Friday, March 07, 2008

Day 12 of 28 Days

Good morning! I want to first say thanks for joining us in this journey. It is very encouraging knowing that there are others who care about the ministry and the work that God is calling us to – that are willing to get in the spiritual trenches with us. You will never know what it has meant to Janice and I.

Let me give you a quick update from the frontlines. (Now remember this is ONLY for those of us who are fasting as we continue to be faithful to that which God has called us to pray for during our time of fasting.) Here’s the update: If you will remember during our 50 days of pray last fall, I shared this word with you “If you start praying about something, do not be surprised if it gets worse before it gets better.” That’s the update! Read John 11: 1-43

Now I want to talk with you about a much deeper word than commitment. I want to talk to you about the word SACRIFICE. We know very little about personal sacrifice today. Personal sacrifice is when you have to give up something or someone that you love very much, and it may even hurt, in order to walk with God.

That’s what the discipline of fasting says to God. There is nothing that You’ve blessed me with that I’m not willing to give up in order to walk with You. The key is SURRENDER!!! The surrendering of your entire life to God indicates personal sacrifice. Your level of surrender and personal sacrifice will determine the depth of your walking with God.

I promised that throughout this fast that I would help you understand this particular fast in hopes of deepening your time with God. So why has God called us to fast. We have been summons by God to fast because it is the only way to be successful in the work He has assigned us to accomplish.

In Nehemiah 1:4 - Nehemiah was given the impossible task of rebuild the walls around Jerusalem, so he prayed and fasted.

In Acts 13:2-3 - The church was given the impossible task of winning the world to Christ, so they prayed and fasted.

Application: God has given our church the daring task of building and winning the lost to Christ that many would considered an impossible task...we must pray and fast!

For 28 days and nights we are asking God for supernatural favor to do His will through prayer and fasting. I cannot wait to see what happens.

The issue is personal sacrifice. The issue is surrender. Christ is our supreme example of both. He did it for us!

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