UPDATED: Prayer and Fasting for GAFCON - Day 36

Today's Programme Includes:
Bible Exposition - The Presence of God (Exodus 24)
Pilgrim Workshops (these will be the source of any GAFCON Statement )
Focus Topic: The Gospel and Religion


A GAFCON Pilgrim's Prayer Request
The lead GAFCON committee is beginning preparations for a statement that will be issued on Sunday evening. They have made it clear that there is no predetermined outcome and that the conference attendees will have significant influence on the shape of the statement. One of the things the North Americans have been pleading for is a statement of action. The North American contingency has begun today to talk about what kind of action would be most helpful to us. Lively discussions are taking place. Please pray that we (North Americans) will be united in what we submit to the committee, for a preferred future is dependent upon a unified voice. This will not be easy but I am confident and filled with hope.
Fr. Jerry Cimijotti of Christ the King Anglican, Spokane, WA, from Jerusalem

Fasting for GAFCON

Preparatory Reading
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
II Corinthians 12:7-10, NIV

Prayer of Oblation
Lord, I am going to deny my desire for (specify what will be given up) for (specify duration of your fast). I believe that your grace, strength and power can be abundant for the needy weakness of my flesh.

I offer this fast on behalf of the GAFCON pilgrims. Make me able to pray for them in accordance with your purposes: let your grace overcome the selfishness of my flesh; let your strength overcome the weakness of my flesh; let your power overcome the limitations of my flesh. I ask this for your sake, Christ Jesus. Amen.

A Prayer of Recollection (From the Psalms of Ascent) - Meditate on this and repeat it througout your fast, especially when in any discomfort or distraction.

I look for the LORD; my soul doth wait for him; * in his word is my trust.
Psalm CXXX.5

Other Prayers of Recollection
Call these to mind throughout your fast, especially when aware of discomfort.

When fasting from food: "...man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4)

When fasting from drink: "But (King David) refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD." (II Samuel 23:16; I Chronicles 11:18)

When husband and wife mutually offer abstention from marital relations (see I Corinthians 7:5 for guidance): "...my lord's men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife?" (II Samuel 11:11)

When fasting from other amusements or behaviors: "O let not mine heart be inclined to any evil thing; * let me not be occupied in ungodly works with the men that work wickedness, neither let me eat of such things as please them." (The One Hundred Forty-First Psalm).

First Morning Lesson
1 One day Naomi said to Ruth, “My daughter, it’s time that I found a permanent home for you, so that you will be provided for. 2 Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he’s been very kind by letting you gather grain with his young women. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. 3 Now do as I tell you—take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don’t let Boaz see you until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 Be sure to notice where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do.”
5 “I will do everything you say,” Ruth replied. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor that night and followed the instructions of her mother-in-law.
7 After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he lay down at the far end of the pile of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 Around midnight Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet! 9 “Who are you?” he asked.
“I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer.”
10 “The Lord bless you, my daughter!” Boaz exclaimed. “You are showing even more family loyalty now than you did before, for you have not gone after a younger man, whether rich or poor. 11 Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman. 12 But while it’s true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am. 13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you, very well. Let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the Lord lives, I will redeem you myself! Now lie down here until morning.”
Ruth 3:1-13, NLT

Reflection
Thus, to reach union, the soul must enter the second night of the spirit. In this night both the sensory and spiritual parts are despoiled of all these apprehensions and delights, and the soul is made to walk in dark and pure faith, which is the proper and adequate means to divine union, as God says through Hosea: I will espouse you (unite you) to me through faith [Hosea 2:20].
St. John of the Cross (1542 - 1591) The Dark Night of the Soul 2.2.5

Second Morning Lesson

25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
27 The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
Luke 10:25-37 NLT

Reflection

Full of Mercy, full of Love,Look upon us from above;

Thou who taught'st the blind mans night

To entertain a double light,

Thine and the dayes (and that thine too)

The Lame away his Crutches threw,

The parched Crust of Leprosie

Return'd unto its infancy:

The Dumb amazed was to hear

His own unchain'd tongue strike his ear:

Thy powerful Mercy did even chase

The Devil from his usurp'd place,

Where thou thy self shouldst dwell, not he.

O let thy love our pattern be;

Let thy Mercy teach one Brother

To forgive and love another,

That copying thy Mercy here,

Thy Goodness may hereafter reare

Our Souls unto thy Glory, when

Our Dust shall cease to be with men. Amen.

Bishop Jeremy Taylor (1613 -1667), A Prayer for Charity

A Reading to End the Fast
And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-18, NLT

Concluding Prayers

V/O Lord, show thy mercy upon us.
R/And grant us thy salvation.
V/O God, make clean our hearts within us.
R/And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.