more effectively.

Perhaps for our generation fasting should often be from A His Life Discipleship GUIDE
radio, TV, internet, sports, excessive sms’, in order to give ourselves more To Glorify God and Make Disciples
totally and intensely to prayer.
THE PURPOSE of FASTING is …

FAST & PRAY

• To subject the physical to the spiritual and to give priority to spiritual goals;
• To disentangle oneself for a time from one's environment, material things, daily
responsibilities, and cares.
• To devote one's whole spiritual attention to God and prayer. We do not imply
that daily duties and life's necessities are unholy or unspiritual; rather,
we subject permissible things, even profitable things, to greater spiritual
priorities.
Andrew Murray taught, "Prayer is the one hand with which we grasp the
Invisible; fasting the other, with which we let loose and cast away the visible."
PRAY and LISTEN
Welcome to the ANNUAL PRAYER
Are there specific things in your life now that you are desiring for more than God? (example:
career, ministry work. possessions, relationships, etc.) Surrender them to God and acknowledge
& Fasting Call at HIS LIFE MININSTRIES
how much you want Him in your life more than anything or anyone else.
Our 2 DAY call to Voluntary Fasting
READING for JANUARY 7 MORNING (DAY 2 of FAST) January 6 & 7 2020 (Monday and Tuesday)
Watch Your Motive
Read & Study: Matthew 6:6-18
Remember, the motive in your fasting is all-important. Remember what fasting is not: It The “House of Prayer NIGHT of FIRE”
is not a way to earn God's blessing and God's answer to your prayer. You are never will be on January 7 2020
worthy of His help and blessing because of your performance. You implore His love and
mercy. You do not earn any aspect of His grace. It is not a way to bypass obedience and 6pm at the HLM ANNEX, Sta Clara Drive
accountability. Prayer and fasting do not change your need to be obedient to God and
His clearly revealed will. God will not hear your prayer, even if you add fasting, if you are
out of His will in some regard. Are there habits and patterns in your life which need to NAME your TWO Prayer Partners for this year
be broken? Do you have struggles or un-confessed sins? Repentance and seeking
counsel from your Life Group Leader / Pastor will bring complete deliverance and
2020 ____________ /____________
freedom. Denial never healed anyone. Accountability with obedience brings liberation.
It does not accumulate power to your credit, so that you can display it at will. You do
not use the Holy Spirit—He uses you. The moment you parade your power, it is gone.
Our United House of Prayer (Bacolod)
Keep your fasting as hidden as possible.
Fasting is the hungry handmaid of prayer. Like prayer she both reveals and remedies.
will be every Saturday 515am
She reveals the measure of food’s mastery over us — or television or computers or
whatever we submit to again and again to conceal the weakness of our hunger for God.
DAWN WATCHES
And she remedies by intensifying the earnestness of our prayer and saying with our [January and February 2020]
whole body what prayer says with the heart: I long to be satisfied in God alone!
PRAY and LISTEN
Are you careful to obey the Basics? Forgive, Love, Bless, Honor … etc? A Call to Pray & FAST before starting anything!
This is a Call for anyone and everyone to make things right and to start right.
WRITTEN Prayer Requests … USE ANOTHER PAPER* FOR THIS We have to be found at the foot of Jesus, listening and ready to obey. We have
KEEP near YOUR BIBLES for Quiet Times this 2020 to start to be corporately consecrated before the Lord before anything else.
A. For Your Personal Life ____________ Beginning with ourselves, families, Life Groups,
B.
For Your Family Relationships ____________ Tribe Groups, and Ministries.
page C. For Your Friends ____________ page
FOUR D. FINANCES ____ E. LIFE GROUPS ____ F. Ministry ___ ONE
Let's believe God for power, purity, unity and praise to be the result of this.
Great men and women throughout history has been called by God to humble
themselves through fasting and prayer.
Fasting is a spiritual weapon God uses to advance His kingdom, change the
destiny of nations, spark revival, and bring victory in people's lives. There is
something powerful that happens when we voluntarily humble ourselves, seek
God's will, and agree with Him for His purposes to be fulfilled.
INTRODUCTION to FASTING _ Fasting Recommendations and Guidelines
TYPES OF FASTING:
 Typical Fast – abstaining from all food, but not from water.
– Most common form of Christian fast. – e.g. Matthew 4:2 (Luke 4:2)
 Partial Fast – a limitation of the diet, but not abstention from all food.
– Daniel and companions (Daniel 1:12) – John the Baptist (Matthew 3:4)
 Absolute Fast – avoidance of all food and liquid, even water.
– Ezra (Ezra 10:6) – Esther (Esther 4:16) – Paul (Acts 9:9)
 Supernatural Fast – A fast of great duration, made possible only by God.
– Two examples in Scripture: Moses on Mt. Sinai (Deuteronomy 9:9) Elijah’
s trip to Mt. Horeb (1 Kings 19:8) “SCOPES” OF FASTING:
 Private fast–most normal. – Matthew 6:16-18
 Congregational fasts – Joel 2:15-16 – Acts 13:2
 National fasts– 2 Chronicles 20:3; Neh 9:1; Esther 4:16; Jonah 3:5-84
FREQUENCY OF FASTING:
Regular Fasts – God commanded only one regular fast in the Old Covenant
– on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29-31). – The Jewish leaders instituted
four other annual fasts while in Babylon (Zechariah 8:19). – The tradition of the
Pharisees was to fast twice each week (Luke 18:12).
Occasional Fasts – Occur as the need arises – The kind of fast implied by Jesus
in Matthew 9:15 The most common form of Christian fasting is the normal,
private, occasional fast.
JESUS’ INSTRUCTIONS ON FASTING:
• Fasting is expected – Matthew 6:16-18 – Matthew 9:14-15
• Keep your fasting private
• God will reward your fasting HOW LONG SHOULD WE FAST?
• One day or part of a day (Judges 20:26; 1 Samuel 7:6; 2 Samuel 1:13, 3:35;
Nehemiah 9:1; Jeremiah 36:6).
• One night (Daniel 6:18-24).
• Three days (Esther 4:16; Acts 9:9).
• Seven days (1 Samuel 31:13; 2 Samuel 12:16-23).
• Fourteen days (Acts 27:33-34).
• Twenty-one days (Daniel 10:3-13).
• Forty days (Deut 9:9; 1 Kings 19:8; Matthew 4:2)
page • Unspecified lengths
(Matt 9:14; Luke 2:37; Acts 13:2, 14:2-3)
TWO
MORE THOUGHTS ON FASTING
• Fasting is feasting! (John 4:32-34)
• When fasting, devote the time you would normally spend eating to
meditation and prayer.
• Don’t ignore medical realities
WHY FAST and PRAY?
 JESUS Fasted and PRAYED See Matthew 4 and Luke 4
 Christian Leaders Fasted and PRAYED See Acts 13:1-3
 JESUS ASSUMES that as His Followers we will be FASTING and Praying
See Matt 6:16-18; Luke 11:1-4
READINGS for JANUARY 5 2020 Sunday (preparation)
Jesus Said We Would Fast
OPEN YOUR BIBLE to: Matthew 9:15; Acts 13:1-3
Jesus, speaking of you and me, said, "Then they will fast" (see Matthew 9:15).
He was referring to His followers during the period between His ascension and
His return. Jesus expects all His children to fast. Since Jesus expects us to fast.
He set the example for us, just as He set the example in prayer. His 40 days of
prayer after His baptism were days of fasting prayer. The early church, follow-
ing Christ's example, put great emphasis upon fasting. We know that at least
for 400 hundred years after Christ, the faithful Christians everywhere fasted
twice each week.
PRAY and LISTEN
1. Ask God to give you a brand-new revelation about fasting so you can appreciate it, discover
its true benefits and enjoy it.
2. Commit a day or two days of fasting to God. Ask Him to speak to you and fill you with His
presence.
• Believe this is the RIGHT thing to do.
• Believe you CAN do it even during regular work or school days.
• Believe GOD is leading you.
• Be found reading your BIBLE and PRAYING.
• Be there during our UNITED Prayer Meeting at the end of the NIGHT of FIRE
• Be PRACTICAL as you start your fast.
• FOR LONGER FASTING DAYS: Eat raw fruit and vegetables for two days before starting
your fast. Likewise, do not eat solid food immediately after your fast.
Begin eating gradually. Break your fast with fruit, vegetables, and soup.
READING for JANUARY 6 MORNING (DAY 1 of FAST)
Fasting is Essential to Spiritual Discipline
Read & Study: Acts 13:2; Romans 8:34; Luke 2:37; Luke 4:1-13
Andrew Bonar defined fasting as abstaining from anything that hindered
prayer. Though himself an avid reader, he had to fast at times from his
excessive love for reading to find time to commune with God. Phillips Brooks
described fasting as abstaining from anything innocent in
page
itself in order to grow more spiritually or serve God
THREE