21 DAYS OF PRAYER & FASTING
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Share Your Experience
We want to hear from YOU. What did God show you during our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting?
Share with us what God said to you – either through Scripture, through His Holy Spirit, through prayer, through journaling – during this 21 Days season by commenting on this post.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting, Day 21: Easter Sunday – “He Is Risen!”
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most astounding, the most monumental, the most consequential event in all of human history. There is not single event in the history of the world that has as much significance as the resurrection. It is the foundation of the gospel. It is the center point of our faith. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our faith – indeed our very existence – would be pointless.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 20, Saturday: “Make It As Secure As You Can”
Today is Saturday. Matthew is the only gospel that records a narrative on the Saturday between Jesus’ death on Friday and his resurrection on Sunday. This part of the story is one of the most important proofs of the historicity of Christ’s resurrection. Because the fearful Pharisees and the power-hungry Romans collaborated to secure the tomb by sealing the 2-ton stone and setting a Roman guard to keep watch, there is no natural explanation for the tomb being empty on Sunday.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 19, Good Friday: “Father, Forgive Them”
We are no different than the soldiers who nailed Jesus to the cross – for it was our sin that put Him there, and it is for our sin that He died. Take a moment to reflect on your own sin that was nailed to the cross when Jesus suffered on our behalf.
Spend some time confessing your sin to God the Father, and thanking Him for the forgiveness all of your sin – past, present and future – that was bought with the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 18, Thursday: “For Your Name’s Sake”
We continue today in David’s prayer of supplication and request in Psalm 143 as he continues to petition his sovereign God. Three times in verses 8–10 the psalmist David prays for guidance; and each request has its own nuance. The way I should go (8b) gives a nod to the reality of our personal destiny – that each of us is uniquely placed and called by God.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 17, Wednesday: “I Stretch Out My Hands”
In this prayer of supplication, the psalmist again appeals to God to hear his prayer – on the grounds of God’s faithfulness and righteousness. The covenant God made with his people reveals these divine qualities, and they mean that he will always be faithful to follow through with his promise to be God to his people and to protect them from their enemies.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 16, Tuesday: “Teach Me Your Way, O Lord”
This prayer for guidance sings of God’s sovereignty. The psalmist David is now applying that fact to his life, not merely to the world in general. This is a prayer of supplication about forming the right habits in order to walk in the ways of the Lord in the truth of the Lord.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 15, Monday: “Incline Your Ear, O God”
Supplication means “a humble request for help or mercy from someone in authority.” In Psalm 86, the psalmist David begins with a request for God to hear his prayer and respond by providing help in his time of trouble. “Poor and needy” is a common description in the Psalms of those who require God’s help, and the psalmist does not hesitate to express his neediness and desperate dependence on God.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 14, Sunday: “I Will Bless the Lord At All Times”
This radiant psalm has all the indicators of gladness and gratitude for a miraculous escape. The title reminds us that the circumstances are those of 1 Samuel 21:10 and following (fleeing from Saul, of course), which had threatened to cost the psalmist David his life. Even in this dire situation, the psalmist declares “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth!”
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 13, Saturday: “Put On Love…And Be Thankful”
When love rules in our lives, it unites all these spiritual virtues resulting in beauty and harmony, which is a significant indicator of spiritual maturity. And this posture of life puts us in a much better frame of mind and heart to be grateful, fueling a life of worship that results in “spiritual songs” from the heart – full of thankfulness!
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 12, Friday: “But In Everything… With Thanksgiving”
Simply put: prayer is the antidote for anxiety. And prayer – fortified with thanksgiving – is impermeable to 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.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 11, Thursday: “Give Thanks In All Circumstances”
It isn’t feasible that these commands (vv.6-7) be interpreted as a general exhortation to Christians to ‘be happy in your faith at all times’, since happiness cannot be turned on and off like a tap. But biblical joy is different.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 10, Wednesday: “Abounding in Thanksgiving”
Thankfulness and thanking God are relatively frequent topics in Paul’s letter to the Colossians (1:3, 12; 2:7; 3:15, 16, 17; 4:2). The verb “abounding” here is active, as opposed to the other passive verbs here, and is parallel to them in that it expands the main verb “walk in him.”
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 9, Tuesday: “It Is Good To Give Thanks”
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.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 8, Monday: “Blessed Is The One”
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.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 7, Sunday: “Restore To Me The Joy Of Your Salvation
We meditated yesterday on verse 10, where David – in using the word “create” – asks for nothing short of a miracle. He realizes that this new disposition is utterly necessary for him to avoid sin in the future, and he also acknowledges that he, a person steeped in sin, is not capable of such transformation of character without divine help.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 6, Saturday: “Create In Me a Clean Heart, O God”
This Psalm comes from David’s blackest moment of self-knowledge – his sin of adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11 & 12) – yet it explores not only the depths of his guilt but some of the farthest reaches of salvation.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 5, Friday: “My Mouth Will Speak in Praise of the Lord”
In the ways of God, justice lives alongside kindness. There is an intrinsic morality in all He does, and He desires that we also walk in His holiness. Righteous though He is, He is also near – ready to act on behalf of – His praying people.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 4, Thursday: “The Eyes of All Look to You”
This section of Psalm 145 celebrates God who keeps his promises and helps those who are vulnerable (all who fall; all who are bowed down, v. 14). In His providence, He supplies the needs of any who look to him for help (vv. 15–16)
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 3, Wednesday: “The Glorious Splendor of Your Kingdom”
The word “kingdom” is used four times in this section of Psalm 145, emphasizing God’s rightful place on His throne, ruling over all creation. We can know that no matter what difficulties arise in this broken world, God is always on His throne. We worship Him and adore Him as King of all creation. And yet, He is also faithful and kind, especially to those “who are falling” or are “bowed down.”
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 2, Tuesday: “The Fame of Your Abundant Goodness”
When the psalmist David penned these words over 3,000 years ago, he could not have known that not only would his generation still be speaking to ours today (verse 4), but that God’s mighty acts, wondrous works and awesome deeds would reach a new climax in the gospel events through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.