"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

As we gear up during the nine days between the Ascension and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, we are living through the first novena - nine days of prayer as the apostles waited for the Spirit. That Biblical period of nine days is the inspiration for the concept of a novena.

Pentecost is an incomprehensible gift - Jesus said the Spirit is so special we are better off that Jesus leaves us and goes to Heaven just so that He can send the Spirit to be with us.

How can that be?

Jesus who raised the dead, walked on water, fed the thousands, healed everyone who asked to be healed … then said go and do even greater miracles than He had done with the Spirit’s presence?

Conceptually what could even be greater than what Jesus did, let alone how could we accomplish it?

While praying ahead of Pentecost we had a sense of the intimacy between the Holy Spirit and his bride, Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Intellectually such a close relationship, of course makes sense.

After all, Mary is a unique creation of the Lord chosen to bring about Jesus and our salvation with her yes. With her consent the Holy Spirit took her as His bride and together the Holy Spirit and Mary conceived Jesus.

We don’t really have any great insights to share about Mary’s unique relationship with the Spirit and would welcome your thoughts.

We simply felt a new awareness of the Spirit’s gratitude to those who accept Jesus’ command from the cross in John 19:27 to take Mary as our mother.

Today most Christians reject the notion that God desires us to have some relationship with Mary as Jesus explicitly commanded in that passage.  Such rejection of Jesus’ words seem difficult to justify.

It is our sense that the Holy Spirit is grateful to those who honor His bride with love and respect as we all search to comprehend the depth of John 19:27.

Perhaps in ignorance, the joy and depth of their relationship was something we had not reflected on previously or sensed before, and again of course it makes such sense. Nothing earth shattering in those words but perhaps good to meditate upon.

Our God is anything but superficial. His heart is deeper than the ocean and more expansive than the galaxy.  How deep would we expect the Spirit's relationship be with His one and only true bride?   

How grateful the Holy Spirit is to His bride for her yes to conceive Jesus and her yes to everything God asked through her brutal day at the foot of the cross.

Doesn’t it make sense that the Spirit has the most tender appreciation for His adoring bride? And doesn’t it make sense that as we are created in God’s likeness, like any married person would be grateful to anyone who treated his or her spouse with honor and care … that the Spirit would be grateful for honoring His spouse? What a unique and beautiful relationship they have. God and His bride.

Let’s pray -

Holy Spirit guide us to love You the way You want to be loved.

Grace us to see ourselves as You see us and want what You want.

Bless us with the promises of Jesus in this life and the next.

Holy Spirit guide us in your preference for our relationship with Your bride, Mary, so that our relationship with Mary may be what Jesus intended for us from the Cross.

Holy Spirit, as we await You on Pentecost, we ask You to pour Yourself upon us, our families, our church and America. Pour out upon us just as powerfully as You did at Pentecost.  In the most healing and renewing ways.

Simply because we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

Thank you for fasting with us on bread and water tomorrow as first century Christians wrote all believers are obligated to do each week – 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.