Awakening Day 35

So it's been a while since I have posted anything, sorry about that.  It's crazy that we only have five days left till the end of the fast. I know that it has been an awesome experience for so many of you. I talked to guy at church on Sunday who was so stoked about what God has been doing in his life since the fast began.

At the beginning of the fast he decided to fast from alcohol.This was a big deal for him. He told me that when he used to come home from work every night he would have a glass of wine to unwind.  Also, that he travels a lot for work and has go out to a lot of restaurants and bars with co-workers. This was going to be a hard fast for him, he knew that right from the start.

But, he told me that it has really refined his relationship with God. Everyday when he comes home now instead of going to a glass of wine to unwind, he goes to God.  And when he's been out with co-workers it has been an opportunity for him to witness. When he is offered a drink he tells them that he's not drinking. When they ask why, he gets to tell them about his fast and his relationship with God. It has really transformed his life and his desires.      

As you finish the fast this week, continue to follow God in where he is leading you and stay strong in Him. Thank God for how he has been transforming you.

Awakening Day 21

So yesterday was day 20 in our fast.  20 days! And just when I thought I had made it through my toughest trails, I faced my biggest ever: CUPCAKES!  I mean the first few days without coffee were rough but I made it through. My late night snacking binges were hard to fight off too. But nothing had prepared me for cupcakes.  Not just any cupcakes either, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, my absolute favorite.

My wife had made them for her class and was taking them to school in the morning. It was hard enough to smell her baking them. It was even harder watching my youngest daughter lick the spoon and bowl, but when I saw those delectable treats all frosted and sprinkled siting on the kitchen counter I almost lost my mind.  I could have scarfed all 20 of them in seconds and drowned them in a frothy glass of milk. I held fast. But, my hardest test was yet to come.

It's 10:00pm and everyone in my house is asleep but me and the cupcakes.  I am sitting in our living room reading, and I hear them calling my name.  "Paul" they say, "no one is watching. No one will miss just one." But I know that once one of those clouds of heaven touches my lips I will not be able to stop. Like the guy in that movie Chocolate, my family would find me in the morning sleeping in a pile of cupcake wrappers with frosting on my lips, shaking from the amount of sugar I had just ingested.

So, despite all of their beckoning and wooing, they could not entice me enough to break my fast.  I held strong and to tell you the truth that very day God revealed something to me that I had been praying about.  Thank you God for giving me the strength to hold off, but I tell you what, come day 41 there will be cupcakes at my house.           

Awakening Day 19

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” John 11:43, NIV

The story of Lazarus’s death and resurrection reflects the power of Jesus’ spoken word. Jesus was so in tune with the will of His Father that He already knew in His heart the miracle that was about to take place, but His words spoke the miracle into existence.

While prayer is our declaration of our dependence on God, our spoken words can be the manifestation of what’s happening in our hearts. There is power in our spoken words, whether they are used to build up or tear down. It is important to keep our heart filled with the truth from God’s Word so that our words will produce good fruit.

As you seek God in prayer ask Him for discernment to know a need and the words to help someone today. Pray that your words would be encouraging, edifying, and aligned with the truth of God’s Word. Building others up around us with our words allows us to be God’s instrument to accomplish His good work.

"The key to praying with power is to become the kind of persons who
do not use God for our ends but are utterly devoted to being used
for His ends." —John Piper 

"I am persuaded that love and humility are the highest attainments in
the school of Christ and the brightest evidences that He is indeed our
Master." —John Newton

Prayer Focus: As God continues to fill you through this season of prayer and fasting, He wants to take what is now in your heart and share it with others. How can you use the power of your spoken words to speak God’s truth in the livesof others?

Awakening Day 18

Questions Along the Way
“What if I stumble, what if I fall?”
“What if I mess up and eat something not on my plan?”
“What if I just can’t go without something—like caffeine—as I had planned to?”
“Will God still honor my fast?”

I remember the time a few years ago when someone asked me if I had ever “messed up” on a fast. I had to laugh because, of course, the answer was a huge yes. It has actually taken me years of developing a lifestyle of fasting to build up to where I am now. Over time, fasting does get easier, but this is a spiritual activity where it’s easy for condemnation to try and take root. Don’t let that happen!

Choosing to start a fast is quite similar to setting goals in life. It is good for us to challenge ourselves and set the bar high. Each time I prepare for a fast, I set goals that are typically beyond what I did the last time, and they’re always beyond what I know I can do in my own strength. When we set the bar high, sometimes the natural result is failure to meet the goal. But that should never stop us from trying to reach as high as we can. So what if you mess up? What should you do then? Proverbs 24:16 says, “For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity” (NIV).

This “fall down, get back up” idea has been a formative principle in my life in so many areas, and it’s no different in the arena of devotion to God. What matters is not that we stumble, but that we get back up! True failure only occurs when we let adversity keep us down.

Maybe you have tried to participate in this fast but have found yourself stumbling along the way. I want to encourage you to try it again during this last week. Don’t be discouraged by looking at the times you gave in to hunger or messed up. But be encouraged by this: when we draw near to God, He draws near to us (James 4:8). He wants to draw near to you, so keep it up! I am confident that you will be rewarded and blessed for your perseverance.

Awakening Day 17

"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." —Matthew 6:10

We have all heard the phrase, “just like heaven on earth.” When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray in Matthew 6:9–13, He provided some insight into what “heaven on earth” might look like. In reality, heaven is a place where God’s will reigns supreme. If we want to have a taste of heaven on earth, then our prayer should be like Jesus’: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done…” The purest motivation for our prayers is that God will be glorified and that His will would reign supreme in our lives, just as it does in heaven.

On a more personal level, we can pray that His will be unhindered in our own life. Rather than imposing His will upon us, God gives us the choice to surrender to it with trust and gladness. As we yield to the Lordship of Christ over every area of our lives, we come into agreement with Him. We experience alignment with heaven and position ourselves to taste a little bit of heaven here on earth.

God’s will then becomes what we desire and the thing we most seek after. We enter into the incredible adventure of participating in God’s plan to move His kingdom forward on the earth. This is where we find the most fulfilling and joyous life, but it all starts with one personal “yes, Lord” on our part.

"All that God is, and all that God has, is at the disposal of prayer.
Prayer can do anything that God can do, and as God can do
everything, prayer is omnipotent." —R. A. Torrey

"Our prayers lay the track down on which God’s power can come.
Like a mighty locomotive, His power is irresistible, but it cannot reach
us without rails." —Watchman Nee

Prayer Focus: What does God’s will “on earth as it is in heaven” look like in your life? Do the desires of your heart line up with the will of God? As we seek God together, let’s pray as Jesus taught us, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.”

Awakening Day 16

"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering." James 1:6

What do you expect when you pray? When we pray with earnest expectation, we are exercising our faith. The earnest prayer of righteous people produces powerful results (James 5:16, NLT), and the most earnest prayers come from us when we recognize our need for God.

There can be a natural tendency to shrink back when praying for the seemingly impossible, but we must remember that nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37). If we know the promises that God has given us, and understand His character and the principles by which He works, we can pray with confidence and trust Him for the answer.

What has caused us to waver in our expectation with God? James reminds us that faith and wavering are actually contradictory—James says “nothing wavering.” Know that God never wavers in His love for you. You can trust Him completely.

"There is no way that Christians, in a private capacity, can do so
much to promote the work of God and advance the kingdom of
Christ as by prayer." —Jonathan Edwards

When we depend upon organizations, we get what organizations
can do; when we depend upon education, we get what education
can do; when we depend upon man, we get what man can do; but
when we depend upon prayer, we get what God can do. —A. C. Dixon

Prayer Focus: What are you trusting God for in this season? How can you line up your expectations with the Word of God when you pray? Find promises in His Word that answer your need and write them down today.

Awakening Day 13

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. Mark 1:12–13

Even Jesus disconnected from the world to fast and pray. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell of Jesus going to the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. They also describe other times when Jesus pulled away from the demands of the crowds, His ministry, and even His closest friends to pray.

There are times that we, too, need to pull away from the things of the world and focus on God. “The things of the world” can certainly include more than just food. In fact, in our world they are more likely television, movies, Facebook, Twitter, cell phones, and the Internet. None of these things are wrong in and of themselves, but they are avenues for a mental and spiritual crowd to gather around us and drown out the Holy Spirit’s voice.

Fasting is a means of disconnecting from the distractions of daily life and consciously choosing to bring God into greater focus. Giving up physical nourishment is the first step in engaging that process. If you think about it, though, in day-to-day life we nourish our souls as well as our bodies. We do so through reading, talking, socializing, playing, and entertainment. When our souls are full of those things, we often don’t hunger for God.

During this time of fasting, we are sure to feel physical hunger, but let’s be intentional about cultivating spiritual hunger as well. Let’s draw away from the crowd and lay aside for a season the activities we use to nourish our souls. Instead let’s enter a state of spiritual hunger, a craving for righteousness. Jesus said that being spiritually hungry is a blessed state, because there we can be sure of being filled with food that truly satisfies our deepest needs (Matthew 5:6).

Prayer is reaching out and after the unseen; fasting, letting go of all thatis seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepens, confirms theresolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves, toattain what we seek for the kingdom of God. —Andrew Murray

Prayer Focus: During this time, you will find that being still before the Lord will set you in a place of increased strength, peace, and hunger for God. Are you disconnected from things that nourish your body and soul?What do you need to deny yourself to make this a powerful time in your life?