2026 Week of Fasting & Prayer
For the start of 2026, we would like to, once again, practice fasting and prayer to enter into the new year. As a church, let's set the spiritual tone for the year by encouraging the Holy Spirit to move boldly in and through our lives afresh.
Fasting is setting aside the time you would put into preparing and consuming a meal to spend time reading the scriptures and in prayer. It involves a physical investment and the physical suffering of hunger as you pray, which opens a door to a deeper faith.
The purposes for fasting are vast: tune out worldly distractions and focus on God's voice, giving clarity to God's desires for our year ahead, and humbling ourselves in a posture of dependence on God. Fasting is useful for receiving specific guidance and breakthroughs for things that have persisted in our lives without a breakthrough. Besides strengthening our faith, fasting can also give us the quiet times to assist in finding and repenting of sin strongholds within our lives.
The early church practiced fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays until sundown. This was a common practice within the church rhythm for the first 1,500 years of the church. But this practice has fallen to the wayside so much that many Christians rarely fast for spiritual reasons within the entirety of a year. We want to help you experience the power of fasting and break that trend at Open Life.
When I was a youth pastor in Issaquah, WA, we used to fast and pray the first week of every year. We would open the church for anyone who wanted to stop by and pray, and at the conclusion of the week, anyone who fasted a meal, a day, or even the entire week would gather and break the fast together. We would share what God had revealed to us personally and encourage one another in the faith. It was a powerful time. I personally experienced many revelations and breakthroughs during these weeks of fasting and prayer, and I desire the same for our church members.
It has been many years since I practiced that first week of the year rhythm, but I have longed for it for a number of years now. This year, 2026, I want to lead all of us at Open Life into this practice again for our second year, developing a new annual rhythm. How beautiful it will be if we as a church find our space within the week of Jan. 4th to fast and pray, offering our lives up to Jesus, seeking greater holiness, believing for a breakthrough in our lives and those around us as our prayers are amplified.
Between now and the 5th of January, I challenge you to consider what you might do to participate during the course of the week, from the youngest to the oldest. We will fast from Monday through Friday and break the fast together at dinner on Friday at The Gathering Place. Maybe you will take a first step and fast a breakfast or lunch and devote that time to prayer or reading scripture and solitude. Maybe you will pick a day or a dinner and fast through to the next Dinner for a 24-hour period. Three days or the whole week…there is no right or wrong amount of time you choose to participate, but I challenge each of you to participate on some level and just see what God will do in you and reveal to you for 2026. We have made a simple form for you to share any specific insights or breakthroughs you experience during the week of prayer and fasting HERE. We want to celebrate what God does in and through your life during this week of fasting and praying together.
Also, consider what you will fast for: Do you need healing, is there a relationship you would like to mend, are you looking for a career change or clarity on if you should step into an area of ministry involvement like a missions trip, missional outpost or participating in a group or a serve team? These are all great things to fast and pray over during this week in January. I believe God can reveal to you direction, bring breakthroughs, and provide a clear roadmap for your year ahead.
Mark your calendars, January 5 - 9, with a break fast dinner at 6 pm on Friday the 9th at The Gathering Place for those who have participated on any level. This will be a simple soup and bread meal that will gently reintroduce your stomach to food.
Different for 2026 is the form the week takes to guide you as you fast and pray during the week of the 5th through the 9th. We will create daily prompts that will be made digitally accessible, text the word "Fasting" to 833-701-8585 for these prompts. The Gathering Place will be open for anyone who wants to stop by and pray at Noon each day, Monday-Friday. In addition, we will host an hour of worship and prayer together at theGP on Wednesday at 6:30 pm.
Matthew 6:18 reveals to us that God rewards us when we fast. We are not told what this reward is, but we can be expectant of something amazing from God. Join with us as we collectively begin 2026 in a powerful way with Jesus and each other.
We look forward to this fasting journey together.
Have questions about fasting or the week of prayer and fasting? Email thadh@openlife.church
- Thad
Fasting is setting aside the time you would put into preparing and consuming a meal to spend time reading the scriptures and in prayer. It involves a physical investment and the physical suffering of hunger as you pray, which opens a door to a deeper faith.
The purposes for fasting are vast: tune out worldly distractions and focus on God's voice, giving clarity to God's desires for our year ahead, and humbling ourselves in a posture of dependence on God. Fasting is useful for receiving specific guidance and breakthroughs for things that have persisted in our lives without a breakthrough. Besides strengthening our faith, fasting can also give us the quiet times to assist in finding and repenting of sin strongholds within our lives.
The early church practiced fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays until sundown. This was a common practice within the church rhythm for the first 1,500 years of the church. But this practice has fallen to the wayside so much that many Christians rarely fast for spiritual reasons within the entirety of a year. We want to help you experience the power of fasting and break that trend at Open Life.
When I was a youth pastor in Issaquah, WA, we used to fast and pray the first week of every year. We would open the church for anyone who wanted to stop by and pray, and at the conclusion of the week, anyone who fasted a meal, a day, or even the entire week would gather and break the fast together. We would share what God had revealed to us personally and encourage one another in the faith. It was a powerful time. I personally experienced many revelations and breakthroughs during these weeks of fasting and prayer, and I desire the same for our church members.
It has been many years since I practiced that first week of the year rhythm, but I have longed for it for a number of years now. This year, 2026, I want to lead all of us at Open Life into this practice again for our second year, developing a new annual rhythm. How beautiful it will be if we as a church find our space within the week of Jan. 4th to fast and pray, offering our lives up to Jesus, seeking greater holiness, believing for a breakthrough in our lives and those around us as our prayers are amplified.
Between now and the 5th of January, I challenge you to consider what you might do to participate during the course of the week, from the youngest to the oldest. We will fast from Monday through Friday and break the fast together at dinner on Friday at The Gathering Place. Maybe you will take a first step and fast a breakfast or lunch and devote that time to prayer or reading scripture and solitude. Maybe you will pick a day or a dinner and fast through to the next Dinner for a 24-hour period. Three days or the whole week…there is no right or wrong amount of time you choose to participate, but I challenge each of you to participate on some level and just see what God will do in you and reveal to you for 2026. We have made a simple form for you to share any specific insights or breakthroughs you experience during the week of prayer and fasting HERE. We want to celebrate what God does in and through your life during this week of fasting and praying together.
Also, consider what you will fast for: Do you need healing, is there a relationship you would like to mend, are you looking for a career change or clarity on if you should step into an area of ministry involvement like a missions trip, missional outpost or participating in a group or a serve team? These are all great things to fast and pray over during this week in January. I believe God can reveal to you direction, bring breakthroughs, and provide a clear roadmap for your year ahead.
Mark your calendars, January 5 - 9, with a break fast dinner at 6 pm on Friday the 9th at The Gathering Place for those who have participated on any level. This will be a simple soup and bread meal that will gently reintroduce your stomach to food.
Different for 2026 is the form the week takes to guide you as you fast and pray during the week of the 5th through the 9th. We will create daily prompts that will be made digitally accessible, text the word "Fasting" to 833-701-8585 for these prompts. The Gathering Place will be open for anyone who wants to stop by and pray at Noon each day, Monday-Friday. In addition, we will host an hour of worship and prayer together at theGP on Wednesday at 6:30 pm.
Matthew 6:18 reveals to us that God rewards us when we fast. We are not told what this reward is, but we can be expectant of something amazing from God. Join with us as we collectively begin 2026 in a powerful way with Jesus and each other.
We look forward to this fasting journey together.
Have questions about fasting or the week of prayer and fasting? Email thadh@openlife.church
- Thad
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