To decrease is not something that comes natural for us, is it?
For this last season of Lent, the time from Ash Wednesday – Easter, I followed a guide that I found from The Village Church. It gave me various things to fast for each of the 7 weeks of Lent, and helped me gain a new appreciation for the season.
Just after Lent, I began reading 40 Days of Decrease. I wish I had opened it sooner. Alicia Chole does a remarkable job explaining the why, how, and focus of fasting. She has essentially created a day by day guide to help the reader focus more on Jesus through decrease. While her guide is aimed primarily at the season of Lent, it can be read and applied at any time.
Whether this is your first time fasting, or your fortieth time fasting, this book is for you.
Get it. Read it. Live it.
40 Days of Decrease Book Description
- What if you fasted regret?
- What if your friends fasted comparison?
- What if your generation fasted escapism?
- What if your community fasted spectatorship?
- Such heart-fasts could trigger a spiritual revolution!
Via readings, refection questions, daily fasts, ancient quotes, and more, this is the dream of 40 Days of Decrease: A Different Kind of Hunger. A Different Kind of Fast.
Every day offers a meaningful consideration of Jesus’ journey and then invites readers into a daily fast of heart-clutter, the stuff that sticks to our souls and weighs us down.
You can begin your forty-day journey any time of the year, but you may find it especially meaningful as a Lenten preparation to live in awe of Jesus’ resurrection.
Each daily, 1000-word entry will include
- a devotional based on Jesus’ cross-ward life;
- a reflection question to guide journaling or group discussion;
- a heart fast to inspire a tangible response;
- a thought-provoking Lenten quote;
- an optional sidebar into the historical development of Lent.
- a suggested reading that takes you from John 12 to John 21
- journaling space for reflection
In the same way self cannot satisfy self no matter how long it feasts, self cannot starve self no matter how long it fasts. Decrease—like increase—is only holy when its destination is love.
We thin our lives to thicken our communion with God.
Dare to live awed by Christ’s resurrection!
Intuitive, prophetic, and profoundly inspiring, calling forth a revolution of soul health, stirring our passion to know Jesus more.”
—DARLENE ZSCHECH, Composer, Worship Leader, Pastor, and Speaker
“God has sounded a clear chord of revelation through Alicia Chole. God uses her to lovingly guide the reader into recognizing His presence, purpose, and power in times of necessary loss.”
—DR. CLAUDE R. ALEXANDER, JR., Lead Pastor of The Park Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC
Links Related to Chole’s 40 Days of Decrease:
- Thomas Nelson: 40 Days of Decrease
- Book Website: 40 Days of Decrease
- Author Website: 40 Days of Decrease
