July 7th

WHAT CAN CHRISTIANS DO?

FASTING

  

FAST, a blessing!
Definition:  Abstinence or abstention, total or partial, on certain days, for penance or religious or medical prescription. (Aurelio Dictionary)


But what is fasting for Christians? Is it starving?

In Isaiah 58.6,7 is written:

“ Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and  break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry  and to provide the poor  wanderer with shelter — when you see the  naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"

Examples of the practice of fasting:

1. In difficult situations, in which the divine help was indispensable. 2 Samuel 12:16

2. In times when we had to refuel, renew our strength for the difficult battles that lay ahead in their ministries and even in everyday life. Jesus: Matthew 4:2; Paul: 2 Corinthians 11:27, Esther 4:16 Et; Daniel: Dn 9.3
3. Fasting was also done collectively, done both by the nation, a city, the church etc... Israel Judges 20:26, City: Ninevites Jn 3:5-8, Leaders: the apostles 2 Corinthians 6:5.

How to make a fast? Matthew 6:16-18

Dictate rules and forms of sacrifice to the Lord is placing heavy burdens on people and many are led astray.

X

Do according to your heart with the main 

purpose of honoring the Lord.

Romans 14: 6-9 

"Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. "

In the practice of fasting is essential:
A) Reading the Word
B) Prayer

PRAYER

What is a prayer? When/where can you pray?

 

 

Why must we pray?

1.Because  the Bible tells us to pray – 1 Thessalonians 5:17

2.Because of our needs, family´s needs, church´s needs, world missions… 1 Thessalonians 4:1

3.God acts When we pray.

How to pray? 

“Prayer is the pouring out of sincere, conscious and warm the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in power and help of the Holy Spirit, those things that God has promised, or according to the Word, for the good of the church , with submission in faith to God's will.” 

John Bunyan

Get Started!
1. Understand what prayer is
2.Schedule yourself for (Genesis 24:36, Psalms 5:3, Psalms 42:8, Psalm 119:63, Daniel 6:10, Matthew 26:36, Acts 16:25)
3.Establish a location (Genesis 24:63, Matthew 14:23, John 11:41-42, Acts 21:5, Acts 22:16, Jonah 2:1, Matthew 6:6, Acts 16:25)
4.Keep the focus
5.Silent or aloud or written prayers
6.See how much time spent talking to God
7.Learn a method of prayer


Method of prayer, an example?
1. Start by reserving 15 minutes, in the morning
2. At first, pray thanking God for the opportunity to be in His presence and ask for that quiet time is a real experience of dialogue with God
3. Read a Bible text of your choice, with an average of 5 to 10 verses. If you do not understand it at first, do a second reading, getting to know the words or difficult to interpret the main idea of the text
4. After reading this carefully, meditate a little bit about what you read, asking the following questions: "What God wants to speak to me with this text?" and "How to apply the truths in my life learned?"
5. Return to pray to the Lord, but this time of intercession, following a simple structure in your prayer:
- Glorify God for what He means to you
- Thank God for blessings received
- Confess your sins to Him and attitudes of weakness
- Intercede for others
6. Finish with an "Amen".

John Piper´s F-A-D-E-S prayers

F- Free and Formed

- The difference between structured and unstructured prayer

- Being devoted to prayer will mean that what you say in your times or prayer will often be free and unstructured, and often be formed and structured

A - Alone and Assembled

- Pray alone or in the assembly

- Pray with God´s people. How are you doing this?

D- Desperate and Delighted

- Prayer is a place for meeting God with your deepest heartaches and fears

- And prayer is a place for meeting God with your highest joys and thanks

E- Explosive and Extended

- Short and long

- If you are devoted to prayer you will explode regularly with prayers of praise and thanks and need and they will not last more than a few seconds

- And also if you are devoted to prayer you will have times when you linger for a long time in prayer to the Lord

S- Spontaneous and Scheduled

- If we are devoted to prayer we will pray spontaneously through the day

- But we need the discipline of schedule.

As soon as you can, remember to pray

-Like children - pure, simple

-Like it was the first time - passionate, hungry, thirsty 

- Like it was the last time - you will never know...