Lent Journey - 2016Sample

LENT IS FOR FASTING DAILY PRAYER REQUEST: Lord, deepen our focus on you. DAILY THOUGHT: WHENEVER YOU FAST Quite clearly Jesus expected his followers to fast. In the weekly Bible passage he did not say, “If you fast…” but rather “Whenever you fast…” (Matthew 6:16). He must have known that there are immense spiritual benefits to the regular practice of fasting. As we have emphasised throughout this week, it helps tremendously to develop our Christ focus. This in turn often leads us into first-hand experiences of God’s amazing resources. We find ourselves empowered to do things for God that otherwise we would not have been able to do. For this reason, it is highly unusual to find any Christ-follower in history doing great things for God without a sustained practice of regular fasting. DAILY PRACTICE: Pray the daily prayer request. Reflect today on the past week. How has the Lord responded to your daily prayer request during this week? After you have thought about this question, take some time to think of the future. How can fasting become a sustained practice in your walk with God? You may want to begin with a small step like missing out on one meal each week, or a bigger one like making one day a week a fast day.