In preparation for the blessings and challenges of 2023, Pastor Damon & Shantell felt the leading of the Holy Spirit to call Genesis Church-Antioch to a time of consecration in the first month of the year.
Fasting is the biblical discipline of denying ourselves the things that our flesh often craves, like food, social media, drama, gossip, etc. so that we can draw closer to and hear clearly from God. Biblical fasting always has to do with eliminating distractions for a spiritual purpose; it hits the reset button of our soul and renews us from the inside out. It also enables us to celebrate the goodness and mercy of God and prepares our hearts for all the things God desires to bring into our lives.
Remember, your personal fast should present a level of challenge, but it is very important to know your body, your options, and, most importantly, to seek God in prayer and follow what the Holy Spirit leads you to do.
Prayer and Fasting It is not a competition, but rather each person should work to silence the distractions of life so that you can connect in our Upward call to God during these twenty-one days.
HOW IS GENESIS CHURCH FASTING?
If you are led by God to do so, from January 2nd to January 21st Genesis Church is calling all of its members, partners and friends to a Corporate Fast. A Corporate Fast is when the leadership of a church calls those who are connected to that church to join together in a time of prayer, scripture reading, consecration.
The Bible declares for us according to Matthew 6:33 to, “seek first the kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things we be given unto thee...” From January 2nd to January 21st do your best to please seek the Lord as you read, meditate and memorize the word of God.
To help, we provided a prayer guide with scriptures and prayers for your personal time of reflection and renewal. If you need a prayer and fasting guide, please contact us @ or text the church admin @ 925-304-4474
TYPES OF FASTS
Complete Fast
This fast calls for drinking only liquids, typically water and juicing as an option. We recommend fruit and vegetable juices as the natural sugars will give you the energy, taste, strength and motivation to continue your fast. Nutritionists advise recommend “green drinks” made from leafy vegetables because they are excellent “de-toxifiers”.
Selective Fast (The Daniel Fast)
This type of fast involves removing certain elements from your diet. One example of a selective fast is the Daniel Fast, during which you remove meat, sweets, or bread from your diet and consume water and juice for fluids and fruits and vegetables for food. Similar to the complete fast “green drinks” made from leafy vegetables are great for detoxification. Off-the shelf juice products are fine, as long as they are 100% juice with no added sugar, preservatives or additives.
Partial Fast
This fast is sometimes called the Jewish Fast and involves abstaining from eating any type of food in the morning and afternoon. This can either correlate to specific times of the day, such as 6:00 am to 3:00 pm, or from sunrise to sundown.
Soul Fast
This fast is common for those who do not have much experience fasting food, who have health issues that prevent them from fasting food, or who wish to refocus certain areas of their life that are out of balance. For instance, someone might select to abstain from using social media or watching television for the duration of the fast, and then choose to carefully bring that element back into their life in an orderly fashion at the conclusion of the fast.
Additional Guidelines
To help us clearly hear God during this time, we will abstain from the following during the fast: •Secular Music. • Ungodly Media (if you wouldn’t play it in church, don’t watch it.) • Gossip and Unwholesome Conversation. • Drama and Toxic environments.
Always consult your physician or health care professional before starting your fast.
If you have dietary restricts please use wisdom and contact your physician or a health care professional.
