Tag: Fasting

Living On A Prayer

Posted on

“Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.” – 1 Chronicles 16:11

Alfred Lord Tennyson said “more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” And  D. L. Moody said, “Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.”

We are embarking on 21 Days of Fasting and Prayer on January 10 because we too believe that more things are accomplished through prayer than people realize and that God is ready to work through those who seek Him through prayer. Prayer is our most powerful weapon. Jeremiah 33: 3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”

Prayer starts with a strategy. What is a good strategy for prayer? When you go to your war room/private room, what do you pray about? “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.” (1 Peter 4:7). To become clear minded you have to set aside uninterrupted time to seek God. You cannot pray strategically if you’re running from one emergency to another. Or if your schedule is so tight that your mind is cluttered with an extensive to-do list, strategic praying becomes difficult. As you bring greater balance to your life and schedule, you will automatically reap the benefits in your prayer life. Your prayers will become more effective and more strategic. That is why we are posting daily devotionals to give you ideas on what to pray about. I encourage you to read 1 Timothy 2:1-8.   In this passage, the apostle Paul addresses the priority of the local church by addressing  a strategy of prayer for the church cooperatively and the Christ-follower individually.

Prayer must be a priority. Matthew 21:13 says, “… ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’…” 1 Timothy 2:1 says, “First of all, then, I urge that.” As Paul begins to tell Timothy how to conduct oneself in the local church (3:15), he puts prayer as the first priority. Once you have developed a strategic prayer plan, the hard part begins—sticking to it. We need to pray and study the Bible every single day. We need to make a commitment to God to put Him first in our lives each and every day. 

For me, it helps to think of my prayer time as an actual appointment with God. This includes having a specific time and place to meet Him. And yes, sometimes I am tempted to forego my private time because I have a million things to do. But I never do. And today, I actually look forward to my prayer time each day before tackling  the to-do’s for the day. 

Your prayer time could be at any point during the day when you have uninterrupted time. I have heard of all kinds of times and ways to pray. What is important is that you are consistently spending time in respectful communication with God.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your motivation for praying? How has your motivation changed over the years?
  2. “Prayer is more for our holiness than for our happiness.” Do you agree or disagree?
  3. “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”(Jeremiah 29:12-13) What does it mean to seek the Lord with “all your heart?”

Faith and Pace

Posted on

“But [God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9.

1. What does the passage say?
2. What does it mean to you today?
3. What does it change in your life?

If you were to ask ten people if they believe exercise is good for their health and well-being, how many of them do you think would raise their hands? If you guessed nine out of ten, you would match what we all intuitively know to be true. Exercise is good for us. But what do you think is the number one exercise that will help you feel younger, ramp up a sluggish metabolism, reduce and manage your weight, boost your energy, increase cardiovascular endurance, improve muscular tone and strength, enhance sleep, reduce stress, and bring joy and youthfulness back to your life?

The number one exercise to help you attain all of these benefits is the one you will actually do. Despite all the research surrounding the benefits of regular exercise, the only one that will make a difference is the program you will do consistently.

But we have a problem. Only about half of us exercise three or more days a week. The amazing health and life-changing benefits of exercise we all know about don’t motivate the majority of us to get off the sofa or easy chair and move.

Let’s get to the bottom of this. What if you wanted to exercise? What if you were inspired and truly motivated to lace up your gym shoes and go for a walk, a run, or a hike? What if you moved from thinking, “I know I should exercise” to “I can’t wait to exercise” and, by integrating motion with devotion, you could grow closer and stronger in your relationship with God?

Throughout this week, as part of the Daniel Fast, thank God for the many blessings He has given you. Take a couple of stretch breaks throughout the day to remember that this journey is about grace and pace. It’s not a sprint, nor a final destination. When you allow God to change your mind from a “have to” mentality to a “get to,” it allows room for grace and pace for yourself and for others.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Meditate on 2 Corinthians 12:9.
  2. Take several stretch breaks throughout the day.
  3. Take the time to consider what small things can make a big difference in your fasting, your exercise and your walk with God.
  4. Ask God to remind you that your strength comes from Him and that any small step toward better health is a step that will honor God.

Daniel Fast: Small Things Make A Big Difference

Posted on

A few weeks back we taught a series called Small Things Big Difference. Small things make a big difference. Much of the Christian life is about small things. Matthew 25: 34-36 says,”Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” There is nothing there about the grand, great or the spectacular. It is more about the little things.

Many people begin the Daniel Fast by simply trying a new health habit, just one small thing. They decided to start the day with breakfast, or add more veggies to their meals, or take a brisk walk each day, or invite a friend to work out. Small steps, yes. But they began to see surprising life change. Simple changes started to add up. Small steps took them closer to realizing their big dreams.

A gradual approach is the surest way to success. Trying to change everything at once almost inevitably invites disappointment. Don’t try to change dozens of unhealthy habits at once. Start with a few vital behaviors — the ones that will “have the biggest immediate impact” — and go from there. Here are a few small steps to try if you haven’t incorporated them yet:

  • Set a goal in faith to take time in God’s Word and be refreshed by His promises.
  • Start walking with friends.
  • Eat breakfast every day.
  • Eat some protein with every meal.
  • Drink water. Half your body weight in ounces.
  • Pray before your meals.
  • Try a new aerobic activity.

A key to The Daniel Fast is remembering that small steps lead to big results. This week, tell a friend or your Daniel Fast group about one small-step or positive outcome you have experienced.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Take the time to consider what small things can make a big difference in your fasting.
  2. From that list add one step each week to your new healthy lifestyle during the fast.
  3. Ask God to remind you that your strength comes from Him and that any small step toward better health is a step that will honor God.

Find Your Why

Posted on

First, a quick reminder of the Daniel Fast

The Daniel fast is a great model to follow and one that is extremely effective for spiritual focus, and discipline. It is probably one of the most commonly referred to fasts, however, within the Daniel fast there is room for broad interpretation. In the book of Daniel we find two different times where the prophet Daniel fasted. Daniel 1 states that he only ate vegetables and water, and in Daniel 10, while the passage does not give a specific list of foods that Daniel ate, it does state that he ate no rich (or choice) foods, as well as no meat or wine. So based on these two verses, we can see that either of these, or combinations of the two, constitute a Daniel fast.

The foundation of the Daniel fast is fruits and vegetables. Your goal should be to seek God in prayer about this and follow what the Holy Spirit leads you to do. Just remember: find your personal safe fast zone. Your Daniel fast should present a level of challenge to it, but it’s very important to know your own body, know your options and, most importantly, seek God in prayer and follow what the Holy Spirit leads you to do. Remember, the goal of fasting is not just to do without food. The goal is to draw nearer to God.

Find Your Why

“Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.” (Psalm 37:5 NLT)

Like New Year’s resolutions I always start out a fast well and with the best of intentions. But by 10:00 a.m. I usually have seen several foods that I have given up and suddenly my resolve starts wavering. That is when I remember the “why” and my motivation for fasting and prayer.

For everyone this is different. We all have different issues and desires in our life. That doesn’t make one person better or another worse, simply different. But everyone needs an answer for the why question. Keep your motivation, the answer to the why question handy as you progress through the 21 day fast.

You need the motivation because you’re going to have to put some effort into becoming all God has for you to be. God will always do the impossible, but He also asks us to do the possible. The “possible” is the work we must do. You have to equip yourself each day with God’s Word, with prayer and with your motivation. It’s important at the beginning stage of the Daniel Fast that we have a firm resolve. No turning back. No giving up. Remember, the rewards far exceed the temporary discomfort.

So stay committed to our time of fasting by staying focused on our motivation and on God’s Word. Each day we’re going to wake up and decide afresh to be firm and resolved putting God before all other things. Also, don’t under estimate the power of God’s Word during this time. Allow His presence to pour over you and speak directly to you through His Word. The biggest reason we fast is to respond to God’s love toward us. It is as if we are saying to God: “Because You are righteous and holy, and loved me enough to send Jesus to die for my sins, I want to get to know You more intimately.” Jeremiah 29:13 says. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” We want to take extra time to seek and praise God by abstaining from certain foods during the Daniel Fast. When we deliberately set aside time for fasting, we are showing we want to seek God.

There are other benefits, however. One of the benefits is that we eat healthy. Without a clear sense of motivation, it is harder to stay the course. But once you know why you care and must be healthy, your motivation fuels you to stay focused. Ask why you want to be healthy. Is it to live in God’s will? To have more stamina? Or to be a great role model for someone you love? Fitness is another important piece that will help you make progress, record your health numbers. Find out and record your basics: height, weight, blood pressure, and activity level (sedentary, light, regular, active, vigorous). Over the fast you can see the progress you make and that becomes motivation as well.

Discussion Questions:
1. What is your “why” for participating in the Daniel Fast? What do you do to keep it in the forefront during the 21 days. What are your goals?
2. What aspect of your attitude toward God do you want to see improve during the fast?
3. Is eating healthy motivation? What about fitness?
4. Pray and ask God to give you the right motivation, the right mindset and the right goals during the 21 day fast.

Fast and Furious

Posted on

As you know we as a congregation have embarked on a 21-day fast called the Daniel Fast.

The concept of the “Daniel Fast” comes from the commitment that Daniel and his Hebrew friends made while in Babylonian captivity to eat only fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while abstaining from meat, desserts, caffeine, and wine. The Bible does not give us specific details on the “Daniel Fast” but rather says Daniel refrained from the king’s rich food and requested only vegetables and water. In spite of this lean menu, the Scriptures say they emerged with their features appearing better than all those who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies.

It is important to remember that the intent of any fast is to deny yourself something that you would normally do in order to focus more specifically on the Lord. The discipline and grace of fasting shifts our attention away from our hunger only for food to a fresh awareness of our hunger for God.

It is amazing to see what God does when He aligns your spirit with the Holy Spirit of God. Nothing does this like fasting. Your mind, will, emotion, and body fight against fasting. But when God leads you to fast, your spirit comes alive. You are automatically more in tune with God and His Spirit. You begin to see what He wants you to see, feel the way He wants you to feel, and sense what He wants you to sense.

As you immerse yourself in the Word of God during a time of fasting, you become alive to His will. You begin to see and sense what God is saying to you. As God speaks to us through the Word, it is prayer and fasting that can prepare us to hear and embrace the Word of God.

My hope is that your prayer life will deepen through the 21-day fast. We always want to be in prayer, but today God continues to give us opportunities and the only way to deal with them and seek His will in our lives is through prayer. Pray and ask God for wisdom as we seek to further His kingdom. Pray for wisdom in how we plan. Pray for the leadership of the church. And pray that God will show you and Northstar the path He would have us go.

One last thought. I would encourage you to let God decide what He would do through your fasting. During the 21 days, allow God to determine the results of your fast. It is easy to have a sense of entitlement. “ I fasted for 21 days so I should win the lottery.” Or “I fasted for 21 days so my soul mate should appear today.” When we fast we are not forcing God’s hand nor earning God’s favor. We are using God’s appointed channel to worship our Lord and Savior.

Discussion Questions:
1. Read Matthew 6:16-18. In verse 16 Jesus assumes that Christians will fast, yet few American Christians do. What factors do you think contribute to this?
2. In your mind, what is the difference between abstaining and fasting?
3. Before refrigeration and microwave ovens, one purpose of fasting was to free the person from the need to prepare a meal in order to spend time with God. What are some contemporary activities from which we might abstain for the same reason?
4. Under what circumstances might fasting be a helpful spiritual discipline for you? See Exodus 24:18; Nehemiah 9:1; Acts 14:23.
5. Pray together as a group for the changes God wants to accomplish in your heart and life regarding fasting.

The Fast Track

Posted on

“Do you have a hunger for God? If we don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. If we are full of what the world offers, then perhaps a fast might express, or even increase, our soul’s appetite for God. Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence is the path of pleasant pain called fasting.” – John Piper

Fasting is a common subject in the Bible. The Bible gives examples of God’s people occasionally combining fasting with their prayers so as to stir up their zeal and renew their dedication and commitment to Him. King David wrote “and humbled myself with fasting.” (Psalm: 35:13). Fasting is a means of getting our minds back on the reality that we are not self-sufficient. Fasting helps us realize just how fragile we are and how much we depend on things beyond ourselves.

The Bible records that great men of faith fasted so that they might draw closer to God. First, Elijah: “So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.” (1 Kings 19:8) Exodus 34:28 says, “Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.” Daniel 9:3: “At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.” And Daniel 10:2-3: “So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.”

James tells us, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James:4:8). Constant prayer and occasional fasting help us to do this. We are not to fast to have people feel sorry for us or to think we’re pious.(Matthew 6:16-18) Isaiah 58 gives both bad and good examples of fasting, contrasting wrong attitudes and actions (Isaiah 58:3-5) with the right approach. (Isaiah 58:6-10) Nehemiah set the example of having a repentant frame of mind. (Nehemiah 9:1-2)

Why is fasting mentioned so much in Scripture? Because it helps us discern the will of God. And, it destroys strongholds. Now, you may be thinking, “Marty, that may be true for some people, but not me. There aren’t any strongholds like that in my life.”

Well, that could very well be true. But have you thought about the stronghold of fear? Or the stronghold of bad habits? Or the stronghold of anger, jealously, rebellion and resentment?

Think about your relationships. In our series Sabotage, we talked about the things that can cause the most damage in those relationships? If you can think of a behavior pattern or habit that’s had a history of hurting the people you love, that one thing could very well be a stronghold that our enemy is using to trip you up.

Fasting gives you God’s focus for your life. It is a major key to hearing God’s voice. We need focus from God more than anything. The world we live in is working overtime to distract us, to entice us, to win our hearts and minds, our focus, and to determine our vision. Fasting cuts out the world so we can tune into God. If we are obedient to God, fasting will make us catalysts for revival and awakening.

So why not pray about whether or not you should commit to the 21-Day Daniel Fast that Northstar is starting on March 15. Sure, you might have to skip some of your favorite foods and yes you will eat differently. But, if it will help you deny yourself, defeat your enemies, discern the will of God, and destroy strongholds, why not give it a try?  My prayer is that you will join us as we fast and seek God’s will and direction for our future.

Discussion Questions:
1. Do you believe that is it important for every believer to practice the spiritual discipline of fasting? Why or why not?
2. If you are going to participate in the Daniel Fast, what are your specific aims? What do you foresee your challenges to be as you take part in the Daniel Fast? How might you use prayer to help you overcome them?
3. Do you have any fears or apprehensions about beginning the Daniel Fast? What wisdom can you glean from Daniel’s story in the message this week that could help put your fears to rest?
4. Share about a time you fasted and prayed. What did God reveal to you during that time? What might you do differently this time around with the Daniel Fast?
5. Pray and ask God that He will bring you closer to Him through your fasting.

The Skinny on Fasting

Posted on

“At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.” – Daniel 10:2-3

Northstar Church will start our 21-Day Daniel Fast on March 15 and end on Easter. We are so excited to see what God will do during our fast. Entering into a period of extended prayer and fasting is like pushing the “pause button” on life so you can draw nearer to God. The Holy Spirit joins you in this experience as you open your heart to receive from the Lord. The Daniel Fast is based on the fasting experiences of the Old Testament prophet.

I will be sharing a lot more information in the weeks leading up to March 15. In this post, I want to give you the Biblical background for the Daniel Fast.

The concept of a Daniel fast comes from Daniel 1:8-14. The short version is that the king’s food was against dietary laws. Daniel and his friends had vowed against wine. The king’s food had been offered up to idols/demons. But Daniel had found favor with the king. The story picks up in verse 10:”…but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your[a] food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.”

Daniel and his three friends had been deported to Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians conquered Judah (2 Kings 24:13-14). Daniel and his three friends were put into the Babylonian court servant “training program.” Part of the program was learning Babylonian customs, beliefs, laws, and practices. The eating habits of the Babylonians were not in complete agreement with the Mosaic Law. As a result, Daniel asked if he and his three friends could be excused from eating the meat (which was likely sacrificed to Babylonian false gods and idols).

The result of the 10 day test is recorded in Daniel 1:15-16. “At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.”

In verse 17 we read: “To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kind.”

Fasting is a very important part of having a healthy relationship with God. It helps put our spiritual and physical life in perspective. God gives us specific ways to worship and honor Him in the Bible and He instructs us to fast in many scriptures. Joel: 2:12 says, “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

We believe fasting opens our hearts and minds to receive what God is saying and perceive what God is doing in our lives and the lives of our church as we pursue our vision of helping the whole world find and follow Jesus.

Stay tuned for more information.

Discussion Questions:
1. Do you believe that is it important for every believer to practice the spiritual discipline of fasting? Why or why not?
2. If you are going to participate in the Daniel Fast, what are your specific aims? What do you foresee your challenges to be as you take part in the Daniel Fast? How might you use prayer to help you overcome them?
3. Do you have any fears or apprehensions about beginning the Daniel Fast? What wisdom can you glean from Daniel’s story that could help put your fears to rest?
4. Share about a time you fasted and prayed. What did God reveal to you during that time? What might you do differently this time around with the Daniel Fast?
5. Pray and ask God that He will bring you closer to Him through your fasting.