A Hunger for God: 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting

Check out these resources to help make the most of our 21 days together in fasting and prayer. Remember don't try to do this alone. Commit yourself to sharing daily with brothers and sisters how the journey is going.

RESOURCES

21 Days of Prayer & Fasting Worksheet

Midweek Slideshow presentation

CFC Examen

Introduction to fasting in the bible

Isaiah 58: A study

QUICK START GUIDE

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

This is an important part of our annual rhythm as a church community. Intentionally slowing down for a season, together, to abstain from food and set aside daily distractions in order to devote ourselves to prayer, listening, and re-alignment from indifference and apathy back to peace and purpose in King Jesus. As fantastic as this is it is important to heed 2 warnings: We are not trying to get God to love us. We must begin from a place of closeness, He has demonstrated already his ovewhelming radical love for us. Furthermore we aren't trying to get something from God. More of Him is what we're after. We always need to be sure that we aren't mistaking the goodness of God for the good things we want from God. I think Ephesians 3:14 can help us:

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel  before the Father  ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. ¹⁶ I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches  of His glory,  to be strengthened with power  in the inner man  through His Spirit, ¹⁷ and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, ¹⁸may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love,  ¹⁹ and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may

be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to Him who is able  to do above and beyond all that we ask or think  according to

the power that works in us—²¹ to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all

generations, forever and ever. Amen.

SO HOW DO I GET STARTED?

So it's simple, begin by printing out a worksheet and we'll walk through a couple of steps to begin the journey:

1) Begin prayerfully. Slow down, find a quiet place and pray a prayer of praise, guidance and surrender. We have to begin with a desire to lay down our ways, our understandings and our control

here's a helpful psalm to meditate/ pray through: Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky  proclaims the work of His hands.

² Day after day they pour out speech;

night after night they communicate knowledge.

³ There is no speech; there are no words;

their voice is not heard.

⁴ Their message  has gone out to all the earth,

and their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens  He has pitched a tent for the sun.

⁵ It is like a groom coming from the  bridal chamber;

it rejoices like an athlete running a course.

⁶ It rises from one end of the heavens

and circles  to their other end;

nothing is hidden from its heat.

⁷ The instruction of the Lord is perfect,

renewing one’s life;

the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy,

making the inexperienced wise.

⁸ The precepts of the Lord are right,

making the heart glad;

the command of the Lord is radiant,

making the eyes light up.

⁹ The fear of the Lord is pure,

enduring forever;

the ordinances of the Lord are reliable

and altogether righteous.

¹⁰ They are more desirable than gold—

than an abundance of pure gold;

and sweeter than honey,

which comes from the honeycomb.

¹¹ In addition, Your servant is warned by them;

there is great reward in keeping them.

¹² Who perceives his unintentional sins?

Cleanse me from my hidden faults.

¹³ Moreover, keep Your servant from willful sins;

do not let them rule over me.

Then I will be innocent

and cleansed from blatant rebellion.

¹⁴ May the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable to You,

Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

2) Choose a method of fasting from food:

• Partial

  • Skipping one meal each day and devoting the time to prayer & meditation

  • Not eating between set hours. perhaps sunup to sundown.

  • Choosing a specific food type: dessert, alcohol, etc.

    • this type of fast oftentimes requires a specific and intentional mindset. Our goal isn't to simply be uncomfortable, but to truly remember the words of Jesus when he said "man must not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4)

    • A simple starting point for this type of food fast is when we feel the hunger and desire for these specific food choices we must re-direct our mind to God and His word. perhaps choosing a short verse to direct your attention to.

• Complete food fast

  • Doing a 24 hour fast at certain intervals (every 3rd day, every other day)

  • If you are not used to fasting from food for extended periods of time it's best to learn progressively. Maybe start with a shorter interval and build up from there.

• Hybrid

  • Mixing some longer times of fasting alongside a specific food type.

3) Choose a way to reclaim your time

• Abstain from social media completely

• Abstain from scrolling

• Abstain from onlne browsing and shopping

• Abstain from TV, movies, Youtube, etc

• Abstain from a specific time wasting activity you have

4) Replacement

• Our goal IS NOT simply to try hard, or to be uncomfortable and or to just gut it out

• This season is about fasting & PRAYER

• Be creative in learning to pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

  • Keep a prayer journal

  • Go on prayer walks

  • Spend time in silence and solitude

  • Pray through the psalms

• Pray the various prayers in scripture

  • 1 Kings 3:3-9

  • Exodus 34:12-17

  • John 17

  • Ephesians 1:15-23

  • Ephesians 3:14-21

5) Together

• Be united: Meditate and memorize the weekly verse on the worksheet

• Don't do this alone.

• Share your progress with others

• Inquire of others journey

• Pray together and for one another