03 Sep Fall Fast: Why We’re Fasting Next Week

As you have (hopefully) heard, Mosaic Church’s annual Fall Fast is coming up next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, culminating with a Night of Prayer and Worship. I hope you’re excited by this, or, at the very least, are encouraged by this!

Traditionally, fasting is a spiritual discipline in which the body is denied food for a length of time in order to focus more concretely and acutely around our need for God. While we certainly hope that many people are able to participate all three days, any participation anyone is able to do is a win, for sure! We have a guide on our website with more fasting information you can check out here.

Before I get into what our unique “fasting focus” is this time, let me give you three reasons why we (should) fast:

1. We fast for others
   We see throughout the Christian Scriptures that God meets us in our fasting in order to free others. When Jesus was ministering to a demon-possessed person in Mark 9, he said to his disciples: “This kind can only come out by prayer and fasting.” In other words, fasting can (and should) bring freedom to others.
2. We fast for ourselves
   In Psalm 35, David writes: “I humbled my soul with fasting.” I would argue that now, more than ever, in a loud, contentious, social environment, humility is something our soul needs.
3. We fast for God
   As in, fasting for more of God. God is what the human heart needs the most. As John the Baptist said about Jesus: “He must increase; I must decrease.” Fasting is a meaningful way of allowing that kind of increase in our lives.

Both individual and corporate fasts are modeled throughout both Testaments as a consistent rhythm of the life of God’s people. We don’t do this to be seen by others or patted on the back by others, but we can fast with others in a like-minded fashion for accountability and encouragement. You’ll notice in Acts 13, the early church was fasting–just because–and God spoke something great to them.

So what’s our focus?

Our focus this fast will be on trusting God for healing; healing in the areas of our souls, our relationships and our bodies. And by “our,” I don’t just mean yours alone, although certainly that is part of what I’m trusting God will be experienced. I’m meaning “our,” as in a corporate kind of healing and your neighbor’s kind of healing.

We will be sending out daily devotionals for those three days with messages from our elder team. I hope these encourage you, strengthen you and inspire you to believe for breakthrough for others and for yourself. And again, I hope you’ll join us either in the room or online for our Night of Prayer and Worship on Friday night at 6:30 pm (childcare is available for ages five and younger if you register for it).

I’m looking forward to it. As Pastor Cori said recently, “Everyone loves a good fast!”

I think she’s right. 🙂

Morgan