So, if you read the last blog, you got to experience my church’s least favorite fast. How did it go?

I’ll tell you some of the benefits it’s had on my churches over the years.

1. Change in thoughts. When you participate in Sweet Lips, you have to truly think before you speak. As a result, people find themselves thinking differently. You think differently about people and also yourself. Sometimes you speak quickly or out of turn. You also may always find the negative in situations and speak that first. During Sweet Lips, you can’t do that. You absolutely have to be positive. Slowing down the ability to simply speak created the atmosphere to reprogram the mind for positive thinking.

2. Increase in tact. You realize that the things you say either don’t need to be said, or could be said better. You work harder to get your point across in a way that is not harmful. People notice this. Your communication style becomes seasoned and more compassionate because of the necessity to be positive. It doesn’t mean correction doesn’t happen, or you don’t tell people when they’ve harmed you. It means that you don’t speak out of spite or to harm. You’re not looking to get a reaction. You are truly trying to assert your point and make sure people understand your perspective. Removing the emotion from your speech truly does help.

3. Positive self-talk. In line with the thought process, you see how often you say bad things to yourself. Since Sweet Lips is comprehensive, you have to also change how you talk to yourself. We have a tendency to downplay who we are and tell ourselves negative things. We may nitpick our weight, the way we look, how smart we are, our debts, and all the things we’re not necessarily proud of. It makes us feel bad about who we are and where we are in the journey. We quickly learn through this fast that we have to speak life over ourselves and other and that there is true power in our words.

4. Increase in manifestation. Speaking positivity and life yields results! In all of the changes above, you start to tell yourself that you are strong, smart, powerful, successful, healthy, wealthy, etc. And you start moving like a person who is those things. You will look up and find that you have moved to the next level of your life! A lot of what hinders manifestation is lack of faith and the words you speak. If someone prophesies a business into your life, and all you ever say to yourself is that you don’t know how it will happen, or that you don’t have the skills, finances, resources, etc, you are holding up your own manifestation!

5. You are speaking to people with LOVE. They are speaking to you with LOVE. And suddenly you’re working together, accomplishing the missions God has sent your ministry for. My teams were coming up with ideas and executing them flawlessly. Each department was coming together to get events off the ground and spread the word about our ministry in the community. I was proud of the way everyone (including myself) had grown. And every time we do this fast, God reveals an area that we can work on.

Growth can be difficult, but it is always worth it. I thank God for revealing this fast to me, because in it, you also find the power of silence and meditation. Speaking constantly can sometimes make it hard to have patience and hear God. In Sweet Lips, I found new ways to commune with God and have experiences with Him that I may not have otherwise. Sweet Lips is a life-changing fast for my ministry. What has it done for you?