2025 Week of Prayer & Fasting
I would like to open a door to greater blessing and breakthrough in your life through prayer and fasting. We see the practice of prayer and fasting connected in scripture but often times we do not link them or practice fasting at all. What is it and what is possible if we practice this in our own faith walk?
Simply put, fasting is setting aside the time you would put into the preparing and consuming a meal with 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 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 way side so much that many Christians never 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.
It has been many years since I have practiced that first week of the year rhythm, but I have longed for it for a number of years now. This year, 2025 I want to lead all of us at Open Life into this practice and annual rhythm. How beautiful it will be if we as a church find our space within the week of Jan. 6th to fast and pray, offering our lives up to Jesus, seeking greater holiness, believing for breakthrough in our life and those around us as our prayers are amplified.
Between now and the 6th of January I challenge you to consider what you might do to participate during the course of the week. We will fast Monday through Friday and break the fast Friday at dinner together. 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 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 2025. Share how you plan to engage at the simple survey HERE.
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 job change or clarity on if you should step into an area of ministry involvement like a missions trip 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 breakthrough and provide a clear roadmap for your year ahead.
Mark your calendars, January 6 - 10th with a break fast dinner at 6pm on Friday the 10th at The Gathering Place for those who have participated on any level. This will be a broth soup and sandwich type meal that will gently reintroduce your stomach to food. During the week of the 6th through the 10th the Gathering Place will be open for anyone who wants to stop by and pray at 6:30am and Noon each day Mon-Friday. In addition we will open theGP Monday and Wednesday at 6:30 pm for an hour of prayer those two evenings.
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 2025 in a powerful way with Jesus.
We look forward to this fasting journey together.
Have questions about fasting or the week of prayer and fasting? Email thadh@openlife.church
- Thad
Simply put, fasting is setting aside the time you would put into the preparing and consuming a meal with 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 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 way side so much that many Christians never 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.
It has been many years since I have practiced that first week of the year rhythm, but I have longed for it for a number of years now. This year, 2025 I want to lead all of us at Open Life into this practice and annual rhythm. How beautiful it will be if we as a church find our space within the week of Jan. 6th to fast and pray, offering our lives up to Jesus, seeking greater holiness, believing for breakthrough in our life and those around us as our prayers are amplified.
Between now and the 6th of January I challenge you to consider what you might do to participate during the course of the week. We will fast Monday through Friday and break the fast Friday at dinner together. 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 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 2025. Share how you plan to engage at the simple survey HERE.
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 job change or clarity on if you should step into an area of ministry involvement like a missions trip 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 breakthrough and provide a clear roadmap for your year ahead.
Mark your calendars, January 6 - 10th with a break fast dinner at 6pm on Friday the 10th at The Gathering Place for those who have participated on any level. This will be a broth soup and sandwich type meal that will gently reintroduce your stomach to food. During the week of the 6th through the 10th the Gathering Place will be open for anyone who wants to stop by and pray at 6:30am and Noon each day Mon-Friday. In addition we will open theGP Monday and Wednesday at 6:30 pm for an hour of prayer those two evenings.
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 2025 in a powerful way with Jesus.
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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