FASTING DAY 2 - River of Life "Daniel Fast- THE BOWL"

How do we fast as Christians. There is no one way. There are many ways. BUT it is always about the heart not the food. It is always about the BLESSING not the BOWL.

BUT TODAY LET US TALK ABOUT THE BOWL

Jesus spoke a lot about fasting & always started... “Whenever you fast...” In the time of Jesus religious people, both Christians or Jews were expected to fast. It is clear in the New Testament; Jesus expected us to fast.

Fasting has been a part of the Christian church since the start. In the 1st century until the 5th Century the Western Church fasted every Wednesday & Friday. Wednesday's fast was in remembrance of Christ betrayal. & Friday's fast in commemorates of His death on the cross. The Easten Church, the Orthodox Church still does fast on these 2 days. In the 1st century it was called "black fasting". They had only 1 simple meal in the evening & a little in the day.

In some ways this was a modification of the Jewish fast at the time, Jews fasted Monday & Thursday. Before the fall of the temple in 70AD, Christians were seen as part of the Jewish faith. So, they met in the Synagogues on Saturday with the Jews & on Sunday in the Synagogues by themselves. That is until 70AD when the Christians were kicked out of Synagogues by the Jews. The Christians seeing the destruction of the temple as God's plan. The Jews did not agree to say the least. Until that time the practices of the Jews & Christians had a lot more in common.

How are we fasting- to take up the BOWL. We at River of Life are doing a Daniel fast. There are many ideas & books written on a Daniel fast. The word fast is used about 10 times, & depending how you count verse there is less then 20 verses on fasting in that book. But there have been 1,000s of books written on it.

IE. I pastored a church in Toronto in the late 1990s & we were doing a Daniel fast. A lady gave me a book with 849 pages on how to do a Daniel fast- WOW that is a lot info on 20 or less verse.

Over the years I have done a Daniel fast many ways. But in the last 12 yeas, I have kept it very simple. For me it is just 3 rules on food.

- NOT SWEETS

- NO TREATS

- NO MEATS

I know some people eat eggs, others cheese, other brew a little tea, others eat ----. The point is its between you & God.... It is about the BLESSING not the BOWL. You are giving up food for God & spending that time you would have used preparing & eating that food with God. You are NOT letting food master - you but giving your life to the real master- Jesus.

We will speak about the BLESSING tomorrow.

As to the time of fasting, for us its 14 days this Year. I always pray about the length. I have done fast of different kinds of 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, 5, 7, 10, 14, 21, 30, even a 40 day fast. A Daniel fast is pretty safe. But if you have concern with health or age you should speak to your doctor.

I have found as a I fast, I have sensed God closer & in new ways- the BLESSING. If it is your 1st time fasting, know its always a little harder the 1st time. But after 3 days you get into a routine & it gets easier -drink lots of Water- Fasting is very health for the body too.

NOTE: The Church is open Tuesday to Friday 10am to noon for prayer the next 2 weeks.

Be Blessed

Pastor Thom