40 Days of Prayer & Fasting
February 17-April 3
If you’d like to sign up to pray/fast on specific days,
contact Rebekah Wilson (rwilson@hcfboston.com).
Click on the link to see the schedule: 40 days prayer sign-up sheet
We need to pray! We need to pray for God to revive our relationships, our vision, our community and us!
The busyness of life with school, career, and family can often leave God in the background. As a church we understand that God desires our attention and adoration. Resurrection Sunday will be a landmark service for us as a new church. For many people, Easter is the only time that they visit a church throughout the year. We believe that God is going to send us a larger crowd on that Sunday. Psalm 139:23-24 states:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”
In this prayer David is asking God to examine his heart by removing sin in his life that he cannot see. As a church let’s ask God to do the same in our lives. Before we invite a host of others to be a part of our community let’s individually and corporately prepare ourselves spiritually. I invite you to participate in a 40-day period of Prayer and Fasting. This period will begin on Wednesday, February 17th and continue through Saturday, April 3rd.
The plan is to have at least two people from Heart Change Fellowship to fast and pray each day for the entire 40-day period. Below is a list of some prayer points that may be helpful. On your scheduled day of prayer and fasting, we encourage you to make some concerted effort to pray – either alone or with others. Fasting simply means to abstain from food altogether, specific foods, or certain activities.
Fasting is a spiritual discipline that is important for all Christians to learn. It can serve as a declaration to God that you want Him more than food – that He is the deepest fulfillment of your life. It can also help you to overcome many types of cravings in your life. It is a way to say no to the flesh and yes to the Spirit. It is important, however, to realize there are different kinds of fasts. Moses and Jesus both are recorded as fasting for 40 days; and in response to Jonah’s message of repentance, the king called the entire city (animals and all) to a total fast (Jonah 2). Daniel, on the other hand, fasted for 21 days, He abstained from “choice foods” and wine, and he did not use any lotions on his body (Daniel 10).
Your sense of need or urgency can sometimes dictate the severity of your fast. Your own physical abilities and experience with fasting need to also be taken into consideration. It is wise to develop the ability to fast, rather than jump in too quickly, and thus become discouraged by the difficulties. Fasting can be uncomfortable, so it is best to have some understanding of what you are getting into before you start. If you have uncertainties concerning what you can physically handle, you may want to consult your physician. When you start a fast you may experience some headaches; some coffee drinkers particularly experience this from the lack of caffeine. It might be wise to taper off of caffeine before you start. Most of the discomforts of fasting, however, pass if you will not give in to their cries. You may also experience cottonmouth and maybe even bad breath. The best solution usually is to drink a lot of water while you fast. This is also helpful to clean out your system. Occasional fasting can be a health enhancing process.
Some rest might be good, but I want to encourage you to do whatever you can to use your time of fasting to increase your prayer time. There are many times when you will actually feel better while fasting than you normally do – your mind will become clear and body will feel light and alert. So, try to press ahead; give yourself to the sacrifice of prayer – a costly expression of worship and prayer is an honor to God. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me and I will do my best to be of help. We want to grow in this spiritual discipline together. Lord knows I don’t enjoy saying ‘no’ to meat for any amount of time!
Keep representing the King,
Pastor Jua