We’re currently entering week 5 of the our Rooted Experience for high school students, and we’re digging into the practice of prayer. This week will culminate with a Prayer Experience for high school students that will be held on Sunday afternoon February 4, after the morning worship services. We’re asking all high school students that normally participate in Sunday night Life Groups to stay after church for a meal and the Prayer Experience which will begin at 12:45p in Room ED01. We’ll eat together, and then break into our small groups to share in a time of prayer together. Including lunch, the entire experience will last till 2:30p. This will be our Life Group gathering for the day, and groups will not meet on Sunday night.
An invitation to Fasting: As part of this experience, students were challenged at our Life Group gatherings this past Sunday night (1/28/18) to think about something they might fast from leading into this next Sunday. Fasting in this sense means to simply abstain from something (food, drink, social media, electronics, phone, TV, Netflix, etc…) for a time to bring increased focus to your prayer life. Andrew Bonar once said,
“Fasting is abstaining from anything that hinders prayer.”
Hudson Taylor shared this observation in regard to fasting; “In Shansi I found Chinese Christians who were accustomed to spend time in fasting and prayer. They recognized that this fasting, which so many dislike, which requires faith in God, since it makes one feel weak and poorly, is really a Divinely appointed means of grace. Perhaps the greatest hindrance to our work is our own imagined strength; and in fasting we learn what poor, weak creatures we are-dependent on a meal of meat for the little strength which we are so apt to lean upon.””
Maybe you’ll choose to fast from food from dinner on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday, breaking your fast at lunch with the group on Sunday…? Or maybe you normally can’t put your phone down, or you fill every empty minute by scrolling through your social media feeds, or thinking about what to post next…? Fasting for you might mean unplugging from that which hinders your prayers because it causes constant self-distraction. The goal in any case would be as you experience the pains of going without something for a time, that you would use your time to more intently focus on prayer and your dependence upon the Lord. We invite you to prayerfully and thoughtfully consider joining us in fasting to further focus our experience in prayer together this weekend. The schedule for the afternoon is as follows:
Sunday, February 4, 2018
12:45p Lunch in Room ED01
1:15-2:30p Prayer Experience
There will be no evening Life Group gatherings this weekend.
BRING. CHANGE. SHARE. 