Dear saints,
Please join us for a day of fasting and prayer for revival at CCNorco Thursday, February 10. Then join us Thursday evening at the midweek service at 7pm to pray together before the Bible study. Please listen to last Sunday morning's message on "Waiting Patiently" as we talked about Elijah praying for rain and how it poured after a 3 1/2 year drought. Let's pray for a great outpouring of God's Spirit in these last days. We need it! Let's pray for revival!!
Please read the following SHEPHERD TO SHEEP devotional and review what Biblical fasting is all about:
BIBLICAL FASTING
In the Bible we read about how the Israelites enjoyed the feasts of the Lord in the Old Testament. The gospels also reveal how Jesus ate often in fellowship with others. But when we have a serious concern on our heart or if we as a body have a corporate concern, then it’s time to seek the Lord with fasting. Fasting is a very rewarding experience. May the Lord direct us to fast as the Spirit leads. And I pray the following Bible study will give you insight on scriptural fasting:
Definition - “To go without food for the purpose of seeking God”.
CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT FASTING:
• For guidance (Judges 20:26-28)
• Victory over temptation (Matthew 4:1-2)
• National repentance (1 Samuel 7:5-6)
• Burdened for others (Neh. 1:3-4)
• Personal concerns (1 Samuel 1:7, 10)
• Direction for ministry (Acts 13:1-3)
PITFALLS TO AVOID
• Pride (Neh. 9:1-2; Joel 2:12; Matthew 6:16-18)
• Empty ritualism (Zech. 7:5-7)
• Forgetting true spirituality (Isaiah 58:4-6)
KINDS OF FASTS
• Supernatural fast - No food and no water (Ex. 34:28). Not a normal fast and usually never lasted more than three days (Ezra 10:6-8; Esther 4:16).
• Normal fast - No food but liquids okay and for a time that the Spirit would lead (most common in the Bible).
• Partial fast - Eating lightly (blander food) while abstaining from rich and sweet foods. This is good if you have to keep up your busy and strenuous schedule as Daniel evidently did. Fasting doesn’t have to be all or nothing. (Dan. 10:1-5)
*Please check with your doctor if you have special needs.
How blessed we are to enjoy the food God has graciously and abundantly given to us. And what a blessing it is to go without food for a time when we feel directed to seek the will of the Lord for our lives.
Louie
In the Bible we read about how the Israelites enjoyed the feasts of the Lord in the Old Testament. The gospels also reveal how Jesus ate often in fellowship with others. But when we have a serious concern on our heart or if we as a body have a corporate concern, then it’s time to seek the Lord with fasting. Fasting is a very rewarding experience. May the Lord direct us to fast as the Spirit leads. And I pray the following Bible study will give you insight on scriptural fasting:
Definition - “To go without food for the purpose of seeking God”.
CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT FASTING:
• For guidance (Judges 20:26-28)
• Victory over temptation (Matthew 4:1-2)
• National repentance (1 Samuel 7:5-6)
• Burdened for others (Neh. 1:3-4)
• Personal concerns (1 Samuel 1:7, 10)
• Direction for ministry (Acts 13:1-3)
PITFALLS TO AVOID
• Pride (Neh. 9:1-2; Joel 2:12; Matthew 6:16-18)
• Empty ritualism (Zech. 7:5-7)
• Forgetting true spirituality (Isaiah 58:4-6)
KINDS OF FASTS
• Supernatural fast - No food and no water (Ex. 34:28). Not a normal fast and usually never lasted more than three days (Ezra 10:6-8; Esther 4:16).
• Normal fast - No food but liquids okay and for a time that the Spirit would lead (most common in the Bible).
• Partial fast - Eating lightly (blander food) while abstaining from rich and sweet foods. This is good if you have to keep up your busy and strenuous schedule as Daniel evidently did. Fasting doesn’t have to be all or nothing. (Dan. 10:1-5)
*Please check with your doctor if you have special needs.
How blessed we are to enjoy the food God has graciously and abundantly given to us. And what a blessing it is to go without food for a time when we feel directed to seek the will of the Lord for our lives.
Louie
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