Have you ever taken a step back and thanked God for answering your prayers?

Today, I was talking to a friend and got a nice reminder of the faithfulness of God. See, when I took this picture, I was in a dark space with relationships with young men. I was crying out to God, and this friend, about why I couldn't have successful platonic relationships with the males in my life. Either they wanted to be with me, sleep with me, fulfill my dreams, or be my fantasy. Whatever they wanted, I was just looking for a friend.

So I went on a fast. (There was much more involved in this decision, but this was too a part of that fast). I fasted spiritually from men for 40 days. I didn't talk to my guy friends, the guy trying to pick me up at Wawa, the beautiful trainer that sparked my interest, no one. There were no dates, no late-night chats, no Saturday stroll throughs, just me asking God to show me how to navigate my relationships and find healing.

To be fair, I will have to do an entire blog post about the events that led to this foolishness, but I was entertaining way too many "candidates" and felt empty and worthless by their pursuits. Similarly, while fasting, I experienced some CRAZY experiences that almost made me quit.

But during this time, the Lord refined me. He changed my perspective. He showed me my flaws in the situationships and how I could navigate easier.

Nonetheless, I can say that the fast did not fall on deaf ears. I lost almost all of my guy friends during that time, whether due to distance, space, or time. I ended that fast with the belief that I would only ever have girlfriends forever (insert horror film scream). Fast forward. Two years later, God is so phenomenal! I have restored many of those friendships that I had found valuable. They are all 100% platonic. I don't feel like anyone wants anything from me. Now I'm having to adjust my perspective from skepticism to thankfulness. Almost everything I prayed for, the Lord has done (down to my best friend coming around more thanks to COVID). This is one of the greatest things in the world to me. Because if you know me, you know I don't get along with two many females all that well lol.

I say all of this to ask, do you all fast regularly? When you fast are you intentional? Have you asked God for what you desire? or for what you need? In your relationships, are you allowing him to be the one to tell you to cut off or keep?