This week had been a time of prayer and fasting for Mercy Vineyard Church.

There’s just something really special that happens when people make a decision to set aside the routine of life and fast and pray to encounter God on a deeper level.

2nd Chronicles 7:14 says, “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

When we read that passage, we usually imagine an entire nation seeking God for healing on their “land”, but I believe that our “land” can be as simple as our family.  “If a family would pray and seek my face…”  It can also apply to a church.  “If a church would humble themselves and pray…”

Broader transformation happens when small pockets of people decide they’re going to let it start with them.  That’s why this time of prayer and fasting has been such a blessing to me.  We’re not a large group, we’re just a few, but we’re passionately pursuing God and encountering Him.  As we draw near to Him, we experience Him drawing near to us.  We’re experiencing healing and restoration in our lives and it makes the meals we’ve fasted and time spent in prayer feel like no sacrifice at all.

God is calling us , as a church, into deeper things.  Don’t be fooled into thinking that temporal pleasures or shallow entertainment could ever satisfy like His presence and power in our lives.  There’s no “one simple trick” or shortcut.  It comes when we humble ourselves and pray.

I pray for a greater hunger and thirst in your life for the deeper things of God.  I pray that you will never be satisfied with anything less.

I pray you have the courage to jump into the deep end!

Living a passionate mission,

Lee