Fasting and Prayer Guide
September 14th, 7p–15th, 6p
Break your fast with us at 6p Monday evening with a potluck dinner, followed by a church family meeting to set the vision for the coming year and steep it in prayer. If you haven’t yet, RSVP for dinner here.
Scripture passages
Luke 4:1-13; 6:12-16
4:1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.’”
9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you,’
11 and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. […]
6:12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Sunday Evening: Self
Scripture passage at the top of the page ▸
Worship
What do these passages tell you about Jesus?
Based on the readings and today’s sermon, write down at least three things you find beautiful about Jesus. What draws your heart to Jesus as he is described in this passage? Talk to him about that now.
Confession
We can often face substantial spiritual resistance when we deliberately set aside time for prayer and fasting. What makes fasting and prayer difficult for you? What distractions and temptations do you confront? As you enter into this season of fasting and prayer, where are you vulnerable to attacks from the enemy or from yourself? Bring these before the Lord in confession of your weakness and need. Ask him to guard and use this season of fasting and prayer in your life.
Assurance
While we often crumble before our own weakness or the attacks of our enemy, Jesus stood firm before temptation and testing. And because he didn’t crumble but was perfectly faithful, our God delights to welcome us into his sinless presence because of Jesus’ faithfulness. As challenging as this might be, take a full minute in prayer to do nothing else but thank Jesus for living the life you could not live and dying the death you deserved to die.
Petition
How would you like to see yourself reflect more of Jesus as we see him in these passages? What’s one change you would like to see in yourself by this time next year? What temptations or hardships do you anticipate facing over the coming year? What major decisions do you see yourself making? Talk to the Lord about all this.
Monday Morning: Church
Scripture passage at the top of the page ▸
Worship
Reread our theme passage, especially Luke 6:12-16. The community of leaders Jesus chose for his church varied widely: fishermen, a former tax collector for the Roman Empire, and a “Zealot” who formerly would have been committed to the violent overthrow of Rome. There were men here named after Jewish heroes (Simon, Judas, Jacob/James) and men whose Greek names showed their families had been influenced in some way by the surrounding Greek culture (Philip, Andrew). But Jesus prayerfully hand-picked this diverse crew to be the new leaders of his people.
What do you find beautiful about the Lord’s choice of his family? What do Jesus’ actions and choices tell you about the kind of Lord he is and what he envisions for his church? Take a few minutes to praise him for all this.
Confession
While Jesus draws people from every background to himself, our tendency is to be exclusive and territorial. In what ways do you see this in the broader church today? In what ways do you see this in your own heart? Confess this.
We often look for heroes among the leaders of Jesus’ church. But what little information we have on these new leaders of Jesus’ people shows they were flawed humans desperately in need of Jesus like the rest of us. Are there ways you are tempted to look for heroes in the church other than Jesus? How does this play out in your life? Bring this to the Lord in confession.
Assurance
Peter could be both arrogant and spineless. James and John had some serious anger issues. Poor Thomas has passed into history as “Doubting Thomas,” though there wasn’t one apostle who didn’t doubt Jesus or lack trust in him at times. Every one of them vied for preeminence, lost the plot, and ultimately ran from Jesus. But it wasn’t their performance that kept them in Jesus’ family; it was Jesus’ love for them, his call on their lives, and his preservation of them. If Jesus could love and call and preserve this crew, then he can do the same for us. Spend a few moments resting in this truth and praising Him for it.
Petition
Spend some time praying for those serving as leaders in our church family: the session, the diaconate, those who lead our home groups and various ministry teams. Our church will spend the next several months revisiting the mission God has called us to: Preach Christ, Love One Another, Serve the City, and Plant Churches. Pray the Lord would use this time to get us excited and mobilized for his work here in Phoenixville and beyond. Pray the Lord would raise up a church planter for us in 2026. Pray for the Lord to bless his gospel preaching families in the Philly metropolitan area. Pray for the good news of our Savior to spread and change lives in our communities, our nation, and our world.
Monday Afternoon: World
Scripture passage at the top of the page ▸
Worship
Reread our theme passage, focusing especially on Luke 4:5-8. Satan wanted Jesus himself to believe that the kingdoms of the world were Satan’s to do with as he pleased. But the rest of the Bible makes clear that all authority and dominion belongs to Jesus alone, given to him by the Father because of his faithful obedience. Satan can resist all he wants now, but one day every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. One day Jesus’ kingdom will boast representatives from every family and language group. Spend some time meditating on Revelation 7:9-12 and praising our exalted Savior.
Confession
Where in your own life are you tempted to listen to the enemy’s lies and serve something or someone other than God alone? In what ways do you fall into making your life about you rather than Jesus and the mission the Holy Spirit is on to spread Jesus’ worship everywhere? Are you actively praying for interactions with neighbors and coworkers that will lead to conversations about Jesus? Do you pray for your communities to experience Jesus? Do you pray for those places in the world where people have never heard about Jesus?
Honestly, we’re probably all tempted to beat ourselves up right now, because we all know how terribly we fail here. But instead of calling us to shame and wallowing in failure, our God wants us to confess our failures and to pray for hearts changed to look like his. So come before him now in the confidence that he loves to answer prayers like this.
Assurance
Jesus doesn’t need you for his mission to move forward. He’ll get it done with or without you. But he wants you to join him on his mission, the same way he called his twelve friends to join him on his mission––knowing full well how much they’d stumble along the way. He doesn’t expect you make his mission happen; he’s got that covered. But he delights to use you, in all of your weakness, to move his kingdom forward right where he has you. What kind of God does this? Celebrate and rest in His forgiveness and His purpose for you.
Petition
What would it look like for you to be Jesus’ kingdom agent where he has you? Pray for clarity over this. Who in your life needs to hear about him and how might it change their lives? Think of three people. Now will you commit to praying over them for the next year and looking for God-given moments to introduce them to Jesus? And if you don’t know anyone who isn’t a Christian, pray and look for opportunities to cultivate relationships with those who don’t know Jesus.
Pray over Iron Works Church. We want to be the kind of church that our neighbors would miss if we disappeared tomorrow. Pray that God would make us a light in our community and give us more tangible ways (like our Market Day) to serve the needs of our neighbors.
Pray for Jesus’ good news to spread, especially in parts of the world that have never heard of him. You can use resources like the Joshua Project to direct your prayers. You might pick one day a week to pray over the Budabukkala tribe of Andhra Pradesh in southeastern India, where our church sponsored church plants this past year. You could also reserve another day to pray over our HopeCo partners serving Jesus in Tanzania and Kenya. But let’s keep praying for God’s mission to the world!
Break your fast, Monday night at 6p
If you haven’t RSVPd for the meal and/or signed up to bring food, please head over here to do that.
We’re excited to worship with you!