New Life:

Each year, in the month of October, our church spends 21 days in a time of targeted and focused prayer and fasting.  In Matthew 17 and Mark 9 a clear call rings from the scripture to pray and fast.  In fact, Jesus tells his disciples that the only way to have the kind of faith that can produce the miraculous is by prayer and fasting.  Throughout the scripture, major miracles and transformation are preceded by times of fasting.  Moses fasted 40 Days and received the 10 Commandments; Elijah heard the still small voice of God after fasting 40 Days; The prophet Daniel had fasted 21 days when God delivered to him a great vision of the end of time; Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days at the beginning of his ministry.  In Matthew 6 , Jesus gave instructions to fast.  The apostle Paul was a man of such spiritual disciplines.  Furthermore, in each of these times of fasting there is an accompanying time of prayer and seeking God.  To put it simply, WE MUST FAST and PRAY!

Specifically for this year's 21 Days, we will be adopting Daniel's example of fasting by restraining from eating meats and pleasantries. We will be combining the fasting principles found in Daniel's 21 days of prayer and fasting (Daniel 10 ) and his 10 day challenge not to eat the king's meat or drink the king's wine (Daniel 1 ).

Further, I will be issuing a detailed prayer list to help you stay in tune with the focus of this year's 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. James 5:16 tells us that effectual fervent or earnest, heartfelt, and continuous prayer carries tremendous power.  Imagine the power then of unified, effectual, and fervent prayer.  The principle that one can put a thousand to flight and two ten thousand is something we must apply in prayer!

In my following blog, I will post the details of our 2011 21 Days of Prayer Fasting initiative.  Please check it out!

- Pastor