“Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, only how to pray. He did not speak much of what was needed to preach well, but much of praying well. To know how to speak to God is more important than knowing how to speak to man. Not power with men, but power with God is the first thing. Jesus loves to teach us how to pray.”

Andrew murray, with christ in the school of prayer

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 Psalm 92:1-5

1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, 

to sing praises to your name, O Most High; 

2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning, 

and your faithfulness by night, 

3 to the music of the lute and the harp, 

to the melody of the lyre. 

4 For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; 

at the works of your hands I sing for joy. 

5 How great are your works, O Lord! 

Your thoughts are very deep! 

We have spent the last few days in confession and repentance, turning from our sin, acknowledging God’s forgiveness and grace, and asking Him for a renewed spirit. Now, it is time to express our gratitude. It is good!

We can all acknowledge it is right to give God thanks and sing His praise; but here we go further and call it good: good, in the sense that giving God thanks liberates us and lifts our spirits. We are made glad by the works of God and by His ways in proportion as we give our hearts and voices to expressing the wonder of them.

Reflect on the Truth

1. In your journal, in the margin of your Bible, or on a piece of paper, take a few moments to list some of the “works” of God that come to your mind. (You might list some things like His creation, His love, His forgiveness, His faithfulness, His delight in each of us, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross and His resurrection. These are just a few. There are many more…)
2. Now, go through this list and give thanks specifically for each of these great works of God – and how each has an impact on you personally.
3. The Hebrew word for God’s “steadfast love” in verse 2 is the word hesed. It means God’s unfailing covenant loyal love and gracious kindness toward His children. (It can also be experienced between and among people.) There is no single word in the English language that matches hesed in the Hebrew. Take some time to meditate on how you experience God’s hesed toward you and express your gratitude for what it means in your life.

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 mind can’t even begin to comprehend all of your wondrous works, and even as I’m trying to think about them, I’m reminded of all of the distractions and disappointments of life. I need your help.”) The Lord can help us discern the path forward – through His word, His Spirit, His people.

For Prayer

Today, pray for the families of Ascent Church. Pray that each family would grow in love and kindness toward one another, in unity and oneness, that marriages would be strengthened and that relationships between parents and children would grow stronger. Pray also for those who are single, divorced or widowed – that they would experience hesed both in their relationship with God as well as in community with others.

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