“For Jesus, prayer wasn’t simply talking with God, but involved a deep, abiding sense of reverent submission to Him.”

Henry blackaby, experiencing prayer with jesus, p.31

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.

21 Days Devotional Blog (with opt-in text option)

During these 21 days, a devotional will be posted each morning on our “21 Days Blog” on Ascent’s homepage. You can go to the home page each day, or you can text ASCENT21 to the number 97000 to opt-in to receive a daily text reminder with a link to that day’s devotional.

Daily Devotionals

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.

  1. We will Engage the Word – looking at a passage of Scripture that draws our mind’s attention and heart’s affection to the Lord.
  2. We will Connect the Heart – considering a truth that is applicable to our lives.
  3. We will Reflect on the Truth, asking a number of questions each day that invite us to look and listen with intent.
  4. And we will Depend on the Spirit – We will pray, for it is in praying that we learn to pray. And it is in praying that the Spirit changes our hearts.

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.

Confession

Engage the Word

Read Psalm 32:1-5 – A Psalm of David

1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, 

whose sin is covered. 

2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, 

and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away 

through my groaning all day long. 

4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; 

my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah 

5 I acknowledged my sin to you, 

and I did not cover my iniquity; 

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” 

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah 

The psalmist David happily thanks God for forgiving his sin which had led to intense physical and emotional duress. This forgiveness came as a consequence of his repentance. Though Psalm 32 is considered a penitential psalm, the tone is not sorrowful, because this prayer was spoken as a heartfelt response to God’s forgiveness. The psalmist begins with a beatitude on those God has forgiven. While it is wrong to conceal one’s sins from God (He sees all!), verse 5 recognizes that God covers the sins of those who acknowledge their sin and repent. The blessed person is a sinner, but God does not count it against them. In the following verses, he will make clear that his joy originates from his own personal experience of God’s forgiveness. Any idea, however, that we are free to ‘continue in sin that grace may abound’ is decisively excluded by the emphasis on sincerity at the close of verse 2.

Reflect on the Truth

  1. Verse 1 says “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven.” Some might say “happy” is an even more exuberant word than “blessed”. What emotions do you feel in knowing that you are forgiven and freed from the power of sin because of what Jesus has done for you?
  2. Verses 3-4 speak of the emotional toil that came when the psalmist “kept silent” and didn’t acknowledge his sin to God. Are you able to relate to the psalmist in this way?
  3. Take a few moments to meditate on verse 5 and express gratitude to God for forgiving the sins that you acknowledge to Him.

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, “My greatest desire is a deep, abiding and more intimate relationship with you, O heavenly Father. If there is something in my life that is hindering that relationship, please open my eyes to see it now.”) The Lord can help us discern the path forward – through His word, His Spirit, His people.

For Prayer

Today, pray for our middle school and high school students who are facing pressures and temptations to sin – and hide their sin – in ways other generations have not experienced. Pray especially for the temptations that technologies like smart phones, tablets, computers and the internet provide on a continual basis. Our students need to experience the freedom and joy that only God can provide through His grace and forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

Content from these devotionals has been adapted from various resources, including Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary by Derek Kidner and Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary by Tremper Longman