““Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
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As we enter into a new season in Burning Hearts with our new home in 66 Kampong Bugis, we believe the Lord is calling us to a place of preparation in light a Day - The Second Coming of Jesus. The key to preparation is to live intentionally with the end in mind. We do that by creating a consistent rhythm of life in community around the commandments and commission of Jesus. One of which is fasting.
It was in the context of fasting that Jesus gave the parable of the wineskin and patch cloth. The new wine was poured out at the appearance of Jesus. A new reality of the Kingdom of God is now made accessible to us because Jesus chose to walk among us in flesh and has now ascended to heaven. It is by His blood and through His Holy Spirit that we now have full access to the Kingdom of God and get to experience a foretaste of the power of the age to come. In order for us to carry and manifest that reality, a new fast is that is rooted in longing and passion for the Person of Jesus is required. We call this the Bridegroom Fast. A fast that is sustained and satisfied by the Holy Spirit as we eagerly wait for His return.
The Bridegroom Fast does this 3 things for us.
Awakens us to love and longing. (Songs 8:6-7, Jere 2:2, Matt 25:1-13, 1 John 4:19, Rev 2:1-7)
Positions us to receive the fullness of His Spirit for maturity (2 Cor 12:7-10, Matt 5-7, Joel 2, Rev 22:17)
Forms us to be His witnesses. (Luke 1:80, Acts 13:1-3, John 3:22-36, Acts 1:1-11)
HOW TO PARTICIPATE?
3-As Of BHFast
Abstain from Food:
9pm (Tues) to 9pm (Wed)
Attend to Scripture:
Open our bible and read the assigned scripture at least 3 times for 10 mins during the period of fasting.
Align through Community:
Re-Gather at The Prayer Room (Wed 7pm - 9pm) to engage the Holy Spirit & The Word together. We will break fast at the end of the night with prayer and communion within the context of community.
We have seen the Lord awaken us in the area of worship & prayer, I believe we are at the threshold of an awakening in the area of fasting. As we draw closer to the day of the Lord, I believe the Lord is releasing grace to engage in this new fast (wineskin) to thrive and release the greater reality of His coming Kingdom here and now. Let’s fast with our whole heart together until we see the Son of Man, our Bridegroom walks among us again.