As we enter a new year and a new decade we sense God calling us to a time of corporate fasting. Fasting is the practice of abstaining from food or drink in order to focus on deepening our relationship with God. When we fast corporately we are seeking to experience these benefits not only in our personal lives but in our whole church as well.
Our fast will begin on Sunday morning January 12th and extend for 21 days.
We have three main purposes with this fast:
1) Unity - This is one of the biggest themes in the New Testament epistles. God longs for his church to be united as one in order to reflect the love of Christ to the world. We believe God wants to do some amazing things in 2020 in and through us. Therefore we need to be united in heart and mind as a church. The number one strategy of the enemy is to sow division and confusion. We are going to come against that as we begin this new year united under the Lordship of Christ.
2) Deliverance - This is the act of being rescued or set free. Is there a besetting sin in your life that you need to be set free from? Often times something small and innocent can develop into a stronghold over time. Do you have a desire for alcohol, lust, control, drugs, pornography, power, being liked, social media, Netflix, or screens that you cannot just simply control or stop in your own strength? You need the power of God. Jesus taught us that some demons do not come out but by prayer AND fasting. I believe God is calling us to a season of intense focused energy to cancel any attacks of the enemy, particularly over addictions or any form of idolatry in our lives.
3) Revival - One of the reasons we started this church is because we believe God wants to send revival right here to our capital city. We are not just interested in having another church gathering. We want to experience the presence and power of God. We want to see our church and churches throughout our city filled and overflowing. We believe God has strategically located us on 16th Street and we want to pray for revival right here in our city. And of course we know that we can’t have revival in the church if we don’t have revival in our lives first.
We see fasting throughout the Bible with Moses, David, Elijah, Ezra, Esther, Daniel, Joel, Nehemiah, the church elders in Antioch, and of course with Jesus.
For us at The District Church our theme for 2020 will be SET APART. We believe God is calling us to be set apart for a purpose. That we are being called to be different from the world, so that we can better impact this world.
I believe this fast is going to prepare us to confidently step into the opportunities that come our way in 2020.
Here are the details of the Fast:
We will start Sunday morning, January 12th, first thing. It will go until after church service on Sunday, February 2nd. That is when we will break our fast in time for your Superbowl party :)
We will be doing a simple version of the Daniel’s Fast (Daniel 10:2-3)
- No alcohol
- No sweets
- No meat
For some of us (me!) this will be a challenge. I am a straight up carnivore and I love my meat. For others, this will not a challenge at all. You might need to upgrade. David said “I will not offer to God that which costs me nothing.” A true fast costs you something. You are giving up something, so that your hunger might lead you to hunger for God.
Some of you might want to get more serious and do the full Daniel’s Fast (Daniel 1:11-17). There are a lot of different versions of Daniel’s Fasts out there. You are welcome to adapt to your own. We just ask, unless for some reason you are not able to, that you don’t have sweets, alcohol, or meat during these 21 days.
May the Lord use these next 21 days to set us apart for His purposes as we pray for unity in the church, deliverance in our lives, and revival in our city!
