Fast for Freedom

My church is engaged in the Fast for Freedom this year during Lent. Lent is the 40 day period before Easter that represents the last days of Jesus’ life on this earth, his ultimate sacrifice on the Cross and His triumphant Resurrection and Victory over death.

Many Christians choose to fast during Lent, in an exercise of sacrifice, discipline and obedience to God. Some people fast by giving up one meal a day, or abstaining from a specific food or practice. However, fasting is much more than arbitrarily abstaining from something. It about filling that void with spiritual nourishment. It is an opportunity to focus on God, deepen your prayer life, stretch your faith and grow spiritually in your relationship with the Lord.

This year will be the first in which I am fasting for Lent. When I was trying to decide what I would choose to sacrifice, I thought of what took up the majority of my time each day. The answer was simple: facebook. I easily spend 2-3 hours on the website daily.

How much time do I spend with God every day? Looking at my priorities alone, it would seem that facebook has a higher ranking in my heart than God does. What a sad thought. It made me wonder, what changes could I affect in my life and in the lives of others by dedicating even half the time I spend on facebook every day to praying, reading God’s Word or meditating on Scripture?

There’s only one way to find out. For the 40 days of Lent (from Monday – Saturday), during the time that I would normally be on facebook chatting and socializing, I will, instead be spending time with God in prayer, learning from Him and seeking His Heart. We do not fast on Sundays, as this day is meant to represent the hope and expectancy of Easter Sunday and Jesus’ resurrection.

For the Fast for Freedom, my entire church is partnering together in 40 days of prayer and fasting . We will be praying specifically for 5 extremely significant issues that affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. These are the issues I will be focusing on in my prayer time during Lent.

And this is where you come in, dear one. Would you commit to praying for one or more of these issues with me every day for the next 40 days? Even if only for a couple of minutes each day, your prayers have power in the Name of Jesus! Let us partner together in faith to move mountains for the Kingdom of God.

1. For the salvation of Mr Kang; the head pimp of Korea (who I have met personally). That he would realize the gross error of his ways and that he would become a powerful abolitionist of human trafficking and sexual enslavement.

2. For the salvation of Kim Sung Mo – a comic book artist who graphically fabricates the brutalization and murder of prostitutes for profit, including detailed maps and locations of red light districts in Korea. And for these comic books to be banned completely.

3. For the breaking grounds to be destroyed. These are the buildings and rooms where kidnapped women and children are brought to be repeatedly raped and tortured into submission to be made into prostitutes.

4. For all forms of human slavery and injustice to end in our lifetime.

5. For the salvation of a loved one. I am praying for the salvation of my brother – for him to come to know Jesus as his personal Lord and Saviour.

We pray these things in Jesus’ Mighty Name! Amen.

“This is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.” – Isaiah 58:5-6