"When you pray, pray first for the Holy Spirit because when you have the Holy Spirit, you have everything."        - Medjugorje April 4, 1985

"You have forgotten that through prayer and fasting you can avert wars and suspend the laws of nature."       - Medjugorje Dec. 2, 1982

Last weekend we had the chance to attend three separate Methodist services at different churches.

It is so striking that the statement of belief read in the Methodist Church is in complete agreement with the statement of belief, read in Catholic churches. Obviously, there are points upon which we disagree, however, the commonality that we share with our sole worship of the trinity is a binding glue, and our disagreements in light of that truth should be merely incidental.

For those who don’t know John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church, he was like a Saint Paul, a Billy Graham, or one of the great saints in the Catholic Church, all of whom lead multitudes to Jesus.

Any observer of the Catholic Church cannot help but see the older religious orders decaying from their former stature as their members, generations removed from the founder's example, cease honoring the pillars upon which their orders were built. In our opinion, this is not coincidence, but the deliberate efforts by satan and his evil minions to distract from what is important.  His wiles prevent us from even realizing we are being led away from the power of the Spirit.

We saw the same phenomenon in the Methodist churches we visited.

John Wesley would not allow a minister to be ordained unless the minister committed to fasting each Wednesday and Friday as we do.

Yet today, virtually none of the ordained Methodist ministers fast each Wednesday and Friday.

We ask that readers forward this fasting reminder to any Methodist and Methodist ministers that they know.

Dear Methodist brothers, we encourage you, commit immediately to returning to twice weekly fasting as Wesley insisted you practice if you wished to be part of the Methodist church.

Fasting as first century Christians fasted, on bread and water, is surprisingly easy. Make sure your bread is 100% whole grain bread so that the experience will be physically healthy for you - an ancillary benefit to the spiritual transformation that will awaken in you.  You can have some olive oil with your bread and have as much water as you would like.

The key is the disposition of our hearts when we fast.

Begin each fast telling the Lord that we know our sacrifice is simply tiny while His sacrifice was incomparable in size for us. That said we offer this tiny sacrifice with joy to Him each day.

Many ministers today fast on a seasonal basis. Is that what Paul would have considered regular fasting? Imagine if you were trying to get yourself into great physical shape. Would it be sufficient for you to exercise each January? And then not to exercise for the rest of the year? Of course not. And in contrast to the notion of seasonal or periodic fasting consider the great exorcists who battle most acutely with evil on a regular basis. They feel the need to fast six days each week in order to have power over evil - fasting months, weeks or even days ago does not suffice when evil is at its strongest.

Not only are we obliged by Christ and also by John Wesley to fast twice weekly so that you may overcome evil, but you also want the protection that fasting brings for your families from evil. One female minister, who is a second-generation minister told the story of how her family was so good when she was a little girl, but how evil saw that and broke them apart. If only they had known that by fasting regularly, evil would not have had its sway over their precious family. Ministers, you are going to be attacked because you are trying to lead the world to Jesus.  Heaven has been explicit - Fasting when done more than twice weekly as is obligatory, when done with generous hearts, keeps evil far from your family. What a blessing!

We heard ample and appropriate concern among your churches about the direction of our country.

Let us not forget the related insight of Derek Prince, who many of you admire so greatly. Prince highlighted that the widely quoted verse, 2 Chronicles, 7:14, which reads:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; but I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Prince connects the dots in Psalm 69:10 where David specifically says:

“I humbled my soul with fasting“.

… highlighting that a nation must fast to truly humble itself as David said. If a nation does not fast, then the first precursor to receiving the blessings of 2 Chronicles 7:14 is missing.

Additionally dear Methodist ministers, allow us to submit to you that you want to emulate Jesus and Wesley with prayer time during the fourth watch, i.e., the daily window from 3AM until 6 AM. And while Jesus only asked for a minimum of one-hour daily prayer from his ministers in the garden, we submit that one hour daily is a bare minimum.  To thrive you should plan to spend at least two hours each morning in prayer. The Holy Spirit will speak to you during the 4th Watch, His favorite time of day to speak, as never before. The Spirit's promptings will bless your ministry so abundantly that you soon won’t be able to handle all of the insights and sermons you are going to receive from the Spirit in those moments!

Dear Methodist ministers don’t procrastinate – you want the joy and blessing of Wednesday and Friday fasting as your founder insisted you live by, and you want the blessings of early morning prayer that Jesus and Wesley both made a pillar of their days. Your churches will be renewed and revived as you do.

And to our regular fasters, thank you so much for fasting with us today. You will be glad you made the effort for all of eternity.

Why We Fast – Our Core Fasting Intentions

1) We add the new fasting intention of taking back the church from evil. We submit the three-step process to achieve this victory is 1-Repent, 2-Prayer & Fasting and, 3-Imitate our Savior by throwing the evil leadership from the church. We will seek to emulate the Savior in our effort to End The USCCB, an organization that has been devastating to the church.  (“You shall know the spirit by the fruits” - Matt. 7:16)

2) For the Holy Spirit to reign down upon America, renewing our land as the Christian, capitalist meritocracy we were founded to be.

3) For the protection of our police, firefighters, military and their families from harm and that the Lord bless their courageous generosity on our behalf.

4) For the protection of the families who fast with us, and for God’s blessings of abundance upon them and that true to His word, we will be able to witness that He prospered us in famine.

Would you like to learn more about fasting?

We maintain a repository of ideas and information we have learned over the last decade while fasting weekly for America. From scientific studies on the benefits of fasting, to the differences between intermittent dieting vs intermittent fasting, to scriptural references regarding the power of fasting to the history of first century Christians who stated believers are obligated to fast weekly, we hope you will find numerous insights with our free resource located here.

Together let us also implore Heaven while fasting for intentions you have highlighted:

4) For all patriots who put themselves on the front lines in combatting evil and for all of the warriors who are stepping up around the nation to fight for the gospel – May The Father cover them in the blood of our savior,  protect them and their families from evil and bring victory to their endeavors.

5) For priests, ministers and all who aspire to lead others to the Lord, that the Holy Spirit will reign down upon them as at Pentecost filling them to overflowing. 

6) For the Americans jailed after January 6th who were admitted to the Capitol building by the police, and who were not found to have destroyed any property at the capitol yet who have been held captive ever since on our own soil - That God's Spirit will move quickly to bring justice back to this land and free them.

Who We Are
St. Joseph Partners is a for-profit business that has funded Fast for America for over ten years. To the extent you support our work to renew America and if you understand why gold and silver protect believers' wealth in this world, please consider us or recommend us when you or someone you know buys or sells gold and silver. From our website www.StJosephPartners.com you can buy and sell dozens of types of precious metals. We close on Sundays to honor the Sabbath. Click here for a link where you can view a brief video about our firm and a brief video about why all investors and families should have some gold and silver in their portfolios.