Raven Ministries Prayer & Fasting Jan 1-7

STEP 1: Set Your Objective
Why are you fasting? Is it for spiritual renewal, for guidance, for healing, for the resolution of problems, for special grace to handle a difficult situation? Ask the Holy Spirit to clarify His leading and objectives for your prayer fast. This will enable you to pray more specifically and strategically.

Through fasting and prayer we humble ourselves before God so the Holy Spirit will stir our souls, awaken our churches, and heal our land according to 2 Chronicles 7:14. Make this a priority in your fasting.

STEP 2: Make Your Commitment
Pray about the kind of fast you should undertake. Jesus implied that all of His followers should fast (Matthew 6:16-18; 9:14,15) For Him it was a matter of when believers would fast, not if they would do it. Before you fast, decide the following up front:

1. How long you will fast - one meal, two meals, etc.

2. The type of fast God wants you to undertake (such as water only, or water and juices; what kinds of juices you will drink and how often)

3. What physical or social activities you will restrict

4. How much time each day you will devote to prayer and God's Word

Making these commitments ahead of time will help you sustain your fast when physical temptations and life's pressures tempt you to abandon it.

STEP 3: Prepare Yourself Spiritually
The very foundation of fasting and prayer is repentance. Unconfessed sin will hinder your prayers. Here are several things you can do to prepare your heart:

Ask God to help you make a comprehensive list of your sins.

Confess every sin that the Holy Spirit calls to your remembrance and accept God's forgiveness (1 John 1:9).

Seek forgiveness from all whom you have offended, and forgive all who have hurt you (Mark 11:25; Luke 11:4; 17:3,4).

Make restitution as the Holy Spirit leads you.

Ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit according to His command in Ephesians 5:18 and His promise in 1 John 5:14,15.

Surrender your life fully to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Master; refuse to obey your worldly nature (Romans 12:1,2).

Meditate on the attributes of God, His love, sovereignty, power, wisdom, faithfulness, grace, compassion, and others (Psalm 48:9,10; 103:1-8, 11-13).

Begin your time of fasting and prayer with an expectant heart (Hebrews 11:6).

Do not underestimate spiritual opposition. Satan sometimes intensifies the natural battle between body and spirit (Galatians 5:16,17).

STEP 4: Prepare Yourself Physically
Fasting requires reasonable precautions. Consult your physician first, especially if you take prescription medication or have a chronic ailment. Some persons should never fast without professional supervision.

Physical preparation makes the drastic change in your eating routine a little easier so that you can turn your full attention to the Lord in prayer. Do not rush into your fast.

Prepare your body. Eat smaller meals before starting a fast. Avoid high-fat and sugary foods.

Eat raw fruit and vegetables for two days before starting a fast.

Your time of fasting and prayer has come. You are abstaining from all solid foods and have begun to seek the Lord. Here are some helpful suggestions to consider:


Avoid drugs, even natural herbal drugs and homeopathic remedies. Medication should be withdrawn only with your physician's supervision.

Limit your activity.

Exercise only moderately. Walk one to three miles each day if convenient and comfortable.

Rest as much as your schedule will permit.

Prepare yourself for temporary mental discomforts, such as impatience, crankiness, and anxiety.

Expect some physical discomforts, especially on the second day. You may have fleeting hunger pains, dizziness, or the "blahs." Withdrawal from caffeine and sugar may cause headaches. Physical annoyances may also include weakness, tiredness, or sleeplessness.

The first two or three days are usually the hardest. As you continue to fast, you will likely experience a sense of well-being both physically and spiritually. However, should you feel hunger pains, increase your liquid intake.

STEP 5: Put Yourself on a Schedule
For maximum spiritual benefit, set aside ample time to be alone with the Lord. Listen for His leading. The more time you spend with Him, the more meaningful your fast will be.

Morning
Begin your day in praise and worship.
Read and meditate on God's Word, preferably on your knees.
Invite the Holy Spirit to work in you to will and to do His good pleasure according to Philippians 2:13.
Invite God to use you. Ask Him to show you how to influence your world, your family, your church, your community, your country, and beyond.
Pray for His vision for your life and empowerment to do His will.
Noon
Return to prayer and God's Word.
Take a short prayer walk.
Spend time in intercessory prayer for your community's and nation's leaders, for the world's unreached millions, for your family or special needs.
Evening
Get alone for an unhurried time of "seeking His face."
If others are fasting with you, meet together for prayer.
Avoid television or any other distraction that may dampen your spiritual focus.
When possible, begin and end each day on your knees with your spouse for a brief time of praise and thanksgiving to God. Longer periods of time with our Lord in prayer and study of His Word are often better spent alone.

A dietary routine is vital as well. Dr. Julio C. Ruibal - a nutritionist, pastor, and specialist in fasting and prayer - suggests a daily schedule and list of juices you may find useful and satisfying. Modify this schedule and the drinks you take to suit your circumstances and tastes.

5 a.m. - 8 a.m.
Fruit juices, preferably freshly squeezed or blended and diluted in 50 percent distilled water if the fruit is acid. Apple, pear, grapefruit, papaya, watermelon, or other fruit juices are generally preferred. If you cannot do your own juicing, buy juices without sugar or additives.
10:30 a.m. - noon
Fresh vegetable juice made from lettuce, celery, and carrots in three equal parts.
2:30 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Herb tea with a drop of honey. Avoid black tea or any tea with caffeine.
6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Broth made from boiling potatoes, celery, and carrots with no salt. After boiling about half an hour, pour the water into a container and drink it.

Tips on Juice Fasting
Drinking fruit juice will decrease your hunger pains and give you some natural sugar energy. The taste and lift will motivate and strengthen you to continue.

The best juices are made from fresh watermelon, lemons, grapes, apples, cabbage, beets, carrots, celery, or leafy green vegetables. In cold weather, you may enjoy a warm vegetable broth.

Mix acidic juices (orange and tomato) with water for your stomach's sake.

Avoid caffeinated drinks. And avoid chewing gum or mints, even if your breath is bad. They stimulate digestive action in your stomach.

When your designated time for fasting is finished, you will begin to eat again. But how you break your fast is extremely important for your physical and spiritual well-being.

STEP 6: End Your Fast Gradually
Begin eating gradually. Do not eat solid foods immediately after your fast. Suddenly reintroducing solid food to your stomach and digestive tract will likely have negative, even dangerous, consequences. Try several smaller meals or snacks each day. If you end your fast gradually, the beneficial physical and spiritual effects will result in continued good health.

Here are some suggestions to help you end your fast properly:

Break an extended water fast with fruit such as watermelon.

While continuing to drink fruit or vegetable juices, add the following: First day: Add a raw salad. Second day: Add baked or boiled potato, no butter or seasoning. Third day: Add a steamed vegetable. Thereafter: Begin to reintroduce your normal diet.

Gradually return to regular eating with several small snacks during the first few days. Start with a little soup and fresh fruit such as watermelon and cantaloupe. Advance to a few tablespoons of solid foods such as raw fruits and vegetables or a raw salad and baked potato.

STEP 7: Expect Results
If you sincerely humble yourself before the Lord, repent, pray, and seek God's face; if you consistently meditate on His Word, you will experience a heightened awareness of His presence (John 14:21). The Lord will give you fresh, new spiritual insights. Your confidence and faith in God will be strengthened. You will feel mentally, spiritually, and physically refreshed. You will see answers to your prayers.

A single fast, however, is not a spiritual cure-all. Just as we need fresh infillings of the Holy Spirit daily, we also need new times of fasting before God. A 24-hour fast each week has been greatly rewarding to many Christians.

It takes time to build your spiritual fasting muscles. If you fail to make it through your first fast, do not be discouraged. You may have tried to fast too long the first time out, or your may need to strengthen your understanding and resolve. As soon as possible, undertake another fast until you do succeed. God will honor you for your faithfulness.

I encourage you to join me in fasting and prayer again and again until we truly experience revival in our homes, our churches, our nation, and throughout the world and most importantly for a fresh, new vision to reach this world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

FASTING & PRAYER for 2008

Dear Raven Leaders & Friends of Jesus,

I wanted to send this email out to invite and encourage you to join with us in a season of fasting and prayer before the Lord Jesus in preparation for 2008. I believe that the things that we will face in this coming year will demand a consecrated heart towards the presence and holiness of God and a dedicated mind in regards to being dilligent in the Word of God.

As a ministry we are scheduling a period of fasting and prayer to commence at 12:00 AM on January 1st (That would be midnight on Monday the 31st) and will conclude at 12:00 AM on January 8th (That would be midnight on the 7th). This is a period of (7) full days of consecration before the Lord Jesus. Melanie and I have actually already begun the fast and will continue for a full (14) days--- we are in desperate pursuit of Jesus like never before and feel the need to make this commitment to Jesus to end 2007 and to begin 2008.

Many times the word "fasting" is met with resistance from our "Old Nature." The flesh often bristles at anything that would demand its submission to the Spirit man--this is why it is so very important to make the time to seek the face of the Lord Jesus to a greater degree during these set-aside-times of consecration. Paul the Apostle said in:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."

This time of prayer and fasting will DEMAND discipline--but the reward for discipline is always breakthrough.

When Melanie and I fast, we typically go on a "non-solid" food fast that consists of water, dilluted juices, and broths. I "personally" beleive that this most represent the Biblical fast and have seen this type of fast yield some of the most incredible results. (But) I encourage you to choose the type of fast that you feel the Spirit leading you in (not the flesh leading you in), while considering what type of sacrifice that you want to make to yield the degree of breakthrough that you are seeking.

Remember: "The measurement that you choose to meausre out is the same measurement that will be measured back to you." (Mt. 7:2, Mk. 4:24, Lk. 6:38)

This is one area in which YOU are given the vehicle in which your promise is carries back to you. I suggest "pressing deeper and climbing higher and standing firmer" than you ever have before. You are going to need it in 2008.

I do want to say this and I say so very soberly: There are some of you that will refuse to pay the price in 2008 and will neglect the demands and sacrifices that God is calling you to (and I am not just talking about this season of fasting--this is just a very small part of it) and you will reap the consequences of this refusal.

The Holy Spirit has been speaking emphatically to me in the past few months that this is the most critical hour in which we have lived. This coming year is going to present issues and obstacles that without the mind of Christ and the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit operating in your heart life never before---you will fall.

I believe that God is giving us the "heads up" so that we can make preparations. Amos 3:7 says, "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."There will be some that head the call and there will be others who will once again make excuses and take God's warning with a grain of salt.

Matt 25:1-13 says,

"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut."

I plead with you to harken unto the voice of the Lord in this late hour and respond to His voice. With the incredible opposition that is coming there is even a greater opportunity--but it will require faithfulness, humility, and holiness.

HERE IS WHAT I AM ASKING FROM YOU:

Let me know if you are committed to this time of prayer and fasting by emailing me at PastorTroy@BigGrace.com

Let me know specific areas that you need God to move in your family, your ministry, and in your personal life. **Do not send me prayer requests for others at this time---I am asking about YOU.

Also-- I believe that there is about to be one of the greatest outpourings of the Holy Spirit that this Nation has seen---and this is going to be the "real deal"--not some "showy", manipulative, weirdness---but rather a bona-fide, unmistakable, HOLINESS-BASED, power-filled impartation upon His Body. I beleive that we are going to see what the Word said we would see:

Mark 16:15-20 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen."

Also consider this:
1 Cor 12:31 "But earnestly desire the best gifts....".

1 Cor 14:12 "Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church."

I believe that God wants to empower His Church in this critical hour like never before and this is going to be seen as those who earestly seek Him will see the manifest presence of God moving miraculously in and through their lives. I beleive that we are going to see miracle healings like never before. I belive that words of wisdom and words of knowledge will accompany your witness to people--that the Holy Spirit will "read their mail to you" and that tongues and interpretaion of tongues and prophecy will be seen in unprecedented proportions.

My question for you as we are praying--- What "gift" is it that you are earnestly desiring the Holy Spirit to measure out in your life to make you more effective in edifying the Body and reaching the lost?

1 Cor 12:8-10 "for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues."

Email me these things as I stand with you in faith believing for God's outporing on your life like never before.

***Our weekly RAVEN NATION program will be on MONDAY NIGHT this week instead of Tuesday. This will be a special "watch night" service that will begin at 9:00 PM and last until Midnight (The New Year). We will be having special worship and intercessory prayer and a time for the Word as well. **If the Holy Sprit is dropping something in your spirit that you want to share--then write it down and email it to me. If you have SKYPE, it may be that we can put you on LIVE so that you can share it directly.

***I will also be posting times that we will be having LIVE intercessory prayer during the fast as well. If you are set up to BROADCAST through Stickam---let me know and we may have you host a prayer time as well using my log-in.

I love you all and look forward to seeing Jesus move in all of our lives so that we can impact others for His Glory!

Blessings,

Pastor Troy D. Bohn

Raven Ministries International, Inc.

P.O. Box 1897Daytona Beach, Florida 32115

(386) 682-4141www.BigGrace.com

Please keep the Montano family in your prayers

Please be in prayer for Brother Max Montano (pictured above during and outreach in New Orleans) and his family. This past Satruday he lost his mother, Rebecca Montano (74) after a lenghthy battle following a stroke.

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Bro Max and his wife, Kimber, are awesome soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ and have ministered with us on the streets of this nation from coast to coast. May the Lord Jesus bring the comfort to he and his family during this great time of loss. The furneral will be held today in Dalhart, Texas.

NEWS FROM THE TRAINING CENTER

We are blessed to welcome Christy King from Amarillo, Texas here to Daytona Beach for a period of training and discipleship. Christy is very much a "Daughter in the Gospel" to us since we have known her since she was in grade school!

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Christy is the daughter of Pastor Ken & Wanda Fowler, who served as one of my associate pastors at The Dayspring Dream Center in Amarillo for many years.

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Please keep Christy in your prayers that this will truly be a powerful time in her life and in the things that God is preparing her for in the future. She is one of our first residnets here at the Raven Ministries International Training Center and will be residing in the new "dorm" that some of you helped us construct with your generous giving!

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Below is a video of Christy that was shot while we were in New Orleans four years ago when Christy came to help out during an outreach there during the Sugar Bowl. She expressed an interest to come and be a part then..but it has been worth the wait to be able to invest into her life!

Its Time to WAKE UP!

Ephesians 5:14-16 tells us, “...Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

Did you spiritually “sleep through” this past year? Are you spiritually groggy and are your eyes matted together by complacency, lack of passion, prayer and purpose?

It’s time to WAKE UP! This could be it for you– and all of us! There is a voice calling out to the hearts of those who know Him to “Arise from the dead!” Arise from the deadness of fear! Arise from the deadness of unforgiveness! Arise from the deadness of wrath and jealousy! Arise from the deadness of religion!

Ouch! No NOT my religion! Not the “I’m okay and you’re okay religion” that I have grown so comfortable with! Not the one-hour-of-no-power ritualistic expression that I have so faithfully accounted as my way to heaven for so long! NOT THAT!

Not the covenant that requires no cross! Not the palatable-pink wide-gate gospel that always considers my feeling above my eternal destiny.

WAKE UP! And Christ will give you LIGHT! Not Jesus-lite, or Lo-Cal (Lo-Cost) Conversion— but TRUE LIGHT!

This is the “light” that the Greek translates as “to pour upon you the divine truth as the sun gives light to men aroused from sleep.”

THAT is how I want to be woken up in 2008! Rested from my sleep and slumber by the sudden blast of last days, blood bought,
RHEMA Word, power-filled, life changing, Holy Spirit breather TRUTH.

THIS COULD BE OUR LAST OPPORTUNITY. In the past month people were gunned down in Churches and in Shopping Malls!
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NO ONE ever wants to think that their LAST CHANCE is coming up too soon. We all live with some level of invincibility or denial! 2 Corinthians 6:2 tells us, “...BEHOLD NOW is the accepted time, BEHOLD NOW is the day of salvation.”

When is YOUR salvation going to really “kick in” so that you are walking in victory and not making excuses for your lack of faith, lack of fire and lack of foundation? WAKE UP! If you do...He will pour upon you His TRUTH and His presence like never before!

“See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools!” To walk “circumspectly” is to walk in accuracy and not unwisely.

Your STANDARD OF ACCURACY for the year 2008 is the Word of God! All of it this time! Not just those “plucked out of place” passages that cater to the modern-day easy-believisms being widely circulated through the modern church.

WAKE US UP LORD JESUS! Like being drenched with a bucket of water drawn from a cold stream!

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalms 139:23-24

Let this be the year that we are shaken from our slumber, searched in our hearts and minds, and led into our way or destiny God has prepared and purchased for us with the Blood of His Son Jesus!

This could be the year. Let’s make the MOST of it this time instead of doing the least and hoping for the best!

THE TIME IS NOW TO REDEEM OUR TIME! That is to recover fro the power of another that which has been taken from us.

How many of your yesterdays would you like to “do-over?” Sorry—– it just isn’t ever going to
happen. But, you can REDEEM your time NOW, by making the commitment that 2008 will be YOUR YEAR of realized promises, manifest miracles and unwavering faith!
Let’s not think that we can “do the same things this year” and expect “different results.”

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” Gal 6:7-10