God, but that nevertheless doesn’t diminish one’s need to confess their sins, past or current, to one another, that we might help one another to be healed of the same things. We are told that the righteous person’s prayers are powerful and effective. If I hide my sin God will not prosper me. If we are not succeeding in our quest to lose weight, could it be that we are being less than honest in confessing our sins to one another? So many times people say, “I am following my diet perfectly”, and yet they forgot to mention the little piece of cake they had, the taste to see if the dish they cooked was perfect, the quick handful or two of chips for energy, the couple of cookie bites offered to them by their child, and the fact that they don’t use a measuring cup to measure a 4 ounce serving because surely by now they would know this by sight. When we examine ourselves, others will not have to. The results, or lack of results are plain for all to see. We might call this a case of being honest, but when we are not, God calls it sin.

Prayer: Oh, Lord, I am so tempted to say, “So, I cheated a little today,” but Your Word and Your nature teach me to be truthful before You and others. I defeat my own weight loss efforts which is going against all the things I have prayed to You about in regards to helping me to lose weight. I am not only shorting myself, but blocking the answers to my prayers. Help, me Lord, to be without guile so that my prayers may be powerful and effective, in Jesus’ name. Amen

My Commitment Today:

17. Heavenly Father, thank You for causing me to persevere. The first few days were discouraging with my eating habits, but I do find Your strength each day as I call out to You and take the time to meditate on Your Word. I am taking my delight in You and it becomes easier to say, “No” and mean it. Thank You for delivering me from my self destructive patterns. Thank You for hearing me out and revealing to me what must be done to have victory over the flesh. Bless me, Father, that I might take the word of Your help and deliverance to others that need help and are weary as I was. I recall that through Christ that strengthens us, we can do all things. Thank You, Lord for strengthening me, in Jesus’ name. Amen

Day 20 Scripture: Phillipians 2: 14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation.

Application: We have all complained about our diets; the lack of choices, the things we must turn down, the restricted calories, the water we must drink and the exercise involved. One of my all time grumbling is about the vast amount of food my husband can eat and stay the same weight. I cook 3-4 servings for a meal for him, compared to my one serving. He also, literally, snacks right after eating a meal, and on throughout the evening as he sits and watches TV. He has got one fabulous metabolism and body to match it. I keep on telling him once he retires things will change, but they won’t. He has and always will be able to get away with a lifestyle that I can’t. Therefore, my complaints and arguing about grocery bills are pointless. He needs the extra fuel, I do not. My metabolism is normal, his is not. I hear so many say that they have a slow metabolism, but what is that in comparison too? Someone else’s or do you disagree with the one that God created especially for you? Complaining without having the remedy is worthless. I know what I have to do, and that is not sit down and eat and throw myself a big pity party. Neither can I do what others do, and likewise I have no right to complain to them or to God about the shape I got my body into. That fault lies within me, not others. We are here told to be blameless and pure without fault, and complaining or arguing is breaking the rule which God laid down for us to be His children. Yes, I still need a lot of help and growing in this area, but as long as I am working on my physical body appearance, I may start to work also on what I project myself to be to others when I mutter and grumble.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for it is often that complaints just pop out of my heart and mouth. I ask You to forgive me because when I complain or argue with others, it does not reflect Your loving nature. Forgive me for complaining about being on this diet for so long. Had I listened to you and my body’s stress signals I would not be here today trying to restore this tabernacle of Yours. Grant me grace to learn to quit my complaining, for it does not glorify You or make me appear as a child of the Most High. Amen

My Commitment Today:

Day 19 Scripture: Romans 8:37 In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Application: If Scripture promises that we are MORE than conquerors through Christ, why do we view ourselves as failures oftentimes? The fault is not in Christ Jesus who loves us, but in ourselves who fail to see the special attributes about us that Christ does indeed love. Even with this body, you ask? Yes, even in this body for Scripture tells us “God does not look at the outward appearance as man does, but He looks at the inward person–the heart.” You have heard of a heart healthy diet haven’t you? Well that is the true diet we need to begin with before we start losing weight. The hymn words are pertinent here, Just as I am, without a plea, the Lamb of God, who died for me.” Christ did not go to the cross putting restriction and constraints on His love and acceptance of you. He accepts us this very day, just as we are, yes, even in the body we have grown to detest. We are taught to love others as we love ourselves, but the fault may lie in that we love others, BUT not our own self. Turn to the Lord today and let it be your honest plea to Him to help you love yourself, just as He loves you this very moment. It may be so hard for you to do, but remember, in Christ Jesus we are more than conquerors.

Prayer: Lord, I didn’t realize until this moment that I don’t need enemies lining up to criticize me, for I am already first in line in that area. Forgive me when I do not regard myself with the endearment that you feel for me. Help me to overcome the negative words in my vocabulary that I hurl at myself each day. Help me to be kindlier, gentler, and more forgiving to myself first so that I may be these things to others also. Amen

My Commitment Today:

16. Gracious God, I thank You for Your mercy, Your compassion, Your grace in working with me and through me. I do believe I was a prisoner but now am being set free from my bondage to food. I was a slave to food without realizing it. You are restoring to me a daily normal portion and I feel so good in not being a glutton. I ask for Your continued will to be accomplished in me. I pray that as I face temptation today, I will be more interested in being obedient to You and resist the pull of indulgance. I thank You, Lord that You have never given up on me. I thank You, Lord that Your love is stronger than anything I have ever experienced. Thank You for my freedom, in Jesus’ name. Amen

 Day 18 Scripture: Luke 12:45 But suppose the servant says to himself, `My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk.

Application: The master in this parable is Jesus. It regards His second coming, but as we look at this Scripture we reply it also to His answering our prayers to be healthy, lose weight and be fit again. It took some of us years to get into this condition, and even with our prayers involved it may take years to restore our bodies to the glorious self that God intends. And it is not done with a magic pill or wand, it is done with effort on our part. When the servant begins to beat the other servants, the parable is speaking of those we have charge and duty over in the family of God, but doesn’t that include the responsibility to one’s self first before we take charge over others? Have you beat yourself up lately because you have had a less than successful dieting day? It happens to all of us whether we are on a prolonged diet or a short duration. We beat ourselves up for getting in this condition, and then we beat ourselves up because we fear after a lapse or too that we are just not going to be able to do it. But are you looking for the Master as you are directed to? “He is not slow in His promises as some might think Him to be.” Allow Him to work WITH you on this effort. Don’t tell Him that His grace is not sufficient because it truly is. It has taken me a year to lose the 85 pounds of extra baggage that I had on my body, but even more importantly is the emotional baggage and poor eating habits that He removed from me. If you fail this very day, or tomorrow, do not begin to “eat, drink, or get drunk” because you are weary in waiting for Him. He is always present; you need to discern Him. Don’t give up and don’t give in. That is from Satan, not our Master.

Prayer: Lord, may I see You ever present in my life every day. May I see my poor habits change, may you take away my impatience, and Lord, protect me from myself when I needlessly beat myself up. Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, so that I may stand in the congregation of the righteous and praise Your name. Amen

My Commitment Today:

15. Heavenly Father, it is so good to be in Your Presence each and every day. I am seeing myself cleansed from my food addiction sin. I still have good days and poor days, but the good days far outweigh the poor days. I am being strengthened in Christ and I am being delivered from bondage. I thank You, my Lord that You had a plan for me of escape through the merits of Jesus Christ. Make me aware of Your desires today and keep me accountable as I sit down to eat. By Your grace enable me to be self-controlled this day. Amen

Day 17 Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

Application: Being in this dieter support group was a new experience to me. The verse, The Lord be with you all” says it all. Not just me, but all. My victories were not mine alone; they were shared with others. My failures were not mine alone; they were shared with others. My prayers were not for me alone; they were for others. That is how to have peace at all times and in every way. Every way is to share His way with members of the body of Christ so that everyone may learn and benefit from one another. We are called to build up the body of Christ, one and another, not to tear down. And yet, when we feel like we can be a lone wolf and walk on our own and not share with others, we are tearing down the body of Christ and only building up ourselves. Want peace today? Go and encourage someone else that they are not fighting this weight battle on their own. Pray for them, give them the Scriptures that enlightened you, and give them your full attention for the day at hand. It might be that when you are serving others you will have less time on hand to be overly concerned with your own battle.

Prayer: Father God, I desire your peace and I seek it today by ministering to others in their needs. Help me to be selfless today. Help me to be Your gentle hands and sweet voice to those who are just starting this journey. Let me lift one who is ready to turn back to the wrong path. Allow me to serve as Christ Jesus did. Amen

My Commitment Today:

14. Lord God, today I lift my voice to you and praise Your wonderful name for delivering me from my food addiciton. Since I have begun my prayer journey crying out to You and praising You I have been helped. You alone have strengthened me and delivered my faulty mind that so worshipped food each day. Now I worship You. And when the temptations do come, I turn to You and once again cry out for Your mercy, strength and grace to surround me. Blessed be the name of our God who sets captives free. Amen

Day 16 Scripture: 2 Peter 3: 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Application: “The scale is not budging. What’s the use? I knew I couldn’t do this.” Scale too slow for you or are you accusing God for being slow in His promise to rescue and deliver you? Perhaps He is waiting for you to come to repentance. Have you ever been so mad at the scale that you went and pigged out all day on some of your old time favorite stand-bye’s? We are told not to tempt God, but isn’t that what we are doing when we give up for even a day? We are telling Him that He can’t deliver what He has promised to do. I watched helplessly for four years as the rate of 20 pound gain a year piled on. I was helpless because I didn’t ask God what to do and to help me. I was looking at myself again as usual forgetting the fact that God didn’t have to act on my behalf until I repented. He was patient with me for 4 years as I trotted along my own path. Can’t you be patient for the year or so it might take to lose the weight? The Lord is not slow; it appears I am slow in catching on to His promises. Thank Him this day for His patience and ask Him to let you have the fruit of patience in your life, rather than instant gratification.

Prayer: Lord God, thank You for Your patience. Much is to be learned through the way you deal with us. May we learn from our Savior who patiently awaited the cross, so like Him we may triumphantly say, “It is finished.” Amen

My Commitment Today:

13. You alone are worthy of praise, O Lord. My food addiction was too much for me to end. Day after day I watched as my weight betrayed me. Then I sought You and I found relief. You are helping me to pull away from overeating as I feast on Your Word each day. Thank You for filling me with the Bread of Life. Thank You for rescuing me from the pit I had dug. Thank You for the self-control I now have. I pray that today will continue to honor You. I pray for Your divine grace to be upon me, in Jesus’ name. Amen

 Day 15 Scripture: Luke 12: 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.

Application: When I first began to diet I worried about the amount of food I could have for that day. Fifteen hundred calories broken down into three meals and a snack didn’t sound to me like it would stretch throughout the day to keep me satisfied. I worried about how long I would be able to keep the pace up, what favorite foods I would have to give up, what I would do about cravings, the battle in my head was endless. But that’s the point; the battle is in the head, not the heart or soul. And we all know that through Christ we are more than conquerors. I learned to leave go of the crutch of food and lean on the grace of the Lord. I wasn’t hungry before, only anxious. Leave your worries at the foot of the cross. Believe me, someday you will wonder how you could obsess and worry so much about food and drink. Trust me, someday you will laugh at your old habits, because that is what they will be–old. Behold, He makes all things new!

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the faith in Your Son Jesus, that we can and will leave go of any undue concern in life for the things that perish. Renew, this day, our commitment to be more like Him, and less like us. Amen

My Commitment Today:

12. O God, my refuge, I am finding what power You have in helping me to be free from my addiciton of overeating.  I delight in coming into Your Presence for my satisfaction instead of food. I am discovering that there is freedon when we lean on You and cry out to You for our help. You are granting me focus and fortitude. The days are not as trying as when I began my sincere prayer journey with You. You are allowing me to experience normalcy in my eating patterns. I am full of hope and gratitude. I see myself as a set free prisoner from my bondage. May it please You to grant me another day of freedom this very day, in Jesus’ name. Amen

Day 14 Scripture: Phillipians 4: 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Application: I would love to have not only my heart and mind guarded by Christ Jesus, but also my stomach. Why do I put some of the things into it that I do? You’ve heard the saying, You must be a glutton for punishment.” In this case, am I just a glutton? What is the answer? The answer is the peace of God. When we receive His peace we no longer turn to the comforts of the world; they will not suffice. They will no longer satisfy. They are truly not peaceful. Has food been your comforter rather than the Lord? Every time you go to eat something, open the Bible randomly, if you like, and read a passage aloud. He just might want to talk to you before you indulge. His Word is powerful and He still speaks clearly to us through it. When I did the studies on Proverbs for 31 days each, everyday there was a Scripture given that pertained to my weight struggles. How did I miss these passages while I was piling on the weight? The truth is, I wasn’t interested in hearing about it. For us, as Christians, our physical appearance reflects our spiritual walk. As witnesses for Christ, let us put on the full armor of God, and let Him guard our hearts, minds, and yes, appetites.

Prayer: Father, the old hymn words comes to mind, “I was blind, but now I see”. Thank You for removing my blinders of what I was doing to myself, and how poorly I reflected Your image. Strengthen my resolve and keep my heart and mind on Christ Jesus. Amen

My Commitment Today:

11. Father God, as I have committed both body and spirit to You in my journey to be free from gluttony, a wonder has occured. My temptations have lessened. My days of shame and remourse from participating in my sin has ceased. I am being made a new creature in Christ Jesus, and I thank You.  Lest I should begin to boast of my own willpower, I declare before heaven and earth that You have been my Savior. If it were not that You were on my side, I could not begin to participate in this new freedom. Keep me this day, from sin and temptation and may my joy come from my walk with You in obedience in whatsoever I do this day. Amen
Day 13 Scripture: 2 Timothy 1: For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Application: “I’d like to think You can help me, Lord, but I’ve been overweight all my life.” That’s a spirit of timidity, and a poor excuse as to why God can’t help you. He gives to us the right as heirs to come to the throne of grace boldly with our requests. Try this one on size instead: “Lord God, I come to You and ask that which I cannot do by my own willpower. You have promised Your power, which is vast and limitless. You have promised love instead of the anger and hate I feel for myself and others as I drown myself in food. You have promised self-discipline, and that is what I seek. The discipline to escape from the bondage of food addiction and this form of self punishment toward myself in food overindulgence. It no longer satisfies, Lord, so satisfy me with the bounty of Your grace to forgive even myself as I learn the why to what drove me to food instead. Thank You for the deliverance and freedom that I am about to receive.” If you meant it, you will even have the secret desires of your heart—freedom from the past! Today is now a new day.

Prayer: Lord God, sometimes only You can get away with the truth You speak into my life. Even when I wouldn’t admit to a problem with food, Your radiant light kept on penetrating the darkness within me and revealed that like cancer festering unbeknownst to me, I had a root of bitterness within me, even if it was directed at who I am, rather than who I want to be that caused me to satisfy myself in a hostile way toward my physical body. Restore me to health, O Lord and do not hold my past mistakes against me. Grant me healing, and I shall be healed, in Jesus’ name. Amen

My Commitment Today:

Day 12 Scripture: Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Application: There you have it. “I’m starving Lord, I can’t resist. This diet is killing me. I’m hungry all the time” You’ve heard of the campaign, “What Would Jesus Do(WWJD)?” Time for a dieter’s campaign, “What would Jesus say?” He would say, “Why do you seek for yourself the things that perish? Feast your eyes instead upon Me, the true Bread of Life. I will fulfill all your needs. Come, drink from My living waters and you will never thirst again. I will satisfy and fill you full to overflowing.Come, eat My body which was broken for you. You will never hunger or want again.” If we allow food to become the more important focus in life, we will always hunger for that which perishes. Diverting your gaze to Jesus gets your mind off of the flesh and its never ending appetite. Looking to Jesus who gives the true Bread that sustains you will satisfy for more than a passing moment. Have you ever considered how much eating we do because we are bored, not starving? Maybe your spirit is restless and you need a touch from Jesus, not the comfort of a double cheese pizza. Stop and think in eternal values. What will fill your soul ,which may be starving to death, unawares to you? Jesus will! Before you reach for a quick fix, reach for Jesus who promises an eternal solution to all your needs and wants. Spend a moment asking Him to reveal to you what is really going on in your life right now, and go ahead, ask Him if you are spending enough time basking in His Presence, listening to the sweetness and the wisdom of His Words. You won’t be surprised, will you, when you hear, “What would Jesus say?”

Prayer: Lord, I ask Your forgiveness that I turn to food daily, sometimes more than thrice, and yet, I am too busy to stop and talk to You for a moment some days. Lord, the fault lies in me, and not Your attention and devotion to me. Forgive me Lord, for I have sinned once more. Amen

My Commitment Today: