Partner with Us in Prayer and Fasting

Dear Church Family,

We are so excited to come together as a church for a time of fasting and prayer! Our fast will begin this Saturday evening, January 13, after your last meal, and will continue until Tuesday evening, January 16—with the goal being approximately a 36-hour fast.

If you’d like to share your prayer requests, please email them to our church secretary at HABCoffice@gmail.com so we can lift them up during this time. Once we have collected them all, we will email you a copy of everyone’s requests to pray over.

For those who are unable to fast for medical reasons, you are welcome to participate by eating a simple diet and committing extra time to prayer. If you can only fast for one day, we’d still love for you to join us however you’re able.

We’ve also created a resource page on our website to help you prepare! Visit myhabc.org/fastwithus for tips on fasting, as well as sermons to encourage and guide you.

If at any point during the fast you feel the need to break it earlier than anticipated, you are welcome to call and pray with one of our pastors for support, though this is completely optional.

We can’t wait to see how God works in our hearts and lives during this special time.

In Jesus Christ,
Pastor Bez Cummings

Fast Week: Tips for Biblical Fasting

Sunday morning, January 12th- Tuesday evening, January 14th

Before You Fast

·        Remove caffeine at least 7 days prior to fast (allow for pain medicine to help with your headaches)

·        Remove sugar & carbohydrates at least 3 days prior to fast

·        Remove all drinks except water at least 3 days prior to fast

During the Fast

·        Prepare a place to spend time with the Lord each day

·        If possible set aside a journal to write down any additional things you learn during the fast (we will be providing a prayer list for those who are participating)

·        As your schedule allows, set aside time in prayer and reading each day.

·        Try to limit the amount of time you spend on electronics/social media/news/etc.

·        Recommendation: Do not eat mints, gum, or anything with hidden sugar as this will just make you hungrier

·        Drink 9-13 glasses of water a day. In general, men should drink around 13 cups of water and other fluids daily, and women should aim for 9 cups.  You can stick to the daily recommended amount of water during your water fast. Choose the purest water you can, or drink distilled water. A quality, zero calorie electrolyte mix with each glass of water. Also, add a good quality Himalayan pink salt or Celtic sea salt to replenish lost minerals during the fast.

·        Don’t drink all that water at once! Spread out your water consumption throughout the day. Try setting out three 1-liter jugs every day, so you can see how much water you should drink.

·        Don’t drink more water than the recommended amount, as this can throw off the balance of salt and minerals in your body and cause health problems

·        Combat bouts of hunger. If you get strong hunger pangs, work through it by drinking 1-2 glasses of water. Then lie down and rest. The craving will usually pass. You can also try distracting yourself by reading or praying.

·        Do a word study on fasting in the Bible.

·        Avoid the use of perfume, lotion, and anything with chemicals if possible

·         Post Fasting: Re-feeding is very important. Break the fast with an easy to digest liquid, such as coconut water or bone broth. Continue the re-feeding period with freshly pressed vegetable/fruit juice. The rule of thumb is to stay on a liquid diet 1 day for every 3 days of fasting.