INTRODUCTION
The Elders of Fellowship Community Church (FCC) believe times of corporate prayer and fasting are called for so that we can lift our voices in focused and unified prayer. The day is evil, the church is weak, our nation is crumbling, and tens-of-thousands of souls perish each day to go into a Christ-less eternity.
The things we need to pray for are numerous and weighty:
· Many of our friends, neighbors, and loved ones are lost;
· Our world has gone mad;
· The church in America needs a spiritual awakening;
· National elections will determine whether America remains free or becomes locked in the growing tyranny of secular socialism;
· The sick and infirmed among us are suffering;
· The church’s work of world-wide missions, evangelism, and church-planting is faltering;
· Our own church needs to experience spiritual awakening; and
· Every one of us needs a spiritual renewal and a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit.
This “Fasting for the 2016 Election” booklet may be useful in taking you through otherwise unfamiliar territory. Using it will keep us all on the same page in our individual prayer times. If you feel led to do something else, please follow the Lord’s leadership. Don’t allow this guide to becomes a hindrance to what God wants for you.
Our Purpose and Focus
The purpose of this fast is very specific. We will fast and pray for the national elections that are currently underway. We are asking God to guide the citizens of our nation to elect the candidate that will best fulfill his will for our nation. Many find the choices quite difficult, so a message brought to FCC on several occasions in the past, and updated to more specifically speak this election, is attached at the end of this booklet.
If you choose to join us in our endeavor, we recommend you fast food by not eating breakfast, lunch and supper on Friday, November 4th, which is the day our fast starts (and no snacking between, but drink plenty of fluids). We challenge you to go to bed hungry, only breaking the fast with breakfast here at the church on Saturday morning, November 5. If a food-fast is not doable for health reasons, or if forgoing something else will accomplish the same result only better, then “fast” whatever works for you. During the time you would normally eat (or when you would engage in the activity you are “fasting”), use that time to meditate on Scripture, pray, and journal.
Make plans to join us Saturday morning here at the church at 9:00 a.m. as we break our fast together with breakfast and a time of corporate worship and prayer.
INSTRUCTIONS
Don’t just skip meals. Fasting without prayer is called dieting.
Drink something other than coffee (remember, this isn’t supposed to be easy). Water is preferable, although juices or milk are okay. Just remember that these liquids are nourishing your body, and the idea of fasting is to deprive your appetites as an act of self-sacrifice, and the nourishment of your body as an act of dying to self.
Get alone somewhere (unless you share this experience with family). The church will be open all day and Pastor Lonnie will be available to pray if you want to pray with someone.
Remove all distractions. This especially includes at least silencing your phone and turning off the TV. For many of us news-junkies, this in itself will be an act of fasting. It is preferable you leave your phone somewhere else, since many of us are slaves to our social media. Get quiet before God during the times you would normally eat your meals.
Above all else, resist the temptation to do (or even worry over) the other things you need to be doing. Even if these things don’t physically pull you away from your quite times, they can pull you away mentally. Take a notebook or journal to write down a “to-do” of items that crowd your mind so that you can put them aside for later without worry.
Begin by reading Scripture. Keep your mind and heart open to the fact that God is its author and he’s talking to you. Make everything you read as personal as you can. Listen for God’s “voice.” Don’t just read, meditate.
Pray both the written prayers of and your own heart-prayers. Don’t just read the written prayers—pray them. Don’t be afraid to write your own prayers, it is a discipline that will keep your mind focused on what you are praying. Don’t be afraid to pray aloud and to assume a prayerful posture, like kneeling or prostration.
Journal your thoughts and prayers. Be honest with both God and your self. Nothing you write needs to be shared with anyone else.
Bring this prayer and fasting guide with you to the prayer service. There might be prayer requests, insights, words from the Lord, etc., that you will want to share during our time of corporate worship and prayer.
Fasting for the 2016 Election: A Short Guide—Friday, November 4, 2016
Breakfast
Read the following Scriptures aloud:
Psalm 5:1-3
Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my groaning. Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to You I pray. In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.
Psalm 139:14,17
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well… How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
Hebrews 4:16
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Pray:
Spend time praying over these three Scriptures as you come before the throne of grace, giving thanks for who God is and how he has extended his lovingkindness toward you even while in your mother’s womb.
Read Aloud:
Psalm 139: 23– 24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Matthew 5:23
Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
Pray:
Spend time allowing the Holy Spirit to search your heart. Don’t automatically start speaking to the Lord but get quite before Him. If specific sin comes to your mind, quickly confess to the Lord and turn to Him and away from the sin. As you confess, thank Jesus for forgiving you and cleansing you of all unrighteousness. (NOTE: Don’t confess sin in general but name it specifically when it is brought to your mind. If the Holy Spirit brings someone to mind with whom you need to be reconciled, give them a call, text them, or write them a letter during this time.)
Read:
Philippians 3:20-21
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to Himself.
Romans 13:1-2
Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
Pray: Pray this Scripture for yourself, the church, and all American citizens. It is a prayer by which we submit ourselves under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, as He is the Sovereign God and King. Whatever the election results, our allegiance first and foremost is to Jesus, and in submitting to the Lord we also submit to the governing authorities.
Lunch
Read:
Ephesians 6:10-12
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Galatians 5:13-15
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
Pray:
Pray for yourself and the body of Christ to put on the full armor of God. Satan wants to use this election to divide the church. He wants to use this election to turn a brother against a brother. Satan wants God’s people to walk in the flesh and not in the Holy Spirit. Pray fervently that we would be light in darkness.
Read:
1 Timothy 1:1-3
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
James 4:6
Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Pray:
Lift up the current President of the United States, Barak Obama. Lift up both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Pray for humility and a heart that calls on the name of the Lord when faced with difficult decisions for the country.
Read:
Psalm 1:1-3
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.
1 Corinthians 15:33
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
Pray:
Ask the Lord to put wise and godly men and women around the next President to give good counsel and minister good morals into the next Commander-in-chief. Ask the Lord to give the next President a heart that will hunger and thirst after righteousness and will desire to read and follow God’s word.
Dinner
Read:
Nehemiah 1:3-4
They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.” When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
2 Chronicles 7:13-14
If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.
Pray:
Spend time confessing before the Lord the cultural sins of our nation, sins that have brought our country down. Cultural sins such as:
Abortion—the killing of innocent children in the womb
Greed—the lust for wealth
Welfare Dependence—a willingness to take from others without working to be self-supporting
Sexual Immorality—Sex outside of marriage, pornography, homosexuality.
The Break down of the family—Children growing up fatherless
Let the Father break your heart over these cultural sins and others He may show you.
Read:
1 Timothy 3:15
I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
Acts 4:29-30
And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence. While You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.
Matthew 5:14-15
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Pray:
Ask the Lord for courage and boldness to stand for truth without shrinking back in these times in which we live. Pray for the body of Christ in general and our local church to be the pillar and support of truth that the Lord has called us to be in the community He has placed us in. Repent where we have tried to hide the light instead of shinning forth God’s light as a city set on a hill for all to see.
Read:
Hosea 4:1-2
Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel, for the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land. There is cursing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery.
Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
Pray:
Recognize before the Lord that our land has changed. Pray that the Lord would use His people during this election to be peacemakers of Jesus Christ by proclaiming Him and behaving in a way that is different than the rest of the society. Pray peace over those brothers and sisters in Christ who are fearing. Pray for a spiritual awakening to come upon this nation where kindness, faithfulness, and purity flood into the heart of the citizens of this land by encountering Jesus Christ.
Let us pray this prayer together:
Loving Father, our hearts are broken as we look upon our nation to see what we have become. We can hardly believe we allowed things to get to this state under our watch. Please forgive us for failing to live fully and openly the gospel we proclaim in our homes, our places of business and work, our educational institutions, and our communities. Give to us the grace of repentance and forgiveness, that we can then live in worthy obedience to receive your blessing. We humble ourselves before you in both prayer and fasting that we might seek your face and turn from our wicked ways. Forgive us. Restore us. Heal our Land. This we prayer in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD TO WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW. PRAISE HIM FOR HIS FAITHFULNESS, AND THAT AMERICA IS IN HIS HANDS TO DO AS HE WILLS! IN THE MIGHTY NAME OF JESUS, AMEN! ■
The Elders of Fellowship Community Church (FCC) believe times of corporate prayer and fasting are called for so that we can lift our voices in focused and unified prayer. The day is evil, the church is weak, our nation is crumbling, and tens-of-thousands of souls perish each day to go into a Christ-less eternity.
The things we need to pray for are numerous and weighty:
· Many of our friends, neighbors, and loved ones are lost;
· Our world has gone mad;
· The church in America needs a spiritual awakening;
· National elections will determine whether America remains free or becomes locked in the growing tyranny of secular socialism;
· The sick and infirmed among us are suffering;
· The church’s work of world-wide missions, evangelism, and church-planting is faltering;
· Our own church needs to experience spiritual awakening; and
· Every one of us needs a spiritual renewal and a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit.
This “Fasting for the 2016 Election” booklet may be useful in taking you through otherwise unfamiliar territory. Using it will keep us all on the same page in our individual prayer times. If you feel led to do something else, please follow the Lord’s leadership. Don’t allow this guide to becomes a hindrance to what God wants for you.
Our Purpose and Focus
The purpose of this fast is very specific. We will fast and pray for the national elections that are currently underway. We are asking God to guide the citizens of our nation to elect the candidate that will best fulfill his will for our nation. Many find the choices quite difficult, so a message brought to FCC on several occasions in the past, and updated to more specifically speak this election, is attached at the end of this booklet.
If you choose to join us in our endeavor, we recommend you fast food by not eating breakfast, lunch and supper on Friday, November 4th, which is the day our fast starts (and no snacking between, but drink plenty of fluids). We challenge you to go to bed hungry, only breaking the fast with breakfast here at the church on Saturday morning, November 5. If a food-fast is not doable for health reasons, or if forgoing something else will accomplish the same result only better, then “fast” whatever works for you. During the time you would normally eat (or when you would engage in the activity you are “fasting”), use that time to meditate on Scripture, pray, and journal.
Make plans to join us Saturday morning here at the church at 9:00 a.m. as we break our fast together with breakfast and a time of corporate worship and prayer.
INSTRUCTIONS
Don’t just skip meals. Fasting without prayer is called dieting.
Drink something other than coffee (remember, this isn’t supposed to be easy). Water is preferable, although juices or milk are okay. Just remember that these liquids are nourishing your body, and the idea of fasting is to deprive your appetites as an act of self-sacrifice, and the nourishment of your body as an act of dying to self.
Get alone somewhere (unless you share this experience with family). The church will be open all day and Pastor Lonnie will be available to pray if you want to pray with someone.
Remove all distractions. This especially includes at least silencing your phone and turning off the TV. For many of us news-junkies, this in itself will be an act of fasting. It is preferable you leave your phone somewhere else, since many of us are slaves to our social media. Get quiet before God during the times you would normally eat your meals.
Above all else, resist the temptation to do (or even worry over) the other things you need to be doing. Even if these things don’t physically pull you away from your quite times, they can pull you away mentally. Take a notebook or journal to write down a “to-do” of items that crowd your mind so that you can put them aside for later without worry.
Begin by reading Scripture. Keep your mind and heart open to the fact that God is its author and he’s talking to you. Make everything you read as personal as you can. Listen for God’s “voice.” Don’t just read, meditate.
Pray both the written prayers of and your own heart-prayers. Don’t just read the written prayers—pray them. Don’t be afraid to write your own prayers, it is a discipline that will keep your mind focused on what you are praying. Don’t be afraid to pray aloud and to assume a prayerful posture, like kneeling or prostration.
Journal your thoughts and prayers. Be honest with both God and your self. Nothing you write needs to be shared with anyone else.
Bring this prayer and fasting guide with you to the prayer service. There might be prayer requests, insights, words from the Lord, etc., that you will want to share during our time of corporate worship and prayer.
Fasting for the 2016 Election: A Short Guide—Friday, November 4, 2016
Breakfast
Read the following Scriptures aloud:
Psalm 5:1-3
Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my groaning. Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to You I pray. In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.
Psalm 139:14,17
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well… How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
Hebrews 4:16
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Pray:
Spend time praying over these three Scriptures as you come before the throne of grace, giving thanks for who God is and how he has extended his lovingkindness toward you even while in your mother’s womb.
Read Aloud:
Psalm 139: 23– 24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Matthew 5:23
Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
Pray:
Spend time allowing the Holy Spirit to search your heart. Don’t automatically start speaking to the Lord but get quite before Him. If specific sin comes to your mind, quickly confess to the Lord and turn to Him and away from the sin. As you confess, thank Jesus for forgiving you and cleansing you of all unrighteousness. (NOTE: Don’t confess sin in general but name it specifically when it is brought to your mind. If the Holy Spirit brings someone to mind with whom you need to be reconciled, give them a call, text them, or write them a letter during this time.)
Read:
Philippians 3:20-21
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to Himself.
Romans 13:1-2
Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
Pray: Pray this Scripture for yourself, the church, and all American citizens. It is a prayer by which we submit ourselves under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, as He is the Sovereign God and King. Whatever the election results, our allegiance first and foremost is to Jesus, and in submitting to the Lord we also submit to the governing authorities.
Lunch
Read:
Ephesians 6:10-12
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Galatians 5:13-15
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
Pray:
Pray for yourself and the body of Christ to put on the full armor of God. Satan wants to use this election to divide the church. He wants to use this election to turn a brother against a brother. Satan wants God’s people to walk in the flesh and not in the Holy Spirit. Pray fervently that we would be light in darkness.
Read:
1 Timothy 1:1-3
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
James 4:6
Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Pray:
Lift up the current President of the United States, Barak Obama. Lift up both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Pray for humility and a heart that calls on the name of the Lord when faced with difficult decisions for the country.
Read:
Psalm 1:1-3
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.
1 Corinthians 15:33
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
Pray:
Ask the Lord to put wise and godly men and women around the next President to give good counsel and minister good morals into the next Commander-in-chief. Ask the Lord to give the next President a heart that will hunger and thirst after righteousness and will desire to read and follow God’s word.
Dinner
Read:
Nehemiah 1:3-4
They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.” When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
2 Chronicles 7:13-14
If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.
Pray:
Spend time confessing before the Lord the cultural sins of our nation, sins that have brought our country down. Cultural sins such as:
Abortion—the killing of innocent children in the womb
Greed—the lust for wealth
Welfare Dependence—a willingness to take from others without working to be self-supporting
Sexual Immorality—Sex outside of marriage, pornography, homosexuality.
The Break down of the family—Children growing up fatherless
Let the Father break your heart over these cultural sins and others He may show you.
Read:
1 Timothy 3:15
I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
Acts 4:29-30
And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence. While You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.
Matthew 5:14-15
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Pray:
Ask the Lord for courage and boldness to stand for truth without shrinking back in these times in which we live. Pray for the body of Christ in general and our local church to be the pillar and support of truth that the Lord has called us to be in the community He has placed us in. Repent where we have tried to hide the light instead of shinning forth God’s light as a city set on a hill for all to see.
Read:
Hosea 4:1-2
Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel, for the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land. There is cursing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery.
Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
Pray:
Recognize before the Lord that our land has changed. Pray that the Lord would use His people during this election to be peacemakers of Jesus Christ by proclaiming Him and behaving in a way that is different than the rest of the society. Pray peace over those brothers and sisters in Christ who are fearing. Pray for a spiritual awakening to come upon this nation where kindness, faithfulness, and purity flood into the heart of the citizens of this land by encountering Jesus Christ.
Let us pray this prayer together:
Loving Father, our hearts are broken as we look upon our nation to see what we have become. We can hardly believe we allowed things to get to this state under our watch. Please forgive us for failing to live fully and openly the gospel we proclaim in our homes, our places of business and work, our educational institutions, and our communities. Give to us the grace of repentance and forgiveness, that we can then live in worthy obedience to receive your blessing. We humble ourselves before you in both prayer and fasting that we might seek your face and turn from our wicked ways. Forgive us. Restore us. Heal our Land. This we prayer in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD TO WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW. PRAISE HIM FOR HIS FAITHFULNESS, AND THAT AMERICA IS IN HIS HANDS TO DO AS HE WILLS! IN THE MIGHTY NAME OF JESUS, AMEN! ■
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