Church family, thank you for making the unified commitment to seek the Lord during our Urgent Gospel 36 hours of prayer + fasting from 7 PM October 14 through 7 AM October 16. Below are the five prayer sessions we are asking you to participate in during these 36 hours. You can choose to pray alone, with your family, or with others (in a small group) during each session. No matter whether at home, work, school, or wherever you find yourself, please just make the commitment to pray during each session. Additionally, below are some notes on fasting for those new to this spiritual discipline. You’ll also be able to join Pastor Dave live if desired for an introduction to each of these sessions through social media during the 36-hour prayer fasting period by following @biblechapel.
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Unlike the ordinances of communion and baptism, fasting is not a command of Christ in Scripture for His Church.
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With that said, Jesus fasted (Matthew 4), taught on it, and the apostles and others modeled fasting as a healthy spiritual discipline.
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Jesus taught that fasting (Matthew 6:16-18) should not be for a public show (self-righteous Pharisees), but a humble discipline of prayer before the Lord.
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We see in Scripture that fasting was almost always connected to setting aside meals/food in order to devote that time to prayer.
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Fasting and prayer were often practiced in groups, particularly when significant decisions/moments were at hand for the Church (Acts 13:2-3, Acts 14:23, Mark 2:18).
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The main focus of fasting is not so much what a believer is giving up (food/something else), but instead it’s the dedicated time commitment one is sacrificing to fix their eyes/heart/mind on the Lord for a specific purpose in prayer.
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Whether you fast for the full 36 hours, for one meal, or not at all due to physical/other limitations, please make it a priority to join us in prayer for each of the five prayer sessions.
