This quick guide is designed to help you understand the purpose of fasting. We have made this Quick guide to help you succeed. We encourage you to share your ‘fast’ food meal pictures and most of all you have a place where you can share your fasting experience online with the hashtag #iamchurchfast! It is our prayer that you are strengthened during this time of Consecration. We look forward to you joining us during this powerful time of prayer and devotion.
Fast Dates: January 8th. – January 28th.
Close- out Prayer Breakfast 29th.
9:00am – 11:00am.
SUGGESTED FOOD GUIDELINES
LEGUMES Dried Beans: Lima, Northern, Garbanzo, Pinto, Red, Black, Kidney, Great Northern, Navy, Split Peas, Lentils, Black-eyed Peas
NUTS Almonds, Peanuts, Pecans, Sunflower Seeds
FRUITS Apples, Apricots, Avocado, Applesauce, Bananas, Blackberries, Blueberries, Boysenberries, Cantaloupe, Cherries, Cranberries, Currants, Dates, Figs, Grapefruit, Grapes, Guava, Honeydew Melon, Nectarines, Kiwi, Lemons, Limes, Mangoes, Mandarin Oranges, Papayas, Peaches, Pears, Pineapples, Plums, Prunes, Raisins, Raspberries, Strawberries, Tangelos, Tangerines, Watermelon
VEGETABLES Artichokes, Asparagus, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chili Peppers, Collard Greens, Corn, Cucumbers, Dandelion Greens, Eggplant, Endive, Garlic, Gingerroot, Green Beans, Kale, Leeks, Lettuce, Mixed Vegetables, Mushrooms, Mustard Greens, Okra, Onions, Parsley, Peas, Potatoes, Pepper, Pumpkin, Radishes, Rutabagas, Scallions, Spinach, Sprouts, Squashes, Sweet Potato, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watercress, Wax Beans, Yams, Zucchini
LIQUIDS Spring water, Distilled water, 100% All-natural fruit juices, 100% All-natural vegetable juices
OILS Herbs, and Olive Oil.
SALAD DRESSINGS Vinaigrette -Homemade using vinegar, Olive Oil and Herbs, Home-made French & Italian
WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT EAT: Eggs, Dairy, Sweeteners, Breads, Meat
PERSONAL FAST FOCUS: Below are options that can be utilized to assist in your fasting.
Focus: Fasting for good health and for obedience toward God.
Water: Drink 8 glasses of water daily throughout the fast. This is very important.
Side effects: You may experience moderate to severe headaches for the first day or two as your body rids itself of caffeine, salt, sugar, and various impurities.
*Important Exceptions: Anyone with a medical condition related to eating or under the treatment of a physician must consult their doctor. Children, especially small children, will have special needs that must be considered. Under these conditions, find some sacrifice in the area of food that can be made without endangering your health. Also, if you have extreme difficulty with the fast, such as impairment of your ability to work at your job, you will have to make adjustments. This is not a failure of will but wisdom. Seek the Lord and discuss it with other Christians involved in the fast to find alternatives.
Prayer, Meditation & Study
Your goal in fasting is to develop a closer relationship with God by voluntarily denying your flesh. Fasting is a time of consecration from the things of the world to the things of God. First, fasting allows you to improve your communication with God through prayer and as your communication improves your relationship with God is strengthened. Thus, to effectively communicate with God you must have a strong prayer life. It is critical to increase your prayer time during a fast. A second and powerful way to develop a closer relationship with God is to study the scriptures. The scripture is the very Word of God. To know God, you have to know HIS Word. In addition to prayer, during a fast, you should increase your time of studying His Word. When the fast is over, you should be spiritually renewed and strengthened because you have controlled your flesh and intensified your commitment to God through prayer and study. There simply is no healthy Christian life apart from a diet of the milk & meat of scripture. If we areto know God and be Godly,we must know the Word of God intimately. The most transforming practice available to us is the disciplined intake of scripture.
HEARING GOD’S WORD
Disciplining ourselves to hear God’s Word means developing the practice of steadfastly attending church, even through a virtual platform. The purpose of all methods of biblical intake is obedience to what God says and the development of Christlikeness. Hearing the Word of God is not merely passive listening, it isa discipline tobe cultivated.
READING GOD’S WORD
No factor is more influential in shaping a person’s moral and social behavior than regular Bible reading.
- Find the time. It is primarily a matter of discipline and motivation.
- Find a Bible reading plan.
- Find at least one word, phrase, or verse to meditate on each time you read.
STUDYING GOD’S WORD
The mind is renewed by applying it to those things that will transform it.
Romans 12:2: The Discipline of Study is the primary vehicle to bring us to “think about these things” noted by the Apostle Paul.
Philippians 4:8 Many Christians remain in bondage to fears and anxieties simply because they do not avail themselves of The Discipline of Study. Study is a specific kind of experience in which through careful attention to reality the mind is enabled to move in a certain direction. What we study determines the kind of habits that are formed. Reading gives us breadth, but study gives us depth. The basic difference between Bible reading & Bible study is a pencil and paper.We fail in our duty to study God’s Word not because it isdifficult to understand, but because it iswork.Our problem is that we arelazy.Do not settle for predigested spiritual food; discover biblical insights firsthand through your own study.
MEDITATION
Meditation is the act of giving our time or attention to a thought, concept, situation,or person. Meditate on the Word of God.
Joshua 1:8 Christian meditation involves filling your mind with God and truth. Christian meditation is deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in scripture for the purpose of understanding, application, and prayer. Meditation is both commanded by God and modeled by the godly inscripture. The result of such meditation is stability, fruitfulness, perseverance, and prosperity. Meditation opens the soil of the soul and lets the water of God’s word percolate in deeply. The easiest way to decide what to meditate on is to choose theverse, phrase, or word that impresses you the most during your encounter with scripture.
The outcome of meditation should be application.
“Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” –Jeremiah
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