Congratulations on making it to the second half of this 40-day journey!

What better way to start the second half than with a note on the tongue, which according to James, steers the whole body.

Read the following verses on the power of your tongue.

“When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on
fire by hell.

“All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers
and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

James 3:3-12

Prayer Challenge:

Meditate on these verses and pray today that God will help you control your tongue, so that your blessings over people are effective. If you have a habit of using unedifying language,  gossip, or slander, pray that God will help you overcome these habits, and that the Holy Spirit will remind you to control your tongue even as you begin to use negative language.

Herod arrests Peter and puts him in prison in the 12th chapter of Acts. In verse 5, we see that  the Church earnestly prays for Peter’s release. God sends His angel and miraculously sets Peter free. Peter goes to the house where the ‘believers’ are and knocks on the door.

A woman named Rhoda comes to answer the door, but upon hearing a familiar voice, she rushes back inside without even opening it, in a hurry to let everyone know whose voice she
heard…Peter’s. The same Peter they had been praying for.

To this, the self-same ‘believers’ who had earnestly prayed for Peter’s release say,

“You’re out of your mind…”

Acts 12:15a

They fear that something bad has happened to Peter, and that the man at the door was “Peter’s Angel” (12:15b).

But Peter keeps knocking on the door until it is opened, and the people inside watch him with jaw dropping astonishment! Even the Acts church, described as a vibrant Spirit-filled church, had problems with doubt. They had doubts that their earnest prayers were answered.

We too often ask and then fail to ‘believe’ that the answer will come. We are plagued by sickness and go through the motion of praying without expecting to be healed. We have
financial problems and rely solely on ourselves to find provision after the customary 20-second prayer for finances.

God is able! HE is a big God! If HE can release a man from prison, through His angel, as a result of an ‘ounce-of-belief’ prayer, how much more can He work good things in the lives of those that truly know and believe that HE answers prayers?

“But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

James 1:6-7

Prayer Challenge:

Today, pray that God will increase your faith according to Ephesians 2:8, which says that faith is a gift from God.

“‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,
says the LORD Almighty.”

Zechariah 7:13

Prayer goes unanswered when we refuse to obey the laws of God.

God’s laws are like gravity. They were not designed to harm you, but to keep your world in order. If you decide to defy gravity and just jump off a 5-story building, there will be consequences.

Mostly, gravity works for you, holding you down so you don’t float off into space, but that same gravity works against you when you jump off a building… Gravity is good, but in cases where one who does not understand it, or tries to stand against it, it will break that man/woman. God’s laws are similar; when He calls us to do something and we disobey that call, it might have adverse consequences as well.

One such consequence is a deaf ear from almighty God.

Prayer Challenge:

Is there an area in your life where you are willfully disobedient? Confess that sin. Ask
God to break every stronghold in your life and to give you the wherewithal to be
obedient to HIM.

In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus tells us the story of a persistent widow who pleaded her case with a
judge that didn’t fear God or man. The unjust judge finally decided to respond to her plea, because she refused to leave him alone. She went back to him day after day and asked him to grant her justice against her adversary. The persistent widow never gave up...until her answer arrived.

Where sporadic prayer goes without an answer, persistent prayer avails much. Jesus asks us, if a persistent plea towards an unjust judge is finally heard…

"...will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?"

Luke 18:7

Answer to persistent prayer breaks through an army to get to you… Will you persist today?

Prayer Challenge:

How many of our prayers have gone unanswered because we gave up too quickly? Do you have needs today that can only be met by the hand of God? Make a list and record it in your prayer journal. Starting today, return to this list everyday and persistently petition to
God for the remainder of the 40 days.

In response to our prayers, God’s army of angels is mobilized. In the same way, to stop God’s answer from reaching us, the Devil mobilizes his own army, the army of demons.

We see such instances explained in scripture. It is important to be aware of spiritual warfare happening in the background of the world we can see and hear. Sometimes when we are unaware of this, we get discouraged and quit praying minutes before the answer reaches us.

“Then he continued, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days.’”

Daniel 10:12-13a

Daniel had been praying for three weeks! God sent Daniel the answer through the angel Gabriel the minute Daniel started praying. But Gabriel was interrupted by hell’s angels, and was prevented from getting to Daniel. Since Daniel did not give up and continued to press on, his answer finally reached him.

Prayer Challenge:

Sometimes we need to pray the same prayer many, many times over before we receive the answer. Pray that the Holy Spirit will help you to be sensitive to spiritual warfare occurring on your behalf, so that you can pray specifically for God’s answer to reach you in time.

One of the names of God is Jehovah Jireh, which means that God will provide. When we
call upon the name of God and pray for our needs, the God of provision meets those
needs, opening the window of heaven to bless us.

But sometimes we treat the almighty Jehovah Jireh like a genie in a bottle. We get in petition mode and ask God for frivolous things, even before praying for the things close to His heart. God does not honor petitions made in vain glory, or bless us with possessions to build up our personal pride or increase our vanity.

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

James 4:1-3

Our desires battle within us and make us covetous. It may be the newest tech, or the latest kitchen or home appliance—we live in a culture that chases after the next new thing. In the above scriptures, God warns us of how
petitioners motivated by seeking after pleasures will not receive those requests.

God is interested in you…your needs and your desires. He put Godly desires in your heart when He created you. But it is important to know which desires are from God and which foster a battle in your heart, inspiring covetousness, pride, vain glory, materialism,

Prayer Challenge:

Have you been praying for some “thing” for a long time? Is the request still
unfulfilled? Pray today that God will show you if the desire for this “thing” stems from the wrong motives. Pray that you will be sensitive to know the
difference between Godly desires and ungodly desires.

Ask the Spirit of truth to search your heart and reveal your innermost desires,
those that have been placed in you for God’s purposes. Pray for these desires.

Sometimes our prayers go unheard…this is not unbiblical. There are a few instances where the Bible explicitly sets a precedent for a person’s prayer not reaching God. This week we will be looking at a few Bible verses that shed light on why some of our prayers go unanswered.

When we indulge in sinful behavior without any repentance, the Bible says that even our
prayer is detestable to God:

“If one turns away his ear from hearing the law–even his prayer is an abomination.”

Proverbs 28:9

Unconfessed sin and unrepentant behavior hinder prayer. Where do you know that you have “sin crouching at the door” (Gen. 4:7)? Have you made the decision to turn away
from it?

Sometimes we also sin inadvertently, without complete knowledge that we are breaking God’s law. This is still sin and needs to be repented of. We may also have sins which were committed before we accepted God’s salvation and hence were never repented of. We can pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help us find those areas in our life where unconfessed sin remains. Then, by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we can repent of it and thus reestablish our
communication with God.

Prayer Challenge:

Pray today that the Holy Spirit will shine a light in the innermost depths of your being and reveal to you past and present sins that you have not repented of.  Allow for God’s conviction
and grace to wash over you as you confess these sins and repent of them in Jesus’ name.

Every day has its worries. But, even before we wake up and the worries of life hit us, God knows their existence and has a way to rescue us.

In prayer, Jesus always acknowledged God’s knowledge of His situation. When we petition to God acknowledging His knowledge of our situation, it brings glory to His name. In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus talks about God’s intimate knowledge of the needs of His creations and the way He has already taken care of their needs. He uses these verses to encourage His followers to not worry about their future.

“...your Father knows what you need before you ask him”

Matthew 6:8b

Knowing that God knows relieves the pressure on us and puts it squarely on the only shoulder that can carry the burdens of the Universe. Take your yoke of worries off and place it on the shoulders of our strong God.

Prayer Challenge:

Think about the things that worry you, big or small. Write them down in your prayer journal. Pray about each one of these needs/worries, acknowledging God’s knowledge of them, and give them up to God during your quiet time today.

Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit. He prayed 40 days and 40 nights, and at the end of this time, Satan tempted him thrice. Jesus had the strength to overcome this temptation, because He had spent the previous 40 days seeking the face of the Father. If Jesus, the son of God, needs the power of prayer to overcome temptation, how much more
do we?

Temptation is a fact of life. Lust of eyes, lust of flesh, the pride of life…these things war against us, to move us farther away from God. They shackle us and bind us in the prison of sin and shame. But through the power of prayer, we can reclaim our freedom.

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is
weak. ”

Matthew 26:41

Prayer Challenge:

What secret temptation are you struggling with? No matter how big your temptation is...God is bigger! If we watch out for these temptations and pray, God is sure to provide us with the strength we need to have victory over them. Speak to God about your secret struggles and ask Him for the strength to overcome them, in Jesus’ name.

Sometimes we hear someone pray using a good measure of Christianese and become dumbfounded as to how we can even come up with such an eloquent prayer. Sometimes we fall prey to thinking that God only hears grandiose prayers. We think that if we are unable to belt out long words in succession in front of others as we lead them in corporate prayers, we must be worthless in prayer. But remember, prayer is a conversation. God hears your
small words spoken to Him in humility, devoid of jargon.

Jesus teaches His disciples to refer to God as “our Father” in Matthew 6. This presupposes the relationship we have with God to be one as close as a father has with his child. When we pray the prayer of the brokenhearted, God comes close to us (Psalm 34:18), regardless of the number of words we speak. He draws that much more close to us when we come to Him as His children.

Don’t worry about saying long words… just speak to your Father in prayer. A relationship with you is what God desires, and prayer is a way to strengthen that relationship through communication.

Prayer Challenge:

Venture out in prayer today, remembering your father/child relationship with God. Talk to the Lord as you would to a friend, and do not worry about having to include complicated words whose meanings do not ring true to you. Thank God in prayer today because He has
allowed you to call Him Father.

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Matthew 6:5-6

God prospers the humble, and humbles the proud. Prayer done for the sake of those watching is seldom fruitful. In Matthew 6:5-6, Jesus tells us that the closed-room, humble
prayer done in secret will be rewarded eternally.

Prayer done in order to garner people’s positive attention might perhaps gain us that positive
attention, but it will not gain us the attentive ear of a Holy God who despises pride. And by
bringing attention and worship to ourselves in our pride, we furthermore distance ourselves
from God.

Are you frequently noticing that the only time you pray is in front of people? Have you established ‘behind doors’ closet time with the Lord? Is your prayer promoting you?

Corporate prayer is a marvelous thing, but if all of your prayer is done corporately, you cannot
experience the fullness of an active, personal prayer life.

Prayer Challenge:

Pray today for God to reveal to you instances in your life when you have used prayer to boast about the fact that you seek Him. As the Spirit reveals, repent of this pride and ask God to give you the sensitivity to know if you are guilty of praying the “haughty prayer.”

Continue to pray in the spot you picked out to meet with God on day 4; if you were not able to establish that habit on day 4, try to do so today.

One of the reasons people find prayer boring is because we get used to saying the same prayer over and over again. We forget prayer is a conversation.

“...for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ”

Matthew 6:7b-8

In the above verses, Jesus cautions us against repetitive prayer. Prayers where we use words like “just” and “help” over and over again…or like the customary prayer blessing our food…
or the short prayer we say right before bed. These prayers are usually rehearsed and lack any resemblance to real conversation. One way to get away from repetition is to take Bible verses
that you have read recently and pray them over the people, places, and things you are praying for. For example, take the below verse:

“...enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.”

Acts 4:29b

You can pray that verse over your friend, let’s call her Mary, who has been struggling to share her faith with her family. This is how you can use this in prayer:

“Lord, enable Mary to speak your word
with great boldness.”

Psalms are usually a good place to get inspiration for praying verses.

Prayer Challenge:

Re-read one of your favorite Bible verses. According to Matt 6:7, ask the Father to reveal to you His good and perfect will, so you can specifically pray for His will in your life. Remind yourself that prayer is a conversation, and even when you bless your food, or pray before bed, do not conform to the same prayers you have prayed time and again--be creative. Make it a conversation with God.

In the parable of the unforgiving debtor (Matt. 18:21-35), Jesus draws a parallel between God’s immense forgiveness toward all of our sins and our response of unforgiveness toward our fellow man who has sinned against us. In these verses, He implores that the Father will not take kindly to those who do not forgive.

Jesus says,
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”
Matthew 5:23–24

An unforgiving heart stands in the way of communication with God. It is a sign of arrogance and is the height of hypocrisy that we as Christians receive God’s forgiveness with open arms, but are very restrictive in forgiving those who are truly repentant of sinning against us. This is why Jesus asks us to leave our sacrifice and atonement right where they are and first take the
time to forgive, before offering our gifts to God.

In today’s world, a lot of unforgiveness exists because the spirit of offense stirs up our hearts, and we decide to hold on to unforgiveness. But the truth is that your unforgiveness can stand in the way of your prayer…and your unforgiveness can hinder your prayers from effecting their purpose.

Prayer Challenge:

Pray today that God will reveal to you the people that you struggle to forgive. Meditate on Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins and God’s forgiveness towards you; pray today and ask God to help you forgive those who have sinned against you.

These next seven days, we will study how Jesus prayed.

Jesus is a prime example to follow in prayer. He is close to the Father’s heart and is noted in the Bible as our interceder.

Jesus’ prayers were believing prayers, said confidently to enact the words He had spoken according to the Father’s will. Faithless prayer is doubt-filled and returns void. Jesus-like prayer is prayed without a doubt…with faith, with belief that God is listening.

These prayers are like the request the centurion makes of Jesus when his dying servant needs miraculous healing (Luke 7:1-10). The centurion understood Jesus’ authority and believed that as Jesus said, so it would be. So he humbled himself and asked Jesus in faith to heal his servant. Jesusresponded with, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.
” (7:9b) Instantly, healing was released according to the centurion’s faith.

In Luke 17:6, Jesus says that faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. But God in His immense grace even put the burden of faith upon Himself. The Bible says that Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Because of this, we can ask God to give us our portion of faith, so that we can petition to Him just like the centurion did…with no
doubt!

Prayer Challenge:

Pray today that God will bless you with a good measure of faith, as outlined by Hebrews 11:1,
“...the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  Today make faith your focus in prayer, and pray this prayer over yourself. Ask God to give you faith even as small as a mustard seed, so that you can move the mountains you struggle with daily out of your way. Continue to record your prayers in your prayer journal. Answered prayers boost faith!

When Jacob was running away from his brother Esau, he rested at a place and fell asleep. He dreamt of a ladder extending between heaven and earth (Genesis 28). He saw angels walking up and down the ladder. God himself appeared on that ladder and promised Jacob the land of Canaan. Jacob erected the stone he was sleeping on as a pillar in testament to what had happened at that place. He called the place Bethel, “House of God”.

Many years later, he returns to Bethel (Genesis 35) and commemorates the receipt of God’s promise by building an altar. Jacob’s family was with him at this time. This place became a symbol of God’s promise to their family forevermore. Turns out God met with Jacob’s father Abraham at Bethel and gave him a promise there as well. We know this because it was documented in Genesis 12:8.

As Jacob’s descendants passed by the pillar at Bethel, even long after Jacob had passed on, the stone remained, stirring up their faith and building their trust in the God who promised the land to their family at that stone long, long ago.

What is your Bethel? Where are the answered prayers in your life documented? Where are God’s promises for your life stored so that your faith can be encouraged during days of doubt?

If I started right now erecting pillars in my backyard, one each for the way He has blessed me and answered my prayers, soon there would be no room to even walk! In modern day, Bethel could be something as small as writing down the things God has done and is doing for you in a journal.

I have prayed many prayers, written down what I asked God to bless me with, and then completely forgotten what I prayed for. But once in a while, I will read my prayer journal and realize that those long- forgotten prayers were already answered in time. Even though I forgot, God never did! Every time this happens, my faith receives a boost.

A prayer journal could be a convenient place to write down your petition, your prayer plan, and anything else that you need to be praying for. It can be the place you record His promises to you and your family, so that you can be reminded of His goodness in times of despair. It can also be where you record your thanks to God for all the answered prayers.

It doesn’t have to be anything fancy! Just a composition book or a document in your portable
device that you can access easily is good enough. But we must erect Bethels to remind ourselves of the power of prayer.

Prayer Challenge:

Today, find a place to record your prayers, God’s promises to you, and His answers to your prayers. Write down things you have petitioned for in this book for the remainder of the 40-day challenge. If you already have a prayer journal, read over it today and thank God for the
prayers He has answered.

A big part of conversation is listening. Some people are naturally great listeners…I am not one of them. Quite often my mind is running a mile a minute as someone is speaking to me. I also have somewhat of a small attention span. So when it comes to listening, I have to deliberately
discipline myself.

When we talk to God in Prayer, usually most of it is one giant rant of petitions. When we are done ranting, we say the customary, “In Jesus name, amen, ” and walk away!

Can you imagine telling your friend to meet you for lunch and then unloading everything on
him/her without giving them a minute to speak? Then after ranting, just saying goodbye abruptly and walking away? Your friend would not stand for it, yet we subject almighty God to the same kind of mistreatment day after day.

We  pray not to get what we want in our lives, but to get what God wants in our lives.

To know what God wants in our lives requires listening to Him. The three main ways God speaks to us are: through His written word the Bible, through the Holy Spirit as a still small
voice, and through others who listen to Him.

Maybe you are one of the few who are familiar with listening to God, but if you are not, now is a good time to make your monologues to God a dialogue… a conversation.

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” 

Jeremiah 33:3

Prayer Challenge:

Pray today that God will speak to you through the Bible when you read it. Pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal God’s will for your life directly to you. Pray that God will bless you with discernment so you are able to differentiate between His voice and your thoughts.

For the remainder of this 40-day prayer challenge, reserve a few minutes during your 7-minute prayer plan to meditate on God’s word and listen to Him.

Prayer requires discipline. I have heard people say that during their prayer time they often run out of things to pray. If we really understood the power of prayer, we would be on our knees in intercession 24/7. There is virtually no chance of running out of things to pray about!

So many blessings go unclaimed, so many doors remain unopened, because believers do not seek out God’s will and pray according to His purpose, exercising their God-given authority over creation. But, it takes a plan to achieve discipline in prayer.

Prayer also needs to be a natural form of communication. Achieving the balance between planning, which requires discipline, and maintaining the extraordinariness of prayer, so that it does not become mundane, is the challenge.

When I initially made prayer a priority, heeding the advice of a mentor, I wrote down a prayer plan to follow while I prayed. I would write down a list of the things and people I needed to pray for. I also wrote down the things I needed to thank God for. This helped me in keeping up with my hour-long closet time without ever running out of things to pray.

We often relegate all our prayer time to one facet of prayer. For example, we may just be asking God for things or petitioning Him for needs. Prayer is a complex communication with God. It consists of Praise, Worship, Petition, Thanksgiving, and Intercession, to name a few. Are you stuck in petition mode, or are you communicating with God in these other ways as well?

Prayer Challenge:

Break down your personal prayer time and be specific on what you will do during those minutes. Follow your plan today and modify it for further use. See if writing down a prayer plan equips you to pray. (The plan below begins at 8AM and is an example. Please make your own and only use this as a guideline.)

{8:00-8:02} Praise/worship: listen to a worship song or read a Psalm
{8:02-8:04} Petition for personal needs and needs of friends
{8:04-8:06} Intercede for one unsaved friend
{8:06-8:07} Thank God for all the blessings in your life

Have you ever been on a date? The commitment to that date depends on how much attention each of the two people on the date give each other. If one keeps getting phone calls and is generally distracted… say, by friends stopping by to say hello… the relationship has little chance of moving forward.

Your personal prayer time with God is like a date. It is quality time reserved for Him and you alone. If that time is interrupted by constant distractions and regular interruptions, your conversations with God will be affected.

Jesus Himself had Gethsemane, a place where He went to pray in solitude. He often also withdrew from the crowds by Himself to pray. This gives us a Biblical precedence for the concept of a “Prayer closet”
.
Your Prayer closet is hopefully not an actual cramped closet. It could be any place where you have the comfort and privacy to have uninterrupted conversations with God.

Even though God in His omniscience can hear you from anywhere, it is good to have that secret place where you get away with Him. Nothing compares to His love for us, choosing a place where you and God alone can meet is a small expression of our love for Him. It reaffirms the priority we place on prayer. It shows in small part our longing after God’s heart.

“My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you.”

- Isaiah 26:9

Prayer Challenge:

Where is your prayer closet? If you do not have one already, find a place devoid of distractions to worship and communicate with God. If possible, pray in this place during your personal prayer time during the remainder of this 40-day prayer challenge. Pray that the 7 minutes of prayer you are participating in is uninterrupted and distraction free.

It is usually easy to tell where people’s priorities lie. You just have to look at what they spend most of their time and money on. If we scrutinize our priorities, Prayer does not make the top 10 list for most of us. Yet, Prayer is the one thing that can place our other priorities in the right order.

If you have ever painted, you might have used a primer. A primer’s purpose is to even out the stickiness of the surface; essentially, it allows the paint to stick to the surface better. A makeup primer performs a similar function.

Prayer primes you for the rest of your day. When you give your day to God in prayer, the things of God start to stick with you for the rest of the day.

When is the best time for you to pray? It depends on you.

Give God your best time, not the leftovers after the cares of life have drained your energy. Giving Him the best part of your day orders your day and reaffirms your dependence on God. Prayer is the best stress reliever on the planet.

The best time for me is usually in the afternoon, when I am alert and ready to meet with God. For some of us it may be early mornings; for others it may be evenings. Find the time of day that you are most awake, least busy, and in a place of quiet to meet with God. Make your prayer appointment first before you schedule anything else for the day. Put this priority first as you order your day, even if it is only for 7 minutes.

As it says in the verse below, when you seek His kingdom first, all of the other needs in your life are added to you.

“But seek first HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness, and all these things will begiven to you as well.”

Matthew 6:33

Prayer Challenge:

Today, spend some time paying attention to the time of day that you are most alert. If possible, free up this time to use in prayer for the remainder of these 40 days. How much time is spent with your family/friends? How much time is spent on entertainment? How much time is spent pursuing God? Where is most of your time spent? Pray today that the Holy Spirit will reveal misplaced priorities in your life and give you wisdom to reorder your time in a God-honoring way.

Do you have an unbelieving friend?

In your sphere of influence (a circle that includes everyone you know), you may be the only believer. In fact, your friends may not know anyone else who has a personal relationship with Jesus, and thus the authority to intercede on their behalf. Because you are God’s child, nature must respond to you under Jesus’ authority as you bless, edify, and affirm—similar to how nature responded to God during creation.

In essence, friend, if you do not pray today... there may be no hope for your non-believing friend to come to salvation tomorrow. It is a terrible thought, but also an encouraging one.

Instead of having a passive role in the life of our non-believing friends and family, we can actively take part by praying for God’s mighty hand to move towards their salvation.

Jesus says,
“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Matthew 18:18-20

As you pray, you can bind the strongholds in peoples’ lives. As you intercede, you can loose God’s blessings. When you pray, you are releasing God’s freedom in your non-believing friend’s life, revealing God’s salvation to them...

A mundane day for someone can become the day of freedom, just because you thought of them and stopped to pray!

Prayer Challenge:

As you read today’s thought, which non-believing friend(s) or family member(s) came to your mind? In the next few minutes, pray for their salvation, under Jesus’ authority. If possible, share their name with one of your fellow believers and agree together in prayer for them to turn to God.

Our words have power. We are made in God’s image. We have the shadow of the same mighty power that God used as He breathed and spoke all of life into existence. By the power of His word He said, “Let there be light,” and there was light!

God made Adam a caretaker and gave him the power to name things, to oversee and rule the
earth. Adam had God-given authority to effect good things in nature and speak life into things
just as God had originally done.

Through the fall of man and the first sin committed, the Devil stole away our inheritance as Adam’s descendants: spiritual ownership of this earth. But because our Savior died on the
cross for every sin, He has reclaimed for us the right to blamelessly come before the Father. His blood has washed our sin away. Through this right, we have authority in Jesus’ name over
every circumstance and thing, because He gave us His authority, which was given to Him by the Father.

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20

Know why you have the ability to be heard by God––because Jesus died for our sins, reclaiming the right for us to appear before a Holy God and to petition in reverence. Covered by His blood, we are cloaked in the righteousness required to have an audience with the Creator of the universe.

Prayer Challenge:
Take the next few minutes and pray for your prayer life. Pray specifically that God will give you wisdom to pray according to His purpose, so that you can release His blessings on the people around you through the authority you have in Jesus’ name.

As we step into a new season, we want to invite you to join us as a church family for 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting, beginning Sunday, January 4.

Prayer and fasting are powerful ways to reset our hearts, refocus our faith, and draw closer to God. This intentional time allows us to quiet distractions, seek the Lord together, and align ourselves with what He wants to do in and through our lives. Whether you are believing for clarity, breakthrough, renewal, or simply a deeper relationship with Jesus, these 21 days are an opportunity to lean in and trust God more fully.

Fasting may look different for each person. Some may choose to fast food, while others may fast certain meals, social media, or other distractions. What matters most is the posture of our hearts—setting aside time and space to seek God through prayer, His Word, and dependence on the Holy Spirit.

To help guide you during this season, we will be following a Prayer and Fasting Guide by Cynthia Dobbs.  You can pick up a booklet in the church office or follow along on the CrossPoint app, where daily content will be available throughout the fast.
We believe God moves when His people seek Him together. Let’s commit these 21 days to prayer, fasting, and expectation—trusting God to do what only He can do in our lives, our families, and our church.

We’re excited to begin this journey with you.

Devotional

There is nothing like fasting to remind you of your weakness, but there is also nothing like fasting to remind you where real strength is found. The Psalmist points us to the true source of strength when he declares in Psalm 62:11,

“God said this once and for all; how many times have I heard it repeated? ‘Strength comes straight from God’.”

At times, all of us can live under the illusion that we have what it takes to handle whatever comes our way, but seasons of fasting reminds us that only through dependence on God can we truly overcome. In John 15:5, Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” And the Apostle Paul reminds us, that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!

God has all the strength you need, and as you seek Him, you will see His strength flow into your life in a new and dynamic way. So, as you continue this fast be encouraged that though you may feel weak, He is making you stronger.

Psalm 62:11
Psalm 28:7
Philippians 4:13
Isaiah 40:29

Devotional

“In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel…it concerned a great war. At that time, I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over. On the twenty-fourth day of the first month…” (Daniel 10:1-4a NIV)

Daniel fasted three weeks, twenty-one days and, humanly speaking, it appeared nothing had happened! Daniel didn’t see or hear anything for twenty-four days, but Heaven heard, and his answer was on its way from the very first day.

“Then he continued, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them’.” (Daniel 10:12 NIV)

When you fast and pray, Heaven takes note. It may not seem like anything is happening, but the truth is that from the moment your fast began, God has been working. Don’t quit praying. Don’t stop seeking. Continue in this 21-day journey with the expectation that you will see God do extraordinary things in your life.

Daniel 10:1-14
Psalm 34:7
Matthew 7:7
Psalm 9:10

Devotional

Our desires often dictate the course of our lives. What we want motivates us. Our desires determine what we do, what we go after, and even how we think. What is it that you desire?

The Psalmist David writes, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” As a king, there were many things David knew he needed and certainly there were many things vying for his attention. But as he spent time in the presence of the Lord he realized that really one thing was more important than everything else -- being in God’s presence.

It’s been said that “when God is all you have, you find that God is all you need.” While that is true, it could also be said that “when God is all you want, you find that God is all you need.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be given to you.”

As you fast, make seeking the Lord the number one priority in your life -- seeking the Giver more than the gift. Better than getting what we need is growing closer in our walk with Him.

Psalm 27:1-8
Psalm 86:11
Proverbs 23:6