The Fast That Moved a Pastor Out of His Office

Every January, Marcus Reed led his congregation through a twenty-one-day fast at Grace Covenant Church in Memphis. They prayed, journaled, skipped meals, and gathered for evening worship. In 2019, on day fourteen of the fast, Marcus drove past a public housing complex six blocks from the church and noticed an elderly woman sitting on her porch in a thin sweater, despite the thirty-degree weather.

He stopped. Her name was Delores. Her heater had been broken for three weeks. She had called the housing authority twice. No one came.

Marcus went home and opened his Bible to Isaiah 58. The words cut deep: "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice... to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter?" He realized his congregation had been fasting with their stomachs while ignoring the cold and hunger six blocks away.

That week, he canceled the remaining evening services. Instead, he sent teams door-to-door with space heaters, blankets, and hot meals. Within a month, Grace Covenant had partnered with a local nonprofit to provide ongoing home repair for elderly residents throughout the complex.

The Almighty does not measure devotion by what we deny ourselves but by what we give to others. True fasting loosens chains. It opens doors. It wraps a thin sweater in something warmer.