How To Make The Most of Your Fast
As a church, we will be embarking on a three-day time of prayer and fasting.
To help make the most of this incredible opportunity, here are four very practical things to think through as you prepare to kick off the fast:
1. Put aside
For this particular fast we are calling the church to something that is often called The Daniel Fast, which is taken from the Old Testament account of the practice that Daniel employed while he was in exile in Babylon where he only ate fruit, vegetables and water. When we do this type of fast, it is a call to cut out all extra superfluous things from our diets (meat, eggs, dairy, drinks, snacks etc) as a sacrifice that allows us to fix our hearts on Jesus and not just the rumblings of our bellies and the desires of our flesh. Why don’t you make the decision to partake in this type of eating for the next 21 days? It’s physically good for you, and the power of spiritual breakthrough is always seen in joyful sacrifice.
Along with the dietary change, why not also make the decision to give up social media and series, or any extra hobbies and habits you may have as an additional sacrifice. This will have two benefits, one being the amount of spare time it will offer you, but also that it will silence the noise of the never-ending newsfeeds so that your heart can be freed up to seek Jesus more fully.
2. Press in
Fasting offers us a fresh opportunity to start new habits of reading the bible and praying. The best time to do this is first thing in the morning, as was Jesus’ habit (“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), before any of the “noise”, rush and distraction of the day kicks in. We have daily reading plans available on our Life Changers app to help you in this.
But it’s also a good idea to use the cravings that might kick in throughout the day as you fast as an almost built-in reminder that you are fasting food in order to feast on Jesus. So when this happens in your day, whether you are in traffic, at work, in the classroom or catching a bus, remind yourself that “man does not live on bread alone…” and lean into prayer, even if it’s just for a couple of minutes, as you make God the centre of every part of your day.
3. Partner
One of the most exciting things about this fast is that we are doing it together as a church family. One way we are making this possible is by having many different options throughout the week.
We encourage you to at least prioritize one of these prayer moments each week as they will help grow your prayer-muscle, pray for our church and our city, as well as an opportunity to encourage others in their prayer and fasting journey.
4. Push through!
Whatever you decide to do, commit to it! And it’s important to recognize that the enemy will come and try to discourage you, tempt you, and pull you away from the purpose of your fast. Although fasting is physical obedience, it also has profound spiritual ramifications. So stand your ground and understand that you are taking ground as you step out in faith.
If you do happen to stumble or fall short, don’t give up. Just turn to Jesus afresh for his grace and carry on. This is not a competition of your own strength and abilities, but rather an attitude of worship and dependence upon Jesus.
Want to learn more about why we fast as Christians? Read these 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/