The Springs Church 21 days of prayer and fasting devotional 2021 This will be your best year ever if it is your best year spiritually Welcome This past year has been one for the books. What started out as a normal year turned into something none of had ever seen before. If we have learned anything from this past year, we have learned life is uncertain and unpredictable. We do not know what this coming year holds but we do know our God holds this coming year. I believe this year can be our best year no matter what happens if it is our bast year spiritually. Take this journey with me over the next 28 days and draw closer to God than you ever have before. This book is designed to act as a guide for you as you begin your year. Giving the first month of your year to the Lord signifies that this year belongs to the Lord and everything it holds. My prayer is you will experience God on a whole different level than you ever have before. I am believing this year you will see bondages broken off of your life. This year you will experience restoration in areas you thought were hopeless. I am praying and believing this year you will be filled with God’s Word and God’s Spirit like never before. I pray The Springs Church would experience a year like never before. One filled with a mighty move of God. This year is a year of “re”. We wont (re)vival, (re)pentance, (re)newal, (re)focus and I could go on & on. I am believing God is going to do a mighty thing. Whether you are reading this to start out the year or whether you are part of our church or not I am excited to be seeking God together with you. This book is meant to be used as a resource & devotional. There is much that I have written & much I have borrowed in putting this book together. I have made references and given credit when I know the source. I just desire for you to truly know God more this time next year. I have fasted and prayed for you as you begin this time of seeking after God. I Love Ya’ll, Pastor West Garner P.S. Don’t give up if you miss a day. Keep going. Keep seeking. If you seek Him you WILL find Him. My Prayer List Write your personal prayer reminders here. If God answers a prayer write the date He answered it. Write down what you are believing God for this year. _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ WEEK 1. RECHARGE Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 Day 1 | Starting Well Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV) In 1919, Babe Ruth hit a record 29 home runs for the Boston Red Sox. That December, the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 and a $350,000 loan. Ruth went on to set record after record for the Yankees, and they won numerous World Series with Ruth. The Red Sox had to wait more than 80 years to win another World Series. The Red Sox had made a very bad trade. Every day we are offered trades, and many end up badly. They won’t wind up with a nickname like “The Curse of the Bambino” and be discussed nearly a century later, but they are still bad trades. Daily, we are enticed to trade the reality of God’s goodness, in return for the satisfaction of our own decisions and desires. We are offered various weights and sins that effect the way we run our race. It is so easy to get weighed down and get off course. Our spiritual enemy offers us temptations that appear so gratifying. It often sounds like this, “It won’t hurt” or, “Go ahead there are worse things” or, “Just this Once” or, “You can handle this” These decisions never lead to what we think they will lead to. What we thought would lead to happiness and satisfaction lead to emptiness and misery. As we begin these twenty one days of prayer and fasting together some of us are empty and weighed down because we chose to trade God’s will for the World thrill. We have been carrying the weight of decisions where we chose not to obey God. Lets start these 21 days by making a trade. Two thousand years ago, Jesus traded His life for our sinfulness. He showed His love for us by dying on the cross for our sins. Will you trade your desires for His. Will you trade things that are weighing you down and trust God His way is better than your way. • In this time of fasting what do I need to remove from my life that is keeping me from running the race for Christ. _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ If you have never given your life to Christ but would like to, pray this prayer: “Dear Jesus, I ask You to forgive my sin and take control of my life. I believe Jesus died for my sins and I desire to live for you. I confess you right now as my Lord and my Savior. Thank you for saving me! Amen.” • Read the fasting resources available on our website https://mysprings.church/prayer Worship Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLkHygFqQno Day 2 | Keep It Charged 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV) Worship Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOBIPb-6PTc A pastor got a new cell phone. Before he left the store, the sales clerk said, “Charge your phone fully before you use it.” The pastor wanted to try out the new phone right away, so he turned it on as he left the store. Within minutes, the phone was dead. At the office, he plugged it in but was soon called away for a meeting. Even though the phone was not charged, he took it. When his wife called, the phone went dead in the middle of their conversation. This went on all day. Charge a little; battery dies. Charge a little; battery dies. Charge a little: battery dies. Many people are like the pastor’s phone—never being of full use to the Master because they never receive a full charge. They can get started, but then they fizzle. Isaiah tells us that the people who wait on the Lord shall be fully charged. They are the ones that won’t go dead halfway through the year. Waiting on the Lord means we have to stay in one spot and stay connected to the source of power. If we want our spiritual batteries to stay charged we must be committed to charge for longer periods of times and not a spot charge here and a spot charge there. If we want to have enough power to do what God created us to do we must stay connected to him and keep our spirits charged. This could possibly require us to say “no” to some good things in order to make time for the great things. There will always be many people and things want your time. In order for us to stay spiritually full we must be committed to giving God time to pour into us. Today’s prayer: “Jesus recharge my spirit as I wait on you. I want to be fully charged and have the spiritual power to do what you created me to do. Amen. Day 3 | Just Do What He Says The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. - Psalm 28:7 Worship Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymkl0t0FOcw An experienced cave explorer once invited his friend, Danny, to explore a cave with him. “Danny,” he said, “I discovered this cave, but it’s a little tough to get there. Would you like to come with me?” Danny, always open for a little adventure, agreed. When they entered the cavern, the passageway got smaller and smaller and narrower and narrower. Pretty soon, they had to get down on all fours and crawl. To get through a small narrow crack in the rock, they had to lie on their backs, push with their legs, and keep their hands to their sides. To Danny’s horror, the passageway grew so narrow that they could not breathe and move at the same time. When they took a breath, their lungs expanded and filled the tiny space in the cave, causing them to get stuck.