02 Jan Fasting + Prayer

We have a tradition at APC that I am sure many of you share. We begin our year in January with a week of Prayer and Fasting. For us, the fast begins on a Sunday after lunch and continues through until a Friday night.

During the week of prayer we do several things to engage people:

1. Daily Noon Prayer Gatherings.
2. Evening Services with a guest speaker. In the past, we would follow our week of prayer with a week of spiritual emphasis services. But we have changed that now. The evening meetings give people something to focus on as they fast and pray.
3. I provide a Prayer Guide for people to use during the week.
4. We pass out Bill Bright’s 7 STEPS TO FASTING booklet to help equip people as to how to fast properly.
5. Since my staff is out every night of that week, I give them the mornings off and ask them to suspend their normal activities as much as is possible.
6. Currently, we have a Prayer Chapel that we try to man with 24/7 Prayer all year round. But we started this plan by filling a week with 24/7 Prayer. So people sign up to fill a one-hour time slot. We pass the baton in prayer from person to person throughout the week.
7. We conclude the week on a Friday night with a CELEBRATION and COMMISSIONING service. So we pray over our leaders. Then we break the fast together with some soup and bread which the church provides for free.

We have seen so much fruit from this practice. I am curious to learn what you might do during your week of prayer? I am always looking for fresh ideas for the future.