Day 3: Being Thankful

3/21 Days of Prayer

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

It is amazing how quickly the newness can wear off of something. When I was a kid, I would beg my parents for a certain Christmas gift. After receiving the gift, it would only be a matter of a few weeks before the coveted toy became a mundane addition to my collection. I would quickly move on to thinking, “What’s next?”

We have all experienced the fading admiration of something we once really yearned for, but I believe we should try to remain thankful for both the new and the old. We need to thank God for “today” because it’s full of opportunities, but we also need to thank God for all he accomplished in our “yesterday” as well. One thing is for certain, we can all work on becoming more thankful.

PRAYER:

God, thank you for this brand new day that is full of possibilities! Thank you for all that you have done in my life. (Take a few moments to thank God for your relationships, your house, your car, your job, etc.) God, help me to live a life of gratitude. Help me to be thankful for all of the blessings in my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Day 2: Hoarders

2/21 Days of Prayer

Philippians 3:8 (NKJV)

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

Most of you have probably seen or heard of the show “Hoarders.” This show is all about people that hold onto things that they don’t need until their home becomes so cluttered with stuff that it drastically affects their daily lives.

You probably aren’t a hoarder with material things, but you might be a hoarder emotionally. Emotional hoarding is trickier to manage because no one else can see what you are holding onto internally. There are many people who are hoarding bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, and resentment. They continue holding onto these negative emotions until they eventually pile up, hindering their everyday mobility. Life has a way of hurting us, and when it does, we need to let God heal the pain we’ve acquired. We need to give Him the hurt, the pain, the anger, the bitterness, and the unforgiveness. We need to let Him remove all the rubbish in our lives so that we can live free and fulfilled lives.

PRAYER:

God, I give you (take a moment to give God whatever you have been holding onto.) I release the pain, the unforgiveness, the bitterness, and the anger, and I ask you to remove the things in my life that are hindering me from living a free and fulfilled life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Day 21 – What am I going to believe about God’s church?

21/21 Days of Prayer

Genesis 28:17And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!

If you know me, you know that I love Disney! My goal is to be there as often as I can, and I am not content with just going on my own. It brings me so much joy to take as many of my family members and friends through the Disney gates as possible! I love helping others find the joy in all of the little things that I love so much!

In Genesis 28:17 Jacob has an encounter with God that is incredibly powerful. In that encounter he names the place “the house of God” and “the gate of heaven.” 20 years later Jacob makes a long journey with his wife and all of his twelve sons back to this place so that they can encounter the presence of God in the same way he did! I love that the Bible records in Genesis 35 that they also worshipped the Lord there.

If you knew there was a physical gate to Heaven in the world, what sacrifices would you make to get there? There is nothing that I would not do to make it to that place. I would cross the Atlantic Ocean in a canoe if it meant that I could find the gate of Heaven. Even more so, I would make as many trips as I could to get all the people I knew to that place.

God’s house, His Church, is that place. It is the place where we meet with God! Each week we have an opportunity to bring as many people as we can to this gateway to Heaven, so that they too can encounter the same presence that changed our lives! What if we saw the House of God like Jacob? What if we did everything possible to make sure all of our friends and family got to church so they could also have a life changing encounter with God? Our world would be a much different place with that type of tenacity!

Who are some people you are believing to come to church with you this year?

Declare: I am thankful for the House of God, it is the Gateway to Heaven for me and the people I love.

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Day 20 – What am I going to believe about God’s faithfulness?

20/21 Days of Prayer

1 Corinthians 4:2 NKJVMoreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.

People frequently ask, “How does God choose who He uses?” This is an important question, and one often asked by those who desire to be used by the Lord. The word for faithful here isn’t describing someone’s spiritual strength. Faithful describes someone who God has found as reliable, dependable, true, and unfailing.

How does God know if someone is faithful, reliable, dependable, true, and unfailing? 1 Corinthians 4:2 says they are “found” meaning that God watches us over a long period of time and in many different circumstances to see if we will conduct ourselves as people who are faithful, reliable, dependable, true, and unfailing.

Today God is watching your actions and reactions. He is observing how you treat people and how you respond to pressure. He is looking at how you handle people that are unkind towards you. He is watching to see how you respond in the face of opposition. God wants us to be faithful in our giving, faithful in loving people, and faithful in our pursuit of Him.

The great news is that today is a new day! Even if you feel like you haven’t been found faithful so far, you can decide that today you are going to be a faithful, reliable, dependable, true, and unfailing follower of Christ.

What area of your life do you feel challenged to be more faithful in?

Declare: God will find me faithful to do all that He has asked me to do.

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Day 19 – What am I going to believe about who God says I am?

19/21 Days of Prayer

John 10:3 NKJV… He calls his own sheep by name…

Our identity often changes based on our location. At my kids’ school, my name is “Brailey’s mom” or “Bear’s mom.” At a grocery store I’m identified by my phone number. God calls you by name. The Bible says He knows the number of hairs on our heads (Luke 12:7). This means He knows every minute detail about you, He knows your bank balance and what you ate for dinner. He knows exactly what you are going through and where you are hurting. He sees you and cares for you.

God’s Word says you are:

Romans 8:37Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.
According to this verse, what does God call you?

John 15:15 NKJVNo longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
According to this verse, what does God call you?

Romans 8:16 NKJVThe Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God


According to this verse, what does God call you?

1 Corinthians 6:19 NKJVOr do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?


According to this verse, what does God call you?

Declare: I belong to the Lord. He chose me, and loves me so much that He calls me His own.

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Day 18 – What am I going to believe about my purpose?

18/21 Days of Prayer

Mark 16:15 NKJVAnd He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”

All through the Bible you see God using people in amazing ways. God used people that were judges, kings, soldiers, fishermen, tent makers, fathers, sheepherders, among many other vocations. When people ask what God’s purpose is for their life they are usually asking what vocation God wants them to be in. They are curious, “Does God want me to be a firefighter or a nurse? Does God want me to be a school teacher, or does He want me to live on the mission field?”

I have found that God is less concerned with what career we choose, and much more concerned with the difference we are making in the world. Throughout the New Testament we see God showing up powerfully in the lives of so many people, but He never talks to them about what career to choose! We always see Him talking to people about making a difference in the lives of other people.

God’s commission for our lives is to make a difference. His commission for us hasn’t changed since He spoke in Mark 16:15. His desire is still that we tell people about Jesus, pray for people that need prayer, encourage the distraught, and become a bright light to the dark world we live in! I declare over my kids every morning when they go to school that they are the pastors of their school and a leader to their generation! What impact would you make if you went to work each day with that same mindset?

What would it look like to be the pastor…

In your workplace/school:

In your family:

In your neighborhood:


Declare: God I thank you that I am making a difference everywhere I go.

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