Miriam Thurlow writes
Next week we are heading into 10 days of prayer and fasting as a network from Wednesday 23rd Nov through to Saturday 3rd Dec. So I thought it might be helpful to share some of the things I have been thinking about as we get ready for these 10 days.
Why fast?
Fasting is a spiritual discipline (or practice) that is a part of living the Jesus way, and it is about choosing to deny ourselves food (or something else) to help increase our focus on God. If we look at when people fast in the Bible we see that it is done alongside a time of intentional prayer, and often done as a community too. Jesus himself begins his earthly ministry with 40 days of fasting in the desert and continues to prioritise intentional prayer and fasting throughout his ministry. So fasting is about choosing to do without something so that instead we can give our focus to God in a more focused way as ask what God is saying to us.
What is a Daniel fast?
We are declaring a Daniel fast for these 10 days, but what does that mean? Daniel and his friends refused to eat the luxurious food of the King of Babylon and instead only ate vegetables and drank water (Daniel 1). Instead of becoming weak, it brought Daniel clarity and enabled him to be in a position of influence. He chose to do without the luxury foods and turn his focus on God and God’s priorities. For us, this might look like not eating dairy, meat and processed food and not drinking caffeine or alcohol for the 10 days. But it doesn’t have to be all those things, and we can tailor it to our own health and household circumstances. The main idea is about denying ourselves luxury foods (or another luxury) in order to increase our focus on God. We put down one good gift to receive something better.
How can you join in?
Individually - Individually (or as a household) choose what you are going to fast from for the 10 days and tell someone else to make yourself accountable to them
Collectively - there are several things going on which we would love for you to come and join in with in some way:
2 Half-nights of prayer in Christ Church (Wed 23rd & 30th Nov), 7pm-midnight
Whole night of prayer in Christ Church (Fri 2nd Dec), 7pm-7am
Day of Prayer & Reflection at Christ Church (Sat 3rd Dec), 10:30am-3pm
10 Daily Readings
You may want to join us for the entirety of the half/whole nights of prayer or you might like to pop down and join us for an hour or two. Also look out for other opportunities different Network Leaders are organising for spaces to come together and pray.
If you are interested in thinking more about fasting here are a couple of helpful links: https://www.24-7prayer.com/prayer_guide/try-fasting/ and https://bibleproject.com/podcast/practicing-faith-part-2-feasting-fasting/
Miriam