Stop! Fast! Pray!

No, don’t stop fast and pray. 

What do you do to while away your free time?  Our time wasters are often things we don’t even give conscious thought to.  Most of us check out social media, talk or text on the phone, play video games, watch t.v., read, eat, nap, and find other ways to fill space in our days.  Sometimes that space is just a few minutes of down time.  Sometimes it can be hours that get sucked away.

What if you stopped that time sucker for a time?  Just give it up and walk away from it for a short or long period that you determine.  Another way to say this would be to fast from this activity.  Fasting is one of those terms that scares most folks enough that they stop listening  when its mentioned.  Or panic, like I do. 

Fasting is a very old term.  Most of us feel hunger pangs just hearing the word.  But it doesn’t always mean you have to give up food.  It does mean giving something up and replacing it with something more important.  It does mean you have to choose to give up something that is important to you.  So, if social media is what you enjoy spending time doing, that would be what you choose to give up.  Don’t panic.  It’s not forever.  Most fasts are for a set period of time, with a specific goal in mind. 

In this case, the goal of the fast would be to replace the time killer with specific prayer for revival and renewal of Jesus’ church.  Hopefully you already have a prayer time in your day.

Pastor Ann has been teaching on Keys of the Kingdom: forgiveness, humility and prayer.  This week she’ll be bringing us a message about how the Key of fasting works.  Find out what she has to say on Sunday morning at 10:55.  In the meantime, please pray for revival in Jesus’ church.