Called to pray - Fast

Transcript (Auto-generated)

Thanks, thanks very much, Jason. Test one, two, one, two. Yeah, yeah. Coming through loud and clear. Hey, my name's Dave. One of the other pastors here. Great to be with you this morning. If you've got your Bible there, we're going to be in that. We'll get to Matthew chapter six in a little while, but we've got a few preliminary things to just breeze through fairly quickly beforehand. There'll be a whole bunch of Bible verses on the slides today in little brackets and they'll just be listed out there. Don't freak out. We'll send the slides out on email. We'll post them to the website. Take a photo of it if you need to. If you're struggling to catch up, the first part will go through fairly quickly. The idea is we're not going to actually have time to go through most of those Bible verses up front. We're going to focus most of our time on Matthew chapter six and a couple of verses from Matthew chapter nine this morning. But those are the ones that you'll see on the slides there for you this week. As you spend time with the Lord in His Word, I would encourage you to open it up and just to make sure that what I'm saying is all in there. Check it out for yourself and spend time with the Lord in His Word this week. I'm sure you'll be richly blessed for doing that. Over the past few weeks, as Doug mentioned, we've been in this season of prayer asking God to lead us as we look to 2026 and beyond. As we seek to address some of the practical considerations, some needs around the church. If you've been coming for a while, you'll know that most weeks we're pretty full. We had folks sitting on the floor and out in the hall for our Christmas outreach at the end of last year. And yeah, these are good problems to have. God is on the move. He's at work amongst us. And we have, as Doug mentioned, there's at least five good options that we could consider, prayerfully consider before the Lord as we look to the future. But we don't just want to do the good thing. We want to do the good thing. And so we've been on this journey, this season of prayer together these past four weeks. This morning, we're going to finish up our fifth topic. And we're going to look this morning at the whole topic of fasting. This is a spiritual discipline that often goes along with prayer. But I would imagine that most of us are more familiar with prayer side of things than we are with fasting. In our modern Western culture, we might more readily associate fasting with like health dieting or maybe you've heard of intermittent fasting, which seems to be popular for people looking to stay healthy and control their weight. That's not what we're talking about this morning. Fasting for health reasons focuses on the physical benefits. Whereas biblical fasting, this spiritual discipline that comes right out of the pages of the scripture from the history of God's people right from the beginning. Biblical fasting is focused on spiritual purposes. And so that's what we're going to look at this morning. We're going to look kind of broadly at three things. What fasting is, why God's people fasted in the Bible. That's the bit that'll go fairly quick. And then we'll spend a bit of our time there at the end on how we should approach fasting now. That's where we're going. Let's pray and ask God to help us as we do that. Father, we do just want to thank you for this gift of prayer and Lord for this gift of this spiritual discipline of fasting. Lord, as we come to your word today, as we spend time just digging a bit deeper into some of these things during the week. Lord, would you speak so that we would listen? Would we hear your clear voice by your Holy Spirit? That we might obey, Lord, all that it is that you've commanded us. That we might walk in a manner that is truly worthy of the grace that we've received. Help us, Father, as we continue this season of prayer together as a church family. As we seek your will for the rest of this year and beyond. So Lord, just quiet in our hearts. Open our minds, Lord, to understand what it is that you want to say to us today. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Firstly, what is fasting? This is the Christians' voluntary abstinence from food in order to focus the heart, mind and will more specifically upon God. It's voluntarily abstaining from food for a period of time for spiritual purposes. That's where it's completely distinct Christian fasting from health fasting or dieting. Christian fasting is a spiritual discipline. It's not about earning God's favour by denying ourselves the gift of food, but it's about creating space in our day, in our week, in our rhythm to seek God with greater focus. That's what we're talking about when we look at fasting in the Bible. And there are quite a number of examples of fasting in the Bible. It shows up right throughout the Scriptures, both the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, there was actually one command to fast, and it was once a year on the day of atonement. The people of Israel, God's people, were commanded to fast as they came together as a nation, as they repented of their sin, as they brought their sacrifice to the temple, as they offered that up to God and asked Him for His forgiveness. There was a fast that they would do as a nation each year on that day of atonement. But beyond that, that single one command to fast once a year in the Old Testament, there are many, many, many examples of individuals who chose to fast voluntarily. From Moses to David, from Esther to Daniel, from Jesus to the early church, it covers the whole spectrum of salvation history. God's people have fasted in every generation. Not just individuals, whole communities have fasted together. Israel, they fasted as a nation on that day of atonement. The Jews in Persia, if you read Esther's story, they fasted together. The people of Nineveh, Jonah went and preached to them about needing to repent of their sin. The whole town of Nineveh fasted in repentance and humbled themselves before God. At the early church in Acts chapter 13 and chapter 14, they fasted together as they worshiped and fasted together as they approached critical decisions that were going to affect the life of their churches, like we're doing now this week. We're fasting. So fasting, like prayer, can actually be done alone. It can be practiced as individuals, but it can also be practiced in groups or together. Why did God's people fast in the Bible? As we look across the whole corpus of Scripture there, there's a whole bunch of reasons why people fasted. But I think you kind of can group them broadly into a few big themes. I think firstly, we see God's people fast because they want to seek God more earnestly in prayer and in guidance. And there's a bunch of passages there for you to look up during the week from Ezra and Nehemiah and Daniel, judges, Acts. There's a bunch there. Most of the biblical references that we have about fasting, they're often connected to prayer, almost in every case. John Calvin, a famous theologian, pastor, he observed that when God's people are bringing some great matter before the Lord, fasting along with prayer can actually be really fitting. Not because fasting makes our prayers earn an answer from God, but rather because it helps to focus our heart as we pray. Fasting doesn't make our prayers more powerful. It doesn't make God listen any easier. But I think what it does in our own hearts is it focuses our attention on the God to whom we're praying. It helps us to focus in on what it is that we're actually asking of God. I kind of think of fasting kind of a bit like turning down the noise, the background noise so that you can hear somebody speaking softly. I don't always hear so well. And sometimes in a crowded room or background noise, it's a little bit hard to hear somebody. And just having that noise just turned down a little bit can be very, very helpful. Fasting can be a bit like that. It can help us quiet the distractions so that we can pay attention as we spend time with God in His Word and in prayer. We also see that fasting was sometimes used when God's people were seeking guidance. In Judges chapter 20, you can read that during the week. After a painful loss in battle, the Israelites wept, they fasted, they sought the Lord for direction before going out again. In Acts chapter 13 and chapter 14, that's probably two chapters you should focus on during the week. The early church fasted and prayed as they worshiped the Lord and as they appointed elders, leaders for the churches in the region. There's a clear biblical precedent that both prayer and fasting go together as we seek God's wisdom and direction. And this is exactly what we're hoping to do together and as individuals this week. As we go out from this place, as you take that little handout home with you, that season of prayer, there'll be some notes that will go out on the email with the slides. I'd encourage you to be thinking seriously about prayer and fasting this week and whether or not that's something that you want to join us in as we seek God earnestly in prayer for guidance that He might reveal His will for us as we look to the future. I think the second broad category we see of why God's people fasted was to humble themselves before God. Often in times of grief or repentance or expressing a deep dependence upon God. There's a whole bunch of verses up there from 1st and 2nd Samuel, from Joel and Jonah and 1st Kings, from the Psalms. Many, many times we read in the Scriptures about fasting as an expression of grief and sorrow and repentance, this deep humility before God. Several examples of people fasting in times of death, loss or deep distress. That's one reason why people would humble themselves before God and fast is because of grief. Maybe because of the loss of a kinsman or of a leader, a family member, something that's happened to somebody that they love. They express that grief to God in prayer and fasting. But not only that, fasting can also be associated with grief over sin, whether that's our own personal grief as we come to recognize our own fallenness, our brokenness, our sin against God and against His word. Or whether that is grief at the sins of others, sins that have been committed against us or even national sins. There's examples in the Scriptures of nations coming together, expressing their grief at their nation's sin in prayer and in fasting. Closely connected to that grief is this idea of humbling ourselves before God in repentance. Repentance is just a big Christian word, it just means to change your mind, to make a 180 degree turn in your thinking, in your acting. To stop going this way that is living life my way according to my rules that may be contrary to everything God's revealed to me in His word about how to live. Repentance is actually recognizing that, recognizing the error of that and turning back to God in humble dependence and asking Him for forgiveness. There are many times in the Scriptures where people humbled themselves with prayer and fasting to express this repentance to God, this change of mind that led to a change of direction. Fasting became this outward expression of what had already happened inwardly in their heart as they decided to turn back to God. It's a way of saying, Lord I humble myself before You, I want to turn from my sin and return to You. That's the fasting that we see in some of these examples here. When practiced with the right heart, fasting becomes a physical expression of humility, dependence and surrender before God. That's the second broad category of why God's people fast. There's a third. The third is to seek God's help in times of crisis, temptation or concern. And again you've got some verses to look up there during the week. Second Chronicles, Ezra, Esther, Nehemiah, Daniel and Jesus own temptation there in Matthew chapter 4. Scripture tells us that there are these reasons that people fasted when they were facing crisis or danger, some sort of temptation or great burden. When life got tough, they fasted and prayed. Sometimes it was to seek deliverance or protection, as was in the days of Jehoshaphat, Ezra and Esther. That's those first three Bible references there. Other times fasting was around this deep concern for the wider work of God. You could read Nehemiah's story or Daniel's story to find out about that. They were deeply concerned for the wider work of God, for what God was doing in and through His people. And they fasted and prayed as a result of that. When the news of trouble or apparent defeat drove them to this concern in prayer. Jesus is an example of asking God's help in difficult times. In Matthew chapter 4 you can read how Jesus fasted in the wilderness during a time of great testing and temptation. Oftentimes we find that in exceptional spiritual pressure, exceptional measures might be needed. That's where fasting and praying can be helpful. Fasting can be a way of saying, Lord I need Your strength, I need Your help, I need Your mercy. And so we put aside the distractions, we carve out some time and we spend that humbly before God asking for His help. I think the final broad category we can find as a reason for why God's people fast is to worship Him. To align our hearts with His heart. And just a few verses again for you to look up there, Isaiah 58, Luke 2, Acts 13. It's an active expression of worship, of devotion for God when we come to Him in prayer and fasting. Anna the prophetess, we're told in Luke chapter 2, she worshipped God with fasting and prayer. It was her pattern, it was her rhythm of life. She regularly was in the temple worshipping and fasting and spending time with God in prayer. In Acts chapter 13, the church worshipped the Lord with prayer and fasting together. As they gathered, as they celebrated God, all that He is and all that He'd done amongst them, the hope that He'd given them in Jesus. The church worshipped, they prayed, they fasted together. Fasting at its best is not only about what we say no to when we forgo a meal, but it's also about what we're saying yes to. We're saying yes to the living God. We're saying yes to everything that He's promised us in His Word. And so fasting is a way of expressing our love for God and our hunger for Him. Isaiah 58 reminds us that true fasting is never merely a private self-denial. Fasting should actually make us more merciful, more just, more generous, more attentive to the needs of others. I know some Christians who, when they fast, they choose to give away some of the money that they would have spent on food while they were fasting. It doesn't mean you have to do that, that's their pattern, that's what they like to do. Some people, the food that they might have cooked, they give that away instead of eating it for themselves. I think the point is, if we're fasting and we find that it doesn't change us, doesn't change our hearts, or maybe we haven't got the right idea about what we're doing, fasting is a way of aligning our hearts with God's heart for others. Aligning our hearts with His heart for the lost, for the poor, for those who are hurting or in need. If we're fasting, it only makes us, and it only makes us irritable or proud or self-absorbed because look how good we are at fasting. Well, you've just skipped a meal. You're not actually fasting in the biblical sense. You've missed the point. So why do God's people fast? To seek God more earnestly, to humble themselves before Him, to seek Him in times of need and to align their hearts with Him in worship and in His purposes. Why don't we fast? I guess that's the challenge question after all of that is, why don't we? I mean, to my shame, I wish I could say I was better at this. Like you, I'm probably better understanding and better practised in the prayer side of things and not so practised or not so good at fasting. I think if we're honest, we might all be somewhere on that scale. We seem to be pretty good at feasting, but not so good at fasting. I wonder why is that? I was trying to puzzle that out in my own mind, my own heart, and I thought, well, maybe because we really like food. We enjoy it. I do. And something about fasting can kind of seem like we're saying food is bad. But fasting is not a rejection of food. In actual fact, it's a confession that food is God's good gift to us by denying ourselves that meal or whatever it is. It's a way of saying this good gift is from God, but I'm not going to let it become my master. God's the one who created this good thing, and He is so much better than even the best of our foods. And so fasting is helpful because food, like any good gift that God gives to us, it often has the potential to become an ultimate thing in our hearts. And the Bible warns us about that. It calls it idolatry. Again, it's just another Christian word, making an idol out of something. And we can do that with food. We can do that with all sorts of things. Another Bible scholar and pastor, Tim Keller, he had a really helpful definition of idolatry. He talks about when good things become ultimate things in our lives. That's what an idol is. It's when anything becomes more important to you than God. When any good thing absorbs your heart and your imagination more than God. When anything that you might seek to provide for yourself that only God can provide, they're idols. Idolatry is this practice of making good things into ultimate things, of turning things like career, family, money, reputation, food. They can all become these foundational pillars that we stake our lives on, that we find our meaning and security and our happiness in. And if that's the case, we've drifted into what the Bible says is worship of something other than God. Fasting helps to expose the things that quietly become ultimate in our hearts. Fasting is a way for us to remind ourselves that while we have this God-given appetite for food, we should actually have an even greater appetite for the God who gave us that food. And if you know him, if you know what he's done for you, if you know his son who he sent to die for you, if you know his word, then you know all of that is true. I think the second reason why we don't fast is we misunderstand the purpose for it. Again, I think we have a pretty clear understanding of many of the spiritual disciplines. Prayer, studying the Bible, growing in community, reaching out with the love of Jesus. But we kind of struggle with where fasting fits in. If we're honest, we'll recognise and agree that we don't just eat because we need fuel to get through the day. It's not just to get calories in. We eat for our enjoyment and for our comfort. Comfort's not wrong in and of itself, but it can become a problem when comfort begins to master us. I know I can be, and maybe you are, deeply attached to comfort, to safety, to predictability, to ease, to avoiding whatever feels difficult or inconvenient. Fasting can actually be a way of loosening comfort's grip on our hearts. And again, comfort's not bad, but if we ask ourselves that question, if we had to choose between God and comfort, between God and our safety, between God and whatever else it is that we might be clean to for security, what will we choose? I hope it is God. I want it to be God for me. Spiritual disciplines, like fasting, they help us to train our hearts to choose God before we're forced to choose. This is one thing to do the hypothetical, right? But we don't really know until we're in the thick of it, until we're forced to make that choice. So by regularly participating in these spiritual disciplines, it's a way of training our hearts to choose before we're forced to choose. Fasting can be a way of saying ahead of time, I'm choosing God. I choose God over my cravings, my convenience, my desire to always feel comfortable. Because during a fast, every skipped meal becomes like a small and real act of surrender. I could eat. I would enjoy it. But for this moment, Lord, I choose to say no, not because this food is bad on the contrary, because I know that this food is good, that you've given this to me, but I know, Lord, that you are better. And I want to spend this time with you. Fasting helps to break the grip that comfort has upon our lives and it serves to remind our hearts that God is more valuable than the comforts we so easily depend on. I think the final answer maybe to why we don't fast is we're just not commanded to. That command that God gave to them in the Old Testament that once a year fast on the day of Atonement, we live this side of the cross, right? This side of salvation history. In the Bible, the New Testament tells us that Jesus Christ is the once for all sacrifice for our sins. That's why we don't come to church and bring animals and sacrifice anymore because Jesus died for us. He paid the price. We don't need to do that over and over and over again anymore. So we're not commanded to fast anymore. But I think you can see from maybe some of the information already, but certainly as you dig into it during the week, you'll see that from all of these examples, there are so many people that chose to fast even though there was no command to fast. I mean, Jesus himself was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. He fasted for 40 days. Paul and Barnabas as they're going about preaching the good news, setting up churches, just telling people about what Jesus has done. They weren't commanded to fast and yet they chose to fast on a number of occasions as they gathered together with the church in worship. But certainly as they were setting aside time to prayerfully consider the needs of their churches and how the Lord wanted them to go, they fasted. They chose to spend a period of time not eating or drinking and instead praying. They chose to trade their feasting time for fasting time to trade out indulging their appetites with humbling themselves in prayer. We're not commanded to. So sometimes our brain goes, well, what's the bare minimum then? Like, where's the line? Okay, how much do I need to do so that I know it's okay? That's not how healthy relationships work, right? If we understand what fasting is about, it's to grow in relationship with God. It's to understand what he wants for us. We don't just do the bare minimum. Let's have a look what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 6 verses 16 to 18. Matthew chapter 6 verses 16 to 18. This is the bit I want us to focus on this morning. Matthew 6 verses 16 to 18, Jesus says these words. When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces, that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they've received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others, but by your father who is in secret. And your father who sees in secret will reward you. It's interesting that every spiritual discipline, not just fasting, but pretty much all the spiritual disciplines have this possibility of drawing us closer to God, but also of being twisted to serve our own desires. We can make them into legalistic things that we have to do in order to try and please God. We can make them into tick lists and duty lists that we have to do in order to feel like we're on the right path. This is what Jesus is talking about in this section of his teaching. This is part of his famous sermon on the Mount. Earlier in Matthew chapter 6, Jesus is teaching about giving to those in need. And he warns that giving could be done in a right way and in a wrong way. You could give so that everybody saw how generous you were and praised you for your righteousness. Or you could give in secret so that only God knew and he would reward you. Same with prayer. Jesus taught in Matthew chapter 6 earlier that you could pray in a way to be seen by others, with big words and long prayers and out in public so everybody could see you. Or you could go into your room, you could shut the door and you could pray to your Father who's in secret. And again, he would reward you. And here in this spiritual discipline of fasting, he gives the same warning. We have this opportunity in fasting to draw closer to God, or like the hypocrites that Jesus warns us about there, to twist it into our own game. These hypocrites, it just means like an actor, right, hypocrites? They're doing it for show. They're not actually practicing it in the biblical way. They're putting on this gloomy face. They're making themselves look all messed up because they wanted people to notice how pious and how holy, how righteous they appeared to be. They wanted people to look at them and go, wow, those Pharisees, they're pretty good aren't they? They can fast. They must really love God. Look at how much they've given up for him. Jesus says, don't be like that. Because in all of those three warnings that he gives about praying the wrong way, about giving the wrong way, about fasting the wrong way, you read Matthew chapter six during the week, you'll see it's not about the practice. It's about the pursuit. How we do it. It's not the how we do it. It's the why we do it. That's what the issue that Jesus is highlighting here. The Pharisees practice in fasting was to fast twice a week. Jesus doesn't say in any of this text here that they're fasting too much or not enough. He's not criticizing the frequency of their fasting. He doesn't say anything at all about that. So how much you fast or even what you fast, whether it's one meal, part of a meal, a number of meals, whether it's just one meal one day a week or one meal two days a week or whatever frequency you want to put on it. Jesus doesn't address that here because it's not about the practice. It's about the pursuit. So there's great freedom in that. You can fast as little or as much as is healthy and safe for you to do, as wise for you to do. There are some people that can't fast for medical reasons or shouldn't fast before you talk to your doctor. Again, it's not commanded. It's helpful, but it's not commanded. Jesus doesn't criticize how long they were fasting. He doesn't say, you know, whether it was how many hours or how long. He doesn't say that at all. It's not about the practice. It's about the pursuit. And these guys were seeking the praise of others instead of pursuing a deeper relationship with God. I think that's the most important thing there. Jesus shows us that when he switches to the positive language in verse 17. Have a look at that there. He says, when you fast, again, he said, when you fast twice. So that just as a little side that tells us that God's people are kind of expected to fast. It's not commanded, but it's kind of assumed a bit like when Jesus taught on prayer. He didn't say, if you pray, he said, when you pray. He didn't say, if you give to the poor, he said, when you give to the poor. So all of these spiritual practices that Jesus is talking about are part and parcel of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. It's expected that we will at some point give fasting a go. Again, don't make it into a duty-bound legalistic thing. It's not a command, but it's an option. And it's one that we should explore. Jesus makes that clear. Anyway, verse 17 in the positive there, he says, when you fast, just actually, before we go too much further past that, just keep your finger, Matthew 6, turn over to Matthew chapter 9. Have a look at verses 14 to 15. This is another account where Jesus is actually questioned about fasting. John the Baptist, some of his disciples came to Jesus in the middle of a dinner, and they had some questions about fasting for Jesus, because John the Baptist, he was preaching repentance and turning away from sin, and so he was calling people to fast to humble themselves in repentance to God, like we mentioned earlier. And so John's disciples regularly fasted, repenting of their sin. They noticed that Jesus' disciples weren't fasting. Jesus is known as a friend of tax collectors and sinners. He was always at somebody's house, eating and drinking and being where the people are. And so John's disciples came to Jesus, and they said in verse 14 there, why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? Jesus said to them, can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. Now, again, he's using like wedding imagery. He's talking about himself, and he's saying, look, while I'm here, my disciples, they don't need to fast because I'm here. They can spend time with me face to face, one on one. I'm here in their midst, but there's going to come a time where I'm going to go back to the Father. I'm not going to be with them for a time. And in that time, that's when it's going to be more important for my disciples to fast, because it's going to be a way of growing in a relationship together. That time is now, as we wait for Jesus to return. This is the time when we will fast, and so we should be giving it a go. Go back to Matthew chapter 6. Notice what he says there about how we do it. We anoint our head, we watch our face. Don't make it obvious that you're fasting. You don't want it to be fasting to be seen by others, but by your Father who is in secret. And we're told there that beautiful promise that our Father who sees in secret will reward us. That reward is going to come with a growing intimacy in His presence. I don't know about you, but sometimes I get a bit caught up in the mechanics of it all. That's probably why I've kind of had some sloppy starts with fasting. I've tried it and it hasn't gone so well. Sometimes it becomes, you chuck it in. We get caught up in the mechanics of it all. How much am I going to fast? It's going to be for a whole day, couple of days, one meal, many meals. Again, Jesus doesn't give us any rules on the duration or the frequency of our fasting. He leaves it up to us to figure that out. Man, in the grace of God, I think that's really wise, because it makes it accessible to the most people, right? Some of us can fast more and that's healthy. Some of us can't, but we're free to figure that out. There's no specific instruction we're given here. That's not the main issue Jesus is addressing. Sometimes people ask me, well, Dave, can I fast from other things instead of food? And the answer is that abstaining from other things can certainly be spiritually helpful. There are times when we should put out down our devices, when we should turn off our TV, when we should step away from social media or switch off the constant noise of news and entertainment in order to grow in our relationship with God. We should be doing those things. Technically speaking, fasting is specifically about withdrawing from food for a spiritual purpose. But some people do fast of some of these other things as well. I think whichever way you do it, if you're doing it for that right reason, remember it's not the practice, it's the pursuit. Other forms of abstinence can help us to seek God, but the strict sense of fasting as a spiritual discipline, it's primarily about abstaining from food. The wonderful reward Jesus promises there is His presence. It's not that we earn the Father's love by our fasting, but that we enjoy a deeper fellowship with our Heavenly Father who already loves us in Christ. It's why we gladly do things that are hard in order to deepen relationships, not to earn love with those people, but to enjoy that love more fully. Fasting is about what we seek, what we pursue. And Jesus' contrast here in the text this morning is that those Pharisees and hypocrites were fasting, but they were pursuing God's presence or God's pleasure. They were pursuing their own appetites for appreciation and acknowledgement. Fasting, friends, is a helpful discipline because it helps to break our addictions to our appetites, to our own comfort, and it trains us to say to our Father in heaven that He is more important. Fasting is beneficial as a spiritual discipline, but only when it comes from this heart that truly desires to do the will of God, that desires to grow in His presence. If you're going to remember one thing at all today, we're going to wrap up now. Remember this, fasting is not about the practice, it's about the pursuit. It's not about how long or how often or who notices, it's about seeking the Father, His presence, His pleasure and His will. I mentioned already the caution for some people that it may not be wise to fast if you're pregnant, if you've got diabetes, if you're on a bunch of medications, of medical conditions, or maybe a history of disordered eating. Abstaining from food might not be safe for you, so just be wise there. Talk to your GP if you want to give it a go. Talk to them first. Use wisdom. Maybe do a partial fast or a simpler meal. Set aside some other comfort and use that time to pray. But that's the challenge this week, family, is we want to continue to seek God's direction for our church, and we invite you to join us as we fast. Just if it's one meal, say to our Father that His presence matters more than our comfort, and pray. Use the time you'd normally spend eating to pray, to dig into His Word, to listen and wait upon His voice. And if your stomach growls, let it become a prayer bell as you go throughout the day. Let's seek the Lord's will together as we look to 2026 and beyond, and as we seek to address this practical issue about where to fit everybody, what to do about our future ministry needs and opportunities, how are we going to glorify God by bearing much fruit and show ourselves to be His disciples, our theme verse? We need God's help to do that. So let's pray and fast and seek Him and ask for His wisdom and guidance. Let's pray. Father God, we do just want to thank you for your Word. Thank you for Jesus, our Saviour. Thank you for what He taught about the spiritual discipline of fasting. And Father, we just ask and pray that you might help us, those of us who are able, those of us for whom it's safe to do so, to engage in that this week. Lord, we just want to acknowledge that it's not about the practice, it's about the pursuit. And Lord, in our fasting this week as a church family, we just want to pursue intimacy with you. We want to pursue obedience to your will. We want to listen, Lord, well to what it is that you're calling us to do in response to some of these good challenges that you've placed before us. Father, would you lead and guide us as we humble ourselves and fast and pray? We pray this in the name of Jesus, our Saviour. Amen.