A short guide to prayer and fasting
“In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success” (Proverbs.3:6 TLB)
Here at Life Changers, we take time out at the beginning of each year to fast and pray together, and in that process declare that we are a people who seek God first.
At the onset of a new year we all have priorities looming large at the forefront of our minds: make it to pay day, stay true to new year’s resolutions to get fit and healthy, settle the kids into the new school term rhythm and even the seemingly simple resolve of keeping the boss happy. None of those are wicked aims, but the bible makes it crystal clear that as Christ-followers we are to have a priority and a pursuit over-shadowing all of the other ones.
As we pray, fast and put God first, together as individuals and as a community. Why don’t you allow this coming week to re-set your priorities and let putting God first become a new daily habit.
How do we make this part of our everyday life? We can learn from three things Jesus did:
“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)
REFUSE THE SNOOZE
Jesus got up very early in the morning to spend time with His heavenly Father.
- Set your alarm for 30 minutes earlier than your usual wake up time. (and refuse the snooze!)
- Get a cup of tea/coffee, your bible and your notepad and pen. Find a comfortable (but not put-you-back-to-sleep comfortable) chair.
- Before you read anything, close your eyes and ask the Holy Spirit to help you stay awake, keep you focused and most importantly to help you encounter Jesus as you read and pray.
GO SCRIPTURAL BEFORE YOU GO DIGITAL
Jesus had a particular undistracted place he would spend time alone with His heavenly Father.
In our world, the biggest distraction and robber of our focus is our cell-phones and the social media world crying out for our attention. Make it a personal deep seated conviction to make sure the first thing you do in the morning is not to reach for your phone to reply to messages or check the waiting notifications, but rather to spend time in the Word of God before anything else.
- Turn your phone on airplane mode once you’ve read the scripture and reading in the app
- Put some worship music on in the background to help keep your heart fixed on your task at hand
START TO PRAY
Jesus’ goal of getting up early and going to a certain place was to pray to His heavenly Father.
Prayer in short, is communion, connection and conversation with God. This is not about your spiritual pedigree or ability but rather an opportunity for you to speak to your heavenly Father and allow Him to speak to you.
- To help you, follow the prayer points in the reading plan for the week on the Life Changers app
- Pray through the Lord’s Prayer (how Jesus taught his disciples to pray) found in Matthew.6
- Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. He knows the will of the Father and He promises to make it known to us
Make putting God first a priority and He promises us that He will guide us and crown our efforts with success!
Want to learn more about why we fast as Christians? Read the short blogs here:
http://blog.lifechangers.org.za/2018/01/17/3-reasons-why-christians-should-fast/
http://blog.lifechangers.org.za/2018/08/22/fasting-what-it-means-and-why-we-do-it/
http://blog.lifechangers.org.za/2017/01/26/four-reasons-why-we-fast-as-christians/