In 2022, we are praying and fasting through our membership covenant on four designated Saturdays throughout the year; asking God to help us hunger for his glory and be faithful to fulfill the things we have committed to each other as church members. These are commitments he has called us to live out together according to his Word.
Fasting Together: September 10, 2022
Our fast begins after dinner on Friday (September 9), skipping breakfast and lunch on Saturday (September 10), then breaking the fast by eating dinner on Saturday. Our encouragement throughout the day is to pray, meditate, and consider these things before the Lord.
SING:
READ AND REFLECT:
We will be slow to take offense and quick to forgive, seeking forgiveness:
"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19).
We will exercise Christian care and watchfulness over others:
“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:12-13).
We will refuse to participate in gossip:
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29).
We will serve the ministry of the church by discovering our gifts and talents:
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies – in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (I Peter 4:10-11).
We will develop a servant's heart:
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4).
We will love and pray for all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ:
“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill very resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thessalonians 1:11-12).
PRAYER POINTS:
- Confess any ill will or bitterness you hold towards fellow members of the church.
- Confess any way you have sinfully contributed to the strain in the relationship and commit to bringing about restitution wherever possible.
- Pray for each other’s spiritual and temporal good.
- Pray for opportunities to actually care for each other.
HELPFUL FASTING RESOURCES:
- A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer, John Piper
- "Fasting for Beginners" by David Mathis (Desiring God)
- "How Do I Delight Myself in the Lord?" by John Piper
- Fixing the Mind: A Guide to Meditation
FASTING FROM (IDEAS):
- Food
- Technology
- Entertainment
- Social Media/News