Daily Devos
Prayer is most effective when it isn’t something we do every now and then, but when it’s a lifestyle we cultivate. To understand how to have a lifestyle of prayer, we can look at the example Jesus gave during His life on earth.
HAVE A CERTAIN TIME
Jesus got up early in the morning to spend time with His Heavenly Father. Make a daily appointment with God — whether it’s first thing in the morning, at lunch, or in the evening — and faithfully keep it.
HAVE A CERTAIN PLACE
Jesus had a specific place He went to pray. Having a designated place to pray helps us remove distractions and frees us to worship and pray out loud.
HAVE A CERTAIN PLAN
When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He gave them a prayer outline. We call it “The Lord’s Prayer.” As we pray every day, our plans for our prayer time can vary, maybe including worship music, Bible reading, and quiet time to listen to God. It doesn’t always have to look the same; it just helps when we have a plan for connecting regularly with God.
The Lord’s Prayer is often recited in churches or at religious events, but there’s so much more to this prayer. Jesus provided this model as an outline to teach us how to pray in a way that connects us to God, aligns our priorities with His, and helps us live dependently on Him. This model takes us through each part of The Lord’s Prayer, showing us how to pray the way Jesus instructed.
“Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
MATTHEW 6:9-13 NKJV
CONNECT WITH GOD RELATIONALLY (“Our Father in Heaven”)
WORSHIP HIS NAME (“Hallowed be Your name”)
PRAY HIS AGENDA FIRST (“Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”)
DEPEND ON HIM FOR EVERYTHING (“Give us this day our daily bread”)
FORGIVE AND BE FORGIVEN (“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors”)
ENGAGE IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE (“And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”)
EXPRESS FAITH IN GOD’S ABILITY (“For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”)
Biblical fasting takes a lot of discipline and strength—strength which you can only receive from God. Your private discipline will bring you rewards in Heaven, says Matthew 6. When you give God your first through fasting, prayer and giving at the beginning of the year, you set the course for the entire year.
The goal of fasting is to draw near to God.
It hits the reset button of our soul and renews us from the inside out.
Fasting enables us to celebrate the goodness and mercy of God. It prepares our hearts for all the good things God desires to bring into our lives.
When deciding on a fast, we encourage you to seek God in prayer and follow what the Holy Spirit leads you to do.
If you’re new to fasting or just need some fresh reminders, we’ve provided some basic info and tips in this guide to help you along the way.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES ABOUT FASTING
Matthew 6:16-18
Matthew 9:14-15
Luke 18:9-14
Acts 27:33-37
Nehemiah 9:1-3
TYPES OF FASTS
Selective Fast: This type of fast involves removing certain elements from your diet. One example of a selective fast is the Daniel Fast, during which you remove meat, sweets, and bread from your diet and consume water and juice for fluids and fruits and vegetables for food.
Partial Fast: This fast is sometimes called the “Jewish Fast” and involves abstaining from eating any type of food in the morning and afternoon. This can either correlate to specific times of the day, such as 6:00 am to 3:00 pm, or from sunup to sundown.
Complete Fast: In this type of fast, you drink only liquids, typically water with light juices as an option.
Soul Fast: This fast is a great option if you do not have much experience fasting food, have health issues that prevent you from fasting food, or if you wish to refocus certain areas of your life that are out of balance. For example, you might choose to stop using social media or watching television for the duration of the fast and then carefully bring that element back into your life in healthy doses at the conclusion of the fast.
The timing of your fast is not as important as the strength of your focus on God as you fast.