Prayer and Fasting
It’s our hope that your prayer life becomes more natural, effective, and enjoyable.
What Is Fasting?
Fasting enables us to celebrate the goodness and mercy of God. It prepares our hearts for all the good things God desires to bring into our lives.
When deciding on a fast, we encourage you to seek God in prayer and follow what the Holy Spirit leads you to do.
Types of Fasts
Selective Fast
This type of fast involves removing certain elements from your diet. One example of a selective fast is the Daniel Fast, during which you remove meat, sweets, and bread from your diet and consume water and juice for fluids and fruits and vegetables for food.
Partial Fast
This fast is sometimes called the “Jewish Fast” and involves abstaining from eating any type of food in the morning and afternoon. This can either correlate to specific times of the day, such as 6:00 am to 3:00 pm, or from sunup to sundown.
Complete Fast
In this type of fast, you drink only liquids, typically water with light juices as an option.
Soul Fast
This fast is a great option if you do not have much experience fasting food, have health issues that prevent you from fasting food, or if you wish to refocus certain areas of your life that are out of balance.
For example, you might choose to stop using social media or watching television for the duration of the fast and then carefully bring that element back into your life in healthy doses at the conclusion of the fast.
Fasting Scriptural References:
* Matthew 6:16-18
* Matthew 9:14-15
* Luke 18:9-14
* Acts 27:33-37
* Nehemiah 9:1-3
Prayer
Since the beginning of the church, we have set our hearts to be a people of prayer. We want to seek God in every situation, whether good or bad, we try to pray before we act.
Many times people act first and then want God to bail them out of that situation, but prayer should be our first response, not our last resort.
Here are some ways to create a lifestyle of prayer:
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
Mark 1:35
Prayer is the most effective when it isn’t something we do every now and then, but when it’s a lifestyle we cultivate. To understand how to have a lifestyle of prayer, we can look at the example Jesus gave during His life on earth.
Have A Plan:
Jesus got up early in the morning to spend time with His Heavenly Father. Make a daily appointment with God - whether it’s first thing in the morning, at lunch, or in the evening - and faithfully keep it.
Have A Certain Time:
Jesus had a specific place He went to pray. Having a designated place to pray helps us remove distractions and frees us to worship and pray out loud.
Have a Certain Plan:
When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He gave them a prayer outline. We call it “The Lord’s Prayer.” As we pray every day, our plans for our prayer time can vary, maybe including worship music, Bible reading, and quiet time to listen to God. It doesn’t always have to look the same; it just helps when we have a plan for connecting regularly with God.
Prayer & Fasting Guide for Next Generation
Hey Parents!
We encourage you to include your child/teen during our church wide prayer and fasting. Prayer and fasting is an important spiritual discipline that helps us to draw closer to God and to grow in our faith.While young children may not fully understand the concept of fasting, they can still participate in prayer and learn about its importance.We believe it’s important to educate children on the importance of praying and fasting and give them an opportunity to participate. Follow along on our socials, Facebook & Instagram, and tag us to share your prayer and fasting journey.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:
“Fasting” by Jentezen Franklin
https://jentezenfranklin.org/products/fasting-book-12
“7 Steps to Prayer and Fasting” by Bill Bright
https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/fasting/7-steps-to-fasting.html