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40
Day Fast for General Conference by Jim Elzerman  The
gospel writers Matthew, Mark and Luke each record that Jesus — immediately
after He was baptized — went into the desert where He fasted and prayed
for 40 days in preparation for a time of testing. A church-wide, 40 day time of fasting and prayer is the vision of Doug and Margie Newton, prayer coordinators for the 2003 General Conference to be held at Seattle Pacific University, June 28th thru July 4th. The Newtons hope that this will be the largest prayer focus in the history of the Free Methodist Church. They have set a goal of 10,000 participants. The dates for the 40 Day Fast are May 19th through June 27th — the 40 days immediately preceding the opening of General Conference on June 28th. In keeping with the "Into the Neighborhood" theme of General Conference, the 40 Day Fast will have dual components — personal devotion and social action. The scriptural basis for the fast is found in Isaiah 58: "This is the kind of fast day I'm after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I'm interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'" (Isaiah 58:6-9, The Message). Few of us could endure a fast like Jesus' in the wilderness where He went without food and water for 40 days. But we all could easily give up some things to devote ourselves to prayer for that period of time. Your fast might be like that of Daniel and his three Hebrew friends. As recorded in Daniel 1, they declined the royal menu and ate "light" — a simple diet of vegetables and water. The money you save on your light diet could be used to help feed the poor. Or maybe your fast could be from a real time robber — T.V. — so that you can spend time in prayer and be more available to your family. There are countless possibilities for the way that you can take part in the 40 Day Fast. Plan now to take part and begin asking God how you should participate. The 40 Day Fast is intended as a spiritual journey as well as a time of fasting and prayer leading up to General Conference. Won't it be exciting to join in that journey with 10,000 other Free Methodists? More information about the 40 Day Fast for promotion and recruitment will be made available to conference superintendents and pastors the first part of April. At that time, interested individuals will also be able to sign up to participate in the fast on the Prayer section of the General Conference Web site. |
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