Posts with the category “21-days-of-prayer-and-fasting”

Beyond 21 Days “And when you pray…when you fast….”Matthew 6:5a, 16aWhen Jesus gave instructions to those who heard him regarding prayer and fasting, He did not mention their importance.  He did not speak of the necessity of prayer and fasting and then proceed to teach that these things must be done.  He spoke as if it were simply understood that prayer and fasting would be a normal part of the lif...  Read More

Victory “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Begone, Satan!  For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.”’ Then the devil left Him.”Matthew 4:10-11aThe wilderness, while frequently recognized as the location where Jesus was tempted, could better be understood as the location where Jesus was victorious over Satan.  With each temptation that came His way, Jesus responded quickl...  Read More

The Older Brother Too “…and his father came out and began entreating him.”Luke 15:28aAs we cry out for the lost, offering constant prayer that prodigals will come home, it can be very easy for us to feel like the older brother.  We may not be casting judgment upon the prodigals, but we feel like the love and rejoicing extended toward the prodigals is not coming our way.  In those moments, we would...  Read More

Hearing The Whisper “Then He said, ‘Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.’ And behold the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks into pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and a...  Read More

Show Me Where The Stones Are “And he took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.”We must rid ourselves of the notion that simply because we have prayed. or even because we have a consistent live of fervent prayer, challenges wi...  Read More

Focus “So I sent messengers to them, saying, ‘I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.  Why should the work stop while I leave it and come to you?’”Nehemiah 6:3Think about what has happened when you have skipped or missed meals because you have simply been too busy to eat.  Some necessary work or project captured all of your attention so that even though your body was certainly giving you s...  Read More

Heartbroken For Our Enemies “My heart cries out for Moab.”Isaiah 15:5aEven though sometimes we come to it almost grudgingly, we are well aware of the instruction from Jesus to love and pray for our enemies.  The hard question we must answer is how fervent those prayers for our enemies will be.  When the prophet Isaiah was given a message concerning certain judgment for Moab, a territory whose inha...  Read More

Lost And Found “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!”Luke 15:6bOur prayer life is incomplete without intercession for the lost.  Such intercession is moved not simply by the fact that there are so many who are lost, but on the utter helplessness of those who are lost.  A lost sheep is helpless to find its way back to the fold.  A lost coin has no capacity to find its way back...  Read More

Prayer For All“For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”Isaiah 56:7bThere can be no question whatsoever that the Church must be a place where all people from all places can be welcome.  The Church ceases to be the Church if anyone created in the image of God is excluded or in any way made to feel unwelcome because of race, ethnicity, nationality, or any division created and ...  Read More

We Are The Least Of These“And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”Matthew 25:40As prayer draws us closer to the heart of God, we will be compelled to reach out to those around us.  Set ablaze by God’s holy love, our hearts will be motivated to take action as we remember...  Read More

Weak Enough To Pray“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”James 1:5Prayer has frequently been understood to be a sign of spiritual strength.  Without question, it is exceedingly difficult if not utterly impossible to have a robust spiritual life without consistent prayer.  For all of its undeniable ben...  Read More

Restoring The Years “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten….”Joel 2:25a For its small size, the book of Joel may be the book of the Bible most concerned with fasting.  No less than three times within the first two chapters of this book, calls are made to declare a fast.  God’s people had suffered several setbacks, and the repeated calls to fasting were made in the h...  Read More

More Important Than Food “I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”Job 23:12 Fasting carries with it a certain sense of desperation.  We become so desperate for the presence of the Lord that we will forego eating.  His presence is more important than trying to do what is necessary to survive.  Job was most certainly a mo...  Read More

The Answer We Need  “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9a  He didn’t take away the thorn.  Paul prayed repeatedly to the Lord to remove the thorn from his flesh, but He never took it away.  Paul did not conclude his words in 2 Corinthians 12 by saying, “And then the Lord took away the thorn.”  Jesus did say that His grace ...  Read More

Fasting As Resistance  “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank.” Daniel 1:8a  Daniel did not have much that he could do.  He had been taken captive from Jerusalem into Babylon.  He had been forced into the service if King Nebuchadnezzar.  He had even had his name changed by Babylonian officials.  And he was powerless...  Read More

Relentless Asking  “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God, and did not respect man.  And there was a certain widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ And for a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her lega...  Read More

Search Me  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” Psalm 139:23-24  Fasting has a way of revealing things about ourselves that we have ignored.  As an avid sports fan, several years ago I undertook a three day “sports fast.”  For three days, I would not watch any sports, I would not w...  Read More

Our Prayers Have Been Heard  “Then he said to me, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words.” Daniel 10:12  It can be easy to for us to wonder if our prayers are making it past the ceiling.  We have prayed, and prayed, and prayed some more, y...  Read More

Keep It Simple  “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.” Matthew 6:7  One of our biggest hindrances to prayer, I believe, is our tendency to overcomplicate it.  We’ve made the simple act of coming before the Lord such a complex thing that we feel intimidated about praying.  We fear that we won’...  Read More

Freedom Through Fasting“Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke?”Isaiah 58:6Fasting has a way of setting us free.  Indeed, freedom is one of the purposes for fasting found in Isaiah 58.  What we are not told, though, is how exactly fasting brings about freedom in our lives.  We may...  Read More

First Things First “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.”Matthew 6:28Prayer, by its very nature, is nothing less than seeking the kingdom of God.  This can be seen most clearly in the model for prayer given to us by Jesus, where the first request of that prayer is, “Thy kingdom come.”  While we most certainly have needs, and it is fitting to...  Read More