Fasting Reading Plans

Basic   -   January 12, 2020

These reading plans are recommended by our SMM leaders for the 7 | 14 | 21 Days of Harvest. Read along with us or share your own on our facebook page in the link at the bottom of this page!

Daily Scripture Plan

Plan suggested by Pastor Tommy and First Lady Green

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Minor Prophets

Plan suggested by Chief Ministry Officer Kenya

This plan takes you through the books of the Minor Prophets over the course of 25 Days. Each book includes videos specifically designed to enhance your understanding and engagement with God’s Word.

https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/9084-the-bible-project-minor-prophets

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Fasting & Praying – Why & How? 

Plan suggested by Deacon Wayne

Jesus is our perfect example 😇 

Today, I’m going to talk with you about a subject few enjoy bringing up…fasting! For years, I had wrongly believed that it was surely good for others but not for me. I even had a medical excuse not to fast!

There are many heroes of the faith who fasted in different ways (Esther’s fast, Daniel’s, Elijah’s, etc.) But for me, Jesus is the perfect example when it comes to fasting.

We read in the Bible in Luke 4:1-2, “Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.”

After He was water baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit.” Yet, it’s only after He fasted in the desert for 40 days that He was “filled with the Holy Spirit’s power” (verse 14), which is even greater and more exciting!

Jesus had a habit of praying, of going to a special place to seek His Father. He loved, for example, the Mount of Olives.

What is your special place? Your refuge where you take time with your Father?

The Greek word for “habit” is “ethos,” which can be translated, “rite, ritual, custom.”

Jesus had put good habits into place in His spiritual life: in the morning, while the disciples were quite often still sleeping, He prayed alone. He received the strength to live a full day in which He would heal many sick people, teach, stand firm against the Pharisees, etc.

Our spirits, souls, and bodies are intimately connected. And learning to discipline our bodies through fasting will have an effect on the discipline of our souls.

By the way, doesn’t the word “discipline” come from the word “disciple”? If we are disciples of Christ, then let’s follow His example!

When we fast to seek the Lord, His strength is made perfect in our weakness. When we fast, we feel weaker, but we’re allowing God’s grace to be revealed. Our souls are strengthened, and the Lord helps us to enter into a higher dimension of revelation and glory. What if you started with a meal or even one day? Like Tiffany wrote to me, “I fasted for the first time thanks to ‘A Miracle Every Day,’ and, for the first time, I felt God speaking to me.”

https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/13973-fasting-praying-why-how/day/1

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The Key to Personal Change

plan suggested by Elder Jackson

ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY

One of the most hurtful attitudes we can adopt is blaming others for our own mistakes. This isn’t something new, of course. Think about Adam. When God approached him after he’d sinned, this is what he said: “The woman you put here with me–she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Adam blamed his wife for his poor choice and he also blamed God for giving him Eve. Poor Adam! In his mind, he was just a victim.

That attitude does not help in moving forward. And this applies in the same way for you and me. If we adopt a “victim” mindset, whether that be a victim of the system, the government or our own spouse, we won’t be able to change what  needs to be changed inside of us. We all want to change the world, so let’s start by changing the person in front of the mirror.

Today’s challenge is to stop blaming others for what happens in your life. You are responsible for 100% of your actions and your life. Stop blaming your parents, your teachers, and even those who have hurt you.

DAY 1 CHALLENGE

In a piece of paper, write down a list of the people who’ve hurt you. Spend some time alone with God and, before His presence, make the decision to forgive them and stop holding them accountable for your current emotional, physical, or spiritual condition.

https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/17930-the-key-to-personal-change/day/1

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Discerning The Voice Of God

Plan suggested by Elder Jackson

My family has enjoyed a long history with the Dallas Cowboys. I was a very young child when their legendary coach, Tom Landry, asked my father—then a young, 30-year-old preacher—to be the team’s first-ever chaplain.

So every now and then as I was growing up, Dad would take me along to some of their football games. I remember walking out onto that vast field at Texas Stadium. From ground level, the turf stretched out in all directions like an enormous green carpet, and the bleachers seemed to extend to the heavens. Mostly, though, I remember Coach Landry. He seemed a giant to me—his trademark fedora perched above kind, thoughtful, smiling eyes, exuding a quiet strength. Everyone honored him.

If anyone else personified Cowboys football, it was Roger Staubach, the quarterback who led the Boys to two Super Bowl championships in the 1970s. That was a little before my time, of course, but I still remember him and his friendship with Coach Landry. They were both Christians, and they appeared to be almost like father and son. But things weren’t always so close between them. Staubach admitted, as a player, he often bristled against submission to his coach’s leadership.

Despite his respect for Landry’s genius in football strategy, Staubach wanted the freedom to call his own plays on the field, to lead the team with his own approach. He thought he knew how best to run the Cowboys offense. His way.

Staubach finally came to the point where he realized he needed to decide. Would he rebel against his coach’s authority? Or would he get on board with the direction his coach wanted him to go? “I faced up to the issue of obedience,” Staubach later said. “Once I learned to obey, there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory.” Yes, lots of victories.

So there it is. The one word upon which freedom, fulfillment, and victory hinges for all of us.

Will we . . . Obey?

If it seems we’re starting this journey at the wrong end of the action plan, putting the obedience cart before the “hearing God” horse, let me just say what I’ve learned to be true. Facing up to this issue of obedience is the alpha and omega of how we hear from God. Obedience isn’t just one of the keys. It is the key that unlocks all of the blessings God intends for us.

https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/11007-discerning-the-voice-of-god/day/1

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Five Days to Victorious Fasting 

Plan Suggested by Minister in training Jakoiya

Step 1: Fast as a Love Offering to Jesus

I think I’m the only person alive who can gain weight while fasting. It’s true … milkshakes are a liquid, so they’re fair fasting territory … right?

Maybe not.

It’s sad. I have broken so many fasts — and fasted wrongly so many times.

Maybe you can identify. I fasted wrongly for three reasons:

• • Obligation. I read books by spiritual giants about how essential fasting is to real Christianity. These books basically felt like they were guilt-tripping me into fasting.

• • Legalism. Example: I actually heard a teacher once say that if you want God to move, you’d better get yourself on a 40-day fast. Ummm… NOT.

• • Manipulating God. I fasted to try to get God to move, because I didn’t like the way He was handling things.

The only problem was, my fasts were usually not very successful.

Why didn’t fasting seem to be as awesome and helpful for me as it was for everyone else? I believe it was because I was fasting to manipulate God and get STUFF, rather than fasting to get HIM. I was not fasting as a love offering to Him; seeking God first was not my primary objective in fasting.

But then I discovered how to fast as a love offering to the Lord.

I was alone with the Lord one day, having my quiet time of prayer and Bible study. Suddenly, I was so overwhelmed with love for Jesus that the thought came to mind that I wanted to skip breakfast that day as a gift to Him — offering my opportunity to feed my face to Him as a gift, telling Him that I wanted Him more than I wanted an egg sandwich.

It felt as if I had been sitting at a restaurant table with Him, and I had a sandwich and He had none.

I felt like I was offering Him my sandwich because He was hungry — and because I cared more about His company than I cared about food.

So, I skipped breakfast that day … and that is when I discovered that fasting could be like a dance, a waltz with my Savior, instead of like ‘doing penance’ so I could comply with someone’s Good Christian List.

That first victorious fast was only one meal. However, that morning I had a tremendous experience with the Lord. I was so aware of His presence. I felt the urge to pray with more power than I had experienced in a long time. I was fired up for Jesus.

It was like I had given Him something of value to me—one small meal only, but it was a love offering love to Him—and He was giving me the world in return.

It was a holy dance, and it ruined me.

After that, I stopped fasting to manipulate God. As a matter of fact, I stopped fasting at all for awhile; I wanted my heart to be right when I tried it again. So I just sought God, and finally I started little by little doing small fasts again.

Why? Because I was — and am — hungry for Jesus, and I am offering my sandwich (or my breakfast cereal, or whatever) to my Bridegroom.

Everything is totally different now.

I can’t fast to get God to move anymore. Yes, I pray for specific things when I fast — and He answers! But mostly, what I fast and pray for is that I just want Him. I want to love on Him and offer Him something of value to me. I want to warm His heart with my gift of food. I want to set aside that time, take my eyes off food, and look at Him instead.

I don’t want to manipulate God anymore. I just want to fast as an offering to Him, a sacrifice of love that will warm His heart and show Him that He is worth anything to me.

When I started fasting just to seek my Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, I started seeing tremendous results.

I began to draw closer to Him than ever before. I started to get my passion and fire for God back. I became hungry for Him again. I began to see miracles happen in my life.

It’s almost like God meant it when He said that we should seek His face. It’s almost like He meant it when He said to seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things would be added to us.

So I’m going to continue seeking God’s face through fasting. I can’t do it on my own, but He will help me. I have been a fasting failure, but now I just want Jesus.

What about you? Do you want your fast to be a love offering to our Savior?

If so, imagine Jesus sitting across the table with you. Give Him your sandwich, your dessert, your breakfast, lunch, or dinner — whatever you’re fasting. Imagine yourself staring into His eyes, and ask Father God to help you offer the sweet love offering of fasting to Jesus, your Savior.

https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/14530-5-days-to-victorious-fasting/day/1