Jesus said it clearly in Matthew 6. “WHEN you give…” ”WHEN you pray…” ”WHEN you fast …” Then He went on to give instructions about the correct attitude of the heart as we participate in each Christian discipline. The word WHEN is key to His instructions because when tells us that Jesus ASSUMED that ALL of His followers would practice these three simple disciplines. He did not say, “IF you give or pray or fast…” He said “WHEN…” Another important point in His teaching (Matt. 6) is that He puts FASTING on the same level of importance as giving and praying. WOW! I must admit that I sure haven’t been doing that as a pastor. We certainly aren’t doing it as a church. We regularly teach and remind people of the importance of being consistent in our giving and praying, but we rarely teach on the priority of fasting. I am changing that as of January 11!!
Whitley Church and The Bridge are participating in AWAKENING (www.awake21.org). We have linked up with about 300 other churches (totaling more that 30,000 in weekend worship attendance) simply for the purpose of fasting and seeking the face of God. PLEASE visit their website and learn about fasting. The information on the site is compact and powerful! I am doing a sermon series through January titled “Should I Fast?” Visit our website (www.whitleychurch.com) and click on “Media” where you can listen to the messages anytime you wish – absolutely free of charge.
Thank God for AWAKENING and the people who obeyed God in leading this effort. Because of AWAKENING….well, I have been awakened!!! Awakened to the priority and importance of consistently integrating fasting into my regular disciplines as a follower of Christ. THANK YOU to the people who are behind this emphasis!!! THANK YOU for obeying God!!!
Finally, become a student of fasting. Stop using the excuse that you do not fast because you “do not understand fasting”. It is an extremely simple concept, yet the results are phenomenal!!! When you follow the biblical teaching on fasting, your intimacy with Christ will soar!! One more thing, no matter what plan of fasting you follow, let’s zero in on the last three days (January 29,30,31). Seek His face and ask God to assist you throughout your 21 day fast, but then ask Him for supernatural power to focus on Him and His Word as you fast intently the last 3 days. I am not telling you what to do on those last 3 days. That’s between you and God. But I am asking you to kick it up a notch on those last 3 days. The staff will be leading the way!!! I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHAT GOD IS GOING TO DO!!! HAPPY FASTING!!!
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‘Awakening’ is truly what IT is! it seems it was around 1990 when God revealed to me that ‘prayer’ was necessary, and so powerful. i knew ‘giving’ was expected of us since i was a small child. and now i’m being shaken awake on yet another major step in obeying Christ. amazing how alive and on time the Word is! of course we’re suppose to ‘fast’ as this is the perfect way to separate ourselves from ourselves and the things of this world and draw us closer to Him. and boy there is no time as the present to separate ourselves from the darkness of this grim world. thanks pastor for obeying Him, and guiding us as well, along this journey. aj
January 19th, 2009 at 9:37 am
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