This Wednesday, I have invited Legacy to practice a day of prayer and fasting as we enter the Christmas season. I do this because I need to have my head and heart on straight as the "Buy me! Buy me!" Sirens of consumerism begin to call my name.I am also asking the church to join me in this day of focused worship because we begin our Christmas series this Sunday, called, "Enter The Prince of Peace." When Jesus came as God incarnate, he came into a world of poverty and hunger, war and injustice, religious insiders and outcasts, prejudice and hatred. We will invite that same Prince of Peace into our world, which struggles with the same issues some 2,000 years later. We begin this Sunday with "Enter the Prince of Peace: poverty and hunger."
We will conclude Wednesday with a prayer service at the church in the Discovery Room (east hallway of the Legacy Center).
The purpose of a day like this is to substitute physical appetites and distractions in order to free your spirit to commune with God.
People always ask what to do on a day like this. Here is an old article by Richard Foster that is as good as any on the purpose and practices of fasting. Click here to read the article. Earlier this year, August 27, we gave you a link to Bill Bright's site on fasting. That's more information than you need, but it is helpful for those who want to know more.
I will blog some that day to share what I am doing and learning during our shared 24-hour, liquid-only fast. (Of course, if health issues prevent a liquid-only diet, then practice some of Foster's other suggestions.) I'll be interested to your comments as we worship together.