“The paradox of prayer is that it asks for a serious effort while it can only be received as a gift. We cannot plan, organize or manipulate God but without a careful discipline, we cannot receive him either.”

henri nouwen, reaching out, p. 26

Please read the first blog post entitled “Why Fast?” This explains what fasting is and why we follow Jesus in this spiritual discipline as together we seek the heart of God.

Each day during our 21 Days, we will focus on one part of the ACTS prayer acronym – Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. We will spend between 3-5 days on each part of the ACTS prayer acronym. Each devotion will take less than ten minutes of your time.

We want to encourage you to grab a journal or a notebook – something to write on as you walk through each devotional. Yes, it will add a few minutes to the time it takes to do the devotion, and it will also deepen your experience and shape your walk with God for years to come. This journal or notebook will be a keepsake to remind you of God’s faithfulness during this challenging season for all of us.

Thanksgiving

Engage the Word

Read Philippians 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 

5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Prayer is one of God’s most powerful tools in the ongoing battle with anxiety. And prayer – fortified with thanksgiving – is supremely powerful in the face of our enemy’s many spiritual attacks. The idea that the peace of God surpasses or transcends all our understanding means that it is so wonderful that no human mind could ever grasp its significance. It is not of something mysterious and incomprehensible in itself, but rather, God’s peace is more effective for removing anxiety than any intellectual effort or power of reasoning. It is something which man cannot explain or explain away. This is truly something for which to be grateful.

Divine protection of heart and mind (thoughts) speaks of God’s covering over a believer’s psychological life. The context in this passage guides us to understand that Paul was considering God’s protection over the believers’ emotional-life AND thought-life. God’s peace will guard us and God himself will be our companion: the peace of God … will guard (keep) … the God of peace will be with you (look ahead to v. 9). Our God is the One who makes peace between himself and sinners. Thus peace – “with thanksgiving” – is linked here with God’s work of salvation in our lives. What incredible motivation for gratitude!

Reflect on the Truth

1. Reflect on how anxiety has been a part of your life journey, your spiritual journey. How can you see that prayer – with thanksgiving – would be the antidote to this anxiety?
2. Ask the Lord to reveal to you more fully this transcendent peace that is able to guard your heart and your mind – even in the face of worry, anxiety and trouble.
3. How do these thoughts lead you to thanksgiving and gratitude? Take a few moments to express these thoughts of gratitude to God.

Depend on the Spirit

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see the deeper longings, desires or motives in your heart that those thoughts are pointing to. (For example: you may write down, “Anxiety has been far too common in my life, and while I’ve been able to experience some peace from time to time, I long for a Spirit-filled peace that is too wonderful to comprehend.”) The Lord can help us discern the path forward – through His word, His Spirit, His people.

For Prayer

Today, pray for all of those in our church family who are struggling with anxiety, depression and other significant emotional struggle and pain. Pray that each would truly experience the supernatural peace of God which surpasses and transcends all understanding.

Content from these devotionals has been adapted from various resources, including The Bible Speaks Today commentary series by John Stott, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary by Derek Kidner, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary by Tremper Longman and others.