National Day of Worship, Prayer & Fasting for an End to the Pandemic
Sunday 2 August 2020 has been designated a day of worship, prayer and fasting. Worship turns our hearts, minds and spirits to our Father God. Prayer is connecting to the heart of God through His Son Jesus, a man like us, who sits on the Heavenly throne. Fasting builds our trust in Him, as we go without the things we normally assume we need. It heightens our spiritual senses, and helps us hear the voice of God more clearly.
We’ll be putting aside time this day to worship, pray and fast. You can do this alone, with your family, or join with others around the nation in numerous physical worship gatherings and online worship services on the internet: church websites, YouTube and Facebook. There are many worship and prayer channels on YouTube which you can connect to during the day.
From 3pm-9pm, the National Day of Prayer and Fasting team will host a nationwide Zoom online worship and prayer gathering. Details are here.
GETTING READY FOR THE DAY
While it is possible to simply just spend a few minutes on your knees, both you and Australia will benefit far more by you doing a little planning. Ask Jesus how He would like you to worship, pray and fast, and with whom. Then put aside the time to do it.
Get your family involved. We’re calling all Australians, not just you, to get involved.
Just as we’ve had to make lifestyle changes due to the pandemic, it may mean you need to make a lot of changes for the Day of Worship, Prayer and Fasting. This might mean clearing out time during the day, and changing your regular television, entertainment, gaming, housework, meetings or meal routines.
We encourage you to fully read this information and start planning with God now.
WORSHIP
Worship is orienting our whole lives to honour and love God. It involves turning our hearts, our minds, our spirits to Him as our father, in thankfulness, love and joy. Worship can involve a range of activities that you may choose to do in order to honour and please God. These could include creative arts, music and dance, learning from the Bible, praying, and many other activities. The emphasis is on attuning your heart to the heart of God.
FASTING
Fasting grows our faith. When we tell our mind and body that we will go without the food we normally presume we need, we turn to God for supernatural sustenance. As we turn our eyes to Heaven, we will find our spiritual senses increase, and it helps us hear God’s voice as we seek Him. Fasting also removes the distractions of meal preparation and mealtimes from the day.
In the Bible, fasting was also helped people to repent, as they connected to Heaven. In the book of Jonah, the capital city of the mighty Assyrian Empire was spared from destruction after its people, including children, fasted and repented of their evil.
When fasting, some people choose to go without both food and water; others choose to go without food, but drink water or liquids. While we invite people to fast for the day, you may choose to fast for a shorter period of time, such as for one or two meals. Please do as you feel Jesus is leading you.
CHILDREN
This event is not exclusive to adults. We invite you to encourage your children to take part also, as you feel led by the Spirit of Jesus. Teach your children about worship, prayer and fasting, and get them involved.
PRAYER
There are many ways of praying; please listen to God’s voice about how He wants you to pray. You can pray aloud, silently, alone, with people, on the phone, on Zoom, using pen and paper… God will hear you, whichever way you are led to pray.
We often want to pray mainly in response to issues we know about. That is a good thing, but don’t stop there. Stop to listen to what the Holy Spirit of God is speaking to you. Fasting will help you be able to tune in spiritually to His voice.
PRAYER: REPENTANCE
It doesn’t take long to realise that our nation and our families have real issues and problems. Ask Jesus to show you what changes we need to make in our own hearts, as individuals, families, and as a society. The links below are excellent starting points, with much information of which most Australians are not fully aware.
PRAYER: PRAYING FOR AN END TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Most of us are familiar with the prayer needs related to the pandemic. Pray especially for the doctors, nurses and healthcare staff, the leaders of Australia and your state or territory, government workers, those who are sick, those who are bereaved, those who provide cleaning services, and those who provide essential services to the community.
But don’t stop there. Grow your faith muscles and start asking God for miraculous healings, and for His power to be shown today. Start asking God for our nation, our communities, our families, our marriages and our own hearts to be transformed by the power of Jesus.
PRAYER: PRAYING FOR AUSTRALIA
A good starting point for praying for Australia is A Prayer for Australia.
PRAYER: PRAYING FOR VICTORIA
We invite Australians to spend some time particularly praying for Victoria.
We recommend two resources for understanding the related spiritual issues to this. These were created independently, but have some remarkably similar themes and conclusions.
1. A Letter from Victoria, in our Time of Crisis
2. Will You Pray with us for Victoria?
ABOUT THIS EVENT
In the Bible, worship, prayer and fasting are ways to connect with the heart of God, and in seeing lives, communities and nations transformed by His power and love.
The National Council of Churches in Australia have called Australians to a day of prayer on 2 August. In a meeting between the chairman of the NCCA and leaders of several key prayer and intercession movements; this initiative was strongly supported by all present. The National Day of Prayer and Fasting committee has supported this by calling for worship, prayer and fasting on this day.
Churches represented by the National Council of Churches in Australia include:
- Anglican Church of Australia,
- Antiochian Orthodox Church,
- Armenian Apostolic Church,
- Assyrian Church of the East,
- Chinese Methodist Church in Australia,
- Churches of Christ in Australia,
- Congregational Federation of Australia
- Coptic Orthodox Church
- Greek Orthodox Church
- Indian Orthodox Church
- Lutheran Church of Australia
- Mar Thoma Church
- Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
- Roman Catholic Church
- The Salvation Army
- Syrian Orthodox Church
- Uniting Church in Australia
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I was born in Geelong. Attended Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary school. Became a Christian through ISCF in the 1960’s. Married and went to live overseas for 6 years and came back to live in Sydney 40 years ago. I am a regular participant in Canberra Declaration zoom prayer events. On 2nd Aug I happened to note your name Flinder, and the things you mentioned about the direction of governance in Victoria being shaped by ideologies not pleasing to God. I have observed this too but since I’m not actually living there now am rather out of touch. I would really appreciate a connection with you about these things and the situation that exists there now.