Grace Blog
Tomorrow - A Day of Prayer and Fasting for Sumatra
As we approach the day of prayer and fasting, consider the following thoughts on the place of fasting for believers. Ask the Lord to enable us truly to repent of our sins and humble ourselves as a congregation before Him. Pray that He would revive us and restore His powerful presence among us as a church, and as a nation. Prepare this week to set aside this Wednesday for special prayer and fasting. Take time this week to review these notes. Look up the Scriptures cited. Plan to join in this effort on Wednesday.
What is Fasting?
*Fasting is a Christian’s voluntary abstinence from food and other legitimate enjoyments for spiritual purposes.
“To make the matter complete, we would add that fasting, if we conceive of it truly, must not only be confined to the question of food and drink; fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some spiritual purpose”
-D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
“Whenever men are to pray to God concerning any great matter, it would be expedient to appoint fasting along with prayer.”
-John Calvin
Fasting helps the believer to concentrate the mind and body on spiritual concerns so that fervent, extra-ordinary prayer might be given to those concerns.
Various kinds of fasts are mentioned in the Bible:
• A Normal Fast involves abstaining from all food, but not from water. (Mt. 4:2)
• A Partial Fast is a limitation of the diet but not abstention from all food. (Dan. 1:12; Mt. 3:4)
• An Absolute Fast is the avoidance of all food & liquid, even water. (Ezra 10:6; Esther 4:16; Acts 9:9).
• A Supernatural Fast which require God’s supernatural intervention into the bodily processes & are not repeatable apart from the lord’s specific calling & miraculous provision. (Deut. 9:9; 1 Kings 19:8)
• A Private Fast is the one referred to most often by Jesus, and should be done without calling attention to oneself. (Mt. 6:16-18)
• Congregational Fasts involve the church participating together. (Joel 2:15-16; Acts 13:2)
• A National Fast is a call to the nation to fast. (2 Chron. 20:3; Neh.9:1; Jonah 3:5-8) (The US Congress has called 3 national fasts, under John Adams, James Madison and Abraham Lincoln)
• There was one Regular Fast under the Old Covenant. (Lev. 16:29-21)
• Occasional Fasts which occur on special occasions as the need arises. (Mt. 9:15)
On Wednesday, we will be fasting as a congregation. Most will enter into this as a normal fast. Some will participate with an absolute fast. Others will engage in a partial fast. Your physical and medical health should be taken into consideration before fasting. Even those who for medical and health reasons should not abstain from food can abstain from other legitimate enjoyments such as, TV, internet browsing, recreation, entertainment, etc.
Fasting Should Be Done for a Purpose
• To Strengthen Prayer (Ezra 8:3)
• To Seek God’s Guidance (Judges 20-v. 26; Acts 14:23)
• To Express Grief (1 Sam. 31:13; 2 Sam. 1:11-12; 1 Jn. 1:9; 1 Sam. 20:34)
• To Seek Divine Deliverance/Protection (2 Chron. 20:3-4; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16)
• To Express Repentance and a Return to God (1 Sam. 7:6; Joel 2:12; Jonah 3:5-8)
• To Humble Oneself before God (Ps. 35:13)
• To Express Concern for the Word of God (Neh. 1:3-4; Dan. 9:3)
• To Overcome Temptation and Dedicate Oneself to God (Matt. 4:1-2)
• To Express Love and Devotion to God (Lk. 2:37; Zechariah 7:5)
We will be fasting to help focus our attention on the desperate need of the Gospel to break through on the island of Sumatra. Pray for the believers who are there. Pray for more workers to be sent. Pray for the Spirit to own the Word throughout that island to the salvation of many in this generation.
Labels: Cape Coral, Fasting, Grace Baptist Church, Prayer | posted by TimBrister at 1:25 pm | Categories: Fasting, Prayer, Resources |
The Biblical Call to Fasting
As we look to the Lord for guidance about issuing a call to Shawn Bergen to serve as our Pastor of Church Planting, the elders are asking that we enter into a season of concerted prayer and fasting. The following thoughts on the place of fasting for believers have been prepared to assist you in this. As we approach this decision ask the Lord to enable us truly to repent of our sins and to humble ourselves as a congregation before Him. Pray that He would revive us and restore His powerful presence among us as a church, and that He would guide us as we seek to do His will. Prepare to set aside a special day of prayer and fasting as we seek God’s wisdom about calling Shawn Bergen to come serve with us.
What is Fasting?
Fasting is a Christian’s voluntary abstinence from food and other legitimate enjoyments for spiritual purposes.
“To make the matter complete, we would add that fasting, if we conceive of it truly, must not only be confined to the question of food and drink; fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some spiritual purpose.”
-D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
“Whenever men are to pray to God concerning any great matter, it would be expedient to appoint fasting along with prayer.”
-John Calvin.
Fasting helps the believer to concentrate the mind and body on spiritual concerns so that fervent, extra-ordinary prayer might be given to those concerns. Various kinds of fasts are mentioned in the Bible:
• A Normal Fast involves abstaining from all food, but not from water. (Mt. 4:2)
• A Partial Fast is a limitation of the diet but not abstention from all food. (Dan. 1:12; John the Baptist Mt. 3:4)
• An Absolute Fast is the avoidance of all food and liquid, even water. (Ezra 10:6; Esther 4:16; Acts 9:9).
• A Supernatural Fast which require God’s supernatural intervention into the bodily processes and are not repeatable apart from the lord’s specific calling and miraculous provision. (Deut. 9:9; 1 Kings 19:8)
• A Private Fast is the one referred to most often by Jesus, and should be done without calling attention to it. (Mt. 6:16-18)
• Congregational Fasts involve the Church participating together. (Joel 2:15-16; Acts 13:2)
• A National Fast is a call to the nation to fast. (2 Chron. 20:3; Neh.9:1; Jonah 3:5-8) (Congress called 3 national fasts; John Adams; James Madison; Abraham Lincoln)
• There was one Regular Fast under the Old Covenant. (Lev. 16:29-21)
• Occasional Fasts which occur on special occasions as the need arises. (Mt. 9:15)
Between today and April 26th, the elders call the congregation of Grace to set aside a day to fast for God’s purposes to be made known. Most will enter into this as a normal fast. Some will participate with an absolute fast. Others will engage in a partial fast. Your physical and medical health should be taken into consideration before fasting.
Fasting Should Be Done for a Purpose
• To Strengthen Prayer (Ezra 8:3)
• To Seek God’s Guidance (Judges 20-v. 26; Acts 14:23)
• To Express Grief (1 Sam. 31:13; 2 Samuel 1:11-12; 1 Jn. 1:9; 1 Sam. 20:34)
• To Seek Divine Deliverance/Protection (2 Chron. 20:3-4; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16)
• To Express Repentance and a Return to God (1 Sam. 7:6; Joel 2:12; Jonah 3:5-8)
• To Humble Oneself before God (Ps. 35:13)
• To Express Concern for the Word of God (Neh. 1:3-4; Dan. 9:3)
• To Overcome Temptation and Dedicate Oneself to God (Matt. 4:1-2)
• To Express Love and Devotion to God (Lk. 2: 37; Zechariah 7:5)
We will be fasting to seek the Lord’s guidance as we look to our future efforts of church planting. Specifically, ask the Lord to make known His will about calling Shawn Bergen to serve with us.
Labels: Fasting | posted by TimBrister at 8:37 am | Categories: Fasting |
