Fast Tuesday Week 1

I am thrilled that so many of you are joining us for Fast Tuesdays. I am so excited to see what God is going to do in our lives over the next 5 weeks as we seek God together every Tuesday. Each week I will be providing you with verses to read during your fast throughout the day. They will be specific to the three areas that we are praying together about:

• Personal Direction (Spiritual Renewal)
• Corporate Direction (Direction for Relevant Church and its leadership)
• Global Direction (Direction for our Nation, our leaders and world leaders)

As you read the scripture each week stop after each section and ask yourself these questions and write out your answers:

• What is God speaking to me/us through this passage?
• What do I/we need to do?

Please keep me informed of what God is doing because I know that there are going to be some great stories throughout our journey together. If this is your first time ever doing a fast I have listed below some basic instructions on our fast specifically along with some general information about fasting that will help each of us get the most our of this journey. I look forward to what lies ahead for Relevant Church as we seek His face.

Key Steps for Fast Tuesdays:

• We are fasting from the time you go to bed on Monday nights until dinner on Tuesdays.
• We are not eating food, but drinking only water
• We are asking each person to pray for three specific areas listed above and read the scripture listed for each week.
• Just click on the scripture link and it will take you to the scripture reading for the day.

FAST TUESDAY WEEK ONE SCRIPTURE

1. Personal Direction (Spiritual Renewal) Psalms 25
2. Corporate Direction (Direction for Relevant Church and its leadership) II Chronicles 7:14
3. Global Direction (Direction for our Nation, our leaders and world leaders) Nehemiah 1:1-11

General Information on Fasting:

• Fasting was an expected discipline in both the Old and New Testament eras. For example, Moses fasted at least two recorded forty-day periods. Jesus fasted 40 days and reminded His followers to fast, "when you fast," not if you fast.

• Fasting and prayer can restore the loss of the "first love" for your Lord and result in a more intimate relationship with Christ.

• Fasting is a biblical way to truly humble yourself in the sight of God (Ezra 8:21;II Chronicles 7:14). King David said, "I humble myself through fasting."

• Fasting enables the Holy Spirit to reveal your true spiritual condition, resulting in brokenness, repentance, and a transformed life.

• The Holy Spirit will quicken the Word of God in your heart and His truth will become more meaningful to you!

• Fasting can transform your prayer life into a richer and more personal experience.

• Fasting can result in significant personal, spiritual growth in your own life, and make you more ready to influence others spiritually.

• Fasting and prayer are the only disciplines that fulfill the requirements of:

II Chronicles 7:14
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

• If you fast, you will find yourself being humbled. You will discover more time to pray and seek God's face. And as He leads you to recognize and repent of unconfessed sin, you will experience special blessings from God

The main idea is to let the Holy Spirit bring to your mind those offenses in your relationship with God.