Fundamental Beliefs
Belonging

Rule of Life and Fasting

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A rule of life is a disciplined structure that helps believers order worship, work, leisure, and stewardship under the Lordship of Christ. Because of our fallen nature, we need prayer, Scripture, liturgy, and fasting to resist disorder and grow in self-control. Prayer fuels the spiritual life, while fasting weakens the flesh and helps lift the soul toward God.

Order & Fasting
Pastor Joel Roberto Guajardo
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Rule of Life

  • A “rule of life” is a discipline that helps order worship, work, and leisure as a living sacrifice to God.

  • The Church has always understood that discipline is necessary for discipleship.

  • A rule of life provides structure, consistency, and progress in the Christian life.

  • Our lives are not ultimately our own; everything we have is a gift from God and must be stewarded faithfully.

  • Colossians 3:17 teaches that everything we do, in word or deed, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Why a Rule of Life Is Necessary

  • A rule of life is necessary because of our fallen nature.

  • Even after regeneration in Christ, believers can still be disordered, distracted, and self-centered.

  • The New Testament distinguishes between the “old man” and the “new man.”

  • The new man is well-ordered, disciplined, and governed by divine order.

  • Self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and is necessary for Christian maturity.

  • A rule of life helps believers resist sin and establish godly habits through which the Holy Spirit conforms them to the image of Christ.

What Composes a Rule of Life?

Three components:

  1. Prayer, including fasting

  2. Private devotion with Scripture

  3. Liturgy

Additional practices can include:

  • Witnessing for Christ

  • Being ready to answer for the faith

  • Acts of service

  • Faithful stewardship of time

  • Giving money and possessions as sacrifices to the Lord

Prayer as the First Discipline

  • Prayer is the first and most important part of a rule of life.

  • Prayer is the discipline by which believers cultivate communion with God and grow in love and devotion.

  • Through prayer, believers rely on God for strength, wisdom, and humility.

  • A person cannot thrive spiritually without a deep prayer life.

  • Prayer is the fuel that drives the engine of the spiritual life.

  • Anything that cuts into prayer life should be reordered or removed.

  • The Christian should adjust life around prayer, not prayer around everything else.

  • Prayer is more important than ministry activity, Bible reading, or theological knowledge when these are separated from communion with God.

Prayer and Spiritual Strength

  • The apostles understood the importance of prayer and refused to neglect it for other responsibilities.

  • A strong prayer life protects against burnout and spiritual emptiness.

  • Prayer keeps the believer connected to the presence of God.

  • No earthly power can take the presence of God from someone who has cultivated prayer.

  • Prayer must be guarded, protected, strengthened, and enflamed.

Fasting with Prayer

  • Fasting should be included with prayer because they work together.

  • Jesus connects prayer and fasting in Matthew 17:21.

  • Fasting helps lift the soul toward God.

  • The heaviness of the flesh can hinder the lifting of the mind toward spiritual things.

  • Drunkenness, gluttony, and indulgence weigh down the heart and make spiritual focus difficult.

  • Fasting weakens the power of the flesh so the soul may be strengthened.

The Purpose of Fasting

  • Fasting teaches the body that it is not in control of the soul.

  • Daniel 9:3 shows prayer joined with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

  • The body is temporal and subject to decay, while the soul is eternal.

  • Through weakening the body, the believer strengthens the soul.

  • Galatians 5:17 teaches that the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit.

  • Prayer strengthens the spirit by placing it in God’s presence.

  • Fasting weakens the flesh’s ability to dominate the believer.

What Fasting Is

  • In the history of the Church, fasting has been properly understood as a period of time without food.

  • A proper fast is traditionally a 24-hour period without food.

  • Adjustments can be made:

    • One meal

    • Two meals

    • Three meals

    • Certain categories of food

  • Fasting always has to do with food.

  • Giving up social media or another distraction may be good, but it is better called abstention, not fasting.

  • The key issue in fasting is disciplining the body.

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