Fasting with National Prayer Weekly

We would like to invite you to join National Prayer Weekly in fasting on Wednesday mornings. The Bible encourages us to fast and pray throughout the scriptures. We would like to encourage you to devote Wednesday mornings to a mindset of cultivating intimacy with our heavenly Father. When we fast together as a godly community, we are weaving together a beautiful tapestry of prayers and petitions of God’s people. We’re standing as a unified force to declare the mighty name of Jesus over our families, our communities, and our nation.

Denying food isn’t just about avoiding the goodness of nutrition and drink, it is about allowing a spiritual tool to shape us from the inside out which gives us the opportunity to dig deeper in our relationship with God. We have the privilege of relating to the prophets of old and with our Savior who regularly practiced fasting and encouraged us to do the same.

When we deny feeding our physical desires while fasting, we are reminded of the importance of our feeding spiritual being. Fasting allows us to focus on what really matters-our relationship with God.

So what do I do if I want to implement fasting into my life?

1. Pray! Ask the Lord to reveal how fasting can become an integral part of your prayer life.

2. Commit! Make a decision and commit to making it happen. Make sure you are aware of your own health issues and what your personal limitations are. Seek medical guidance before making any changes that may impact your current health regimen.

3. Do! Prepare yourself for success. Whatever fast you have decided to implement, make sure you are ready and have the necessary tools at hand. For example, if you are doing a liquid fast, make sure you have some broth and fruit juice available. Decide ahead of time, you are going to keep track of your liquid intake and stock up on what helps you succeed. I put lemon in my water and drink a sparking water in a nice glass with a slice of lemon or mint. Make what you are doing part of a new ritual of sacrifice. No matter what we do in life, it takes time so allow yourself to develop new habits that recenter your thoughts on your spiritual well-being. Instead of premade broth, boil and strain vegetables to mix things up a bit, adding some special herbs.

   Don’t let your normal routine trip you up. If you have to, put a post-it note where you go first thing in the morning as a reminder “Today is a fasting day!” It is so easy to unintentionally derail ourselves just out of habit and forgetfulness.

4. Don’t Limit God! We have a tendency to decide to make sacrifices that cost us something, but not too much. We limit ourselves and what we ask of ourselves to make things easier. Well, I have dinner with friends of Friday so that won’t work. I work out in the evenings, so I don’t want to be weak or hungry. I can eliminate one food and that will be a sacrifice. Why not ask more of ourselves? Why not really let it impact us so it is on our minds? Why not let our bodies make demands on us so we can turn those thoughts towards Jesus? I want to enter into the throne room with complete reliance on the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I want to bring my first fruits, the best of the herd, the spotless lamb before my Savior and lay it all down in complete submission and honor to Him. O’ Lord, let it cost me something so I can walk knowing You are first, You are in control, and You are enough!

5. Repeat! One you have successfully completed a fast, start to make it a habit and carve out times in your normal routine to implement another and then another. The Lord wants to be in heart-felt, raw, honest, praise and worship relationship with each one of us. He wants to walk with us through our struggles and be the One we cry out to in the midst of our pain. I want to go deeper and experience all the Lord has to offer and I truly believe fasting is an integral part of seeking hard after Him.

May we humble ourselves and posture our hearts to receive victory in Christ Jesus!