Next week, from Monday to Wednesday, the eldership is calling all who call Life Changers ‘home’ to a FAST together!
These are amazing times of corporate faith and trusting our BIG GOD for BIG THINGS!
So, if you are a first-timer to fasting, don’t get intimidated. It doesn’t have to be super complicated and you can prepare well for a fast. Like every adventure, PREPARATION IS KEY! (I am sure I heard Bear Grylls say that somewhere!)
4 Areas to prepare for in a FAST:
- START WITH THE WHY
Yes, as always, we have to start with WHY.
Why don’t you check a previous blog post to help with this:
https://thelifechangersblog.wordpress.com/2017/01/26/four-reasons-why-we-fast-as-christians/
Make sure you know and believe the WHY for fasting. Be expectant for God to move and answer your prayers. A high expectation of the time makes staying away from those Flat White coffees and rusks much easier!
- PREPARE YOURSELF SPIRITUALLY
Come and hear, all of you who reverence the Lord, and I will tell you what he did for me: For I cried to him for help, with praises ready on my tongue. He would not have listened if I had not confessed my sins. But he listened! He heard my prayer! He paid attention to it!
Blessed be God who didn’t turn away when I was praying, and didn’t refuse me his kindness and love. (Psalm 66:16-20)
These were the words of the great King David. As we enter this fast I would urge you to examine your heart, repent and confess where needed. We worship an incredibly kind King, but he wants us to join him in the battle with sin. Although He enables and empowers us to do it, we do have a part to play. There is no time like in preparation for a fast to do it.
- PREPARE YOURSELF PHYSICALLY
I am the last guy who should be speaking on this. I love my “Last Supper” at 11pm (usually a Steers burger) before a fast but it is honestly the worst thing you can do to help prepare your body for a fast. Fasting is actually really good for you, but only if you do it well. Start cutting back on the sugar, the coffee, the extras and even meal sizes. This all helps in making fasting that much more manageable. It prepares your body for the days when those items will be missing in your diet.
Fasting is primarily a spiritual discipline that begins in the physical realm. Preparing yourself helps hugely.
- PLAN YOUR TIME
There is no point taking time out to fast, but leaving no time to spend in prayer and communicating with God. Get up a little earlier, find some quiet space, get away for lunch. Essentially, try and keep your diary as clear as possible. This enables you to focus and make the most of this opportunity.
I would also highly encourage that you do everything to try and make the CORPORATE PRAYER MEETINGS in the evenings. These are essential in us as a community finding the heart of God, petitioning as a body, and encouraging each other. Again, planning is key here.
And yes…even you mom and dad! Bring the kids along and you can shoot them home at 7pm for a decent bed time. Trust me, they won’t remember another evening at home watching TV but they will remember their parents calling on the Almighty God for amazing things.
As we enter into a new year with new opportunities and possibilities, make this most of this time. We have countless stories of God doing the miraculous like supernaturally providing employment, restoring marriages, and many other awesome things from times of fasting.
Let’s call on our GREAT GOD for GREATER THINGS!