What is the 21 Days of Prayer?
It's a new year. (Thank God!) But where do we begin? With our annual 21 Days of Prayer. Patterned on Jesus' prayer in John 17, we will lay a foundation of prayer before forging ahead. We will pray for ourselves, our church body, those outside of Ethos, and our leadership. We will thank God for who He is, thank Jesus for what He has done, and seek guidance from the Holy Spirit as we listen to Him. During these 21 days, we have daily prayer points to pray together as a family or on your own, and there will be prayer points for your kiddos as well! Follow @ethos_oh on Instagram or Facebook.com/ethosoh for daily reminders.
The purpose of 21 Days of Prayer
God isn’t interested in us practicing religion; instead, He desires a relationship with us. And God loves for us to talk with Him. 21 Days of Prayer is a way to connect with God personally, ask for His guidance and wisdom, and lean on His provision. And as a community, 21 Days of Prayer is a great way to be united in prayer as we believe God to move in our lives, community, and nation.
How do I participate?
To begin, download the 21 Days of Prayer devotional and follow the daily prompts laid out for each day. Each day, find a quiet space and set your phone aside in an effort to create a distraction free environment. We encourage you to use the space provided in the deovtional or a separate notebook to journal the impressions that God is laying on your heart and mind as well to write out your prayer for the day. Journaling is a great tool that is often absent from our daily relationships with God.
FASTING
What is the purpose of fasting?
The goal of fasting is to draw nearer to 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 good 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.
Types of Fasts
COMPLETE FAST
In this type of fast, you drink only liquids, typically water with light juices as an option. (Consult your physician when entering a complete.)
SELECT 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, and bread from your diet and consume water and juice for fluids and fruits and vegetables for food.
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 sunup to sundown.
SOUL FAST
This fast is a great option if you do not have much experience fasting food, have health issues that prevent you from fasting food, or if you wish to refocus certain areas of your life that are out of balance. For example, you might choose to stop using social media or watching television for the duration of the fast and then carefully bring that element back into your life in healthy doses at the conclusion of the fast.
Teaching on Fasting
We want to continually expand our minds and understanding of the way of Jesus. God wants us to love him not only with our hearts, souls, and strength, but with our minds as well. In the 7 minute video, Pastor John Mark Comer shares three reasons for practicing a fast.
Prayer & Fasting Resources
21 Days of Prayer Events
Tuesday Prayer - January 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, & 30th
Tuesday Prayer will be held each Tuesday during the month of January at 6:30am-7am at Ethos + Co. Tuesday prayer is a time set aside before our days begin to pray and be with God. Whether you're new to prayer or have been praying for a long time, we encourage you to attend.
Night of Prayer and worship - January 9th
We will kick off 21 Days of prayer with a night of prayer and worship at Ethos + Co on January 9th. Together we will pray and worship God together as we prepare our hearts individually and collectively for the month to come. We hope to see you there!