As we approach the new year...

... I want you to prayerfully prepare yourself for our annual 21 days of fasting and prayer.  We believe God going to do wonderful things here at Life Church and we want to make sure that we are in the absolute center of God’s will.  God is pretty clear about how He wants us to fast...about what our intentions are as we fast. Isaiah 58:6 7 (NIV) "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter    when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”

Our desire should be that through our fasting and praying that we see chains broken, addictions abolished, the cords that are tightly around the necks of the oppressed loosed, and to see them set free.  When Jesus sets someone free...they are free. This is the goal of our prayer and fasting. It is having compassion for the poor and hungry and helping those who cannot help themselves. Understanding that our families have to be of utmost importance to us. Our fasting should renew our love for God and for each other!

What can we expect when we fast in sincerity and according to God’s will?  Isaiah 58:8 11 (NIV)   “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.  Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.  The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” Come on, Life Church, let us fast together and see God grow Life Church to one thousand plus and start a new campus!