Win Every Food Battle Right Here
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(Continued from “Two Questions to Help You Win Your Food Battle“)
Asking “Why the food?” and “What’s the Feeling?” only got me so far.
Eventually, a new question arose:
“Where’s the freedom?”
Yeah, I know it’s awkward and could even sound accusatory.
But for me, it’s simply asking, “Where am I really going to find freedom? In food? In feelings? Or how about in faith?”
When a Food Battle Begins, Beat a Hasty RETREAT!
Asking this third WTF? — “Where’s the freedom?” — propels me out of the kitchen.
’cause the kitchen is enemy ground.
Not all the time, of course. The kitchen’s the right place to be when I’m reaching for food to resolve hunger and nourish my body.
But during a Food Battle — when I’m reaching for food to resolve feelings — staying in the kitchen is lingering in hostile territory.
I retreat, as fast as I can, to my Prayer Chair.
Where the Food Battle is Won
In my Prayer Chair, I process my messy feelings with Jesus, sitting with them and Him.
Literally.
The photo above shows my actual Prayer Chair. This is where I’m learning to go when I need to flee the kitchen.
Sometimes I open my Bible and read. Sometimes I pull out a devotional. Sometimes I journal. Sometimes I put on favorite praise music. Sometimes I just listen.
Often I ask, “How did I get here?” as a prayer, inviting the Holy Spirit to reveal
- what triggered the most recent Food Battle.
- what emotions I need to recognize and metabolize.
- what message I need to hear and take to heart from God.
I stay in my prayer chair until I’m okay.
I may still have the feelings, but the feelings no longer have me.
Right Here
I start every day in my Prayer Chair.
And it’s becoming more and more natural for me to ask, at the start of a Food Battle, “Why the food?” and “What’s the feeling?” and “Where’s the freedom?” and make a bee-line to my Prayer Chair.
But “Right here” goes far beyond a physical Prayer Chair.
Ultimately, we each need a Prayer Chair in our hearts.
When you’re at the grocery store and start hearing “Pick me! Pick me!” from every package along the cookie isle, you need to seek solace in God right then and there!
A physical Prayer Chair is a great tool when you have access to it. But what’s important isn’t the chair; it’s the habit of beating a hasty retreat to God the moment a Food Battle starts.
’cause the Food Battle — like every battle you face — belongs to the Lord. (1 Samuel 17:47)
(I’m already at 500 words, so be sure to read How to Prepare Your Prayer Chair!)
Your Turn
Do you have a “Prayer Chair”? Where is it and what’s it like?
I love this! What a great idea to retreat to a specific place, a prayer chair, to pray and regroup. I have a special chair in which I do my morning Bible study and prayer. Now I think I’ll be visiting it throughout the day when I’m hit with food cravings. Thanks for the good idea!
LOVE IT! Another great WTF question 🙂 Thanks for your insights. Miriam of http://cravingsconfidential.blogspot.com
Thank you so much for sharing! I do have a prayer chair, its in my bedroom close to my closet where I spend my “me” time. When I get overwhelmed or just need to feel more of God, I head to my corner and spend some much needed time with Him. I loved your acronyms! Thanks so much for sharing again!
Blessings and love, sweet sister!
Raelene Osborn – Group 30 OBS
My prayer chair is in the guest room at our house. That is my quiet place. Love “WTF” Why the food? What’s the feeling? Where’s the Freedom? Thank you Cheri!
Amen to the prayer chair and the great questions. Asking what am I feeling?Where (in what situation) have I felt this way before? And Where is the Freedom? Ah yes! I capitalized Freedom because Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Door and certainly the Freedom. I recently did a Strong’s search on ” bread”, “fill”, “eat” and”satisfy” and came up with so many stories where God fed and filled people from the garden of Eden; to Jacob after the ladder dream; and Joseph and all the then world during the famine; the manna and the land of milk and honey; Elijah after his 17 mile run in the rain; Ps 23 where Jehovah prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies (sounds to me like He is offering good choices even @ potluck instead of all the tempting refined carbs. 🙂 See Jesus and the 5000 andRevelation where we will eat with Jesus in His kingdom. God wants to fill us on His Word (Ps 19 It is so sweet!) He wants to fill our body temple the sane (Freudian slip, I meant same 🙂 way He filled Solomon’s temple with His glory and filled the disciples @ Pentecost. and
Heya Melinda — LOVE your Bible search on how God feeds and fills His people! What a great paradigm shift! And I love seeing Freedom with the capital “F”! 🙂
Awesome word Melinda!