Prayer & Fasting

First my dear brothers and sisters, we need to make sure that fasting does not affect our health in adverse ways. This is a fast from solid foods. You should drink liquids during this fast. Some of us are only capable of partial fast. That is to say eating lightly as opposed to a complete abstinence from solid food. Perhaps you can commit to eating a light breakfast as opposed to three meals a day. You should consult your doctor first. This is why you may have an over zealous craving for food. It could be for physical reasons outside the natural desire to want to eat.

Fasting will draw you closer to the Lord. basically you are telling God you want to abstain from the desires of your body for Him, His word and His presence. God will definitely meet you if your motives are right. The enemy will attack you of course and you will see how the verse being studied can apply to your life during the fast. Doing a partial fast is alright. A twenty four hour fast is not really that long a time.

When we fast, we should not do it ritualistically but with a true intention of honoring the Lord. We want to examine our hearts and be prepared for what the Lord will show us. Meditation on scripture and prayer should be the course of the day before and during the fast.

With faith you can do all things and this includes abstaining from food.

The Lord always wanted His people to use good judgment while showing compassion without discrimination and false evaluations. He wants us to have compassion on the less fortunate and the foreigner.

One thing we can be sure of, when we hunger, we tend to search for food. This is natural as all creatures need nourishment. Zachariah brings out this fact as we know how to treat ourselves, but how due we treat others? Is the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and is it easily seen?

When we contemplate going without food for a time, we have a tendency to worry a bit and overeat just before. This should not be the goal after or before a fast. The purpose is to deny oneself in order to gain knowledge of what the Holy Spirit wants to show us. You will find it a natural tendency to want to overeat before and after a fast. One must learn it is in the denying of one's self.

Unfortunately, pride has its own appetite and wants to be filled as well. Murmuring, boasting, even in an inward fashion is not desirable. Do we raise our hands to honor God and undermine a brother or sister? Should we not speak to one another and resolve issues before we bring our sacrifice of self denial and praise to our Lord?

Should we not live by the word of the Lord if we abstain from food? We will fail while in our mortal bodies but do we do so without care for "leaving all hindrances aside?" We seek our salvation with great care - though it is a free gift, we are called to repentance if we are Christian.

General Guide Lines for Home Meetings:

These are general guide lines as to keep our meetings in order.

Our meetings are meant to feed the inner person and we need to focus on the other person at the meeting. I'm still learning this myself so I'm no expert.

First it is best to pick topics and verses not too in depth for our meetings. It is better to feed the spirit than the mind for our meetings and with a limiting time factor, the feeding of the spirit is best.

Also topics like eschatology, the study of the end times, can be in depth and there are several views people may have. For this reason it is better just to stay simple at these meetings. This is not a Bible study but a fasting for spiritual growth.

Another important aspect is to pick a verse the group can focus on. The verse/topic has to be somewhat concise and not vague or we will not be able to meditate on the word and have the Lord prepare our hearts for what He wants to do in us.

There are many people attending our meetings praise God, so there must be a time limit imposed on the main speaker of the month and the participating individuals.

This includes: