Twice a year as a church we set aside a few consecutive days to seek Jesus together in sustained times of prayer and fasting. This October, with our nation in such a volatile state, we feel compelled once again as a family, to corporately call on God, but the way we will outwork this time will be slightly different.
Yes, we will be praying and yes, we will still be gathering together as a community to trust God for big things, but instead of denying ourselves of food for three days, we will be feasting together. We still very much believe that fasting as individuals and together in a corporate expression is a vital part of a believer’s life, but we have a conviction that this change for this specific season is going to do deep things in, and through us, as we pray.
4 reasons why we are feasting:
- Feasting reminds us of the lavish nature of God
We know that what we believe about God will determine how we live, and way too often our human nature likes to portray God as distant, mean and tight-fisted. This couldn’t be further from the truth as the bible tells a completely different story. Our heavenly Father is lavishly generous from the first page of Genesis right to the very end, and his generosity is best shown when we see that He so loved the world that he GAVE his very best (his only son Jesus) to us when we were not just undeserving, but when we saw Him as our enemy.
We feast and pray to remember that He is not holding out on us but that He has already given us “everything we need for life and godliness” (2.Peter.1:3) and “every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians.1:3)
- Feasting reminds us of our access to God
As we feast we want to be reminded that we get to partake of His divine nature not as beggars or even as servants, but as sons and daughters who have been invited to the main table! Whether you are in a valley or on a mountain-top in your life at the moment, the seat at His banquet table is open and has your name on it! We don’t get there by any form of earning or works, and we don’t get the Father’s attention by the religious notion of beating our chests. No, we get God in fullness only because of Jesus, who has made the way open for us to come to the feast. Psalm.23:5 tells us that He “lays a table before us in the presence of our enemies” whilst Song of Songs.2:4 says “He brought me to the banqueting table, and his banner over me is love.”
- Feasting reminds us of the end of the story
Attacks on womanhood, corruption, race-baiting, confusion reigning in the area of sexuality and gender, a divisiveness that runs deep across the political world and many other fear-mongering headlines are all very real and demand our prayer. But the great news is that as we pray, we never pray from a position of fear or anxiety, because as believers we know that this whole story of humanity ends not in destruction but in glory!
The book of Revelations gives us a sneak-peak that it actually all culminates with Jesus coming back for His bride and celebrating the consummation of all things with the marriage supper of the lamb … A FEAST OF ALL FEASTS! (Revelation.19:6-9) So as we pray as a community this coming week and trust for break-through in our personal lives, families, and nation, we do so with faith and courage knowing that we are on the victorious side.
- Feasting reminds us to be like our generous Father
We are trusting that as we go to war in prayer and feasting as a community next week, our hearts will explode afresh with a revelation of the Father’s generosity towards us and as a response we would be moved to what outsiders would call crazy lives of generosity. Generous with our time, our emotion, our passions, our possessions, and our money. Especially towards those who we would naturally consider the lost, the last and the least in our eyes.
As you feast next week, get the courage to give something away to a neighbour, a friend, a church-member, a colleague, the church, a non-profit organisation. Reach across the aisle of what separates us and get the courage to eat your evening meals with people who are different to you in age, race, background. Generosity doesn’t have to be big but it must cost us something. It cost the Father everything to send Jesus, and our greatest call is to be like Him.
How will it all work practically:
Get ready for big moments of encountering our King and seeing His hand move on our behalf by joining us next week as we get stuck into praying and times of feasting together at these key moments:
PRAYER AND BRING AND SHARE MEAL – Monday, 7th to Wednesday 9th October, from 6:30pm-7:30pm at our Life Changers Table View facility, before we share dinner together from 7:30-8:00pm each evening.
BIBLE READING PLANS – There will be a specific bible reading plan and devotionals available on our Life Changers App for the entire week of the feast, starting early on the morning of Monday 7th October.
Download the app if you haven’t yet, and get stuck into the Word of God with us.