Three times a year, we partake in 7 days of prayer and fasting. (January 12-18 / May 4-10 / August 31 -September 6)
This time allows us to give Him the first part of our year helping us make room for what He wants to do in our lives and helping us hear His voice a little clearer. You may also choose to fast at other times during the year for your own spiritual development. It’s very typical to fast a single meal, a whole day, or three days or more. The timing of your fast is not as important as the strength of your focus on God as you fast.
Scripture References
Matthew 6:16-18 / Matthew 9:14-15 / Luke 18:9-14 / Acts 27:33-37 / Nehemiah 9:1-3
Change of Focus
Don’t just focus on removing things from your life during this time…make sure you are also adding times of prayer and bible reading. These sacrifices will help you recognize God’s voice as you are clearing out the distractions.
Prayer
Prayer is the fuel for this time. If you’re not sure how to start, start simple. Prayer is simply a conversation with God…but so much more at the same time. Start by listening to our previous sermon series on prayer by CLICKING HERE.
Types of Fasts
Complete Fast
In this fast, you drink only liquids, typically water, with light juices as an option.
Selective Fast
This type of fast involves removing certain elements from your diet. One example of a selective fast is the Daniel Fast, during which you remove meat, sweets, and bread from your diet and consume water and juice for fluids and fruits and vegetables for food.
Partial Fast
This fast is sometimes called the “Jewish Fast” and involves abstaining from eating any type of food in the morning and afternoon. This can either correlate to specific times of the day, such as 6:00 am to 3:00 pm, or from sunup to sundown.
Soul Fast
This fast is an excellent option if you do not have much experience fasting food, have health issues that prevent you from fasting food, or if you wish to refocus certain areas of your life that are out of balance. For example, you might choose to stop using social media or watching television for the duration of the fast and then carefully bring that element back into your life in healthy doses at the conclusion of the fast.
HOW TO CHOOSE
Pray and ask God to reveal what that may be, and then spend time removing that from your life for the next 21 days to make more room in your heart and day for prayer and God’s Word. How and what to fast determines what areas you need to give God greater control. It can be an item, hobby, or food item you have come to desire or depend on too much.