Staving off Disaster : Part 1: a Journey in Biblical Fasting a Guide for Christians in Times of Crisis

Gregory E. Von Tobel has extensive experience in the discipline of fasting. He completed four forty-day fasts over seven years—the first was precipitated by the hotly contested 2000 presidential election and was the inspiration for the first chapter of this book.

Von Tobel wants to share that experience and arm you for the spiritual battles of life, so he’s invited you on a journey of biblical fasting—a practice that’s widely misunderstood and vastly underrated.

Divided into four parts, this guide includes a narrative covering Von Tobel’s fasts, teachings on the “how” and “why” of fasting and steps to learn how to fast, and a practical section that reveals how God took Von Tobel through an incredible trial. In the appendix, Von Tobel includes fascinating glimpses into history with a discussion of various figures—including presidents—who engaged in prayer and fasting. He also includes a Bible study guide and adds a personal touch by offering readers insight into his own fasting process through journal entries.

Von Tobel is certain that if he can learn to fast and pray with power, so can you! Dive in, and learn how to change yourself and the direction of the nation.

A former stockbroker, Gregory E. Von Tobel has been involved full time in prison ministry for more than a quarter of a century. He's the founder and president of the nonprofit Prisoners for Christ Outreach Ministries (PFC), which spreads the Gospel to jails and prisons as well as juvenile institutions all over the world. PFC's twelve hundred volunteers hail from more than a hundred different churches. In a given year, more than a million inmates attend PFC-sponsored programs, with over three hundred thousand becoming believers as a result.

Von Tobel served on the governor's panel of the Department of Corrections Religious Services Advisory Council. The panel assists the department in implementing religious practices and policies for the inmates. Von Tobel is also a former president of the Washington Chaplains Association and a former city councilman.

Greg and his wife, Rhonda, have three children and three grandchildren.