“Prayer is not for the purpose of getting God to help us… but for getting us in line with what God is about to do. Prayer is God’s invitation to enter His throne room so He can lay His agenda over our hearts.”
Henry Blackaby, Experiencing Prayer With Jesus, p. 29.
We begin today, March 11th with our daily devotionals – and 21 Days culminates as we celebrate Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday, March 31st! 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: Ascent’s Mission – Loving God, Loving People and Impacting Our World. Each day’s devotional will guide us through a thought based on the mission God has called us to follow. During these 21 Days, our whole church will be reflecting and meditating on these same thoughts and prayers together, with one mind, guided by and depending on one Spirit.
We want to encourage you to grab a journal or a notebook – something to write on as you walk through each prayer guide or 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. Each devotion will take less than ten minutes of your time.
- We will Engage the Word – passages that direct us toward Loving God, Loving People and Impacting our World.
- We will Connect the Heart – considering a truth that is applicable to our lives.
- We will Reflect on the Truth, asking a number of questions each day that invite us to look and listen with intent.
- 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.
Engage the Word: Loving God
READ Matthew 22:34-38
The Greatest Commandment
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he (Jesus) had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he (Jesus) said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.
Connect the Heart
The Pharisees were the ruling religious leaders of Judaism in 1st century Israel, and were always trying to trap Jesus. They knew there were Ten Commandments that formed the basis of the law that God gave Moses – but there were a total of 613 commands in all. Yet, Jesus didn’t take the bait – and didn’t provide them even one of the Ten Commandments. He went back to Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and what is known as the Shema – the credo of Judaism.
No teacher of the law could have faulted him for referencing the Shema. Jesus’ words are both powerful and disturbing, taking the questioner from the domain of achievement, which he might plausibly fulfill, to that of attitude, where nobody can boast fulfilment. People like this teacher of the law were strong on ethics and weak on relationships, so this strongly relational teaching was cutting to his heart. Nobody has ever loved God with all their being. So nobody can possibly earn eternal life based on their own actions or attitude. This is where grace comes in – unmerited favor for sinners who could never make it on their own.
Reflect on the Truth
- What would it look like in your life to love God with ALL your heart, ALL your soul and with ALL your mind? Is this even possible?
- Jesus’ words shine the spotlight on our need for His grace and His strength. In what area(s) of your life do you need to receive God’s grace (unmerited favor) in order to truly love Him with all your heart, all your soul and with all your mind?
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, “Lord, I know I’m not surrendering every area of my life to you. I need your help to show me the way, and guide me in your grace to love you with ALL my heart.”) The Lord can help us discern the path forward – through His word, His Spirit, His people.
Let’s join together in dependence on the Father through His Spirit as we journey together in this season of “21 Days of Prayer & Fasting”.
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