Ignite Revival
Ministries
TM
Community fasting and prayer
Repent and return,
so that your sins may be wiped away,
in order that times of refreshing may
come from the presence of the Lord.
Acts 3:19
We're calling for a corporate city fast
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We are fasting - to empower and encourage the Churches in our city to UNITY so that we can effectively bring the lost to hear the Gospel.
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We are fasting - for the future of our city, for the youth of our community, the next generation, and for clarity as we seek to understand God’s vision, purpose, plans and will for our city.
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We are fasting - so that the Holy Spirit will be free to work in those that are unsaved in our communities, that they be drawn to a saving encounter with Christ.
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We are fasting - and believing that the Holy Spirit would cause us to see that, as HIS Church in our city, we DESPERATELY need one another. We cannot make city-wide impact without a UNIFIED city-wide Church.
Join us in this important fast the first Tuesday of each month
During a fast,
always devote extra time to:
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Reading God’s Word
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Praying
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Focusing on God
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Worshipping
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Serving and helping others
TYPES OF FASTING
There are several types of fasts, and there is no formula for determining which kind of fast, or duration, is most appropriate for you. The following are two Biblical examples of fasting:
Normal Fast
Withholding food, but not liquids like water and juices to maintain strength and electrolytes.
Partial Fast
In the Bible, Daniel and his companions ate vegetables and water, but not the Kings meat and sweets. This type of fast may be more appropriate if you have certain health issues. For some people, giving up chocolate or coffee may be a real reminder to pray. You can also fast anything that means something to you: television, media, sports, shopping, etc.
HISTORY OF FASTING
The practices of praying and fasting
can be found in both the Old and
New Testaments. Before Jesus began
his ministry he fasted for 40 days in preparation. The scriptures listed
in this brochure cite other instances
of fasting found in the Bible
REASONS FOR FASTING
God desires a relationship with us. He is chiefly interested in our trust and obedience. He is the object of our motivation. Fasting is an expression of our desire to seek and please Him. Fasting displays to God that He is more important than even food. Prayer and fasting seem to work in synergy. Once when the disciples failed to exorcise a demon, Jesus explained that in such instances prayer and fasting were required. Fasting seems to move God to action. Of course, this does not mean that we can manipulate God by fasting, but for some reason there are times God desires that we underline our requests with fasting.
MOTIVES
A particular danger in fasting is that
our God-centered motives can be
tainted by our motives to draw
attention to ourselves and impress others. Jesus cautions us to let our fast
be between us and God as much as possible. We know that God sees our heart and is never fooled.
(See Isaiah 58)
Scriptures Related to Fasting:
Matthew 4:1-4; Matthew 6:17-18; Matthew 17:14-20; Joel 1:14; Joel 2:12; Exodus 34:28; Acts 13:2-3; Acts 14:23; Isaiah 58
Our Prayer over Willow Springs, Missouri and Springville, California
Lord of the Harvest, we sense that You are about to issue the command to lower our net for the final harvest. Up until now, we have seen only a limited harvest because we can catch just so many fish with individual hooks and bait, but a NET can capture MANY. Help us to see that there is ONE NET spread over these cities, NOT many little nets made up of individuals or congregations – but ONE NET. It, too, is a LIVING NET comprised of all those TRUE BELIEVERS who are DEAD to the world and ALIVE unto YOU. The knots joining the net together are symbolic of the RELATIONSHIPS between Your people in these cities. If the net over these cities is torn and in a bad state of repair, when You issue the command to lower it, much of the harvest in this city will escape the net through the holes and tears, for YOU have said in Your Word that the world would know we are Your disciples by our love for one another. Father, You have saved WHOLE CITIES in the past, and You are able to do it again. If there was HOPE for SODOM, for the sake of ten righteous, then there is HOPE for these cities! So Father, we ask that You would raise up NET MENDERS in these cities, who will not rest until every tear has been mended, for the more perfectly repaired our net is, the greater the harvest will be our city. In Jesus’ Name we pray this– that mighty Name above all other names, which is our BANNER of PEACE, and our BOND of UNITY and HARMONY, abolishing every hostile dividing wall between the churches in our community. Thank you, Father.
We also participate in OneCry
A nationwide call to prayer for revival and spiritual awakening
OneCry is a nationwide call for spiritual awakening, a movement of believers urgently crying out to God to revive the church and transform the culture. OneCry is a movement of like-minded people, churches, and organizations who agree that our nation needs a dramatic turnaround. OneCry is also a resource center that provides tools to help your church, Sunday school class, small group, or friends seek God in prayer, repentance, and collective action.
Organizations, programs, and events haven’t brought the spiritual transformation we need personally or in our families and neighborhoods. And politics, education, and economic prosperity will not revive the soul of our nation.
But what might happen if thousands of prayer warriors pled with God for spiritual awakening? What if voices in communities across the nation were raised to share revival truth? What if leaders called the world to spiritual renewal? What if believers everywhere earnestly sought the manifest presence of God? And what if God heard from heaven and healed our land?
That’s our one cry! (Learn more at onecry.com)
So little talked about, so little taught about, so little preached about, so little prayed with, yet so powerful a weapon. Fasting is so spiritually explosive the enemy wants to keep it a secret. Men of the past knew of it's power, our country new of its need, so much so, that in 1863 it was made a proclamation for the whole country to abide by. Fasting expands our capacity to contain what the Holy Spirit wants to do in and though us. Our prayers are intensified by fasting. Our prayers are multiplied by fasting and our prayers are sanctified by fasting. Fasting is not fun or enjoyable but it is powerful and a weapon much needed in our lives today.
So how do you take an old wineskin and renew it? It's simple really. You take the old dried up wine skin, submerge it under the water for a while. Then bring the wine skin out of the water and rub olive oil on the wineskin. Then then repeat the process until the wineskin is soft and flexible. We also need to be submerged into the Holy Spirit (Water) and then have the oil, also representative of the Holy Spirit rubbed all over us. This will allow us to become soft and flexible and gives us the ability to expand. Fasting does that, it expands us, softens us, makes us pliable and ready to accept the power of God that wants to flow through us. Fasting enlarges us as conduit. We can place our hand on the problem, the other hand on God and stand in the gap. God's power is limitless, His power hasn't changed, we change and are the conduit to the connection.
“Even now,” declares the LORD, return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
Joel 2:12