40 DAYS OF TOGETHERNESS

Fasting & Prayer Guide February 25 thru April 11, 2009

Part 1 - What You Are Being Asked To DoAll members of our church family are being called to forty days of prayer and fasting. We will begin on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 12:00 am and end on Saturday, April 11, 2009 at 12:00 am.

I. Normal Fasting Wednesdays And Fridays. Every Wednesday and Friday shall be designated as Normal Fast Days. A normal fast is abstaining from all food and drinking only water in the same manner Jesus did for forty days (Luke 4:1-12; Matthew 4:1-11), but you are only being asked to do it twice a week for forty days. That means you will have a total of 14 twenty-four hour days when you will only drink water. For best results, please spend a lot of time praying fervently without interruption, and, remember to drink 8 to 10 glasses of water each day. Also, if you are on any medication, please consult a physician before attempting the Normal Fast Days.

II. Partial Fasting Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat, & Sun. A partial fast is abstaining from all meat and delicacies in the same manner Daniel did for twenty-one days (Daniel 10). You are being asked to abstain from sugar and other sweeteners, tea, coffee, cookies, candy, gum, diet drinks, ice cream, and etc. No fast foods of any kind. Eat healthy whole foods in moderation, which means to eat only fresh vegetables, whole grains, fresh fruits, beans, chicken and fish. No deserts please. Drink only water and fruit juice and/or vegetable juice that contains only the natural ingredients, for example: 100% carrot juice and others you may buy at the market or if you have a juicer you may prepare your own.

III. Give Up Something that will amount to a sacrifice for you, be it eating out, meat, a new car, new clothes, and etcetera. Maybe you want to give more to the church – this may be the time to do that. All you have to do is skip a routine indulgence (coke-a-cola, coffee, or whatever) and set the money aside to give for an Easter offering. All of that is just an idea. I am not telling you what to do, but I am asking you to please give up something. Pastor Teisha said in her last sermon, “To get something you have to be willing to give up something”. She making reference to how Hannah on one had wanted to have a child, but at the same time she was willing to give that child up. What do you want? What are you willing to give up? If you want to know and understand the Word you will have to give up a lot of time to read and study. If you want to have the infilling of the Holy Spirit you will have to give up anything that grieves Him. If you want to have a close walk with God you will have to give up self. What do you want? What are you willing to give up?

IV. Get Together With People. You will find that the Holy Spirit will tend to use the context of Christian fellowship to keep you accountable and encouraged. If you try to do this all by yourself, you are setting

yourself up for defeat. That is exactly what the devil wants and so that liar will do anything he can to deceive you into thinking you need to be isolated and then come walking to tell us all about what happened when you were all by yourself. That is a trick of the devil! The Word of God informs us that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church” and that is not an individual, it is “where two or three are gathered together” in His name (Jesus). Get out and visit with the saints and just have some time to for fellowship and mutually accountability.

V. Personal and Private Devotions is where you will meet God to be refreshed by His presence. Do not hide yourself from the presence of the Lord as Adam and Eve did (Gen 3:8), rather, “come before his presence with thanksgiving” (Psalm 95:2) and with “singing” (Psalm 100:2). Your time with God must not be neglected! Get up everyday and spend time with God and you will be greatly blessed.

VI. Corporate Worship is vital for your spiritual wellbeing. God works in a unique fashion that cannot be compared with what happens in our private devotions. In the service God is dealing with you individually, yes, but even more so with all of us as His people. That is the reason for the commands we see in the Bible like “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8) or “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together” (Heb. 10:25). You are being asked to do your very best to study and worship pray together with everyone else on Sundays and Wednesdays and other times and places.

VII. Get Involved In Ministry. Come and walk through the community as we witness and touch hearts in our community. Talk to people around you about God and His Word. Pray for people who are sick and lay hands on them for their healing. The Bible teaches us the purpose for power and anointing is “doing good” (Acts 10:38).

Part 2 – Why You Are Being Asked To Do ThisWe are not doing this just for that sake of doing it, nor are we because it is the season of Lent. We are doing this to seek the Lord for Revival and a spirit of Harmony within our fellowship. The key to our success as a church is agreement. If you read Matthew 18:19 you will immediately see why that statement is true – “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven” (Jesus said that!). We all need to come into agreement with God and His will for our lives as a church. We should all be praying, “Lord, help me to see Your will and agree with Your will”. The power of the early church was that they were of one mind. In the Bible we read, “Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another

according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:5-6). The Scripture affirms elsewhere “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you” (2 Cor. 13:11). To get something we have to be willing to give up something.