21 Day Solemn Assembly

Beginning Sunday, January 18, we will be calling the family of IHOP-Michiana and Voice Ministries, as well as our friends throughout Michiana to a time of fasting and prayer.

We will be praying and fasting according to the Joel 2 mandate, as well as:
• For the House of Prayer to be fully established in Michiana
• For our children, youth, and young adults to be on fire for Jesus
• Revival in Michiana
• Great outpouring of God’s presence
• The Lord’s solution for America, Michiana, our families, the lost
• Outpouring of healing for our nation, state and region

It is very clear that the responsibility of healing for our nation, our state, and our region is found in God’s Word. According to 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

This 21 Day Solemn Assembly will begin with worship, prayer, and teaching on Joel 2 at 10:30am this Sunday, January 18. Immediately following the service, we will “break bread” with one another, and enjoy a meal together.  The food will be provided and all are welcome to attend.  This will be a wonderful time to come together and enjoy a fellowship time and a meal with one another.  Those who are planning on participating in the fast will begin following the meal.

We will then meet in the International House of Prayer-Michiana, located in the Concord Mall, for one-hour corporate prayer meetings three times a day.

Schedule
The schedule for our times together will be as follows:
Monday-Saturday — 9-10am, 1-2pm, 6-7pm

Please try to make as many prayer times as possible. We will have prayer points given for each corporate prayer time. We want God to intervene in our nation, in our region, and in our personal lives.

Prayer for Michiana
“We will be crying out for more of Your spirit, Lord; more of Your presence. Increase Your presence in Michiana, oh God.  We believe, Father, that you will fulfill every promise that has been spoken and prayed over Michiana; and that it all would be fulfilled through Your mercy. Stretch forth Your hand, Father, and draw the lost to Your light. Strengthen Your messengers in this hour to proclaim Your word with power, boldness, and with the love that flows from Your heart. Let your truth go forth in Michiana.” — Bob Deering

Prayer Mandates for this time of Fasting and Prayer
Chronicles 7:14 Mandate
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Joel 2 Mandate
“Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound the alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble… For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; who can endure it? ‘Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning’… Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate and fast, call a sacred assembly… And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy… I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth… before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.”

WHAT IS A DANIEL FAST?

1. There are two primary scriptures related to the Daniel fast. In Daniel 10:3, we learn that Daniel ate no meat or tasty foods and drank no wine. In Daniel 1:12, we see that he ate only vegetables and drank water. The word that is translated vegetables in the NKJV is translated as pulse in the KJV — it comes from the Hebrew zērōa, which means “that which grows from seed.”

It includes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes (peas or beans), nuts, seeds, tofu, and herbs. “I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth…[for] three whole weeks…” (Dan. 10:3) “…ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.” (Dan. 1:12)

2. A common approach in a Daniel Fast includes eating in strict moderation vegetables, fruits, whole grains (breads or rice from whole grains), legumes (peas or beans), nuts, seeds, tofu, and herbs.

3. Many agree that Daniel abstained from all meat, sugar, dairy products, wine, and from all pleasant foods (all that enhances the flavor of food — seasonings, salad dressings, sweetener, etc.). It calls for abstaining from all pleasant foods — not only “meats and sweets.” Many also do not eat eggs during this fast.

4. Biblical fasting is abstaining from food for spiritual reasons. A Daniel Fast is more than a diet. Going on a Daniel Fast mostly for health reasons is good, but it is a Daniel diet not a Daniel fast.

5. The Daniel Fast is a real fast from food for the purpose of enhancing our spiritual life. It is not merely a diet or eating with moderation. It involves significantly reducing the types and amount of food that we normally eat and significantly increasing our time with the Lord.

6. The point of fasting is to embrace a season of heightened consecration and focus on the Lord. Fasting food is voluntary weakness— it weakens us physically and mentally as we position ourselves before the Lord that our heart may be tenderized and become more sensitive and able to receive more from the Lord.

7. If you have any health problems at all we encourage you to consult your physician before fasting. Pregnant and nursing mothers should consider adding fish and cheese in a Daniel Fast.