ECCLESIA Monthly Newsletter of Place of Victory for All Nations, Belfast February Edition – Volume 2 February Birthdays We would like to wish all those born in February, a happy birthday. We pray for grace and favour in this year. Funsho Abogunrin Adeosun Adegbola Shulamite Adepoju Victoria Hanna Teniola Joy Iluyemi Ibukun Johnson Emmanuel Johnson Lynne Miller Praise Ogundipe Naomi Oyebode Victoria Chukwunwike If we have missed your name on this month’s list of celebrants, please alert us. February Events Wed 1st -Month of Fasting commences Friday 3 rd –Watch-night & Holy Communion Service Europa Hotel, 10pm Sun 5 th -Guest Minister: Area Pastor, Yetunde Ayodele Europa Hotel, 11am Sun 12 th –Special Sunday Service - Relationships in Focus Europa Hotel, 11am Tues 21st -Members evening Andras House, 6.30pm Sat 25 th -School of Disciples Lecture @ Andras House, 10am Wed 29th -End of Fasting, Anointing Service @ Europa Hotel, 6pm Member’s Evening on Tuesday 21 st @ Andras House, Great Victoria Street from 6.30pm Calling all new comers & members to an informal, interactive & informative evening: It’s a great opportunity to learn more about the church, meet other members (new and old) and allow us to learn more about you. Refreshments provided For further information contact us on 07414246008 or via email: at [email protected] The Power of Fasting and Prayer Volumes of pages have been written on the subject of prayer, many seminars organised on prayer and we continue to learn. Virtually everyone engages in some form of prayer, regardless of their religion. Suffice it is to say, prayer is important-prayer is key. In desperate times, when there seems to be no solution to our problems, people tend to pray - cry for help to anyone, anywhere to come to their aid. Whilst it seems natural to cry out when in desperate need for help through prayers, the effectiveness of our fervent prayer is based upon the intimacy of a relationship developed through a lifestyle of prayer. Jesus had intimacy with God the Father such that He often spent all night praying and He would also wake up before dawn to pray. This intimacy was so evident that the one thing his disciples asked him to teach them was to pray. Prayer, as a mode of communication, helps us form the most powerful relationship – friendship - with the most important and powerful being in the universe. This form of communication does not depend on your calling card credit limit nor is it affected by poor reception. You can make contact anytime and anywhere. Through the life of Jonah, we discover that you can get “prayer signals” even at the depths of the ocean. When we pray and fast, we discover that it affords us great power with God. When the disciples asked Jesus why they were unable to cast out a devil, Jesus stated in his response in Matt 17:21 that the case in question required power and authority which was made available only through prayers and fasting. Clarke’s commentary on the above verse noted in relation to personal victories that “there are certain evil propensities, in some persons, which pampering the flesh tends to nourish and strengthen; and that self-denial and fasting, accompanied by prayer to God, are the most likely means, not only to mortify such propensities, but also to destroy them.” Prayers with fasting, conducted properly, humbly position us to have our petitions heard. By the mercies of God, He allows us to influence Him through our prayers and fasting. It is important to note, however, that our prayers and fasting must first have impacted our lives before we can expect it to be influential with God as seen in Isaiah 58. In the account recorded in the book of Jonah, God changed his mind about destroying the city of Nineveh after he saw that the people had repented of their evil ways and had coupled this repentance with a national declaration of fasting and prayers. “And God saw their works that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.” (Jonah 3:10 KJV) During this month of February, which we have set aside to seek the face of the Lord in prayers and fasting, I believe that having the following objectives may be of great help: Use this period of prayers and fasting as an opportunity to develop a sustainable prayer life; Use a prayer journal to record your prayer conversations with the Lord; Set aside some regular quiet time for this; Prayerfully focus on an area in your life that you know requires change; Spend some time fervently praying for change in that area (James1:17): Select an entire book or two in the bible to study during this month; Consciously write out prayer points in your journal from this book and pray them into your life and future. I pray that by the end of the month of February, our relationship with God would be more intimate, the flesh would have been mortified and besetting sins and habits would have been destroyed in Jesus name- affording us a more intimate and productive relationship with our loved ones and making us more useful in the hands of our Lord. I pray you have a fulfilling and empowering month in His presence. Pastor Chris Ifonlaja See Fasting details on overleaf