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From the Manse January 2005
Dear friends
I used my “letter from the manse” then to explain why fasting is important. I tried to show you from Old and New Testaments alike that when God’s people have been serious about praying, they have always fasted too. And I tried to show you what fasting is for. “It’s a sign that we’re really serious about our praying. It’s a way of saying to God, ‘I want this thing I’m praying for so much that it’s more important to me than anything - even my food. I’m hungry for a meal, but I’m more hungry to have your blessing’. ” If you’re not sure about the Bible’s teaching on fasting, look again at that letter. (Ask me for a copy if you need one). We can look back now and remember some of the things we prayed for that first prayer-day. Some of the prayers we prayed then have been remarkably answered: ¨ We prayed “that David will be equipped for pastoral ministry and led to the right church”. Since then, David has been called to a pastorate in London. ¨ We prayed “that God will open up new opportunities for usefulness”. Since then, the door has opened for the work in Charlesworth to be re-established. ¨ We prayed “that God will save our children and other unconverted members of our families”. Since then, three of our teenage lads have been baptised and added to the church. Looking back, we can surely give thanks for those things. But there were other things we prayed for that haven’t yet been granted. ¨ We prayed that God would give us “the right building at the right time”. But we’re still meeting in the St John Hall. ¨ We prayed that unconverted people would come into our services and be saved. But I don’t think we’ve seen one person from the locality converted. ¨ We prayed for local teenagers. But those we’ve met remain hardened… We held a second church fasting-and-prayer-day nearly a year later, in March 2003. It followed the same format as the first. We prayed for many of the same things again but added some further requests. For “a senior man” to join the eldership and “that former members of the church who have backslidden will be restored; those who are estranged will be reconciled”. Again, we’re still waiting for those prayers to be answered. Well, we believe it’s time to turn to prayer again. If we ask God for something, believing that it’s a right thing to ask for, and if God doesn’t give it to us, what do we do? We ask again! And again and again. Paul prayed without ceasing that he would be allowed to visit the church in Rome, and often intended to do it, but each time he was prevented (Romans 1:9-13). What did he do? Give up? No, he carried on asking, and he urged others to join him in asking. “I appeal to you brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to wrestle together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf...so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company...” (Romans 15:30-32). So the office-bearers have agreed to set aside another day for prayer and fasting. It seemed right to start the New Year in that way. We’re asking the church again to wrestle together with us on that day: Saturday 8th January. We’ll be revisiting many of the things we prayed for more than two years ago. If they’ve already been granted, we can give thanks together. If they haven’t, we can ask whether we still believe they are right things to ask for. And if they are, we’ll pray for them again together. And we can ask too if there are new needs that have arisen in the past two years that we ought to be praying about. The New Testament puts a tremendous emphasis on the importance of a church praying together for the things it needs. You’ve only got to glance through Acts to see that. “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer..” (1:14). “They lifted their voices together to God..” (4:24). “Many were gathered together and were praying..” (12:12). A single believer praying on his own can win great blessings from God. How much more, when a whole church meets, agrees together what it should ask for, and then unitedly begs God to give those things. One of the early Church Fathers described the way that a church prays: “We meet together as an assembly and congregation to assail God with our prayers, massing our forces to surround Him...” He was not suggesting that we can force God to give us things that are against his will. His point was that even when we’re praying for good things, God may not give them until he sees that we are urgent, determined and united in asking for them. So please set aside that day, or as much of it as possible, to pray. And do join us at the meetings if you can. We’ve deliberately arranged them at what would normally be meal-times: 8.30 am, 1.00 pm, 5.00 pm. If for some reason you can’t fast throughout the day, surely you can miss one meal and spend the time praying with us instead of eating. God has given great promises to his people to encourage them to pray. “‘Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you’ declares the Lord..” (Jeremiah 29:12-13). The ‘you’ in that verse is plural. God isn’t just speaking to individual believers. He’s calling his people together to seek him, and he promises that together they’ll find him. When we seek him with all our heart, then we’ll find him. May we all find richer blessings from God in 2005 than ever before. Stephen |
Two
and a half years ago, back in July 2002, the church set aside a Saturday
as a day of prayer. We held three meetings at different times of the day
so that we could pray together. But we also gave as much time as
possible during the day to private and family prayer. The church
office-bearers agreed that they should fast as well as pray throughout
the day and we encouraged others to join us in that. I know that many
of you did so.