Day of Fasting

Below is an e-mail I sent out this morning to God's people at Harvey Oaks Baptist Church...

Good Morning:

Today is the second Tuesday of the month. Thus, it is the day we fast. Some will fast from food for the entire day. Others will fast during the daylight hours. Others will skip a meal or two. Others will fast from television or another activity. We fast in order to seek the Lord. We do so for spiritual breakthroughs in Harvey Oaks Baptist Church and in our lives.

Revival may even result! Elmer Towns writes in his book: Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough the following…

“Each of the sixteenth-century reformers also practiced fasting, as did the leaders of the evangelical revivals in the centuries to follow. Jonathan Edwards fasted for 22 hours prior to preaching his famous sermon, ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.’ During the Layman’s Prayer Revival in America in 1859, Christians fasted during their lunch hours and attended prayer meetings in churches near their places of employment. This revival broke out in large industrial cities of the northeastern United States.

Prayer was often accompanied by fasting as people sought the Lord for spiritual blessing during worldwide awakening in 1906. Billy Graham reports fasting and praying during his voyage to England to conduct his first British crusades in the early 50’s. The response in his meetings as that time has been described as one of the greatest revivals of our time. Many revival movements have advocated a return to the early Christian practice of fasting two days each week” (pg. 27).

Let us fast and pray that revival will come to Harvey Oaks Baptist Church.

Pray also for Neil Hughes, Heartland Baptist Director of Church Health. He will be preaching this Sunday at Harvey Oaks (“Fire & Reign: Emboldened by His Courage).

Reminder: There will be a time of fervent prayer for revival this Saturday in the church board room at 8:00 pm. This will be a time for us to really cut loose and pray for the fire of the Holy Spirit to come and for the reign of Jesus over us.

Let us stay ablaze for Jesus!

Pastor Bryan