Read: Acts 13:2-3
The foundation of our church is found in Acts 2:42. The early church devoted themselves to the Apostles' teachings, the breaking of bread, the fellowship of believers and to prayer. So it is no surprise that in todays scripture reading we find the church worshiping, praying and fasting and while they were doing this the Holy Spirit spoke to them and gave them instructions to set apart Barnabas and Saul for a special work. Today as you fast, pray and worship the Lord ask the Holy Spirit to show you what it is that you need to be doing in the church. What has God called you to do in and through the church? Pray that the Holy Spirit will show other church members what they have been called to do in and through the church. Let us lift each other up in prayer to the Lord today!
Read: Matthew 28:19-20
How many people around you are lost with no hope? They have nothing to live for and nothing to die for. They have no relationship with Jesus. Todays scripture is historically called the Great Commission and it is our command from Jesus to go and make disciples of all people. Notice how I said make disciples and did not say save people. Saving people is God's job. We are to pray for the harvest and make disciples. Write down as many people you know that do not have a real realationship with Jesus and pray for them by name. Ask God to use you to share the Gospel with them. Ask God to save their souls. Ask God to do what only He can do!
Read: Psalm 51:10
Today we are going to focus on having a clean heart and a right spirit. Psalm 51 is written by King David after he has sinned with Bathsheba. It is his plea to God for forgiveness. Focus on asking God to forgive you of any sins in your life that you know about and those sins that you might not know about. Ask Him to create in you a clean heart and a right spirit that is focused on being Holy. God calls David a man after HIs own heart even after he has sinned against Him. We are never so far from God that we can't repent and come back to him.
Read: Psalm 119:11
During these 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting it is important that we collectively as a church memorize scripture. Psalm 119:11 says that we should hide Gods word in our hearts so that we might not sin against Him. We want to be holy because He is holy and that means that we need to strive to not sin. The only way that we accomplish that is if we memorize scripture. So every week as a church we are going to memorize scripture together so that we can become more holy and be pleasing to God. Memorize Psam 119:11.
Read: Matthew 9:36-38
Who's your ONE? This is the question that I want for us to continually ask ourselves every day. If you have not identified who your one is then that is the first thing that you need to do. This is going to be a person that does not have a reltionship with Christ. They are not involved in church and do not have anything to do with God. They can be a family member, co-worker, neighbor, or a friend. This is Field #1-A New Field. Now we are going to be working in Field #2-Sowing Seeding & Gospel Conversations. Pray that God would give you divine opportunities to invite your ONE to church or small group Bible study or to have a Gospel Conversation with them. Most of all pray that God would save them.
Read: Luke 10:1-2
Last night we had a great time worshiping the Lord. Many of you committed to doing the 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting and we commissioned you as missionaries and laborers into the harvest field. Our focus today is praying for each other as we labor in the fields that God has prepared for us. In today's scripture reading, 72 disciples were sent out to reap the harvest. Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few, so we must pray that God would send out laborers. Our prayer is that as we live out the life of a disciple of Jesus, we will labor in the harvest fields and have great Gospel conversations that lead to reaping the harvest.
Read : James 4:7-8
As we go through these 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting you will face oposition from the enemy. The Bible tells us that he wants nothing more than to steal, kill and destroy us. He is the father of all lies and wants to decieve us. That means that we need to be praying against the enemy. In James 4:7, James tells us that we need to submit ourselves to God and resist the devil. You might ask, how do we do this? I am glad you asked. In verse 8, James tells us how. James says that we are to draw near to God and that He will draw near to us. Then we must repent and ask God to purify our heart and cleanse our hands. All day we should focus on drawing dear to God and asking Him to make us holy.
Read: 1 Peter 2:9
Today's prayer is concentrated on you being a light in our community. 1 Peter 2:9 says that we are a choosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation. We are His people and we are to be the light of the world. We have been taken out of the darkness and into marvelous light for one purpose: to share the Gospel with everyone around us. This is our mission. So pray that God would give you divine appointments so that you can have Gospel converstations. Remember the 4 fields:
We are always working in one of those fields. Pray that you would have an opportunity to have a gospel conversation with your ONE! Pray that God would give you people to invite to church or small group. Pray that you would be a LIGHT for Jesus!
Read: 1 Peter 3:10-11
Have you ever notice how dangerous your tongue can be? The words that come out of your mouth can break a person down. Our tongue is a very powerful tool that God has given us, but it is to be used to build people up and not tear people down. Today's scripture verses explain that if we want to love life and see good days then we need to keep our tongue from evil and our lips from deceit. Think about all the words that come out of your mouth. Are they godly? Are they edifying? In verse 11 it says that we should turn away from evil and do good. We should seek peace and pursue it. Focus today on speaking godly and uplifting things to your spouse, kids, friends, and people. Pursue peace and be a peacemaker today.
Read: 1 Timothy 4:12
Today's verse is our memory verse for this week. This verse is usually directed towards youth but I think that it is a verse that applies to every believer. We need to be setting the example for other believers in these five different areas of our lives:
Let us focus and meditate on these 5 areas that Paul says we should be setting the example for the believer in. How are you doing in each area? Which ones need improvement? Pray and ask God to help you change the ones that need improvement.
Read: John 4:29
If you do not have a ONE yet today is the day to pick one and pray for your ONE. Pray that God would give you the boldness and the opportunity to invite your ONE to church tommorrow. The woman at the well has just encountered Jesus and was amazed by all the things that Jesus told her. She then goes and invites people in town to come and see a man who knows her. She then asks, "Can this be the Christ?" Invite your ONE to come and hear about a God who loves them so much that He died for their sins. Invite your ONE to come and encounter Jesus!
Read: Jonah 3:4-5
It's hard to believe that we are on day 14 of our 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting. I want us to be praying for an Awakening in our community, in our families, and in your life. Jonah goes and begans to tell the Ninevites that God was going to destroy Nineveh and I love what happened next. They believed God and called for a fast. Later in the chapter they repent of their sins, but only after they had fasted. Today we need to do all we can to invite our ONE and others to church tonight. Don't forget the committment you made to God. That you would not miss church service, small group, or any other church activity. We need to preach the Gospel and tell people that they need to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Pray for an Awakening!
Read:1 Samuel 12:23
Today we begin the last week of our 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting, the home stretch to the last day. Let me encourage you to keep striving in these last days to be holy and to draw closer to God. We are going to be focusing on praying for our ONE today. Our Bible verse talks about not sinning against the Lord by not praying for someone. Well, that someone is our ONE. We are going to lift them up in specific prayer and ask God to do what only He can do in their life. Your assignment today is to text, call or visit your ONE and specifically ask them how you can pray for them. Tell that your church is praying specifically for people's needs this week and that you would like to pray for them. You take that opportunity to be in Field #2-Sowing seed. Invite them to church or small group. Try to get in a gospel conversation with them. The goal is to communicate with them and ask how you can pray for them.
Read: Ephesians 4:32
We are called to love one another and to have compassion for everyone. One of the best ways to reach out to your ONE is to show them love and compassion. Your assignment is to do a random act of kindness for your ONE. You can send them an e-card to Starbucks, buy them their favorite drink, or even take them to lunch. It can be anything to show them how much you love them. If they ask why you are doing this your response is being Jesus loves you. You are in Field # 2-Sowing seed. Sowing the seed of love and compassion towards your ONE!
Read: Romans 12:1-2
I hope everyone was able to do a random act of kindness for your ONE yesterday. If you were not able to then do it today. It is an open door to sow seed and invite them to church or small group bible study. I want us to focus on being holy today. It is very important that we continue to strive towards holiness. The scripture passage says that we should present our bodies as living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This is our spiritual act of worship towards God. According to this passage we are given the opportunity to worship God with our lives, every single day. Not just on Sundays or Thursdays. You might ask, how do we do this? In verse 2 it tells us that we need to renew our mind and not be conformed to this world. I know it is easier said than done but it is very obtainable. The goal of this 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting is to return to God and to be holy becuse He is holy. Pray and ask God to help you be transformed by the renewing of your mind today so that you may live a life that is holy and pleasing to Him!
Read: Ephesians 4:29
We are going to work on what we say today. Think about what is coming out of your mouth everyday. When you are driving, with your kids, or at work are the words that your are speaking building people up? Do they edify the people around you? Are they corrupt and ungodly? These are things we have to think about. Ephesians 4:29 says that we should not have any corrupt talk come out of our mouth. We should only speak words that build up and give grace to those who hear what we are saying. Today pray and ask God to help you tame your tongue and help you only speak words that are godly and wholesome.
Read: Psalm 145:4
I can not tell you enough how excited I am about what God is doing in our church and the growth that we are seeing, especially in our student ministry. I am encouraged by the amount of students that we have coming to church and to our small group. The Psalmist says that one generation will tell of God's work to the other generation. That is what we are seeing in our church. Multigenerational worship, bible studies, and fellowships. One generation declaring to the next generation of the goodness and mighty acts of God!
Read: John 14:15
As we come to the end of our 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting, I believe we need to focus on being more obedient to God. In John 14:15 Jesus says, " If you love Me, you will keep my commandments." In other translations it says 'obey my commandments.' The danger that we face after doing a prayer & fast is that we will go back to business as usual. But what we need to do is dig in and become even more obedient to what we have been commanded to do. To love our God with all our heart, soul, and mind and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. As we end our prayer & fasting may we continue to strive to be obedient to God's commandments.
Read: Mark 1:14-15
Good morning, Church. Today is the last day of our 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting. I am asking for you all to pray and fast from sunrise to 5:45pm. My prayer and hope is that these last 21 days have been a spark in your lives to live a holy and obedient life for Jesus. The whole goal has been to help us return to God and to be with Him. I hope that we have grown to have a passion to reach the lost and our ONE. So it is fitting that today as we pray and fast most of the day that we focus on praying for the Kingdom of God to grow. At the beginning of Mark, Jesus is starting His ministry and begins with this statement, " the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and belive in the gospel." I believe that this very statement is what we need to be proclaiming today. It is even more true today than 2,000 years ago. If we watch what is happening in our nation and the world we can't help but see that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus is coming soon and because of this we need to be praying for the lost to repent and believe in the gospel, which is the good news of Jesus Christ. Today I want us to focus on praying for the lost to hear the gospel, to respond to the gospel by receiving the free gift of salvation and for the church to send out more laborers.
Pray:
I encourage you to pray & fast most of the day. Cry out to the Lord and ask Him to move. Ask Him to save the lost and increase His Kingdom. May our God be gloified and lifted up today in our world, nation, and city because of our prayers!