21 Days of Prayer: Week 3
(January 25-31, 2021)
Week 3 // Day 1
“Thirsts”
Fasting is a means of seeing spiritual breakthrough for a physical or emotional problem as well as finding freedom from the besetting sins that affect our relationship with God. Today focus your prayers on those hurts, habits and hangups you need spiritual healing to overcome.
Scripture: Isaiah 58
Key passages
Isaiah 58:6 — “No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.”
Fasting Thought
Richard Foster: “Fasting helps us keep our balance in life. How easily we begin to allow nonessentials to take precedence in our lives. How quickly we crave things we do not need until we are enslaved by them… This is not excessive asceticism; it is discipline and discipline brings freedom.”
Playlist: All the Poor and Powerless by All Sons & Daughters
Prayer
Father in heaven, you are the great physician, you are the healer of my soul, you are one who grants victory over my emotional wounds that are the cause of my destructive thinking and debilitating habits. During my fast bring to light those besetting sins that hurt my relationship with you and my effectiveness in your mission. May I experience a new level of freedom and victory as I lean into you this day during my fast. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Take a few moments to journal what God had taught you today.
Week 3 // Day 2
“Fasting and God’s Refreshment”
Our fasting may be rewarded in the experience not only of spiritual replenishment but also of physical refreshment.
Scripture: Acts 3
Key passages
Acts 3:19-21 — “Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.”
Fasting Thought
Martin Luther: “Of fasting I say this: It is right to fast frequently in order to subdue and control the body. For when the stomach is full, the body does not serve for preaching, for praying, for studying or for doing anything else that is good. Under such circumstances God’s Word cannot remain. But one should not fast with a view to meriting something by it as by a good work.”
Playlist: Hope Beyond Despair by Ian Zumback
Prayer
Father in heaven, as I subdue my flesh and control my appetite today, refresh my spirit, replenish my soul, heal my wounds and strengthen my will to carry out your desires. I ask this in the strong name of Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
Take a few moments to journal what God had taught you today.
Week 3 // Day 3
“Fasting & God’s Light”
Approached properly, fasting can bring light into our darkness and clarity to our confusion.
Scripture: Isaiah 58 & Psalm 112
Key passages
Isaiah 58:8,10 — “Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind…Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.”
Fasting Thought
Gary Rohrmayer: “By aligning our hearts with God through fasting, we find ourselves consumed by his resplendent nature. This is like the sun breaking forth through the early morning darkness. This breakthrough comes as he turns the gloom and confusion of our darkness into his light of love, joy and peace.”
Playlist: King of Kings by Hillsong
Prayer
Father of Light, as I fast today, blast through the darkness I am facing with the light of your love. Transform the gloom of discouragement with the hope of your pure light. Help me see through the falsehood of darkness and behold the blazing truth of your light. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Take a few moments to journal what God had taught you today.
Week 3 // Day 4
“Fasting & God’s Victory”
Fasting is a weapon used to respond to the present and future attacks of the evil one.
Scripture: Esther 4
Key passages
Esther 4:15-16 — “Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ‘Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.’”
Fasting Thought
Isaac of Syria (8th century theologian): “When the devil, the foe and the tyrant, sees a man bearing this weapon [fasting], he is straightway frightened and he recollects and considers that defeat which he suffered in the wilderness at the hands of the Savior; at once his strength is shattered and the very sight of this weapon, given us by our Commander-in-Chief, burns him.”
Playlist: Resurrecting by Elevation Worship
Prayer
Father in heaven, Lord Almighty, today through my fast I seek to be better prepared for the spiritual battles that I am engaged in. I choose to stand firm in you. I choose to live my life by the truth of God and not by the lies of the enemy. I choose to live righteously and not selfishly. I choose to live by faith and not by sight, extinguishing every attack from the enemy. I choose to live by the power of the Word of God. In the strong name of Jesus my Lord I pray. Amen.
Take a few moments to journal what God had taught you today.
Week 3 // Day 5
“Fasting & The Presence of God”
Are you being surprised in your fasting experience? God loves to surprise his children by strangely satisfying them with his presence.
Scripture: Isaiah 58 & Psalm 1
Key passages
Isaiah 58:6,11 — “No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people… The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.”
Fasting Thought
Gary Rohrmayer: “The rewards of fasting are not often instantaneous but are experienced over time. They come as surprises, like in the midst of a worship service when my soul is stirred and strangely satisfied. Or when I am reading the Word and my inner being is lifted beyond this world with a fresh perspective. Or when I am in prayer and the groaning of my heart experiences a peace that is unexplainable. I have found the rewards ultimately lead to a more intimate and satisfying experience with the God who made me, saves me, and fills me.”
Playlist: Gospel Song by New Hope New York
Prayer
Father in heaven, today during my fast may I experience the sweet satisfying nature of your presence and experience the refreshing power of your abiding strength. Father, for your honor and glory I want to be like a well-watered garden, like a spring that never runs dry. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Take a few moments to journal what God had taught you today.
Week 3 // Day 6
“Fasting & God’s Guiding Hand”
Fasting has its spiritual rewards. One of the rewards of fasting is experiencing the guiding hand of God in our lives.
Scripture: Psalm 23
Key passages
Psalm 23:3-4—“He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.”
Fasting Thought
David Feddes: “Some of history’s best plans and wisest decisions have been made not in a setting of plentiful food but amid fasting. This is true for individual decisions, and it’s true for group decisions. It’s not that going without food suddenly makes a person smarter or gives a group a sudden genius for planning. But when people go without food as an expression of hunger for God’s guidance, some great decisions have resulted.”
Playlist: Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong
Prayer
Father in heaven, I want to experience your guiding and empowering hand on my life and ministry. There is nothing like knowing that the hand of the Lord is on my life. Today through my fasting I bend my heart and my will toward you and your ways. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen
Take a few moments to journal what God had taught you today.
Week 3 // Day 7
“A Holy Habit”
Fasting is a discipline that should be a holy habit.
Scripture: Matthew 9
Key passages
Matthew 9:14-15 —“One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, ‘Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?’ Jesus replied, ‘Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.’”
Fasting Thought
John Piper: “Fasting can bring breakthroughs in the spiritual realm that will never happen in any other way. It is a means of God’s grace and blessing that should not be neglected any longer.”
Playlist: Breakthrough by Red Rocks Worship
Prayer
Father in heaven, thank you for all you have done in my life over the past 21 days. My heart longs for you. My soul craves your presence. I need you. I worship you. I love you. Help me to make fasting a habit in my life. In the precious name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Take a few moments to journal what God had taught you today.