7 Days:
SPIRITUAL RENEWAL FAST
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1ST - Saturday, NOVEMBER 7th
Beginning on Sunday, November 1st through Saturday, November 7th we are calling our church to a time of fasting and prayer. The purpose of this fast is to seek the Lord for spiritual renewal. In Christ, the Scriptures tell us that we are “new creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17), yet we often find ourselves walking in our old man. Rather than the abundant life that Jesus promised us, our spiritual life can feel stunted, lacking a sense of flourishing.
During this time of consecration, we fast and pray, not because we seek God’s hand to accomplish something for us and not to earn his love. Indeed, God loves us to the utmost already - as he showed us on the cross! Rather, we deny ourselves in fasting and we engage intentionally in prayer, because we desire to train our hearts to focus on God before everything else.
WHAT AM I INVITED TO DO?
Discern how God is leading you to fast
Set aside time to pray each day
Engage with community (join a small group, find a prayer partner)
Additionally, Pastor Kris has created a prayer journal with daily devotionals for these 7 days. You can download that resource below. We hope one and all will join us in intentionally engaging in the spiritual discipline of fasting during this time. On Sunday, November 8th we will come together and celebrate how God has met us as a church!
HOW CAN I PREPARE & PARTICIPATE?
Daily Prayer Call on Zoom (7pm daily from Nov 1st to Nov 7th)
Zoom Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82255830830
We encourage you to check out these resources on fasting to learn more about how to engage in this practice, why it is practiced, and different ways you can fast. We encourage you to try a food fast of some sort (if you are medically able). Or you could fast in another sacrificial way (e.g. fasting from streaming services, social media and internet browsing).
During this time of fasting, we encourage you to set aside time to pray. You could spend time praying scripture, going on a prayer walk, praying while listening to worship music, praying the Lord’s prayer, journaling to God, or interceding with a friend - there are many wonderful ways to pray! Be intentional and plan some ways you want to engage with God during this time.
Additionally, we have created a prayer journal with daily devotionals (available as a downloadable pdf). We hope this resource will be an encouragement to you, as well as a way for us to be united in prayer and the word of God as a community throughout these 7 days. Even after this time of fasting and prayer is done, we hope this is a resource you could return to.
Small Groups
Our spiritual life is not meant to be lived solo! We encourage you to check out a small group to get to learn and pray together with others during this special season. There’s nothing like the encouragement of friends to help you persevere in your desire for God, and diverse perspectives bring to spur our growth during this time. Whether you are new to faith or a longtime Christian, and whether you’ve been coming for a long time or this is your first week at Hope Astoria, all are warmly welcome! Simply contact any group leader for meeting details, and to join in! List of groups: http://hopeastoria.org/small-groups
Questions?
If you have any questions, Pastor Kris would be happy to hear from you. Please feel free to reach out (contact us buttons are on our staff page).