Discipleship 101

What Is the Daniel Fast? Daniel abstained from meat, bread, wine, and oils for his skin for 21 days ( Daniel 10:3 ; Daniel 9:3 ). These would have been things that satisfied Daniel, good food, and relief from dried skin. He abstained after being captured and brought to Babylon. It was likely the royal food was not kosher according to Daniel’s customs. When Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, and other young Israelite men were taken into Nebuchadnezzar’s service, they were to be given food and wine from the king’s table while undergoing a three-year training program. “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way” ( Daniel 1:8 ).  What Is a Partial Fast? A partial fast is also known as a three-day spiritual fast. We see examples of Daniel and his friends eating veggies, fruit, and drinking water for ten days. They used this fast to honor God while in captivity. Other...

Everyone of importance in the Bible practiced fasting: Moses, David, Elijah, Esther, Daniel, Anna, Paul, Jesus, just to name a few. When Jesus taught on fasting, He would say “When you fast” not “If you fast”. He assumed that we would fast. We were created with fasting, think about it, if you sleep 8 hours a day, then you are sleeping 1/3 of your life. If you live, say, 75 years, that’s 25 years asleep, or 9,125 days. When you sleep, you are fasting, that’s why morning meal is called breakfast – its when you break your fast. Fasting is abstaining from food for spiritual reasons. What Does the Bible Say about Prayer and Fasting? Jesus practiced fasting when he was tempted by Satan, ( Matt. 4:1-11 ;  Mark 1:12-13 ;  Luke 4:1-4 ). During those 40 days of loneliness, “He ate nothing” ( Luke 4:2 ). In fact, the earlier mention of fasting in the Old Testament were the instructions God gave Moses after leading his people to freedom in  Exodus 13:3 ,  “Then Moses said to the...

Your story is authentically and uniquely you . It’s versatile and can be used in a variety of situations—from sharing with an individual to addressing a group. It’s not a debate, it’s not pushy, it’s not fake, and it doesn’t feel like religious propaganda, since it’s coming from your heart. Very rarely will people argue with you about your story. In fact, they’re more likely to engage and ask clarifying questions, which in turn pushes the dialogue about Jesus to a more personal level. Six Simple Principles If you’ve never thought about preparing and communicating your story, that’s fine (most Christians haven’t). Here are six simple principles to get you started. 1. Keep it short. Communicating too many details about your life can distract listeners from the central point: how you met Christ. Keeping it short can help with that. Three minutes is a good target. Remember that the purpose of telling your story is not about you; it’s about God. Clearly and succinctly commu...

Principles for Evangelism The book of Acts is the church’s “playbook” for how to spread the gospel. Acts 8 is one of the key chapters in Luke’s narrative. It describes how the early disciples, forced out of Jerusalem by persecution, spread the gospel in the surrounding area ( Acts 8:1–4 ) and how Philip the Evangelist ( Acts 21:8 ) preached the gospel in the city of Samaria ( Acts 8:5–8 ) and to a eunuch from Ethiopia ( Acts 8:26–40 ). This chapter suggests seven important principles for sharing our faith with others. 1. Seize the moment. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.— Acts 8:4 The word “preaching” may be a bit misleading. This doesn’t mean people were standing behind pulpits giving sermons. The word is euangelizo (the word from which we get evangelism) and it simply means “tell the good news.” But notice that they did this when they were scattered because of persecution. In other words, they were suffering. They were uprooted from the comm...

The disciples of Jesus came to Him while He was praying, asking for a lesson in prayer. They had seen Him pray always, and they knew that His robust prayer life was the secret behind the miracle power at work in His life. His fervent prayer life gave Him power to exercise of demons, sicknesses and nature. Our Lord responded saying: Our Father in heaven: This signifies approaching God on the basis of intimate relationship. Only children can call the master Father. Only those who have come to the saving knowledge of God through Jesus Christ can call God father. This is the first step in prayer that produces power. You must turn back to God. Hallowed be Your name: This is worship. Our prayer must include worship. Though children of God, we must devote ourselves to worship, service and praise of His name. To worship means to submit yourself to God's will and His plan. Paul in Romans 12:1 that the church ought to submit their bodies onto God as a living sacrifice. It is...

Psalm 90 marks the beginning of Book Four of Psalms. Psalm 90 is the oldest psalm, written by Moses by the year 1440 BC. It is entitled “From Everlasting to Everlasting” and is noted as “A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.” What can we learn from the prayer of Moses?  First, Moses emphasizes the eternal nature of God. Verses 1–2 declare, “Lord, you have been our dwelling place / throughout all generations. / Before the mountains were born / or you brought forth the whole world, / from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” Second, Moses speaks of the fragile nature of humanity in verses 3–6. Verse 5 says, “Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— / they are like the new grass of the morning.” Our time on earth is short. Third, Moses emphasizes humanity’s sinful nature and his shortcomings before a perfect God. Verses 7–8 note, “We are consumed by your anger / and terrified by your indignation. / You have set our iniquities before you, / our secret sins in th...

WARFARE PRAYERS Prayer is not only communion with God; it is also confrontation with the enemy. When Jesus was on the earth, He came face-to-face with the devil when He was tempted in the wilderness (see Matthew 4 and Luke 4), and every time the enemy tried to tempt Him, Jesus responded with a reference from the Bible. He confronted the devil with theWord of God, using the Sword of Truth to defend Himself. These spiritual warfare prayers and verses are examples we can use and adapt to our specific situations when we or someone we know is under attack.   THE ARMOR OF GOD Based on Ephesians 6:13-17 “Thank You, Lord, for my salvation. I receive it in a new and fresh way from You, and I declare that nothing can separate me from the love of Christ and the place I have in Your Kingdom. I wear Your righteousness today against all condemnation and corruption. Cover me with Your holiness and purity—defend me from all attacks against my heart. Lord, I put on the belt of truth. I choose a lif...