Hey Church,

Recently, I read Psalm 107 during my time with the Lord and he struck me with something I’d never seen before. It surprised me, excited me, and made me even more thankful for Jesus who gives us access to the God who settles our restless souls.

I want to show you what the Lord showed me and then I want to invite you into asking God for specific provision for Anchor Church.

Psalm 107:1–2 says:
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble…

And now, take careful note of the kind of trouble they were in…

Psalm 107:4
Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.

What was their response to their unsettled wanderings?

Psalm 107:6
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble…

And, what was the Lord’s response to their prayers?

Psalm 107:6-7
…and he delivered them from their distress. He led them … to a city where they could settle.

What does this tell us about God?

It tells us that he knows how distressing it is for us to feel unsettled. It tells us that he cares about taking displaced people and giving them a place.

Obviously, we aren’t in search of a city to settle in, like the Israelites were. We are, however, in search of a place to settle in our city for the good of our city.

With this in view, I want to invite you to join us for a time of “crying out to God” (Psalm 107:6) through fasting and prayer for God to settle us with His provision from 6 pm on February 1st through 12 pm on February 2nd.

During this time, we will seek the Lord’s face considering His desire (or not) for Anchor to pursue a more permanent, settled facility.

The Sandler Center often has other events that leave us, as a church family, feeling unsettled. We feel this tension when we are forced to transition to the Miller Studio on random Sundays or when we are unable to gather at Sandler at all around 7-8 Sundays per year.

Specifically, on February 2, Sandler Center has another event during the time that we normally gather. We have looked far and wide for an alternative location for that Sunday, but have come up empty.

What better time to pray (than when we can’t meet in our usual place) that God would bring a sense of settledness to our church family through the provision of a facility?

By the way, we are also unable to gather at the Sandler on March 2nd. Stay tuned for our plans for that Sunday.

It’s possible to pray without fasting and fast without praying, but when we look at the Scriptures, it seems like when you put them together they become allies of each other.

Fasting is a way of praying… but praying with your whole person.

It’s kind of like when someone raises a hand in worship or gets on their knees in prayer… they’re incorporating their whole body in the act of worship.

That’s what’s happening while we fast… we’re arresting our whole body in the discipline of prayer.

By the way, if you want to hear a very practical treatment of the Bible’s perspective of fasting, click the link below.

Throughout the Scriptures, there are many reasons to fast.

In Acts 14, we see that one reason to fast is when we need particular guidance.

As a church, we are seeking particular guidance from the Lord right now, particularly as it relates to the facility we gather to worship in each week.

First, we hold this request with open hands. God may want us in the Sandler Center for years to come and we are genuinely open to that. It’s a beautiful facility and the staff have been good to us.

However, our hope is to find a facility that has two things that Sandler Center will never be able to offer: 24/7 access & 24/7 visibility.

Building habits of grace, like fasting, into the lives of our kids is certainly a challenge - but, we believe it’s a worthwhile one! Consider explaining to your kids that your family will be fasting from an item or activity, and instead, praying together as a family during some or all of that time. Here are some practical ideas for how that could work in your home:

Sweets and Treats
This foregoes something that our kids love, but it won’t completely ruin your routine. Take a break from candy and dessert for our fast, and instead, pray together when you would normally enjoy that sugary goodness!

Toy Time
Guide your kids to pick one toy (or video game) that they will refrain from playing with or using for the fast. Tell them that, when they feel the urge to play with that particular item, instead, they should come to you, and together, you can sit still for a second and tell God that we love him even more than our stuff.

It won’t be perfect, but your intentional effort to show our spiritual need through fasting can be an amazing experience for your family. Let’s not underestimate what God can do in the lives of our kids when we recognize that need for God together.

We encourage you to fast as a family and/or to meet up with your Community Group at some point in the 16 hours to pray together (perhaps breaking your fast with a lunch together on Sunday).

Here’s a potential schedule, though your options are endless!

I want to encourage you to let a combination of Psalm 107 and Psalm 65 dictate your prayer times.

In this guide you will find four parts:
Feb 1 - Evening prayer [just family and/or close friends]
Feb 1 - Before bed prayer [privately or with spouse].
Feb 2 - Morning prayer [privately].
Feb 2 - Midday prayer [online together with Anchor via Zoom at 11:30 am].

Click here to access the Zoom call.

Eat an early dinner (before the 6p start of the fast) and pray portions of Psalm 65 together afterwards (in place of dessert?).

Scrutinize these four verses for reasons to give thanksgiving to God. Close by asking for his provision of “settledness” for Anchor Church - specifically, praying for a 24/7 accessible facility that will promote mission, care, and stability.


Psalm 65:1–4

[1] Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion,
and to you shall vows be performed.
[2] O you who hear prayer,
to you shall all flesh come.
[3] When iniquities prevail against me,
you atone for our transgressions.
[4] Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!

Just before bed, scrutinize Psalm 65:5-8 for requests to pray relating to the mission of God. Pray that God would use Anchor, in the years to come, “so that those who dwell at the ends of [the 757 and] the earth [would be] in awe at His signs [through us]” (Psalm 65:8). Close by asking for his provision of “settledness” for Anchor Church - specifically, praying for a 24/7 visible facility that will facilitate exposure, hope, and growth for our city.

Psalm 65:5–8

[5] By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
O God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas;
[6] the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being girded with might;
[7] who stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples,
[8] so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

With morning coffee in hand, scrutinize Psalm 65:9-13 and pray that Anchor would experience the prosperity of God like the people of God express in those verses. Personally, I love that little line in verse 11 about God's blessing being like a wagon that is so overloaded with blessings that the wheels are leaving tracks in the ground. Pray that, in God’s kindness, Anchor’s wagon would leave deep tracks in 2025. Close by asking for his provision of “settledness” for Anchor Church - specifically, praying for a 24/7 accessible facility that will promote mission, care, and stability, while also providing 24/7 visibility to facilitate exposure, hope, and growth for our city.

Psalm 65:9–13

[9] You visit the earth and water it;
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide their grain,
for so you have prepared it.
[10] You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
[11] You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
[12] The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
[13] the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.

On Sunday morning, at 11:30 a, we’ll gather online for a brief time of corporate prayer where we will pray through Psalm 107:1-7 as a church family led by various members of our Prayer Team, Elders, and Elders-in-Training.

Click here to join the zoom call.

Psalm 107:1-7

[1] Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.
[2] Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
    those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
[3] those he gathered from the lands,
    from east and west, from north and south.
[4] Some wandered in desert wastelands,
    finding no way to a city where they could settle.
[5] They were hungry and thirsty,
    and their lives ebbed away.
[6] Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
[7] He led them by a straight way
    to a city where they could settle.

If you want to share something God has done in and for you during our time of prayer and fasting, please make plans to join us at our next Partners’ Fellowship on Sunday, February 23rd to share. RSVP here.