NEW OPPORTUNITIES | 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting 2020 | Day 7

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.                                              Eph 5:16 NIV

Every new day brings new opportunities with it. Even if we have missed opportunities in the past, God gives us all a new start every day and with that new start comes new opportunities.

 Paul writes to the Ephesian church urging them to live carefully and intentionally, making the most of every opportunity.

His words highlight that the wise see opportunity all around them, but the unwise and the foolish fail to see opportunity even when it’s right in front of them.

 The wise make the most of every opportunity, but the unwise and the foolish waste opportunity.

 New opportunities are all around us.

 Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "No great man ever complains of want of opportunity."

 New opportunities can be found even in the most difficult of circumstances.

 Winston Churchill said, ​"The pessimist looks for the problem in every opportunity but the optimist looks for the opportunity in every problem."

Not even failure should rob us of opportunity.

Henry Ford said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently”

New opportunities are all around us. If we ask God to give us eyes to see, He will. If we do our part and make the most of every God given opportunity, God will do His part. Let’s make the most of every opportunity and watch what will God will do!

NEW PRIORITIES | 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting | Day 6

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.                                                                                                                          Matthew 6:33

New year is a time when we all evaluate our priorities and resolutions for the New Year.

The reality is that 90% of New Year’s resolutions are broken within the first few weeks of the year. Old habits die hard and it takes more than will power and commitment alone to reach our goals. 

The only way to see the results we want is to develop new priorities. Whatever we put first will determine the shape of our lives. 

 This is what Jesus says in the sermon on the mount, “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you  Jesus is saying, that whatever we put first will determine what’s added to our lives. In this case, Jesus has been talking about our daily needs, food, clothing, finance and provision for our everyday life.

Jesus is saying, that whatever we put first will determine what’s added to our lives. In this case, Jesus has been talking about our daily needs, food, clothing, finance and provision for our everyday life.

Jesus promises that if we seek His Kingdom first and live by His Kingdom principles then He will add all those things that we need to our lives.

 When we make the decision to do that, everything changes and that’s  because we begin to live by Kingdom principles rather than personal preference. 

We must all ask ourselves this vital question, “am I living by Kingdom principle or personal preference?” 

We must never forget that our principles determine our priorities, our priorities determine our practices and our practices determine the pattern of our lives.

Let’s live by Kingdom principle with God’s kingdom first!

NEW WAYS | 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting 2020 | Day 5

I will make a way in the wilderness    and open up flowing streams in the desert

Isaiah 43:19

When we’re in a wilderness or a dry and barren season, our natural tendency is to cry out to God and ask Him to change the landscape. We want our situation and circumstances to change and to be removed from a difficult or painful environment.

Yet more often than not, God doesn’t remove us from our environment, instead He makes a way for us through our difficult terrain. God makes a way where it appears there is no way. He opens up new ways and leads us through the wilderness and it’s here that we learn life lessons that can only be learned as we walk with God through difficult times.

We learn new ways of trusting Him, new ways of conquering our fears and in the quiet and loneliness of the wilderness experience we hear God’s voice more clearly.

David who spent many years in the wildernesssaid, “even if I walk through the valley of the shadow death, I will fear no evil, for your rod and your staff they comfort me.”

David knew that God would always make a new way for him in the wilderness and there he would know the comfort and peace of His presence.

Jesus said “I Am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus was declaring that He is the one who makes a way for us to know the truth, to find new life and come home to our Heavenly Father, when we were lost in the wilderness, not knowing which way to turn.

Let’s ask God to open up new ways for us this year through all of the twists and turns and ups and downs of life. As we follow Jesus, however difficult the terrain, may He lead us into new and significant ways of fulfilling His purpose and plan in our day and generation.

NEW THOUGHTS | 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting 2020 | Day 4

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”

Romans 12:2 NLT

The average person has about 48.6 thoughts per minute, according to the Laboratory of Neuroimaging at the University of Southern California. That adds up to a total of 70,000 thoughts per day!

Surprisingly, 90% of those thoughts are said to be the same as the thoughts that we had yesterday.

That means that only 10% of our thoughts are new thoughts!

The patterns of our thinking will dictate what we think, so imagine what would happen if we increased the number of new thoughts we had every day. Imagine what would happen if we decreased the number of old thoughts that run unchecked through our minds every day.  

Our human tendency is to dwell on the past, to rehearse our failures or the painful things that have happened to us, to ruminate rather than reflect on our past experiences.

Paul writes that if we want to be transformed into a new person in Christ we must change the way we think. We must begin to think new thoughts and think in new ways.

He urges us to renew our minds so that we will know God’s will for our lives.

God’s says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

 We can know the thoughts that God thinks towards us, and about us, if we align our thoughts with His thoughts and His word. When we do, we will begin to think new and greater thoughts and think in new and higher ways.

Let’s be continually transformed by the renewing of our minds, changing the way we think, so that we can know God’s good and perfect will and plan for our lives.

A NEW THING | 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting 2020 | Day 3

Behold I will do a new thing....

Isaiah 43:19

God never changes yet He is always doing a new thing.

God wants to do a new thing in us so that He can do a new thing through us, because every new thing that God does always brings new life and blessing. 

The prophet Isaiah paints this picture powerfully when he says:

 “Behold I will do a new thing
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert”

Isaiah 43:19

The Jewish people were captive in Babylon and God was about to do something that would make a way out of their wilderness and create rivers of life in the midst of the desert of their captivity.

What God was about to do was unprecedented. God’s unfolding plan was not only going to bring freedom to the Jewish people but this road in the wilderness and these rivers in the desert were going to bring life and blessing to the whole world. Jesus is the Way in the wilderness and the Holy Spirit is the river in the desert bringing living waters to all mankind.

God has promised to make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

As we pray and fast we are making room for God to do a new thing in us. Let’s invite Him to make a road through our wilderness, to make rivers in our desert and for the Holy Spirit to bring new life to us and through us.  

 May the new thing that God does in us this new year and decade bring great blessing not only to us but to all those in our world. 

NEW DAY DAWNING | 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting 2020 | Day 2

Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning

Eccl 11:7 NLT

 For all who have watched the sky burst into light at sunrise, Solomon’s words in the book of Ecclesiastes are filled with truth.

 Light is sweet after the darkness of the night, and there is nothing quite like the experience of watching a sunrise and a new day dawning.

 Every new day is a constant reminder to us of God’s faithfulness. Every day the sun rises without fail and the sky is filled with colors and cloud formations that are uniquely different from any that have ever filled the sky before.

 The sun always rises, but the way it lights up the sky is never the same.

 No one doubts that the sun will rise in the morning, and no one doubts that when the sun sets and darkness descends, a new day will dawn.

 Every new day is a reminder to us of God faithfulness; that God will do what He says He will do. God can be trusted because in Him, just like the rising of the sun, there is no variation or shadow of turning.

 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”  James 1:17

 One of the greatest gifts that God gives us is the gift of a new day. 

A new day, with a new beginning and the opportunity of a fresh start.

 “Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. Lam 3:23

 God says, “don’t cling to or dwell on the past” and Jesus said, “don’t worry about tomorrow but focus on each new day, one day at a time”

 God is faithful and as we begin this new year and decade, however dark or long the night may have been, we can be confident in His faithfulness. God promises that as each new day dawns, we will find fresh grace, new hope and new opportunity to live in the fullness of life that God makes available to each one of us.

NEW... | 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting 2020 Day 1

Welcome to our 2020 21 Day Devotional! Our theme in these first days of  this New Year and New Decade is simply one word, “NEW………”

God is the God who makes all things “NEW.” The word “New” is synonymous with every aspect of Jesus’ life and ministry and our relationship with Him. 

The Apostle Paul says of our faith as New Testament believers:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Jesus came to make all things new, to bring us into a new and better covenant. He came to give us all a new start, a new beginning, and as new creations to experience a new day, filled with new promises, new opportunities and new hope!

God is the God whose mercies are new every morning. He says, “Don’t cling to the things of the past or dwell on what happened long ago, I’m about to do something brand new.” (Isaiah 48:18-19)

He is the God who is always doing new things, in new ways, and who wants to do a new thing in and through us all.

God encourages us to take hold by faith, of all the new things that He has in store for each one of us.

Whether it’s new vision, new hope, new insight, new ideas, new opportunities, new energy, new life, new faith or any other new thing that we are asking God for, never forget that God is not only able but He is willing to do exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine.  

Finish the sentence “NEW……..” as we fast and pray over these next 21 days let’s ask God to do those new things in extraordinary ways, in and through us in this new year and decade!