Use these devotionals to assist you in your daily prayers.

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These daily devotionals are available here and on our app.   

 

DAY 8  Hear Him  (Jan. 18)

 

“This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” …And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus.

MATTHEW 17:5 (NLT)

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On the mount of transfiguration three disciples had an experience that showed us the Father’s plan for the New Covenant. Jesus took Peter, James and John up to the top of a mountain where He was transfigured into His glorified state. Up until this point, the Jews had related to God through the Law – represented by Moses and the prophets, one being Elijah. Inspired by what he was seeing, Peter eagerly offered to erect three tabernacles – one each for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Then a loud voice from heaven was heard: “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” When the disciples looked up, they saw only Jesus.

 

On that mountain God made it clear that we will only discover His pleasure by following Jesus. God’s grace is freely given to those who receive new life in Him. Sometimes, though, there are areas of our lives where we do not fully embrace God’s grace. There may be circumstances or areas where we still try to earn our way to the Father.

 

You cannot earn God’s pleasure, but you can experience it to a greater degree as you follow Jesus Christ. As you Seek God today, ask Him for a greater revelation of Jesus in your heart. Then will you be reminded that you are a beloved child of God. And that He finds pleasure in you.

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PRAYER FOCUS:

How does understanding the New Covenant of grace change the focus of your prayers? As you pray and seek after God, let His be the loudest voice you hear.

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If heaven were by merit, it would never be heaven to me, for if I were in it I should say, “I am sure I am here by mistake; I am sure this is not my place; I have no claim to it.” But if it be of grace and not of works, then we may walk into heaven with boldness.

– CHARLES H. SPURGEON

 

DEVOTIONAL:

 

 You can know God and never completely surrender your life to Him. Your sins can be forgiven, and you can be on your way to heaven, but you can still be in control. You can add God to your life, but it can still be your life. You can still be in the driver's seat.

 

Prayer and fasting is about getting out of the driver's seat and getting in the passenger seat. To truly surrender means giving God your whole life and discovering the reality, joy, peace, freedom, feelings and experiences that come with truly knowing God. We often believe this is a one-dime decision, but it is a practice we must regularly engage in to keep our spiritual fervor.

 

God is asking you a question, "Will you let me drive? Will you give me complete control? If you want all of me, then I need all of you." Today will you tell Jesus have His way in your life?

 

Is there something that you need to surrender to God today? What have you been holding on to that you need to give back to God? During your prayer time today give God the things that you have been holding onto and watch how He moves mountains in your life.

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DAY 9  Clean House  (Jan. 19)

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For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

ROMANS 8:5-6

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Have you ever looked at the top of your refrigerator or in the deep recesses of your couch cushions and noticed the filth that has built up over time? Even though we might clean on a regular basis, there are times when we need to go … a little deeper. We realize that what appeared to be clean on the surface was in all actuality, quite filthy.

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The same thing can happen spiritually. As we go about our daily lives, there are things that can build up over time. Even if we worship, pray, and read our Bible regularly, the different temptations, pressures, and cares of this world can build up quietly and end up consuming our lives. Without even realizing it, we can lose our peace, joy, and passion for the things of God. Our service to God, which used to fill us with life and excitement, becomes a tiresome duty that we must fulfill.

 

Fasting is the deep cleaning that helps us take our minds off the things of this world and instead have a refreshed focus on the things of the Spirit. Fasting offers an incredibly effective way to get into the nooks and crannies of our souls and bring all those dusty old habits, broken mind-sets, and rusty attitudes out into the light of God’s truth.

 

In fasting and prayer our service to God returns to something we want to do rather than something we have to do.

 

PRAYER FOCUS:

As you pray and fast today, ask God to show you any areas where you could use a refreshed spiritual focus. Pray as David did in Psalm 51:10-12 that God will cleanse your heart, renew your spirit, and restore the joy of your salvation. Pray with confidence, knowing that He wants to fill you with His life and peace.

 

One of the reasons for fasting is to know what is in us… In fasting it will come out. You will see it. And you will have to deal with it quickly or smother it again. –

JOHN PIPER

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DEVOTIONAL:

 

You can know God and never completely surrender your life to Him. Your sins can be forgiven, and you can be on your way to heaven, but you can still be in control. You can add God to your life, but it can still be your life. You can still be in the driver's seat.

 

Prayer and fasting is about getting out of the driver's seat and getting in the passenger seat. To truly surrender means giving God your whole life and discovering the reality, joy, peace, freedom, feelings and experiences that come with truly knowing God. We often believe this is a one-time decision, but it is a practice we must regularly engage in to keep our spiritual fervor.

 

God is asking you a question, "Will you let me drive? Will you give me complete control? If you want all of me, then I need all of you." Today will you tell Jesus have His way in your life?

 

Is there something that you need to surrender to God today? What have you been holding on to that you need to give back to God? During your prayer time today give God the things that you have been holding onto and watch how He moves mountains in your life.

 

DAY 10  Unwavering Faith  (Jan. 20)

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But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.

JAMES 1:6

 

What do you expect when you pray? When we pray with earnest expectation, we are exercising our faith. The earnest prayer of righteous people produces powerful results (James 5:16, NLT), and the most earnest prayers come from us when we recognize our need for God.

 

There can be a natural tendency to shrink back when praying for the seemingly impossible, but we must remember that nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37). If we know the promises that God has given us, and understand His character and the principles by which He works, we can pray with confidence and trust Him for the answer.

 

What has caused you to waver in your expectation with God? James reminds us that faith and wavering are actually contradictory – James says “nothing wavering.” Know that God never wavers in His love for you. You can trust Him completely.  

 

PRAYER FOCUS:

What are you trusting God for in this season? How can you line up your expectations with the Word of God when you pray? Find promises in His Word that answer your need and write them down today.

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There is no way that Christians in a private capacity can do so much to promote the work of God and advance the kingdom of Christ as by prayer.

– JONATHAN EDWARDS

 

DEVOTIONAL:

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It is easy to talk about what you are passionate about, right? When you do the thing you love, time is forgotten.   Are you passionate about God?  God created us to be passionate about what we love; therefore, we should always be passionate for Him!

 

When you attend  a sportingI event,  no one had to teach you how to cheer for your team. It's okay to clap if the team makes a good play, and you can shout and get excited. You can jump up and down and raise your hands if your team scores.

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There is one undeniable truth about true fans: they are passionate. Just watch any professional or college football game or any World Cup soccer match. As the cameras pan the crowd, you will see passion. The fans have pompoms. They are wearing team colors. They are screaming. They may even be singing. They are just straight up into it. You know what it's like in the stadium - loud! The place rocks with passion, because real fans are passionate about their team.

 

Whatever you are passionate about, you will also be emotional about. These 21 days are about igniting a deeper passion for God in your heart. Put on a worship song! Lift your hands, open your hands, open your mouth, tap your feet. Ask God to ignite passion in you, to help you feel Him and express your feelings.

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DAY 11  Prayer and the Process  (Jan. 21)

 

Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.” Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’”

1 KINGS 18:43-44, NLT

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How do I know God is going to say yes to my prayers?” This is a common question many people have as they seek a confident prayer life. However, it’s important to recognize that prayer is not just about the answer; it’s also about glorifying God in the process of waiting for the answer. It is our responsibility to check our motives and believe God hears us.

 

We see an example of the process of prayer in this story of Elijah (1 Kings 18). Elijah climbed to the top of the mountain to pray for rain to come. As he waited for the rain, he continued to pray, believing God would answer.

 

When he finally saw a small cloud, he told Ahab to get ready because the rain was coming. Elijah knew what to pray for, and God heard him the first time he prayed. But there was preparation that needed to take place in order for Elijah to receive the answer to his prayer.

 

It is no mistake that God waited until Elijah had prayed seven times before He answered. In the Bible, seven represents completion. In this story, seven represents the completion of God’s process regarding Elijah’s prayer request.

 

God does not want merely to answer our prayers; He wants to spend time with us to prepare us for the answer that will come. Many times we want to skip over the process involved in engaging God in prayer as we wait for our answer. But it is this very process that works maturity in us and prepares us for the answers our prayers bring (James 1:4).  

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PRAYER FOCUS:

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What prayers of yours are still awaiting an answer? Throughout this time of prayer and fasting, thank God for His process at work in you …and trust Him.

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The reason why many fail in battle is because they wait until the hour of battle. The reason why others succeed is because they have gained their victory on their knees long before the battle came. Anticipate your battles; fight them on your knees before temptation comes, and you will always have victory.

– R. A. TORREY

 

DEVOTIONAL:

 

Grace is the foundation for a relationship with God. If we get grace wrong, then we pursue God in wrong ways. We don't pray, fast, or read our Bibles to get God to love us more. It's not possible for God to love us more than he loves us right now, and His love for us never changes. His love is not based on what we do, but it is based on what Jesus has done! Grace is undeserved favor.

 

Some people think that telling people about God's grace encourages people to sin. time and time again, this thought is proven that it will do just the opposite. Understanding the fullness of the goodness of God actually causes us to sin less.

 

The way we love God more is by focusing on His love for us. We will live more holy on accident by focusing on the goodness of God than we will by focusing on all the "thou shalt's" and "thou shalt not's." Pray for a grace awakening in your life that you will realize how loved and accepted and forgiven you are by God. You can't earn God's love and grace; you have to accept it, receive it, believe it, and trust in it.

 

Have you been looking at God through the lens of legalism and religion? Pray that the Holy Spirit will help you see God through the eyes of grace and truth given to us in Jesus Christ.

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DAY 12  Praying Boldly (Jan. 22)

 

And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am your servant.”

– 1 KINGS 18:36

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The sacrifice referenced above was a declaration that Elijah was a servant of the Most High God. Elijah belonged to God, and he represented God to the people. However, Elijah’s boldness was not a result of who he was; it was the result of knowing God!

 

As children of God under the New Covenant, we don’t have to be timid or fearful when coming to God in prayer. We can approach Him boldly.

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Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy (for our failures) and find grace to help in good time for every need (appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it). (Hebrews 4:16, AMP)

 

It’s intimidating to think about taking a fearless, confident, bold attitude when coming before God in prayer. Yet this is exactly what we are admonished to do! God has already settled the issue of our access to Him, but we can be assured our access is not because of our own righteousness. It’s because of what Jesus did on the cross.

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We can come to the throne in such outrageous boldness because Jesus was outrageously righteous! When we pray; we come to God in the authority of Jesus’ name, and we can be confident that we will find grace, mercy, and perfectly timed help.

 

PRAYER FOCUS:

Do you approach God with timidity or confidence? Seek God boldly today knowing you are fully forgiven and Jesus has made you righteous. When you approach God in prayer, seek a fresh revelation of who He is in your life.

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DEVOTIONAL:

 

Today we are focusing on God's love. The way we can grow in our love for God and others is by focusing on His love for us. God's love is endless and it comes freely without any codition; He loves us no matter what we have or haven't done. When you focus on God's love, His joy and peace will follow. 

 

Your feelings will follow what you focus on. That's why it's so important to focus on the goodness of God through His Word. When you focus on your faults, you'll end up feeling condemned. Make sure you don't fall into the performance trap. If you perform well, then it can lead to pride. On the other hand, if you don't perform well, the fruit is condemnation. Either way the fruit of having a performance-based relationship is a lose-lose situation. If we try to come to God based on our performance, guess what? It will never be good enough. None of us could ever be that good; only Jesus was able to do that. That's why we have to focus on God's love for us.

 

Make sure you regularly meditate on verses that help you focus on God's love. Today be intentional about focusing on God's love for you and ask Him to give you a fresh revelation of how much He loves you. 

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DAY 13  Cultivating Spiritual Hunger  (Jan. 23)

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Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. 

– MARK 1:12-13

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Even Jesus disconnected from the world to fast and pray. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell of Jesus going to the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. They also describe other times Jesus pulled away from the demands of the crowds, His ministry, and even His closest friends to pray.

 

There are times that we, too, need to pull away from the things of the world and focus on God. “The things of the world” can certainly include more than just food. In fact, in our world that are more likely television, movies, Facebook, Twitter, cell phones, and the Internet. None of these things are wrong in and of themselves, but they are avenues for a mental and spiritual crowd to gather around us and drown out the Holy Spirit’s voice.

 

Prayer and fasting is a means of disconnecting from the distractions of daily life and consciously choosing to bring God into greater focus. If you think about it, though, in day-to-day life we nourish our souls as well as our bodies. We do so through reading, talking, socializing, playing, and entertainment. When our souls are full of those things, we often don’t hunger for God.

 

During these 21 days of prayer and fasting, we are sure to feel physical hunger, but let’s be intentional about cultivating spiritual hunger as well. Let’s draw away from the crowd and lay aside for a season the activities we use to nourish our souls. Instead let’s enter a state of spiritual hunger, a craving for righteousness. Jesus said that being spiritually hungry is a blessed state, because there we can be sure of being filled with food that truly satisfies our deepest needs (Matthew 5:6).

 

PRAYER FOCUS:

 

During this time, you will find that being still before the Lord will set you in a place of increased strength, peace, and hunger for God. Are you disconnected from things that nourish your body and soul? What do you need to deny yourself to make this a powerful time in your life? Prayer is the reaching out after God and the unseen; fasting the letting go of all that is of the seen and temporal.

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DEVOTIONAL:

 

A great way to begin each day is by focusing on who God is! Today focus on the goodness, the greatness, and glory of God. Focusing daily on these three attributes of God gives us a complete picture or filter of grace. The Lord's Prayer is a great prayer to help us think about the goodness, the greatness and glory of God.

 

When we call God our Father, it reminds us that we are His children. He loves, cares for, and provides for His children. He is a great dad. But that's not enough, is it? You can know that you are loved and that God is good, but you can still be going through hard times. So we not only need to focus on God's goodness, but we also need to set our minds on how great God is. Our great God is in heaven. When we think about our God in heaven, it reminds us that he reigns and rules and is in control. He has all the power that we need to make it through tough times. Lastly we need to give God glory. When you "hallow" God's name (or make it holy), it is a helpful reminder that life is not all about us.

 

When you get up in the morning, your number one priority should be to get in the right mindset for your day. First things first - simply focus on who God is! Focus on His goodness, greatness, glory, and ask Him to help you see everything else through that filter. Remember, it's not about what you do, it's about who God is.

 

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DAY 14  Alignment with Heaven (Jan. 24)

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Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.   

MATTHEW 6:10, KJV

 

We have all heard the phrase, “just like heaven on earth.” When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13, He provided some insight into what “heaven on earth” might look like.

 

In reality, heaven is a place where God’s will reigns supreme. If we want to have a taste of heaven on earth, then our prayer should be like Jesus’: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done…” The purest motivation for our prayers is that God will be glorified and that His will would reign supreme in our lives, just as it does in heaven.

 

On a more personal level, we can pray that His will be unhindered in our own life. Rather than imposing His will upon us, God gives us the choice to surrender to it with trust and gladness. As we yield to the Lordship of Christ over every area of our lives, we come into agreement with Him. We experience alignment with heaven and position ourselves to taste a little bit of heaven here on earth.

 

God’s will then becomes what we desire and the thing we most seek after. We enter into the incredible adventure of participating in God’s plan to move His kingdom forward on the earth. This is where we find the most fulfilling and joyous life, but it all starts with one personal “yes, Lord” on our part.

 

PRAYER FOCUS

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What does God’s will “on earth as it is in heaven” look like in your life? Do the desires of your heart line up with the will of God? As we seek God together, let’s pray as Jesus taught us, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.”

  

Our prayers lay the track down on which God’s power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails.

– WATCHMAN NEE

 

DEVOTIONAL:

 

Prayer and fasting is about creating space for God, clearing a runway in our lives for God to land. When you want something new and exciting to happen in your life, then you have to create some space. An expectant mom goes to geat lengths to create the perfect nursery space for her new little one.

 

Think about that new thing that you want God to do in your life. Think about that problem that is blocking your path that you need God to remove. As much as God wants to do something amazing in your life, He is a filler, not a forcer.

 

Too often we spend so much time and energy trying to figure out and anticipate every scenario. We want God to do this; we want God to do that. But all the while God is saying, "Just create a little space for Me, and I'll come in and fill it. "By seeking god and by following Him fully,you are creating space for God to move. As you fast and as you pray, you are making room for God to do what only He can do. He is a filler, not a forcer.

 

Maybe you have tried to participate in this 21 days of prayer and fasting but have found yourself stumbling along the way. I want to encourage you to keep going. Don't be discouraged by looking at the times you messed up. Be encouraged by this: when we draw near to God, He draws near to us.