“You are the God who performs miracles; You display Your power among the people” (Psalm 77:14).

The early church was birthed in power. Their normal Christian experience was one of hundreds of people being saved, daily. Miracles, daily. The known, felt power and presence of God in their midst, daily. This was normal. So was prayer and fasting.

Fasting was normal.

Many of us can read through the New Testament in awe as we think about the early church and the impact it had. We can read about the rapid expansion of the church, their meeting places, the extraordinary miracles God did, and we can think, “They were the super apostles…” They were the super Christians…” as we diminish or excuse ourselves. Certainly, and sadly, much of the church culture around us does this.

The fact is they were no different from you and me. They were people in desperate need of a savior and in desperate need of God’s help everyday of their lives. However, one big difference between that generation and our comfortable American lives is that they leaned into God through prayer and fasting as a normal part of their Christian lives.

An easily overlooked yet important mark of the early church was their devotion to seeking God through prayer and fasting. It was common for whole churches to gather to pray, sometimes daily. Sometimes they would pray through the night. They would meet in people’s homes or in synogogues. Sometimes they met outside the walls of the city in secluded areas. And all the people fasted twice a week, no food till sundown—even the kids!! Everyone fasted.

The Didache (Did-ah-kay) is book written approximately 50AD. A similar time frame as Paul’s epistles and the gospels. It is believed to have been written by the Twelve Apostles as a type of manual on how to live as a believer. It does not form part of the canon of scripture, however, was widely read and shared in the early churches. The Greek word didache means, “teaching.” The Didache is often called, The Teaching of the Twelve, or The Oldest Church Manual by many biblical scholars and historians.

Why am I mentioning The Didache? It records the daily lives and church practices of the first-generation church. Chapter 8:1 describes the practice of fasting twice a week, every week, always, children included. This was no small devotion. Their commitment to prayer and fasting was in essence a humbling of themselves in recognition of their desperate need of God. They wanted nothing less than His will to be done through their lives, powerfully.

The New Testament stories can be our stories. Miracles can be our normal; they should. God still wants to move through His people powerfully. He wants to show up in our lives to show us He is good and strong and generous. He wants to provide for us and be our “ever-present help” (Psalm 46:1). God wants us to live lives that are full of His power because when we live full of His power our lives are made better, and so are the lives of the people we come in contact with everyday. This matters. The gospel must be demonstrated in power and in love.

There are no short cuts to accessing God’s power. No magic bullets. It’s simply: Get desperate for God. Humble ourselves. Devote ourselves to prayer and fasting. Seek Him.

We can have as much of God in our daily lives as we want. The question is, How desperate are we for His presence and His power?

“He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted” (Job 5:9).