Fasting Before Commissioning

# 274 Today's Living Word comes from Mark 2:18 “The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.”

One final benefit of fasting that we will talk about is fasting for commissioning. We read of it in the Book of Acts. It was the practice of Paul and Barnabas to appoint elders in their newly planted churches. Acts 14:23 says, “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” Look what the church at Antioch did before they sent them off on their mission trip, “”Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.” (Acts 13:3)

Most churches today still practice praying and laying on of hands at commissioning services, but I honestly have never heard of any church engaging in a FAST before such ceremonies. This should not be so! If this practice was good enough for our church fathers, it should be good enough for us.

The next time your church is engaged in a commissioning, why not call on the congregation to purposefully fast that morning thereby giving the newly commissioned a spiritual jump start in their new area of ministry.

I’m Duane Matz and that’s today’s Living Word.