Welcome
to the 40-Day Fast! As the congregations of Eastern Star Church,
New Beginnings Fellowship Church and New Horizons Church commit
ourselves for this time of fasting and prayer, we stand in anticipation
of God’s faithfulness throughout this 40-Day journey. We
also invite family, friends and ministry partners across the miles
to join with us during this time of sacrifice.
In Matthew 6, Jesus puts emphasis on giving,
praying and fasting. Every week
and sometimes every day we give, pray
and fast in our lives, churches and ministry,
however, fasting seems to have been neglected. I am hoping that
we will connect fasting with our giving and praying. Matthew
6:2,5,16
Jesus teaches us the importance of all three of these spiritual
disciplines by saying when you give…when you pray…when
you fast. All three are a part of Gods spiritual disciplines.
I hope that we would catch up with our practice of fasting
even as we have done well with giving and praying.
When we fast it blesses us spiritually, psychologically and physically.
Fasting will help us in being restored to God.
Jonah 3:5-10
Fasting is the abstaining from food for spiritual
reasons in order to help us to concentrate on God and the things
of God. When Christians fast it should always center on spiritual
purposes and a specified period of time. Daniel 1:12,
10:3, Matthew 4:2, Luke 4:2; Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:9, 18;
Ezra 10:6; Acts 9:9
As we approach our “40 days with God” by fasting
in order to focus on Him, the Bible teaches us that we must fast
along with giving and praying.
In addition, we must fast with the right attitude.
Let’s make sure we are not fasting to
be seen of others, to impress others or to show others how super-
spiritual we are. Let’s fast together,
along with giving and praying
to see the inerrant power of God in our lives, ministry and community.
James Henry in his book Biblical Fasting In The Local Church
says there are some specific points that may help us with our
corporate fast.
1) A collective fast should always be set
for a specific time and a specific purpose. (our time and purpose
is February 25 - April 5 to release the power of God in our
ministry and bring us closer to God).
2) The people involved should do everything possible to get
in agreement with one another. If that means forgiving someone
or asking forgiveness, them it should be done.
3) Those participating in the fast should
also remember to pray for one another during that time.
4) Participants should be encouraged to keep a journal to
help monitor their spiritual and natural progress, as well as
specific answers to prayer during or following fasts.
I am convinced that God will do some great things in our lives,
our church and world during and after our corporate fast
as a result of our sacrifice to Him. I hope that you will join
us and trust that with Christ you can do all things. I look forward
to hearing your testimonies as God honors our fasting.
We will do mostly fruits, vegetables, water and pure juices during
these 40 days with God. However, there will be days that we will
abstain from food all together, remember, this is a fast.
I look forward to a powerful move of God as we add fasting
to our giving and praying.
