Womens Bible Cafe™ |
| Spiritual Growth Begins Today With 40 Days of Fasting Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:15 PM PST
Are you ready for a 40-day journey you’ll never forget? Let’s get started! From the beginning, let’s agree this is not prosperity teaching or affiliated with the prosperity gospel movement. I’m not praying to get rich. I’m not giving to my church or charities so that I receive rich rewards. Nope. Let’s also understand this is not a Lenten activity practiced by Catholics. The Catholic tradition includes penance and self-examination of sins. It focuses on sacraments mandated by the church and also the acts of prayer, abstaining and almsgiving. I’m not fasting to reveal sin. Now that I’ve removed the obstacles to 40 days of fasting, let’s begin our journey with the Holy Spirit! According to Dr. Elmer Towns there are Nine fasts of Isaiah 58:6-8
I am praying that He teaches me to be a good steward of money, so my financial fast is based on #7 for insight and decision making. I am praying that He shows me what are necessities and what are luxuries. I am praying that He teaches me to fill the empty spaces in my heart with God’s love and the Presence of Jesus, rather than with excess spending or eating. I am praying to take my mind off money and that it will not become an idol in my life. What are you praying for? While fasting financially, I am praying for you too. I’ll be reading your comments on the Facebook event page. I will be interceding and lifting you up in prayer. Some of you are struggling financially and praying for employment or debt reduction. Others are struggling to create a budget or stay within your budget. A few have let money become the master of your life or allowed it to shame you. Together we’ll pray to break any strongholds that money has assumed in our hearts. Tip: Facebook event pages are PUBLIC so anything you post there can be viewed by friends, family, coworkers, even your boss! Use the edit feature to delete your comment if you want it removed from the page God may be calling you to deny yourself something for the next 40 days. Pray into this and ask Him to reveal things on your shopping list that are unnecessary. Ask Him to examine your calendar of events. Sit with your bank statements and ask Him to line-item those things that are necessary and those that are not. Most importantly ask Him “Am I being a good steward of my money?” Wait for an answer. Create a simple list of what you will allow and what you will deny yourself for the next 40 days. What YOU give up and what makes YOU uncomfortable is going to be different than someone else. For example, I do not smoke or drink, so if I gave up the cost buying cigarettes or alcohol for 40 days, it would have zero impact on my life and I would not grow spiritually. I do have an addiction to books and it will make me uncomfortable to miss a daily book deal or shop on Amazon. This is just one example of where I feel the Holy Spirit telling me to cut unnecessary spending. Scriptures to Study or MemorizeWhatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. John 14:13-14 ESV If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:7 ESV Never stop praying. 1 Thess. 5:17 NLT Tip: using your cell phone, snap a photo of these verses so you can find them easily Steps For Spiritual Growth
With love,
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Womens Bible Cafe To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
