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Breakthrough Reading Plan + Fasting Guide

Fasting Guide

22 Day Fast for 2022: Ignite the Boiler Room

January 10-31

Join us as we partner with the Antioch Movement of Churches around the world to begin the year by praying and fasting together. 

God spoke to our Antioch leadership in 2021 about what is now a five-year word of the Queen Mary being retrofitted from a cruise ship into a wartime troop carrier. As we come into 2022, God has spoken from this same imagery that the ship is setting sail and we are to “ignite the boiler room.” The Queen Mary had the largest boiler room on water and powered the ship to be the fastest on water during her time!

So, we believe we are to begin 2022 by igniting the boiler room of our hearts through worship, prayer and fasting. We want God to ignite our hearts, our homes, our churches, and our movement. Jesus said, ‘my house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.” The time is now for us to respond wholeheartedly to this call!

Vision: “Ignite the Boiler Room”—22 days of worship, prayer, and intercession 

What are we praying for:

  1. Hunger for Jesus and deep consecration to Him and love for Him
  2. Freedom from sin and the weights that so easily entangle us
  3. Outpouring of the Holy Spirit to live and boldly proclaim the gospel
  4. Praying into the Word of the Lord to us as a community to ignite the boiler room of prayer and worship

Different Ways to Fast

  • Food: Consider a water fast, a fruit/vegetable fast, a juice fast or fast from coffee or sweets. (Always consider personal health concerns)
  • Media: Unplug from media, social media or one thing that may be distracting you from fixing your eyes on Jesus.
  • Personal Lifestyle: Set aside time with Jesus in worship, Word and prayer. prayer walking/running; 22 days of listening/journaling.
  • God’s Family Rhythms: In unity, join with the church to commit to the monthly reading plan of Ephesians, our Breakthrough Sunday series, Jesus Hour on Thursdays, and engage in a prayer ministry at CrossBridge. (Sign up for Freedom Prayer, Prophetic Prayer, or Kirk’s Thurs. Prayer, etc.)

***For More on Fasting and any health concerns, click here. 

What Fasting Is and Isn’t

Fasting is about our hearts, not our bodies.

God is the only one who can satisfy our heart’s desires. Fasting is about hungering for him more than for food. When we confess our sin, pour out our requests, call out for mercy, and seek God’s will—God responds. He doesn’t always respond with answers we understand, but he generally responds by coming near to us and relating to us more intimately.

Jeremiah 29:12-13 NIV “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. [13] You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 

Fasting is about focus, not food.

The priority of fasting is focusing on God, seeking him and knowing his ways. Going without food has the effect of turning down the extraneous noise of our busy worlds, allowing us to focus more intently on God. Fasting and prayer heighten the sensitivity of our hearts to the will and ways of God. Whether you fast from food or social media or something else. This isn't about legalism. Fasting is a gift God gives us to help fight against the pull of our flesh so we can know him more.

Zechariah 7:5-6 NIV “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? [6] And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?

Fasting is about our weakness, not our strength.

Don’t allow yourself to become impressed with your ability to deprive yourself of food. Instead, be humbled by the fact that going without food for just one day can make you grumpy and irritable. You’ll be surprised by how many times during the day your mind drifts toward thoughts of food—simply by missing a meal or two. Be humbled by how much of your thoughts and attitudes are manipulated by your body’s selfish cries. When you feel that twinge of hunger, use it as a reminder to humble yourself before the Lord and bring your petition to him.

Matthew 6:16-18 NIV “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. [17] But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, [18] so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Tips on Fasting

  • Make time each day for prayer, Scripture reading, and meditation.
  • God commands us to come to him with all kinds of prayers and requests. He wants this! Don't hold back. He loves when his children call on him.
  • Take advantage of small moments in your day to recenter yourself on Jesus. Resist the urge to pick up your phone every time you get a small break.
  • Obey immediately when you sense the Holy Spirit convicting you or leading you to do something as you read Scripture and pray.
  • Don’t cram yourself with food before or after. Fasting involves some physical discomfort, expect it. Be disciplined in how you start and finish.
  • When hunger pains hit or you feel the absence of whatever you're fasting from, use it as an alarm clock reminding you of your weakness and dependence upon God. If you can’t stop to pray at that moment, declare to God that you hunger for him and his will more than you do for food. Humble yourself before God.
  • Treat others kindly and honestly during your fast. When our actions do not line up with our fasting, God rejects our fasting.
  • Trust God with the results. Don’t judge the success or failure of a fast by your ability to perceive results—let God be God.

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