Fall40

Day 37

By Sarah Lang

(I must give credit to my fantastic professor of Old Testament for this blog, Dr. Emmanuel Itapson.  This is based off of his opening class devotion.)

“In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers:  Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.  While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”  So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”  (Acts 13:1-3)

The church at Antioch – an entrepreneurial and diverse church – wholeheartedly  sought the Lord.   Antioch:  a church sensing God’s movement; Spirit led.  Antioch:  courageous enough to speak God’s word into present life circumstances and aptly equipped others on their spiritual journeys.

They prayed, worshiped, and fasted.  In essence, they shouted, “Oh, God!  You are my God!  Nothing is more important than You!”  Watch what happened – the Holy Spirit moved and changed the history of the church. 

Is not the Holy Spirit waiting and eager to respond to a congregation with a heart like that?  Will the Holy Spirit be silent when a group of people seek God with their whole hearts – nothing standing in the way?  “They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them…” (2 Chron. 15:15).

What a potential we have during this Fall40 time of praying and fasting!  If we put aside our short-sightedness, our desires, and seek after the One who is abounding in steadfast love, the future can be changed.  We have the potential for a revolution here and now. 

What God can do through a group of people wholly devoted to the Lord… imagine.  Allow yourself to dream.   Just look back in history:  the Great Awakening, the Reformation, the early church. 

It means putting aside doubt and fear and allowing God to dissolve anything that hampers the way of the Spirit:  a lot easier said than done.  It means opening up to God those dark places that are tender to the touch, bruised, hidden.  It means opening up to God without hindrance.  It means having your identity and value firmly grounded in God, not what you do.  It means humility.  What courage it takes to move in an abandoned way with God in the lead, to say “yes” to God without any limitations.  Yes, it takes an awful lot of trust in God and God’s character.

God is looking for a group of people through which God can work:  yielded, seeking, loving, and living out the fact that nothing really is more important than the Lord.  God uses us for reconciliation.  The message we bear:  “The Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin…(Ex. 34. 6-7).”  Look at the character of God and watch the apprehension, doubt, and fear melt away.

The act of fasting strips away our words and exposes our true motives.  Do we want God and God’s will for our lives or are we all talk?  Or somewhere in between?  God’s answer will be shown.  Just watch.

God is willing… are we?

*Just a reminder that Fall40 ends this Saturday. Finish strong!

Day 32

Hunger Pains…Do you have them?

By Ray Longwood

It’s noon in the office. I hear co-workers scurrying to put on coats and jackets to exit to their local lunch-time destinations. Then I hear the beeping of the microwaves in the office kitchen and the discussion of who has what for lunch. Seconds later, the aroma of someone’s leftover porter house steak from Texas Roadhouse (I only know this because they were bragging about it earlier) fills the air and slaps me in my face. Then it happens: the rumbling of my stomach followed by an intense pain--a pain that is caused by peristaltic contractions of the stomach.  It’s the body’s warning mechanism to let you know that it needs FOOD!

This may be a scenario that many of us are facing during this time of fasting and prayer.  What about our spirits? Many of us are facing pains in our lives: sadness, depression, emptiness...I could go on.  These are spiritual warning mechanisms.  These are the pains we feel in our spirits when we are facing a challenge, when we are “against the ropes” and we don’t know how much more we can take.  Make no mistake—we are in need of something.  So many times we try to ease that pain by trying to ignore it or attempt to quench it with worldly desires which may ease it for a short while but the pain ends up coming back stronger than before.  Food is the only cure that can ease the infamous hunger pains and Jesus is the only cure for our spiritual pain.

Have you ever thought about it? As often as we eat to satisfy our hunger, we need Jesus that much and more to satisfy us spiritually.  We should all attempt to be "filled with the Spirit” (see Ephesians 5:18).  The fuller we are spiritually, the less of an impact the pains will have because of our increased faith and closeness with Jesus. Stay strong, keep the faith, and Love Wins!

stories

So...we're almost 3/4 of the way through Fall40 and I was wondering if you had any feedback about what God( via Fall40) is doing in your life right now.  How have you grown as a result of this season of spiritual renewal and focus?  Leave a comment in the comments section or give us a call at 302.738.2892. Either way, we'd love to hear what awesome things God is doing in your life.   

Day 29

By Christine Shipengrover

Almost every day I drive on a small bridge that spans a winding canal –simply known as “The Canal” in Delaware.  This time of year as I look down the tree-lined canal, and the variegated hues of yellow, orange, red, green and purple radiate as far as you can see.  The trees stand at attention as they guard the canal, without fault, without blame.  These trees didn’t have to fill out an application for their position, they’re not worried about education or health care, whether or not we’re in a recession, or if they’ll have enough money in a 401(k) to retire.  They don’t compare themselves to other trees or wonder if they’re good enough.   They didn’t need to change their clocks back or set a reminder in their Blackberry to change the colors of their leaves.  They don’t whine and complain when the brilliance of their foliage falls to the ground or that they have to endure the cold, dreary winter in their seemingly under-clad, lifeless state.  They exist and go through the changes in season simply because that’s part of their purpose on this earth.

We endure the seasons, but unlike the trees that line the canal, we have distractions. We worry if we measure up, we’re apprehensive about making the move, and our future doesn’t always feel secure.  The Journey is going through a season of prayer and fasting: Fall 40 (I’m sure you’ve heard of it by now).  How does abstinence from food, beverage, sweets or media enable God’s power to work in us and through us and give us the confidence and assurance we need?

 Why is it, when I hear the word “fasting” I immediately get hunger pangs and crave off-the-wall foods like I’m seven months pregnant with triplets?  When I fast coffee and sweets, why does the leftover Halloween candy call to me in the midnight hour and the need/desire for caffeine mock me like a little gremlin inside my head?  Most importantly, why does fasting draw me closer to God?

While the things we are fasting are not sin, they can create a dam in our lives that hinder the flow of God’s spirit.  Fasting (with prayer) disciplines the flesh and removes the clutter that dams our lives and allows God’s spirit to move and communicate freely.  If our attention is purposefully focused on what God has for our lives, He will show us things in the spirit, and we can then act on them in the flesh without hesitation, because we know it was revealed by God.

There are only a couple more weeks left in Fall 40.   If you haven’t joined the Fall 40 train, it’s not too late.  If you’ve been diligent in your Fall 40 commitment, be encouraged, not because we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but because there is an undercurrent of God’s spirit that is shaking things up in our lives and in lives around us.  Lives are being changed; we’re praying it forward and God is responding.

O LORD, our Lord How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!  From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.  When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?  Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty!  You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.  Psalm 8:1-6

Day 27

by Sarah Lang

“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 4:11-13)

Reading this passage, it is obvious that the leader’s job is to prepare, to equip, to help God’s people toward “works of service.”  As people grow, the Body of Christ is harmoniously constructed.  As leaders, then, our posture must be one of humility, on our knees, seeking God and serving in love.  Nothing is beneath us; no one is above another.  Low to the ground is where we need to be. 

Yet, this message isn’t just for a select few; we are all leaders in some sphere of influence.  Also, the direction necessary to travel is into the “knowledge of the Son of God” – knowing Jesus.  Only through the inner journey which leads into the depths of our souls are we going to attain the maturity we desire.

This is exactly where our Fall40 prayer and fasting intersects.  Fasting reveals the things that motivate and control us.  We uncomfortably lay exposed.  We are more comfortable covering up what lays inside us with food and other things (media, relationships, materialism).  Funny how these “secrets” surface during a fast. 

It’s easy to rationalize anger when we’re hungry, but if we move through our anger to its source, we realize that a spirit of anger actually resides in us.  The same is true of pride, lust, jealousy, fear, and unforgiveness.

However, this uncovering is a blessing.  These are the places Jesus meets with us:  real hope and healing can occur.  Through the discipline of fasting freedom exists from the things we are enslaved.  “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” (2 Cor. 10:4)  The weapons we use to fight have “divine power to demolish strongholds” in our lives.  That’s great news!  “Fasting can bring break-throughs in the spiritual realm that will never happen in any other way.”  This demands that we place ourselves in a posture of humility, on our knees, seeking God.

God is knocking at our doorstep, looking for a group of people who are wholly yielded to him.  If we are courageous and willing enough, God wants to do a work of God-sized proportions through us:  bring hope to the hopeless, healing to the heart-broken, restoration to the torn-down.  He seeks to reconcile our community to himself.  But it takes being low, being on our knees, seeking God – releasing our pride and ego.

And so I pray:

    “God, give us a new-found energy to continue this Fall40, to wholly seek you.  May we focus first on knowing and being known by you.  Then from our wholeness, may we turn and serve others, equipping your body in unity.  Give us a burden for those who don’t know you.  Break our hearts and disturb our complacency.  Show us how to serve those who don’t know you; show us our mission field.  let us proclaim your hope and love with boldness and humility.  Thank you, God, for who you are and what you are doing in each of our lives.  Amen.”

Day 25

by Pastor Mark

 

We’ve crossed the line.  We’re past the halfway mark of Fall40.

This week our focus has been fasting media.  For me, that’s meant no Facebook.

No Twitter.

No TV.

No weather.com.

I feel richer in my spirit.  Quieter.

The sense of urgency that so often fills my life until it oozes through my pores, tainting work, relationships, and play – is lessened when I do this.  My life takes on a sense of vibrancy and purpose.

When I’m not monitoring how everyone is doing electronically, checking the news, or keeping tabs on my favorite TV characters, I can listen more closely to the voice of God.

This week, I’m thinking about giving, about generosity.  What unfolded so dramatically at The Journey this past weekend is still bobbing around in my brain.  And there’s nothing to distract me from it – because I’m fasting media.

I’m thinking about how simple God’s principles of generosity are: give, and you’ll find happiness… horde, and you’ll cultivate misery.  They are undeniable, irrevocable laws of God’s universe.  We embrace them to our delight; we deny them to our dismay.

I think too much media makes us selfish, you and me; reinforces the deadly delusion that life is all about us.  The news scares us into stinginess; commercials tempt us to live beyond our means, reducing our ability – and passion – to give; the status updates of others renew our sinful desperation to keep up.

But we’re fasting all that.  So we’re open.  Ready to be generous.

A generous man will prosper;

he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed (Proverbs 11:25 – NIV).

Day 23

by Wendy Nurse (Prayer Team Leader)

Fall40. WOW.  Whenever I hear “Fall40”, I get mixed feelings; feelings of excitement and of wanting to run for the hills.  Don’t shoot me yet…hear me out for a few minutes.  You might be saying “How can you feel that way? You are the Prayer Team Leader.”  Yes I am.  But I’m human first, and I don’t like restrictions.   

There are some great names in the Bible that have felt the same pressure.  For instance, God called David a man after his own heart, but David struggled, too.  How about Abraham?  He was a man of great faith, but he lied.  And Paul?  He did so much and yet he felt the pressure of his sickness.

I am able to pray.  But when you combine praying and fasting, it takes great discipline for me (and I’m short in that area).  Let’s be honest, we know that the Bible tells us that “some things can only be changed by prayer and fasting (see Matt. 17:21), but many times I want the change with just prayer. Here’s how I feel: I’m good at getting God’s attention.  Why then, do I need to fast along with praying?  I believe it’s because our Heavenly Father wants a bond with us that is so strong that when we fast and pray we will know without a shadow of doubt that it was Him that caused the change to occur.  No one would be able to tell us differently.

Fall40 has been a challenge for me and I know for many of you as well.  There have been many slips ups, but it is not how many times we fail but how many times we get back up and continue chasing after God.  God said “my grace is sufficient for you.”  So press on.

Through 2009’s version of Fall40, God will turn things around for many of us…but we have to continue to fight through the pressures of life.  In Genesis 32:24-30 Jacob wrestled with Lord all night long.  He knew in his heart that he could not defeat the person he wrestled with.  But I believe Jacob saw something that caused him to continue wrestling.  He ended up with a bum hip.  But having a limp was worth seeing the face of God.

I urge you to continue wrestling whatever is trying to steal your blessing.  Hold on. I know that God will show up and relieve us of the fight.  At the end of Fall40, some of us may have a spiritual limp, but it will be worth it all.  So hang in there, saints!  We can and will rise above our circumstance. 

Pray this prayer with me: “Lord, you are God and I am not.  You knew before time that we would be on this quest to know you better. You knew that we would falter at times but yet you love us enough to help us along.  Thank you for being the loving and gracious Father that you are.  In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

 

(*Reminder-this week is a media fast.  Choose a type of media to fast, or fast all types of media or any combo you come up with.  We're doing this to clear our minds and hearts of the clutter that can interefere with God trying to speak into our lives.  You might be amazed at the results of this kind of fast).

Day 18

Are You Kidding Me?

By Mike Lang

Ok, I get the Gather, Connect, Serve thing.  (If Pastor Mark ever asks you what these three words mean, quickly tell him they describe The Journey’s intentional approach to introduce the broader community to God.  Next, give him a big smile and a hug and run as fast as you can because the questions get harder from there). 

Back to Gather, Connect, Serve... I get it.  In fact, I not only “get it” but I have personally experienced the effectiveness of this approach and witnessed many people become disciples of Jesus as a result.  My real question is, where is the word “FASTING” in this system? 

I am now in the first few weeks of my first concerted fast and I feel I was bamboozled.  To prevent future bamboozling, we should develop a more descriptive name for Fall40.  Here are just some of my ideas using the Gather, Connect, Serve naming methodology. 

· Give-Up, Can’t Have, and Surrender

· Grueling, Critical System Failure, Stupid Idea

· Grazing on Cardboard Scraps

· Giant Cavern in my Stomach

In reality, these thoughts are not too far off from my initial views on fasting.  It was a form of devotion reserved for only the best Christian warriors.  The best excuse I used was, “I am not worthy to sacrifice in the name of Jesus.”  I thought I was very convincing. 

Although I am young in my walk of faith, I now know that fasting is a form of devotion appropriate for all.  More importantly, fasting is not limited to eating honey and locusts.  For me, it is sweets.  The amazing part of my first official fast is that it has been much easier than I feared.  The breakthrough came when I realized that fasting is a time to allow God into our lives.  This may sound simple but it took me awhile to figure it out.  Practically, it works like this: I am halfway through the day and I start craving a sweet food.  I stop.  And then I begin to pray to God for his love and support.  I offer him my gratitude and devotion.

Not only does the craving go away, but I have learned a meaningful way to introduce God into my life which has been a struggle.  Fasting slows things down and allows me to reflect and share my appreciation for His love.  Wow!  Are you kidding me?    

(We showed the "Killer Prayer Tips" video a few weeks ago at The Journey.  Enjoy it all over again clicking on this link:  http://www.sermonspice.com/product/27989/killer-prayer-tips)

Day 16

By Amy Sturgeon

(For the overwhelmed and skeptical)

I have to confess - I have never fasted before.

To fully grasp how big a deal this statement is, you must understand that the whole of my [almost] 25 years has been spent in the church. Everyone I know has fasted multiple times. I’ve heard the benefits of fasting from pastors. Fasting is something I’m familiar with. And by that, I mean I’ve heard it talked about a lot.

And I have to confess - I’ve never really participated. So when leaders at The Journey started to talk about Fall40, I wasn’t super thrilled.

Don’t get me wrong - I love the idea of God doing something amazing among the people at our church. And when it comes to changing the world around me, I’ll volunteer for pretty much anything and use any talent I can scrounge up. If I can help, if I can be used, I’m behind it all 100 percent.

So when I first started considering this forty day fast, and remembering my failure at committing to one in the past, I got overwhelmed. I mean, I can’t even remember when I take a coffee mug to work [I think I had three of them there at one time]. And I start a diet every day and break it by 10 AM. How can I devote myself to something as restrictive as a fast and remember it when I start craving the new TCBY at the mall?

It finally occurred to me - these forty days aren’t just about going without food and being a hungry, cranky person (even if that is how I had felt for many years). I realized this time is about focusing my time and dedication to prayer; prayer for you and I, for everyone who makes up the living, breathing church body of The Journey, for the church Universal and for the beautiful, broken, and dying souls we walk past every day at work, in stores and in our homes.

And if I can help move you to prayer with my words or actions, if my words can be used to call God’s blessing and provision onto his people, then I can get behind this time of prayer [and fasting!] 100 percent.

So I’ve done some unorthodox things, because I’m an unorthodox type of person. Last week I left sticky notes on my fridge, on my wallet at work, and on my steering wheel, all to remind me about my fast. This week, I decided to give up an hour of sleep every morning and start my day with focused prayer. And I’m more than ready for a media fast (week of Nov 2^nd) thanks to the newly downloaded DVR app on my iPhone. All of these actions are helping me stop dwelling on poor me and all the Starbucks I’m missing out on or on not seeing the new episode of Project Runway immediately. Instead, I’m focusing on asking God for great, new, amazing things.

So, if the idea of this 40 day commitment is overwhelming you, take a deep breath, step back and think of what Christ could do through us all if we will just give up some temporary and fleeting things.

Oh, and let me know if you need some ideas on really, seriously dedicating yourself [for once].

p.s. The DirectTV DVR app is free:)

 

Fasting Schedule

Week of Oct 26th	Pick a meal or day to fast (Journey prayer team has chosen Tuesday and Thursday)
Week of Nov 2nd	Media Fast (choose to fast all or selected types of media)
Week of Nov 9th	Guilty Pleasures fast (i.e. chocolates, coffee, soda, etc.)
Week of Nov 16th	Sunrise-sunset fast (i.e. don’t eat during daylight hours)

Day 12

by Sam Lopez

I am going to begin this blog by making a statement that I absolutely believe.  Praying is for wimps!  That’s right.  I said it and I believe it.  Praying is for wimps! Before you decide to bombard me with emails that question my doctrine, beliefs or manhood, allow me to explain. 

Throughout my life I have come across many opportunities and motivations to take a time-out and pray.  I’ve prayed a prayer of intercession for my sister on her way to her doctor to find out if the lump she had examined was cancer.  I’ve prayed just to experience God’s peace and quiet during my busiest seasons where the noise of life was overbearing.  I’ve prayed during a time of spiritual staleness asking God to please reveal Himself to me because I just didn’t know where He was.  I’ve even prayed a prayer of worship while skiing at 14,000 ft with my wife when we found ourselves in total awe of God’s magnificent creation.

Regardless of what I pray for or what condition my heart is in while I pray, one thing is always clear.  I am small and God is great.  Prayer clarifies that I can do nothing without Him.  Prayer humbles me, allowing me to see that my strength, knowledge, experience, and abilities fall short time and time again when trying to deal with life’s twists and turns.  It helps me arrive to a place where my weaknesses, doubts, anxieties, questions, and fears can be turned around by His infinite power.  I am Sam, the wimp.  He is God, Master of the universe.

In the Bible, Jesus tells a story of two men who arrived at the temple to pray (Luke18).  One was an educated religious leader placed on a pedestal by society, the other a tax collector despised by society.  The educated religious leader prayed the following, “God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men; robbers, unrighteous in heart and life, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”  In direct contrast Jesus says of the tax collector that he “stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed.  Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow saying,”O God, be merciful to me for I am a sinner”. 

Allow me to read to you from the same verses in the New International Universal Living Amplified American Standard translation of Sam Lopez.  Religious Leader - “God, I am here praying so that everyone sees that I pray, even though it is a complete waste of time since I have it together.  I especially want this loser next to me to hear of how much greater I am than he is.”  Tax Collector – “I can’t even look up towards heaven because of my shame.  There is no way that I will ever come close to being as put together as this religious dude.  O God, be merciful to me for I am a wimp, yet you are all-powerful”.