Today (Wednesday) is an exciting day for our church family as over 1,000 people
participate in a Liquid Fast together from sun up to sundown! What's a Liquid Fast? Together we will:
- Avoid solid food
- Drink only water or natural juices (fruit or vegetable)
- No coffee, soda, or alcohol
- Replace your meals with prayer & worship!
The point of the fast is to draw closer to God & identify with Jesus. We are intentionally saying "no" to our flesh, so we can say "yes!" to more of the Spirit!
Remember: Jesus began his ministry by fasting for 40 days & nights in the wilderness.
- Today, we'll replace breakfast, lunch, and dinner with our liquid-only fast.
- Tonight, we'll come together at each Liquid campus for Prayer & Worship at 7:30pm!
If you've never fasted before, this is a great introduction to fasting. If you've done a Daniel fast, a "fluids-only" fast is a great new experience!
// READ & FEED: To get through today, you'll need to drink plenty of water & ask God to give you extra strength. A fast is a "declaration of dependency" on God-- fortunately, your Heavenly Father has plenty of food to go around!
This morning, read John 4:27-38 in which Jesus tells his disciples about the "secret food" that keeps him going. Notice how the disciples focused on the stomach; while Jesus focused on the soul!
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
// JOURNAL: Jesus said he had "food to eat that you know nothing about" (v 32).
According to verse 34, what exactly is Jesus' food?
It's easy to "super spiritualize" a fast and think, "Well, Jesus could do this because he was God-- but not me! I'll never make it through this day without coffee!"
What does it scare you most to give up today? Caffeine? Carbs? Candy?
My breakfast coffee with cream and sugar and my cheerios.
Are you worried about being cranky? Critical?
No - I'm just naturally that way -- probably need to be fasting JUST about those two issues:-).
Fasting reveals what controls us. But today, you're taking a big step toward freedom & aligning yourself with the will of God. There's something about empty vessels that the Father can't resist filling up!
// PRAY: Write out a prayer to God this morning confessing your weakness and all the things you typically depend on to get through the day. Tell Him that today you want some of the "secret food" Jesus talked about. Ask the Father to show you how to "do his will" and help "finish his work."
Commit the situation you're fasting about to the Father. Tell Jesus you trust Him and why this situation is important to you or your family.
Pray several times throughout the day! Whenever you experience headaches or hunger pains, let it serve as a reminder to pray & ask God for fresh strength for your soul. Let your weakness draw you to the Father and deeper dependency on Jesus.
My Prayer: Lord God, it's been awhile since I last fasted. You've blessed me with a beautiful little boy and I've been breastfeeding, so have not been able to do my annual fast. I miss it. However, even in these first few hours of a sun-up to sun-down fast, I find myself a bit irritable and impatient, mad at myself that I ate so late last night and almost forgot this morning by drinking a little green tea. I was beating myself and being impatient with Jonathan. I will not let the enemy sour this great day of consecrating myself to You. May You, Lord God, be my primary focus today. Let me take the words of Tim Cooper's devotion and cast all my care upon you, for you care for me. I need not be anxious, irritable, impatient or frustrated. I praise You for this day and for the gift of fasting. I thank you for the 1000+ saints who are participating corporately in today's fast as well as on 3/28 and 4/4. I thank You that this time we are giving you is a sweet aroma before You and that You are ready to dispense answers, deliverance, victory into the lives of each of us. Thank you for the requests I've put before You. I lay them at Your feet, in complete faith that You are able to work things out according to Your perfect plan for each person I've lifted up -- each concern. And Lord, indeed, I desire to be like Jesus -- to do YOUR will, to carry out the plans and purposes that You have for my life. I am your vessel. I offer myself as a living sacrifice, through which You can operate and move in the part of this world that You have set me. I thank You that all the words I've been receiving lately, through devotions and scriptures, point to Your call on my life to devote myself to a time of seeking You and developing the ministry of speaking to the skeptics and those who are backslidden -- to bring in a harvest of these individuals to Your throne of grace so that they can boldly come to You to receive mercy and grace -- and above all SALVATION in their time of need. Thank YOU for using my writing to accomplish this work. Thank you for opening the time for when this seeking time should commence. Thank you for taking care of me and Jonathan during this time. And thank you for the many deliverances and victories that will present themselves in the lives of those around me as I am obedient to Your call and continue to be used to intercede for others. In Your mighty and precious name, be with us today, Lord God and throughout this time of consecration - AMEN!
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