CONTENTS A Practical Guide to Fasting 3 My Plan 6 Answered Prayers 7 Faith Goals 8 My Prayer Commitments 9 Introduction 11 Day 1: The Mandate to Multiply 12 Day 2: The Method for Multiplication 14 Day 3: The Ministry of Multiplication 16 Day 4: The Means of Multiplication 18 Day 5: The Result of Multiplication 20 A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO FASTING Why Fast Fasting is a spiritual tool God uses to advance His kingdom, change the destiny of nations, spark revival and bring victory in people s lives. King s Park begins each new semester with five days of prayer and fasting to humble ourselves before God, consecrate ourselves to Him for the upcoming year and corporately agree for breakthroughs. Jesus fasted. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. MATTHEW 4:1 2 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. LUKE 4:14 Jesus knew He was going to need spiritual strength to fulfill His purposes. Fasting makes us spiritually strong and prepares us to do God s work. Fasting is an act of humility and consecration. Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. EZRA 8:21 As we humble ourselves through prayer and fasting, we receive God s grace and have access to His heart. Fasting helps us become sensitive to the Holy Spirit. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. ACTS 13:2 3
When we deny ourselves of natural cravings and worldly distractions, we become more sensitive to God s voice. Then we are better able to focus on God and submit to His will. Fasting brings revival. If 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 and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 CHRONICLES 7:14 Throughout history, God has brought revival and delivered nations from destruction in response to prayer and fasting. Fasting helps us prevail in prayer and intercession. Fasting is healthy. Fasting cleanses your digestive system from toxins. Doctors consider fasting a cure for certain allergies and diseases. By learning to exercise discipline, fasting breaks unhealthy addictions in our lives. Planning Your Fast Then Joshua said to the people, Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. JOSHUA 3:5 Pray Spend time reading the Bible before the fast. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance in your prayers. On pages 8-10, write down your faith goals and specific prayer requests for your family, friends, church and nation. Commit Pray about the kind of fast you will undertake and commit to it ahead of time. Record your plan on page 6. Ask God for grace to help you follow through with your decisions. Act Start eating smaller portions a few days before the fast. Avoid food high in sugar and fat. Plan to limit physical and social activities for the week of the fast. Ask someone to be your prayer partner throughout the fast and have that person sign page 8. NOTE: Consult a physician, especially if you are pregnant, nursing or taking medication. If your situation does not allow you to do a full fast, determine what will work best for you. While Fasting [Jesus] answered, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. MATTHEW 4:4 Focus Set aside time to work through the devotionals. Be ready to respond to God s Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Pray Join at least one prayer meeting. Intercede for your family, church, pastors, nation, campuses and missions throughout the week. Replenish During mealtime, read the Bible and pray instead. Drink plenty of water and rest as much as you can. Be ready for temporary bouts of physical weakness and mental annoyances like impatience and irritability. Breaking the Fast And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him. 1 JOHN 5:14 15 Eat Reintroduce solid food gradually. Your body will need time to adjust to a normal diet. Start with fruits, juices and salad, then add more vegetables. Eat small portions throughout the day. Pray Don t stop praying! Trust God s faithfulness and timing. Carry your newfound passion for God throughout the semester. Be in faith for God to answer your prayers. 4 5
MY PLAN I AM THANKFUL TO GOD FOR Day 1 Fasting Options: Water only Liquid only One meal only Other Prayer Meeting(s) to Attend: Day 3 Fasting Options: Water only Liquid only One meal only Other Prayer Meeting(s) to Attend: Day 5 Fasting Options: Water only Liquid only One meal only Other Prayer Meeting(s) to Attend: Day 2 Fasting Options: Water only Liquid only One meal only Other Prayer Meeting(s) to Attend: Day 4 Fasting Options: Water only Liquid only One meal only Other Prayer Meeting(s) to Attend: We will gather daily Monday through Thursday at noon and at 7pm in the World Prayer Center. We will gather Friday at 7pm in the Sanctuary. Answered Prayers List highlights, answered prayers and lessons learned so far in 2018. 6 7
I AM BELIEVING GOD FOR I AM COMMITTING TO PRAY FOR Personal Faith Goals Spiritual Revival Physical Healing Prosperity and Abundance Rich Generosity Name Request(s) My Family Restoration of Relationships Household Salvation My Education/Career Excellence Promotion My Ministry Small Group Growth Salvation of Colleagues and Classmates If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. Matthew 18:19 Prayer Partner: 8 9
I AM COMMITTING TO PRAY FOR INTRODUCTION My Church Church Leadership Provision Discipleship Ministry My Community Campuses and Educational Institutions Local Government Outreach Opportunities In addition to the yearly routine of welcoming new students to the area and new families to the Triangle, we are celebrating the exciting things God has already done since our time of prayer and consecration in January. We rejoice in God s goodness to us while at the same time soberly preparing for His fresh direction and guidance. With this in mind, we eagerly anticipate the blessing of our Father which overflows TO us and THROUGH us. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely Your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life... PSALM 23:5-6 My Nation Government Officials Spiritual Revival Economic Prosperity Peace and Order 10 11
DAY 1: THE MANDATE TO MULTIPLY Focus: God has given us a mandate to multiply. Read: Genesis 1:26-28 Then God said, Let Us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Reflect God mandates us to multiply because we are designed to multiply. God designed us to multiply: Through what He has given us. We multiply by putting God on display through our lives, resulting in others knowing Him and our earth looking more like Heaven. One main way we multiply is by telling others about the Gospel. With the help of other people. (Vs 26) God eternally exists as three persons in one being. Because we were made to reflect God, we can only reflect the relationship in the Trinity by being in loving relationships with other people. The image of God is displayed through loving relationships. We are better together. (John 13:34-35) For His glory. After the fall of man, Adam and Eve still multiplied. (Genesis 5:1-3) Sin does not stop us from multiplying. It simply corrupts what we are multiplying. (2 Cor 5:20-21) Being given the righteousness of God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus restores our ability to multiply the image of God. God is interested in us multiplying more than we can imagine. He gives us His grace for us to multiply. Respond What purpose have you been living for? Is it your own defined purpose? Or is it the purpose of God for your life? 12 Consider the people God has placed around you. Do you see your relationships as God-given opportunities to multiply? Who does not know Jesus and needs to hear the Gospel? Whose glory have you been living for? Your own or God s? What in your life has been trying to rival the glory of God? (Popularity, Financial Prosperity, etc.?) Pray For revelation to see God s purposes for your life. For God to open your eyes to see and have a heart of compassion for the people in your life. For God to help you lay down things that are rivals to God s glory in your life, For God to replace the desire for your own glory with a desire for His glory. That God s Glory would fill our work, home, church and region as we represent Him and influence others. Notes 13
DAY 2: THE METHOD FOR MULTIPLICATION Focus: Death to self brings multiplication. Read: John 12:20-28 Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration paid a visit to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said, Sir, we want to meet Jesus. Philip told Andrew about it, and they went together to ask Jesus. Jesus replied, Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into His glory. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to serve Me must follow Me, because My servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves Me. Respond What areas of your life need to die and be submitted to God s ways? How did Jesus put His own needs and wants aside? Is there an area of your life that you have found difficult to change? Pray Ask God to reveal areas in your life that are not in agreement with His ways. Submit your needs and wants that you are trying to meet apart from God s ways to God. (example: I have a need for companionship. I have tried to meet that need through immoral relationships) Confess that God s ways are right and trust Him to meet all your needs. Notes Now My soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, Father, save Me from this hour? But this is the very reason I came! Father, bring glory to Your name. Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, I have already brought glory to My name, and I will do so again. Reflect The Seed, Christ o Jesus equates Himself with a single seed that dies and produces many new seeds o He told them that true glorification, greatness and legacy comes through death to self and service to God and man. o Jesus constantly died to self while living, forgiving and being generous to those who would betray and crucify Him. The Seeds, Christ followers o The same principle of Christ s multiplication holds true for us, His followers o Dying to self does not mean emptying yourself of your personality, will or emotions, but rather submitting those things under the Lordship of Christ. o If you want to multiply, change is required. We must think and act differently in life. 14 15
DAY 3: THE MINISTRY OF MULTIPLICATION Focus: God has given us a ministry to multiply. Read: Romans 15:14-21 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points, I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand. Reflect The Right Motivation for Ministry Ministry is God s ordained or assigned service for us, including our home, work, community, school, etc. In this letter Paul wasn t promoting himself but was affirming his readers. Paul was motivated to empower, not overpower, people by encouraging them that they had the tools necessary to perform the ministry given to them (v. 14). Seeing our lives as opportunities for ministry helps us to focus on worshiping God rather than pleasing people (v. 16). Paul was motivated by love for the lost rather than staying comfortable with the people near him and like him. He was motivated to reach people far from him, different from him and from his culture. (v. 20-21) The Right Message for Ministry: Paul clearly understood the message of the gospel. (Romans 1-14) It is a message that tells 16 us we are not good and we can t get to God through good works, but that by God s grace we are saved from sin and death. The Right Mixture for Ministry Word & Deed. We open our mouths to preach the Gospel, share our testimonies and encourage others, and we practice good character, good actions and good reactions so that the gospel isn t mocked. Power of the Holy Spirit. We depend on the presence of the Holy Spirit to minister and walk in signs and wonders. We are baptized in the Holy Spirit. We walk in spiritual gifts to prophesy the heart of God, pray for the sick and receive power and wisdom from God. Respond What are your heart motives in your ministry: work, home, school, community, etc.? Are you motivated to worship God, empower others and love those not like you? Do you understand the Gospel message? Make time to learn and refresh your knowledge of the Gospel message. (Attend Growth Track stepone, a Biblical Foundations or Christian Living Life Group or Lead Well) Are you sharing the Gospel in word and deed? Pray Ask God to reveal to you motives in your heart for your work, education, recreation, community and church service. Why do you do what you do? Confess wrong motivations (greed, pride, selfish ambition, shame.) and ask God to replace those motivations with the motivation to worship Him with all that you do. Ask God for deeper understanding of the Gospel and desire to share the good news through word and deed with people in your life. Notes 17
DAY 4: THE MEANS OF MULTIPLICATION Focus: People are God s means for multiplication Read: Ephesians 4:7-14 However, He has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. That is why the Scriptures say, When He ascended to the heights, He led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to His people. Notice that it says He ascended. This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that He might fill the entire universe with Himself. Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. God multiplies through people (continued) who use their gifts to do their part. Every person has a part as an active member of the body of Christ. Eph 4:16 says it is from Him, Christ, that we grow and are built. When we undervalue ourselves, we also are underutilized in Christ s body. We are all valuable and useful for service to God. Respond What gifts has God given you? How are you using the gifts God has given you? Is anything hindering you from using your gifts and being an active member of Christ s body? Pray Acknowledge the gifts God has given you: your salvation, faith, strengths and spiritual gifts. If you can t acknowledge these, pray for God to reveal the gift of salvation, gift of faith, your strengths and spiritual gifts to you. Ask God to show you new ways to use these gifts in every area of your life. Ask God to help every son and daughter to believe in His power that lives in them to influence others. Notes Reflect God multiples through people who receive God s grace. In Eph 4:7 we see that God provides apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip God s people to do the work of the ministry. All of God s people are either equippers or ministers. We receive the gifts needed to equip and minister through Christ. His life, death and resurrection make it possible for God s people to work together to fulfill His purposes. who are in process. In Eph 4:14-15 Paul teaches us that people are in process from spiritual infancy to maturity. God uses people at all stages of their process. Paul provides many examples of this process in Eph 4:28-32. Steve Murrell the president of Every Nation has said, God uses ministry to bring maturity. This is much like marriage, parenting or taking on greater responsibility at our workplace and schools. We have opportunity to mature as we do the work of ministry. 18 19
DAY 5: THE RESULT OF MULTIPLICATION Focus: Multiplication brings new life. Read Mark 4:2-8 (ESV) And He was teaching them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said to them: Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as He sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold. Pray For God to make you good soil for new life. Confess that with God you have an abundance of life, love, provision and every good thing. Ask God to help you live as one who lacks no good thing. As a person who does not lack, ask God to plant new people, new ideas, new opportunities in your life that you can love and steward for His glory. Notes Reflect Just as a seed that is sown on good soil produces a hundredfold return, when we die to ourselves, serve others and submit our lives to God s mandates He produces new life: In us Harmful habits and the power of sin are broken Intimacy with God flourishes Peace, joy and other fruits of the Spirit abound Life and growth replaces death and destruction Through us When we love our neighbor as ourselves, we reflect God s love for man Serving others brings hope and encouragement to them The good news of Christ spreads to others so they may know God Beyond us Those we reach, reach others Acts of love and sacrifice have repercussions beyond the current need/person Respond How can you prepare your heart to be good soil for new life? Who can you serve without expecting a return? Who around you needs the love and kindness of God? 20 21