"In prayer you shall perceive ... the way out of every situation that has no exit." 
                                                                                                           - Medjugorje March 28, 1985

"Do novenas of fasting and renunciation so that satan be far from you and grace be around you"                                                                                                             -  Medjugorje July 25, 2005

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In the 2000-year history of Christianity, many good traditions which have faded are enjoying a renaissance. One of those customs are the Ember Days: four seasonal fasts after Ash Wednesday (spring), Pentecost (summer), Exaltation of the Holy Cross (fall) and St Lucy’s day (winter). The fasts prior to feasts were presumed to mark the various harvests of wheat, grapes, and olives. If originally these were pagan feasts, the Church in her wisdom incorporated them for the benefit of the gospel. Instead of harvesting and immediately feasting, Ember Days were a pause like grace before meals. The weekly fasting days of Wednesday and Friday were extended into Saturday, the day Christ lay in the tomb, these four times during the year.

Though we as humans are in the created order, we are higher than the animals and can pause to acknowledge the divine. (My sheep however demonstrate brute animal instinct when their food is poured into a trough. A male ram will shove every other animal-pregnant ewe or lamb-out of the way to get the most food. So rude!) Our beneficent Creator created every single grain of wheat. Not only that, but, in fact, hundreds of kernels from one wheat seed. Ought we not to pause, if only briefly, in gratefulness for these gifts of bounty?  

Despite the fact that the seasonal fasts of the Ember Days have faded, the good news is that we have the power to bring them back. No one is going to bring them back for us. We have to each one of us, live back Christian culture. Each one of us who fasts together on Wednesdays and Fridays can attest to the fact that hunger and fatigue can be easily assuaged by a hot cup of tea and a hearty piece of bread. It is not that hard. So, one more day during the Ember Days ought not to be difficult.

There is so much to pray for, and there always will be. It would be a shame to leave spiritual power sitting there unused. For example:

1)The St Michael Novena for the end of violence towards Crisis pregnancy centers and Catholic Churches. The fury of demons was unleashed when Roe v Wade fell and so there have been over 60 vandalism attacks on those clinics who are helping women with maternity care and material assistance, and on Catholic Churches. See a 30 second synopsis here. Sign up to join here. Friday is day four.

2)A priest of the diocese of Lansing, Mi whose state is attempting to enshrine abortion in to law this November was inspired through prayer to call people to a 54-day novena rosary. His inspiring two-minute video is here. It is no secret how powerful the rosary is in defeating evil. My sense is, though this rosary novena started 8 days ago, people will be joining it exponentially, and the awesome thing is that no pro-abortion legislator in Michigan can do a thing to counter our prayers. Don’t you love it??

 If you were to sign up for both, that would be a total of 22 minutes of prayer each day-hardly praying without ceasing but getting there. You can use your car time to pray!

Lastly, we have some very good news to pass on. Megan, the young lady from North Carolina who has been on our prayer list for well over a year now, received a liver transplant. Megan’s father who fasts with us weekly reached out to tell us about the news and pass on that the transplant performed last week has been successful. 

To refresh her story for you, Megan was only ten weeks old when she underwent her first surgery on her liver. As a teen doctors prescribed a medication that her parents pushed back against but were told it was cleared by her liver specialists. It turned out to be an error and shortly thereafter she was hospitalized in what would become a recurring scene until she finally went into sceptic shock. She was given a 20% chance of survival but made it through. After many recurring hospitalizations, Megan’s family is hopeful this week’s surgery at Duke Hospital will mark the beginning of a new and healthy chapter in Megan’s life.  Her father concluded her update writing: “Thank you for all of your love, prayers and support.”

And a double thank you - by adding fasting to your prayers, you augment the power of those already powerful prayers, and for all of eternity, you will be grateful that you made the little extra effort.

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Why We Fast – Our Core Fasting Intentions

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

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

3) 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 Mike Lindell who is putting himself on the front lines suing over the election fraud that has taken place 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 with an understanding of what the Lord wants, courage and the desire to preach what He would have them preach and protection and strength from all evil that comes against them. 

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 by freeing them while enlightening Americans how to bring God's justice back to our nation.

7) For young Megan who has an incurable liver condition @ Duke Hospital - Asking the Divine Physician for a complete healing.

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.