Dear First Pres,
2022. Have you become accustomed to writing these numbers yet? It always takes me a bit of time to reorient to the new year. Getting the numbers right when I’m dating a document is just one of the signs of that transition.
It’s one of the reasons I’ve come to really appreciate our church’s liturgy of the new year. First of all, there is the Lord’s Supper on that first Sunday of the year. It’s a wonderful way to begin each month, but especially the first month of the year.
Then, the second Sunday of the year (this upcoming Sunday) is Baptism of the Lord Sunday - the traditional time that the Church remembers Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River. For us it means remembering our own baptisms, giving thanks for all it represents, and dedicating ourselves once again to live as God’s people through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, and more recently, on the Monday after Baptism of the Lord Sunday, we join in with thousands of local believers and dozens of churches to participate in the 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. If you’re new with us, you may not know much about this ritual. Launched by the Fresno/Clovis Pastors Clusters (I’m part of the Downtown Cluster), the 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting is a special season set aside for us to join together as the Body of Christ to pray for God’s Kingdom to come in our cities. I encourage everyone to participate. First of all, it’s a season of fasting. If you don’t know much about fasting, here’s a very practical article for beginners: Fasting for Beginners. I encourage all of you to find some way to fast over the 21 days. Second, it’s a season of praying. I encourage you to find some way to intentionally pray for God’s Kingdom to come, more and more, in our city. Every year, I see God move in powerful ways during these 21 days. I look forward to seeing what God will do this year.
Need some ideas for the 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting? One of the great joys of the season is to participate in the daily prayer service hosted by churches across our city. Every night, from 7- 8PM, there will be an opportunity to join with others in prayer and worship. For me, this is one of the huge highlights of this season. I guarantee you will be blessed by attending as many of them as you can.
If you’re looking for things to focus on in prayer, here are some ideas: make a list of all our city and county elected officials and pray daily for them; make a list of all the non-profit agencies you care about in our city and pray daily for them; write down the issues you care about the most and pray daily for them; make a list of all the high schools in our community, spread them out over the 21 days and pray for all their feeder schools too; pray through a list of all the churches you can think of in Fresno/Clovis; or pray specifically over every zip code of our area.
Each of these rituals help to orient my thinking of the new year with hope. I pray they will do the same for you.
Blessings,
Pastor Jeremy
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