Community
Fasting & Prayer
We are calling for a corporate city fast
the first Tuesday of each month.
What is the purpose of this Corporate Fast for Springville?
We are fasting - to empower and encourage the Churches in Springville to UNITY so that we can effectively bring the lost to hear the Gospel.
We are fasting - for the future of Springville, for the youth of our community, the next generation, and for clarity as we seek to understand God’s vision, purpose, plans and will for Springville.
We are fasting - so that the Holy Spirit will be free to work in those that are unsaved in our community, that they be drawn to a saving encounter with Christ.
We are fasting - and believing that the Holy Spirit would cause us to see that, as HIS Church in Springville, we DESPERATELY need one another. We cannot make city-wide impact without a UNIFIED city-wide Church.
“Fasting and prayer
are the only disciplines
that fulfill the requirements of 2 Chronicles 7:14.”
Bill Bright
“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 will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14
Will you join us?
HISTORY OF FASTING
The practices of praying and fasting
can be found in both the Old and
New Testaments. Before Jesus began
his ministry he fasted for 40 days in preparation. The scriptures listed
in this brochure cite other instances
of fasting found in the Bible.
REASONS FOR FASTING
God desires a relationship with us. He is chiefly interested in our trust and obedience. He is the object of our motivation. Fasting is an expression of our desire to seek and please Him. Fasting displays to God that He is more important than even food. Prayer and fasting seem to work in synergy. Once when the disciples failed to exorcise a demon, Jesus explained that in such instances prayer and fasting were required. Fasting seems to move God to action. Of course, this does not mean that we can manipulate God by fasting, but for some reason there are times God desires that we underline our requests with fasting.
MOTIVES
A particular danger in fasting is that
our God-centered motives can be
tainted by our motives to draw
attention to ourselves and impress others. Jesus cautions us to let our fast
be between us and God as much as possible. We know that God sees our heart and is never fooled.
(See Isaiah 58)
TYPES OF FASTING
There are several types of fasts, and there is no formula for determining which kind of fast, or duration, is most appropriate for you. The following are two Biblical examples of fasting:
Normal Fast
Withholding food, but not liquids like water and juices to maintain strength and electrolytes.
Partial Fast
In the Bible, Daniel and his companions ate vegetables and water, but not the Kings meat and sweets. This type of fast may be more appropriate if you have certain health issues. For some people, giving up chocolate or coffee may be a real reminder to pray. You can also fast anything that means something to you: television, media, sports, shopping, etc.
During a fast, always devote extra time to:
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Reading God’s Word
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Praying
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Focusing on God
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Worshipping
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And ALWAYS serving and helping others
Scriptures Related to Fasting:
Matthew 4:1-4; Matthew 6:17-18; Matthew 17:14-20; Joel 1:14; Joel 2:12; Exodus 34:28; Acts 13:2-3; Acts 14:23; Isaiah 58
“Even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
Joel 2:12
We also participate in OneCry:
A nationwide call to prayer for revival and spiritual awakening.
OneCry is a nationwide call for spiritual awakening, a movement of believers urgently crying out to God to revive the church and transform the culture. OneCry is a movement of like-minded people, churches, and organizations who agree that our nation needs a dramatic turnaround. OneCry is also a resource center that provides tools to help your church, Sunday school class, small group, or friends seek God in prayer, repentance, and collective action.
Organizations, programs, and events haven’t brought the spiritual transformation we need personally or in our families and neighborhoods. And politics, education, and economic prosperity will not revive the soul of our nation.
But what might happen if thousands of prayer warriors pled with God for spiritual awakening? What if voices in communities across the nation were raised to share revival truth? What if leaders called the world to spiritual renewal? What if believers everywhere earnestly sought the manifest presence of God? And what if God heard from heaven and healed our land?
That’s our one cry! (Learn more at onecry.com)
Our Prayer over Springville
Lord of the Harvest, we sense that You are about to issue the command to lower our net for the final harvest. Up until now, we have seen only a limited harvest because we can catch just so many fish with individual hooks and bait, but a NET can capture MANY. Help us to see that there is ONE NET spread over Springville, NOT many little nets made up of individuals or congregations – but ONE NET. It, too, is a LIVING NET comprised of all those TRUE BELIEVERS who are DEAD to the world and ALIVE unto YOU. The knots joining the net together are symbolic of the RELATIONSHIPS between Your people in Springville. If the net over Springville is torn and in a bad state of repair, when You issue the command to lower it, much of the harvest in this city will escape the net through the holes and tears, for YOU have said in Your Word that the world would know we are Your disciples by our love for one another. Father, You have saved WHOLE CITIES in the past, and You are able to do it again. If there was HOPE for SODOM, for the sake of ten righteous, then there is HOPE for Springville! So Father, we ask that You would raise up NET MENDERS in Springville, who will not rest until every tear has been mended, for the more perfectly repaired our net is, the greater the harvest will be our city. In Jesus’ Name we pray this– that mighty Name above all other names, which is our BANNER of PEACE, and our BOND of UNITY and HARMONY, abolishing every hostile dividing wall between the churches in our community. Thank you, Father.
A special tribute to one of Sequoia Worship Center's invaluable Treasures
Betty Washington
1929 - 2020
At 91 years young, God has blessed our Sequoia Worship family with a true gift from His own storehouse in heaven. One of Betty's gift is praying non-stop for his church, and this is what we call intercession, or to be one who intercedes on behalf of others. She is confidential and will pray God's heart over you, not just what you want to hear. She has been tried and tested through the fire herself, and is a seasoned prayer warrior. She will pray!
Betty's accomplishments include:
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A Teaching License from the Christian Training Center. She studied under their ministry for over 30 years. She was trained in the prophetic and deliverance ministry.
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Completed her training with the Healing Room Ministry.
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Completed the training of Ministering Spiritual Gifts by Bill Hamon, given through Destiny Training Center in Oakhurst, California
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Completed the training of John G. Lake Healing Ministry, given by Curry Blake, who is the General Overseer of that Ministry.
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Completed the Deliverance and Restoration teaching by Apostles Bob and Sharon Parks.
Betty was born in 1929 and was saved at the age of twelve. At the age of seventeen Betty enrolled in the Moody Bible Correspondence Course.
She married at the age of twenty and had four children, three boys and a girl. The marriage of ten years ended when her husband was killed in an automobile accident.
Sometime later Betty married again. They had two boys. Their marriage of almost forty-seven years ended in 2005 when her husband when to be with the Lord.
Betty was baptized in the Holy Spirit in 1960, and ordained into ministry in 1969. In 1970, through a prophetic word, she was called to be a teacher. She operates in the five fold ministry mostly in the prophetic, prayer and teaching. She holds teaching and ordination credentials in three organizations. She has been praying for Springville for 40 years and at 88 years young still meets weekly with a group of intercessors to pray.
She taught at the Porterville, California Rescue Mission for seven years and held leadership positions in many organizations and churches. She has taught both children and adult Sunday School. She has also held many speaking engagements throughout the years in churches and Christian organizations.
Betty is also a poet and an author. She has published four small booklets of poetry and assorted writings. For 12 years she published a small monthly booklet called “The Encourager“ which had a monthly circulation of 150.
Betty’s life was not always easy, there was much hardship with many tests, trials and tears. But in long walk with the Lord, she has many stories to tell of the Goodness and Greatness of her Father God.
