In Matthew 6 Jesus instructs His disciples in three critical spiritual disciplines. He gives direction for praying, giving and fasting. Each time He says “when you give…” “when you pray…” and “when you fast…” When. Not if. Thus, as His followers we must set aside times as individuals and a church to fast and seek Him. From the evening of January 11th thru the evening of January 21st, we will be doing what is commonly referred to as the “Daniel fast,” taken from Daniel 1 where Daniel takes a diet of “vegetables and water” for 10 days. During this time of fasting, we will use www.daniel-fast.com as the main resource for “what to eat and what not to eat.” This diet also allows fruits, nuts, grains and unleavened breads. This website suggests only water, but natural juices, teas, decaf coffee, etc. are allowable in other Daniel fast resources. The big no-nos are meat, dairy, alcohol, sugar, caffeine, sweets, traditional leaven breads and anything processed. Finally we encourage everyone to do a complete fast, drinking only water, for the last 24 hours of the 10 day period.

On Wednesday night, January 21th at 6:45, we will break this fast with a Night of Prayer and Worship at our new location, 1300 N Central Ave! The purpose of a fast is to turn to God when we get hungry and to allow God to sustain us when we might feel weak. Fasting without turning to God and setting aside time to seek Him is like going to Disneyland and never visiting an attraction. God has to be in the “recipe” of our fast…or we’ve forgotten the most critical part. Please use the scripture below as a reading and prayer guide during this fast. Other fasting devotionals can be found at youversion.com. We pray you join us by praying and fasting.

DAY 1: Pray for Gratitude (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18)

DAY 2: Pray for a friend, family, member or neighbor (Luke 10:25-37)

DAY 3: Pray for justice for all people (Psalm 103:6)

DAY 4: Pray for the vulnerable children who are without a family (James 1:27)

DAY 5: Ask God to give you His heart for all people (Ezekiel 11:19)

DAY 6: Ask God to show you His plan for your work or school life (Romans 12:1)

DAY 7: Pray for families (Ephesians 5:22-33; 6:1-4)

DAY 8: Thank God for His Church (Matthew 16:18)

DAY 9: Pray for New City Church & our part in God’s redemptive plan for Phoenix (1 Peter 2:9-12)

DAY 10: Thank God for Jesus (John 3:16)