Guide for the 2015 IVCF Seven Days of Prayer and Fasting
June 6-12, 2015
What is this for?
Two years ago, we had a week of prayer and fasting to begin the new school year. It was a special year because it was our 60th anniversary.
Later, we decided that it is a good practice to start every school year on our knees, acknowledging our total dependence on God. It is good for us to remember that He is our Creator, our Sustainer and the One for whom we live. The week of prayer and fasting is also our way of saying that anything that will be accomplished in and through the IVCF ministry this school year will be purely by the grace and power of God.
How to use this guide
This year’s guide will use parts of the Sermon on the Mount because it reminds us of the kind of people that Jesus wants us to be. For us to DO the work of God, we must first BE the people of God.
This guide can be used by individuals or by groups. IVCF students are encouraged to meet with others between 10am to 3pm to fast and pray.
Do take time to quiet yourself, don’t rush. Allow the Scriptures to resonate in your heart. Welcome the Spirit to search you using the questions.
Finally, pray in response to God’s promptings. The prayer points are general in nature because we believe God will prompt you what to pray for.
Acknowledgment
Some questions for reflection were taken from ‘Praying the Scriptures:
The Sermon on the Mount’
(http://www.christlifemin.org/assets/pdf/ministry-aterials/praying_scripture_sermon_on_mount_all.pdf)
2015 IVCF Seven Days of Prayer and Fasting simplified (you can download guide in pdf format)
Day 1, June 6 Saturday
Silence
Take a kneeling position. Quiet yourself. Spend the next five minutes or so in quietness.
Scripture
Read the verses below slowly. Re-read them allowing the words to echo in your heart and mind until you have memorized them.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.”
– Matthew 5:3-4
Soul Search
Allow the Spirit to search your heart using these questions:
Do you recognize your absolute dependency upon God?
How often do you realize that it is because of the Lord’s mercy we are not all consumed?
Have you abandoned all hope in self?
Have you ever mourned and grieved over your sin?
Does your heart ever grieve over the lost?
Pray
Pray for yourself according to how God’s Word has searched you today.
Pray for every member of the IVCF movement – students, graduates, volunteers, donors, staff and board members – to have this poverty of spirit.
Pray for the IVCF movement to mourn over our own sinfulness.
Day 2, June 7 Sunday
Silence
Take a kneeling position. Quiet yourself. Spend the next five minutes or so in quietness.
Scripture
Read the verses below slowly. Re-read them allowing the words to echo in your heart and mind until you have memorized them.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
– Matthew 5:5
Soul Search
Allow the Spirit to search you using these questions:
Do you walk humbly with your God?
Does your demeanor communicate meekness to others?
Is there a calmness of strength in your soul?
Pray
Pray for yourself according to how God’s Word has searched you today.
Pray for every member of the IVCF movement – students, graduates, volunteers, donors, staff and board members – to be meek like Jesus.
Day 3, June 8, Monday
Silence
Take a kneeling position. Quiet yourself. Spend the next five minutes or so in quietness.
Scripture
Read the verses below slowly. Re-read them allowing the words to echo
in your heart and mind until you have memorized them.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
– Matthew 5:6
Soul Search
Allow the Spirit to search your heart using these questions:
Do you hate every false way?
Do you long to be right before God and man in all your dealings?
Pray
Pray for yourself according to how God’s Word has searched you today.
Pray for every member of the IVCF movement – students, graduates,
volunteers, donors, staff and board members – to hunger and thirst for
righteousness.
Consider the evils of our day – corruption, economic disparity and
poverty, sexual immorality, consumerism, wars and conflicts. Pray for
the IVCF movement to speak and live out God’s justice and
righteousness.
Day 4, June 9, Tuesday
Silence
Take a kneeling position. Quiet yourself. Spend the next five minutes or so in quietness.
Scripture
Read the verses below slowly. Re-read them allowing the words to echo in your heart and mind until you have memorized them.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
– Matthew 5:7-8
Soul Search
Allow the Spirit to search you using these questions:
Does “merciful” aptly describe the character of your soul?
Are you moved by the suffering of others?
Do you forgive others as Christ hath forgiven you?
Are you living a divided or hypocritical life before God?
Would you be willing to lay your whole life open before all to examine?
Pray
Pray for yourself according to how God’s Word has searched you today.
Pray for every member of the IVCF movement – students, graduates, volunteers, donors, staff and board members – to be merciful and pure in heart.
Pray for the IVCF Board of Trustees and the IVCF Staff Team that they will be wholeheartedly devoted to God. Pray that their leadership and decision-making will be motivated by the desire to please God.
Day 5, June 10 Wednesday
Silence
Take a kneeling position. Quiet yourself. Spend the next five minutes or so in quietness.
Scripture
Read the verses below slowly. Re-read them allowing the words to echo in your heart and mind until you have memorized them.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
– Matthew 5:9
Soul Search
Allow the Spirit to search you using these questions:
Have you done all within your power to live peaceably with all men?
Have you in any way been a part in sowing discord among the brethren?
Do we tell our neighbors about the peace that Jesus has achieved between God and man by His sacrificial death and glorious resurrection?
Pray
Pray for yourself according to how God’s Word has searched you today.
Pray for every member of the IVCF movement – students, graduates, volunteers, donors, staff and board members – to be peacemakers.
Pray for those in the IVCF family who are caught in conflict to be willing to seek forgiveness and to forgive one another. Pray that God will remove from us the pattern of holding on to hurts and grudges and passing those hurts on to the next generation.
Day 6, June 11 Thursday
Silence
Take a kneeling position. Quiet yourself. Spend the next five minutes or so in quietness.
Scripture
Read the verses below slowly. Re-read them allowing the words to echo in your heart and mind until you have memorized them.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all
kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because
great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.”
– Matthew 5:10-12
Soul Search
Allow the Spirit to search you using these questions:
What is your attitude towards persecution – fearful, complaining, or rejoicing?
Are you godly enough to draw criticism for your Christlikeness?
When did someone last take aim at you, not for your sin, but for your righteousness?
Pray
Pray for yourself according to how God’s Word has searched you today.
Pray for every member of the IVCF movement – students, graduates, volunteers, donors, staff and board members – to be joyful and faithful in persecution.
Pray for our students and graduates who are being persecuted because of righteousness in their homes, schools and workplaces.
Pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world.
Day 7, June 12 Friday
Silence
Take a kneeling position. Quiet yourself. Spend the next five minutes or so in quietness.
Scripture
Read the verses below slowly. Re-read them allowing the words to echo in your heart and mind until you have memorized them.
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
– Matthew 5:13-14
Soul Search
Allow the Spirit to search you using these questions:
Do you have such vital reality with God that you make an impact on the surrounding world?
Does your life bring conviction on those around you who sin?
Does your life show forth light in the darkness of this world?
Does your example provoke others to good works?
Pray
Pray for yourself according to how God’s Word has searched you today.
Pray for every member of the IVCF movement – students, graduates, volunteers, donors, staff and board members – to be salt and light wherever they are.
Pray for our ISCF, college and NCF chapters to move out further than before in order to engage their schools with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
End your fast by giving thanks and eating food (or sharing food if praying with others). Pause and savor the taste of the food. Let it remind you that you are sustained wholly by the grace of God.
Make a litany of thanks for yourself and for IVCF.
