For the past three weeks, Woodstock Wesleyan has joined together for a focused time of prayer and fasting to seek God’s heart for ourselves, our church, and our region. As these 21 Days come to a close, we want to highlight something clearly: fasting is not an end point; it’s a reset.
- A reset of our attention.
- A reset of our appetites.
- A reset of our pace and priorities.
- A reset of our spirits as we come into better alignment with His Spirit.
Fasting helps us quiet what is loud, loosen what has a grip on us, and re-centre our lives around Jesus. The invitation now is to carry forward what God has been reshaping within us (the hunger, the clarity, the sensitivity to the Spirit) into everyday life.
The 21 Days may be behind us, but we can keep its fruit as we move forward. Below are several next steps that can help transition this focused season into a faithful lifestyle. Take a look, pray, and listen for where the Holy Spirit is inviting you next.
Here’s a copy of our prayer guide for 2026.
1. Continue a Rhythm of Scripture & Prayer
If God met you in His Word during these weeks, protect that space. Continue to give Scripture a prominent place in your daily routine, allowing Him to speak to you through His Word.
You might:
- Read the Bible in One Year.
- Choose another Bible Reading Plan from The Bible App.
- Listen to Scripture during your daily commute.
- Make note of passages in the Sunday sermon to reread and reflect upon during the week.
- Watch a Bible study online.
- Read one chapter a day and sit with it for a few minutes.
- Pray Scripture back to God in your own words.
What God starts in focused seasons of fasting is sustained through daily faithfulness.
2. Integrate Fasting into your regular routine
You don’t have to stop fasting just because the 21 Days are over. Fasting isn’t only for special seasons; it can become a simple, ongoing practice that helps keep our hearts attentive to God and our lives centred on Jesus. In fact, believers have used fasting in that way over the past 2000 years!
The goal is not to follow a formula, but to create space to listen, to pray, and to realign your heart with God. You might choose to continue fasting in a way that is sustainable and life-giving, such as:
- One meal a week, using that time to pray or read Scripture
- One day a month, setting aside extra time for prayer and reflection
- One digital fasting day per week, stepping away from social media, streaming, or unnecessary screen time
- A partial fast, such as fasting from certain foods, habits, or comforts that tend to crowd out spiritual attentiveness
Fasting doesn’t earn God’s attention; it helps us pay attention to God.
3. Serve at Church
As God reshapes our hearts, He also invites us to participate more fully in what He’s doing. One of the healthiest ways to continue growing is by serving alongside others in the life of the church.
Serving isn’t about filling a role; it’s about finding your place. It’s a way to put your gifts into action, build relationships, and experience the joy that comes from contributing to something bigger than yourself.
Whether it’s serving with our greeter teams, Kids, Youth, worship, tech, our prayer ministries, groups, or any other area, there’s a place for you to serve in a way that fits who you are and how God has wired you.
Explore some of the ministry opportunities available by taking our SHAPE course.
Renewal grows deeper when it flows outward.
4. Stay Connected in Community
Fasting resets us personally, but community sustains us spiritually. God often does His deepest and most lasting work in us through relationships… through people who pray with us, walk with us, encourage us, and help us keep growing.
If you’re not already connected, consider taking a step into community by joining a group or stepping into a class or course. These spaces create room for honesty, support, growth, and shared faith.
You don’t have to walk this journey alone. God sustains renewal through relationships.
5. Live Out Mercy
Spiritual renewal always finds expression in compassion. When God changes our hearts, it begins to show in how we treat others. As the 5th century bishop Peter Chrysologus once wrote: “Fasting is the soul of prayer; mercy is the lifeblood of fasting.”
In other words, fasting and prayer are never meant to end with us. Mercy is what carries the fruit of renewal into the world around us. It looks like generosity toward those in need, forgiveness where there has been hurt, advocacy for the vulnerable, hospitality toward the outsider, and practical care offered with humility and love. Sometimes mercy is quiet and unseen. Other times it costs us something. Always, it reflects the heart of Jesus.
As you move beyond these 21 Days, consider how God may be inviting you to live out mercy in practical, tangible ways in your relationships, your neighbourhood, your workplace, or your community.
Prayer changes us. Mercy shows that change to the world.
6. Share Your Hope in Everyday Ways
As we’ve prayed for renewal and awakening, it’s important to remember that God often works through ordinary, faithful obedience. Missional steps don’t have to be dramatic to be meaningful. Most awakenings spread quietly… one conversation, one act of love, one invitation at a time.
You might consider taking a simple next step like these:
- Pray regularly for one person far from Jesus, asking God to draw them to Himself
- Invite someone to church trusting God with the outcome
- Practice intentional kindness, looking for ways to bless people in everyday moments
- Serve locally in the community, offering your time and presence where there is need, in Jesus’ name
Awakening spreads through ordinary obedience.
A FINAL ENCOURAGEMENT
As these 21 Days come to a close, we would love to celebrate what God has done. If God has met you, spoken to you, restored something, or stirred your heart in a new way during these 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting, we invite you to share your story.
You can share a short testimony by:
Messaging us on Facebook or emailing us at office@woodstockwesleyan.org. You can upload a video to youtube and send us a link or you can upload it on this form if you have a gmail account.
Your testimony doesn’t have to be long or polished, just honest.Your story may encourage others and help us celebrate all that God is doing among us.
This season was not about doing more; it was about making room.
Carry that posture forward.
Stay hungry.
Stay attentive.
And stay responsive to the Spirit.
Listen for the gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit and take the next step He’s placing before you.
Renewal in us can lead to awakening around us.