Prayer Week

Prayer and Fasting for 2022

We will observe 7 Days of Fasting and Prayer at Immanuel Church in the next three months.

Dates and Times of the Fast and Prayer:

1. Monday, January 17 to Sunday, January 23, 2022

2. Monday, February 21 to Sunday February 27, 2022

3. Monday, March 21 to Sunday, March 27, 2022

Also the church will host a time of in-person prayer on the following Fridays at 7PM: 

1. Friday, January 21, 2022 at 7PM

2. Friday, February 25, 2022 at 7PM

3. Friday, March 25, 2022 at 7PM

On each one of these three Fridays we will meet from 7PM to 8:30PM for worship and prayer.

Purpose of the Fast and Prayer:

To prepare and empower Immanuel Church for the steps and challenges the Lord will take the church through in the New Year as we engage the mission and vision to make and grow fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

How will the Fast and Prayer be done :

Each person should be careful to fast according to what they are able to safely follow. If you are able to fast from food safely for a part of the day (if you can miss one meal or more) than feel free to do so. If you can’t, then simply find the time in your day to pray for the spiritual, transformational, and physical growth of your church. Each day choose the time you will fast (i.e. 6AM – 6PM). And during that time period find a moment that you can sit in prayer in the Lord’s presence to pursue Him about the theme of the day which will be emailed out each day.

What will we pray for?

1. May we learn to worship God in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23-24) as His children (Romans 8:9, 16).

The true nature of worship is spiritual. True religion is more than following diet and observing certain days, wearing certain garments and holding ceremonies. True religion is found in the union of the spirit of men with the Spirit of God. It is only those united in purpose with God who can truly enjoy worshipping Him.

2. May the Lord equip us and gives us what we need as we obey His calling to follow Him. And may we answer the call to go deeper with Him and to attract others to Him. (Matthew 4:19).

In those early Galilean days Christ’s followers heard His call, rejected the old life, attached themselves to one another as His disciples. This total commitment was their confirmation of faith. Nothing less would do.

And it is not different today. He calls us to leave the old life and to begin the new. It must be clear among us and to the world that we are Christ’s disciples!

3. May we forsake all lesser things and pursue with greater intensity and passion the highest calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:7-8, 10, 13-14)

We must accept this as the sincere expression of a Normal Christian Life in Christ Jesus! We cannot remain indifferent toward spiritual things. Our prayer should be that the Lord help us in our efforts to make definite progress in the life of Christ. We will pray and seek to follow Christ at a deeper level in the following ways:

A. We will strive to get beyond thinking and talking about growing spiritually. We can’t just pray for this and hope for it! We must also set in place systems and habits to help us achieve this goal!

B. We will put away every un-Christian habit from among us. The more un-Christian habits we can put away, the more room we can make for God to work in us.

C. We will focus on Christ Himself as being at the center of our heart and the focus of our mind. Only in Christ will we find complete fulfillment. In Him, we can be united to the Godhead in conscious, vital awareness. All of God is accessible to you through Christ. Let’s get to know Him above all else.

D. We will throw our heart open to the Holy Spirit and invite Him to fill us! He will do it. Let no one interpret the Scriptures for you in such a way as to rule out the Father’s gift of the Spirit. Every man is as full of the Spirit as he wants to be. Make your heart a vacuum and the Spirit will rush in to fill it.

Nowhere in the Scriptures nor in Christian history was anyone ever filled with the Spirit who did not know that they had been, and nowhere was anyone filled who did not know when. And no one was ever filled gradually.

E. We will hold high expectations for ourselves. But we won’t be hard on others. Carry your own cross but never lay one on the back of another. Begin to practice the presence of God. Cultivate the fellowship of the Triune God by prayer, humility, obedience and self-denial (fasting and abstaining).

What outcome do we hope to achieve?

We hope to make rapid spiritual progress in the New Year. There is every reason why we should all go forward in our Christian lives and no reason why we should not. Let us go on. Let’s move ahead and seize all that God has for us in Christ Jesus this year!