At the beginning of every year, Church of the Highlands does their 21 Days of Prayer. It’s such a great way to kick off the new year by devoting it 100% to God.
Every time this season comes around, I enjoy typing up the notes I take from the week’s quick 10 minute messages we hear every morning (Monday – Friday).
{scripture is from The NIV Bible unless otherwise noted}
MONDAY || 1.9.17 - Chris Hodges
Joel 2:12-17 ~““Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
Who knows? He may turn and relent
and leave behind a blessing—
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the Lord your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion,
declare a holy fast,
call a sacred assembly.
Gather the people,
consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
Let the priests, who minister before the Lord,
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’””
Don’t just show up to 21 Days of Prayer, have your heart in it.
How do you come back to God? Give him everything!
TUESDAY || 1.10.17- Hamp Greene
I am not what I’ve done, I am God’s masterpiece.
2 Corinthians 5:17 ~ “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!”
We have to see ourselves the way God sees us to have an effective prayer life.
My next step should be to line up with Christ – how I think of myself.
When I pray, I need to touch Heaven and confront Hell.
WEDNESDAY || 1.11.17 - Mark Pettus
No matter what I’m going through, Jesus understands. And Because he understands, he has compassion and he desperately wants to help me.
Hebrews 4:14-16 ~ “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
To activate that truth, I need to come to him boldly (confidently, with freedom of speech).
THURSDAY || 1.12.17 - Dino Rizzo
Hosea 6:1-3 ~ ““Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.””
It’s amazing how your day is different when you press in to Jesus.
FRIDAY || 1.13.17 - Layne Schranz
Prayer does more then I think because God is doing more then I can see.
John 17:20-23 ~ ““My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one,Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
SATURDAY || 1.14.17 - Steve Blair
Mark 9:23-24~ ““‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!””
Don’t worry about how much faith you have, but have just a little and God can do a lot with it.
Mark 9:28-29~ “After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.””
The disciples were disappointed in themselves because they couldn’t get it done.
We get disappointed because we are trusting in ourselves but we need to trust in God.
Make 2 decisions when you pray:
Be desperate – it’s not a result of my circumstance, it’s a mindset. It’s a choice that i have to make.
Be dependent – God, I’m relying totally on you.
The devil will try to throw me off.
Mark 9:20 ~ “So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.”
As I pray, the first thing the devil will try to do is to get me to focus on the idea that it will only get worse.
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I hope you can find some encouragement in this post today. Feel free to watch the service yourself at http://21days.churchofthehighlands.com/