Prayer & Fasting

God has called us to be his voice in calling people to faith in Christ. We want to pursue this more fully.  That pursuit begins with prayer. 

In setting aside this time of prayer and fasting, the elders are saying, "Let us not be satisfied with few new believers.  Let us not be satisfied with our own witness to Christ. Let us set our hearts to seek the Lord for his work in advancing the Gospel."

It begins with prayer as there is no power in us to awaken the dead, or make the blind to see.  God must work, or we will labor in vain.

We pray with fasting because this is urgent to us.  We have provided a brief instruction on fasting HERE.  For those who wish to receive more thorough teaching and examples of various kinds of fasts, we encourage you to read this article by our friend John Loftness HERE.

Ideas:

1. We would suggest you choose a meal to fast from, or limit your diet to the simplest of foods.

2. Explain to your children what fasting is and ask if they would want to participate, perhaps giving up a sweet for the day or a favorite snack.

3. Use the time you would take to eat and use it to pray.  Parents: gather your children to pray.  Couples: pray together.

4. Find a way to meet with someone else at Grace Church by phone or in person to pray.

5. Come pray at the church building at 6 AM!

6. Walk your neighborhood or use a map to pray for the area around the church.  Ask God to make us bold for the Gospel and for fruit in conversions.

Agenda:

March 6, 2009 -- joining together in prayer and fasting for:

1. OPEN DOORS: Pray for opportunities for the people of Grace Church to meet and know people outside of Christ, and to begin conversations about the Gospel.


2. OPEN DOORS: Pray for our seminar on Financial Peace on March 13-14.  This is an opportunity to invite people outside of Christ to see how God speaks to the issue of financial peace.

3. OPEN DOORS: Pray for the community wide distribution of invitations to Grace Church that will take place April 4 .  We aim to invite 3000 local households to Grace Church for Easter Sunday.

4. OPEN DOORS: Make a list of three names of people you want to hear about Jesus and believe,  Pray for them on this first Friday.

5. OPEN HEARTS: Pray for conversions.  Ask God to bring fruit.  Let us be troubled for the lost as

Charles Spurgeon says:

"The Holy Spirit will move them by first moving you. If you can rest without their being saved, they will rest too. But if you are filled with an agony for them, if you cannot bear that they should be lost, you will soon find that they are uneasy too. I hope you will get into such a state that you will dream about your child or your hearer perishing for lack of Christ, and start up at once and begin to cry, 'God, give me converts or I die.' Then you will have converts."

-C.H. Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Volume 22, London:Passmore & Alabaster, 1876, 143-144.

We trust God will hear.  Please tell us how God is at work by e-mailing Mark Lauterbach at