Find details about our March 10 2nd Saturday here.

Jeremiah 29.7  ”And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile.  Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”

We believe at Kingsway Church that Jesus teaches every believer to live on mission daily.  What that means to us is, not only do we desire to live our personal lives close to Him daily, but also to share His love and hope with those around us.  Those around us include our families, our communities, and other communities around the world.

So what is 2nd Saturday?  2nd Saturday is our local community initiative in Cherry Hill and surrounding local communities.  The 2nd Saturday of every month from 8:00 AM til Noon we participate in local community service, free to the organization/persons served.

Why do we do this?  Simply to show people in our community in a practical way that Jesus loves them.

Please join us on March 10th for 2nd Saturday 2012.  Show up at the church at 8:00 AM ready to serve.  We will be back at the church by Noon.

We are so excited to have you join in to serve our community.  Come with your big smiles, ready to work hard.  Let’s share Jesus together through our generous service.

We have concluded our 3 week series on Money!  Talking about money, possessions, wealth and how we steward them can be a touchy, somewhat controversial topic at times.  Here are a couple big ideas from the series:

1. All that we have belongs to and comes from God.
2. How you use money shows what you value most in life.
3. It is easy to use money to worship ourselves and not bring glory to God.
4. We are NOT owners of anything.  Everything comes from God, we are STEWARDS of what He has entrusted to us.

Here are several of the main texts that we discussed during the series:

• Haggai 2.8 “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
• Point: God owns it all.  Don’t think your stuff is yours.
• Deuteronomy 8.17-18 “He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ Remember the Lord your God.  He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.”
• Point: All of your abilities, gifts, talents, etc. come from God!  You have achieved nothing on your own.  Even your strength comes from Him.  As you invest your time, talent, treasure in the local church, you are “remembering the Lord” and honoring Him.
• James 1.17 “Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.”
• Matthew 6.19-21 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.  Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
• Luke 12.16-21 – Read this one for yourself.
• Point: We don’t want God to call us fools for how we have used all that He has given to us.  Don’t only think of yourself and build bigger barns, give, share, teach and help those around you!!!

Final Questions: On a regular basis, as we give, save and spend money we should ask ourselves these questions:

1. What do I treasure most?
2. Does my monthly budget reflect that my treasure is Christ first and am I prioritizing my spending to match that conviction?
3. What am I really after?  Accumulating stuff, cash, security, power, etc – or am I really after Jesus?
4. With $ are you worshiping God or self?

Answer those several questions and you will know where your heart really is.

May God bless us with more than we can handle because He knows we will invest it in His church & mission!

Obviously, men and women are different. The role of gender in relationships should be defined by the Bible, not by our culture. Discovering who God has designed us to be impacts our relationships in all stages of life. Man/Woman: Created Equal but Different.

For 3 weeks we discussed the biblical role of men and women relating to spiritual growth and responsibility, marriage and finally parenting.  Here are several key texts that were taught.

Matthew 19.4-6 Jesus answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female…” ESV

We begin with the idea that God made humanity (male and female) with equal purpose, worth and value.  We are made, both male and female in His image, designed to bring Him glory in all things.  From there we see distinction.  Jesus in the verse above references the fact that men and women were created differently.  Any parent can see the differences inherent in boys and girls.  We believe God has wired us differently as male and female to show off His creativity and allow us to fulfill distinct roles He has created for us.

Men:
Read 1 Timothy 6.11-14 “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ…” ESV

Women:
Read Titus 2.1-5 “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” ESV

Behind any winning team you’ll find a great coach and any winning coach has a well thought out “game plan”.  This series focused on 4 areas of life that require us having a solid, well thought out game plan.

The 4 areas of focus:

• Relational
• Financial
• Spiritual
• Missional

The new year is here and time seems to be accelerating. Do you have goals for the new year; things that you want to accomplish or someone you want to become? Maybe you want to write your first book, or become a better parent? Run your first marathon or get your blood pressure under control? What if, instead of giving minuscule amounts to your local church, this year, you began to invest with joy and intentionality into the mission of God? Maybe you want to develop two or three close friendships to experience community in a deeper way? Maybe this is the year you get hitched.

THE GOALS
For 2011, I have a question to ask you: do you have a game plan? The goals I mentioned above are worthy ones but without a plan to achieve them, they will simply be wishes. Wishes are useful if life were a fairy tale but we all know it’s not. No fairy godmother or genie from a lamp is going to magically make all of our wishes come true. Goals are what we strive for, order our life around and work to make sure they actually happen.

THE PLAN
In the first six months of teaching at Kingsway, I want to challenge you to create a game plan. A game plan customized to your life in four key areas: relationships, finances, mission and spirituality. This card gives you a framework for where we are going in 2011. My prayer is that God will give us more of His grace and all areas of our lives will be touched by the Gospel.

DOWNLOAD THE GAME PLAN OVERVIEW HERE

-Pastor Bryon

FAST FOCUS

Day 10

It’s Not About You!

Focus Through the Word:

• Luke 4:1-2
• Luke 4:14-15
• Luke 10:2
• Acts 1:8

Luke 4:1-2- ¹ Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,^{[a] 2} where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

Luke 4:14-15- ¹⁴ Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. ¹⁵ He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

Luke 10:2- ² These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.

Acts 1:8-⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Day Ten! In the last ten days, you have given up way more than you probably have in the last ten month combined! You have strived to fill your time with things that honor God and not things that take you away from him. There have been moments that you have felt like you were on top of the world and moments that you wanted to hurt the person next to you who still smelled like their lunch that included more than just fruits and vegetables. God has surely met you in this time and your life has surely been changed. What now? How will these ten days impact you forever? Will you go back to “normal” tomorrow? Think about the names on the list that you wrote this week. Think about those people around you who are desperately in need of knowing who God is and what He has done for them. Most likely, they have lived the last ten days, facing struggles without the help of the Holy Spirit. They have faced tough questions possibly feeling as if there is no God that cares about them enough to answer their questions. They have eaten all 30 meals but have done so aching with loneliness. Think about these people as you study the word today and Jesus’ words and actions in the book of Luke. Today we are going to focus on being on mission as a church! Ask God to make you sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit as you study his word.

In Luke 4, we are reminded that Jesus walked the road that we have just walked! Not only did he complete a fast, but he completed a fast much longer than one we are finishing. He has been right where you are at this very moment. Keep this in mind as you read his commands about what your life should look like going forward. When Jesus returned from the wilderness and his fast, we don’t see him recorded as patting himself on the back and taking a break. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Jesus returned from his time with God so full of the Holy Spirit that his response was to teach regularly. He was on mission from the moment he returned! There is no doubt that God is calling us as a church to be completely on mission from this moment forward. We have had special times with God in these past ten days. We have sought him to fill us with his Holy Spirit. Now our job is to take the truth about Jesus, to take the truth of his love, to the take the truth of the story he has written for us and proclaim it in every way possible to those around us! Are you on mission? If not, what is holding you back?

Jesus proclaims in Luke 10, the harvest is GREAT but the workers are FEW! This is just as true today as it was on the day when Jesus spoke it. To be on mission we need to acknowledge this truth that there are many, many people who God desires to call his own. The problem: the people who know the truth about his love are too ashamed to share it. God break us of our shame and pride! We are encouraged to pray that God would send “more workers into the field”. How can we pray this if we ourselves are not willing to be an answer to that prayer? The amazing thing about God is he never asks us to do anything outside of his power. You are not being asked to share your story on your own. God promises, he makes a promise to you, that when you become one who has an impatient longing to share his good news, that he will empower you with his Holy Spirit! Not only does he promise the Holy Spirit to help you but he promises that you will receive power. God, give us the power of the Holy Spirit to share the truth of who you are with those around us! Are you on mission? If not, what is holding you back?

It’s easy to write words and read words and not be impacted by them. Today, God is calling us to pause from our busy lives and take a look around us. Within the surrounding area of Kingsway Church and within the activities of your day there are people who God is calling us to reach. What does this look like for you? How can you make a point of your life to “lead people in your community into a growing relationship with Jesus”? You cannot share the gospel with anyone unless you are completely convinced of its truth for you first. Jesus came to Earth for you, lived a sinless life for you, died the death of a sinner for you, rose from the dead for you, and now sits at the hand of God praying for you! He died once so that you can have access to your Heavenly Father for eternity. Do you believe the simplicity and profoundness of this for your life? Believing it’s for you is the first step to being able to share the truth of it with your friend, your neighbor, the man sitting next to you on the train today. To be on mission, to allow God to give you opportunities to share his love through word and/or action, we must be intentional in how we interact with the people God has placed in our life. It wouldn’t hurt much to offer to buy your coworker breakfast, lunch, a drink at Starbucks. Your neighbors would find it hard to turn down an invite to your house for snacks and games! These may not seem like huge tasks but oh the moments these gestures would create to sow truth into a searching heart. Join your community’s basketball league, be an example of being real, having fun, but also having something to stand for when everything else is crashing down and you’ve allowed the Holy Spirit to work through you. Turn a passion of yours into the chance to volunteer at a non-profit group near your home. You will meet people in your community, hear their stories, share yours, and have the chance to live on mission!

Are you on mission? If not, what is holding you back?

Prayer: God, thank you for these ten days that you have given us as a church to seek you for change in our lives individually and direction for our church corporately. Thank you for filling me with the Holy Spirit and empowering me to acknowledge what you have done for me and the power of the story that I carry with me. I pray that you would help me to live on mission from this moment on. God I repent for thinking that any of this is about me. I admit that it’s easy to get so wrapped up in my world and my situations that I forget what is going on around me. Make me sensitive today to see the people that you have placed in my life who need to know about you. I long to share your truth, your good news with people in my life.

God, I lift up Kingsway Church, my church, to you right now. I pray that you would make us so eager to be a light in our community sharing your hope and reaching out to those around us. Help us to fully comprehend the mission that you have set before us. Make it more than words coming from our pastors or words in a pretty mission statement. Burn your mission for us into the core of who we are. As we acknowledge your mission for us, would you help us to submit to it? God instead of being prideful as we seek to carry your gospel to those around us, teach us to humbly answer your command to be your witnesses wherever we go. If Kingsway Church carries only one legacy, let it be that we are made up of people who could not resist the urge, the longing, the eagerness to share your love where ever we are, who ever we interact with whether it be through an act of service, a encouraging word, or a straight portrayal of the gospel message. God we want to be known not just as nice people, but as people who share your truth every chance we get. Soften us where we have become calloused, sharpen our ears where we have not been able to hear your voice, change us in every was possible until we are living on mission and pleasing you with our lives. We give you our church today, we submit to your mission for us, and we ask that as we move forward that you would use us in our communities in ways that only you can imagine! In Jesus’ Name! Amen

Our Weakness-His Will

Focus Through the Word: Romans 8:26-30

One week ago, you set out on a journey. You prayed and decided what you would give up, what desires you would lay aside, what you hoped to see happen through it all. Whether you have made it through everyday without giving in once or whether you have found yourself weak every day, today God has a new word for you and something new he would like to show you! Isn’t it so wonderful how God’s mercies are new every morning? There is a good chance that you have had one or two mornings in your life that you have woken up still gritting your teeth over something that happened before. Isn’t amazing that God never has a morning like that? As much as you struggled with your sin yesterday, God greeted you this morning with a clean slate, the chance to meet with him in the exact way that he has planned. Take the time to meet with him today despite your weaknesses and you will be changed.

Romans 8:26-30- ²⁶ And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. ²⁷ And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers^[a] in harmony with God’s own will. ²⁸ And we know that God causes everything to work together^[b] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. ²⁹ For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

On certain days and in certain situations, we just have no idea what or how to pray. This can be very disheartening. When praying is the only thing you feel you can do to have an impact on a situation, the desires is there to want to “get it right”, to be able to pray in a way that makes a lasting difference. Two problems exist in this mentality. If we are seeking to please God by our words, we can very quickly cross over into believing in the act of praying rather than in praying as an act that humbly expressing our faith in and need for God!  We can also begin to rely more on ourselves and our good words and thoughts rather than what the Holy Spirit wants to pray through us. Self reliance in everything opposite of what God calls us to. God promises in Romans 8 that when we are weak and lacking the words to pray, the Holy Spirit prays for us. He prays what we don’t have the ability or knowledge to pray. That’s a pretty cool promise by itself. Now consider that the Holy Spirit is in unity with the Father. He knows the will of God. Because of this, what he prays always lines up with God’s will! Isn’t it awesome that our weakness, not knowing what or how to pray, leads to the Holy Spirit accessing the perfect will of God for us? As you take time to pray today, pray that the Holy Spirit would pray for you when you don’t have the words to pray.

Verse 28 promises that “all things work together for the good for those who love” him. Sometimes in our finite minds, we take this to mean that whatever we go through is going to make us feel good, make us happy, or go the way we were hoping. Truly, what God is speaking of here is what we were put on this Earth for. God is promising that whatever situation we find ourselves in, what we are facing in this moment, what ever road we are about to journey down, God promises that through it, his name will be glorified and that you will be drawn into closer relationship with him.

Let’s take a few minutes to be blown away by the end of this passage! We start out by being reminded that we are weak but God has provided a way for us to access him perfectly through the Holy Spirit. God knows we are weak yet we are told beginning in verse 28 that despite our weaknesses, God has chosen us! Not only has he chosen us but he has called us to glorify his name and be an active part of what he is doing today. If that isn’t cool enough, in order to see these things fulfilled, God has given us right standing with him. Come on now, are you starting to see the fullness of God’s love for you? That’s not even the end of it. He has chosen us, called us to be vessels of his power and Holy Spirit to change lives, given us right standing with him, and finally has placed on us his glory. Stop right there. What does that mean for you today? In God’s perfect will, you are to be covered with his glory. Glory is defined as distinction bestowed by common consent. Are you walking the fullness of God’s glory today? If not, don’t go any further until you seek God for the fullness of his glory promised in Romans 8 to set you apart today!

Prayer: God, today I am weak. I wish I had the words to pray to change everything I and those around me are facing. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of me and pray for me in this moment. Show me how to access the fullness of this truth today. Holy Spirit, I need you to pray for me today, for my life, the life of those around me, and for my church. You have access to the heart and true will of God. Pray the things I don’t know to pray so that the ultimate will of God may be done in everything I am facing and in every decision that Kingsway Church will make in the coming year. God I thank you that even though I might not like what I am seeing in my life right now that you promise to work all things for the good. I acknowledge that doesn’t guarantee my earthly comfort but it does promise that your name will be lifted up in everything I face and that through everything I will be drawn into closer relationship with you! God, I long to be used by you today even through my weaknesses. Thank you for equipping me with the Holy Spirit to counteract those weaknesses. I am humbled by the truth of your desire for my life even in my short comings. Who am I to be chosen and called by you? Your amazing grace has given me right standing with you, something I could never attain if I worked every day of my whole life. God teach me what it is to walk in the fullness of your glory today. Use me as your vessel today despite my weaknesses! In Jesus’ Name! Amen

—————————-

Day Six

Focus: Frequent, Fervent, Full of Faith: Power in Prayer

Focus Through the Word:

• James 5:16-18
• Luke 11:1-13

James 5:16-18- ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

¹⁷ Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Luke 11:1-13-¹ One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

² He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,^[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.^[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.^[c]
And lead us not into temptation.^[d]’”

⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity^[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for^[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

We must never forget that the highest kind of prayer is never the making of requests.  Prayer at its holiest moment is the entering into God, to a place of such blessed union as it makes miracles seem tame and remarkable answers to prayer appear something very far short of wonderful by comparison. -A.W. Tozer

Do you believe in prayer? Don’t. Believe instead in a God who hears and responds. James tells us the prayer of a righteous man IS powerful and effective. There is no question there! Why is prayer powerful and effective, because we are righteous on our own? Absolutely not! It’s all about dependence on and faith in God. In order for us to be made righteous, we have to believe that Jesus came, walked on the earth, died, and rose again for our forgiveness. To approach God in prayer, we have to believe that his ways are higher than our ways and that he has our ultimate good in his view. After praying, we have to believe that God is working on our behalf whether we hear him, feel him, and see him, or have no proof beside our faith that he listened to what’s going on in our world. So you see, prayer has nothing to with us or our words and everything to do with our belief that God IS hearing and working!

Jesus lovingly and clearly lays out for us how we should pray. In summarizing Luke 11, we see that Jesus commands three things of our prayer, frequency, fervency, and faith. What do these words mean in relation to our prayer life and how we access our Heavenly Father? Frequency speaks to persistence. The man who was in need of bread would not stop knocking on his friend’s door until he got what he wanted! He wasn’t even concerned that his neighbor would get annoyed, he knew what he needed and he was not stopping until he got it. Are you persistently seeking God for the things that you need in this moment? Fervency speaks to intensity. Paint a picture of this parable in your head. A man needs food, it’s midnight, he needs it enough to knock on someone else’s door. If he is that desperate, there is very little chance that his knocks were light and dainty; chances are he was pounding on the door. Jesus endorsed this kind of intensity in seeking what we need from God! Does the intensity of your prayer life reflect the desperation of your need? Finally, Jesus, through all of Luke 11 commands us to have faith when we pray, faith that God can provide for us, faith that God can forgive us, faith that when we approach God he will provide an answer. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” God is asking us to believe for these things even when we have no earthly view of them when we pray. Are you seeking God persistently, intensely, and in faith for the things that you need?

Do you believe God hears you and will respond to your prayers?  Don’t answer that too quickly.  The way to know the answer is to identify how much time and energy you invest into praying.

Prayer: God, I want my prayer life to be effective and powerful! I long to seek for you just like the man in Luke 11 sought for the bread that he so desperately needed. Holy Spirit, empower me to believe for things I cannot see! God search my heart, show me whether I have believed in prayer or whether I believe in the power of a God who promises to respond when I pray. Help me to align the time and energy I invest in my prayer time with my belief that you hear me and will respond. Guide me as I journey to a place of richer, deeper prayer, communing with you. I believe that you have made me righteous and I also believe the promise in James that says that the prayer of a righteous person IS powerful and effective. Hold me up in the moments when it’s hard to believe you hear me and strengthen me to know you are right there working in every moment. I long to be close to you. In Jesus’ Name! Amen!

Fast Focus

Focus Through Prayer: It’s Time to Clean House!

Focus Through the Word:

• Romans 8:5-6
• Psalm 51
• Hebrews 4:12

Romans 8:5-6- ⁵ Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. ⁶ So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

Psalm 51- ¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
² Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
³ For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
⁴ Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
⁵ For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
⁶ But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.

⁷ Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
⁹ Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
¹³ Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
¹⁴ Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
¹⁵ Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.

¹⁶ You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
¹⁸ Look with favor on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

Hebrews 4:12 (New Living Translation)- ¹² For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Hebrews 4:12 (New International Version)- ¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified Version)- ¹²For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

“One of the reasons for fasting is to know what is in us…in fasting it will come out. You will see it. And you will have to deal with it quickly or smother it again.” -John Piper

Today is day 5 and you are half way there! Now it is time to get up close and personal.
The fact is we ALL have our stuff! There is not one person reading this today who doesn’t have issues, insecurities, areas of pride, doubt, or shame that cause us to be divided from God’s perfect plan for our life. As Jon Piper makes very clear, fasting will reveal to us those things that need to be dealt with. It’s then our decision whether we allow God to lead us as we work through our issues or if we are going to push that issue down one more time. Today, you have a chance to allow God to search your heart. When he points out the things that are not pleasing to him and are a detriment to you, you then need to choose what you do. Allow God to help you begin to work through what’s keeping you from His best for your life and freedom will be the result!

Hopefully throughout these past five days, you have worked to spend some more time with God and in his word than you normally would. Let’s take a look at the work of God’s word as it deals with what is happening in our hearts. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s word is alive and powerful. When we spend time earnestly seeking God through his word we cannot avoid beginning to see issues that we have in the motives and thoughts of our heart. Chances are, as you have spent more time in his word this week, you have already begun to sense God tugging on your heart in certain areas. Allow God’s word to do its work and take the steps to respond to what he shows you.

Prayer: God thank you for the power of your word and the power of your Holy Spirit that empowers us to desire change. God, today I acknowledge just as David acknowledged in Psalm 51 that I am sinful, that I am in need of your incredible mercy! Would you pour of your forgiveness and grace on me today as I search to align my life with the commandments in your word.

Focus Through Prayer: YOU have a story-Prepare to share it!

Focus Through the Word:

• Romans 1:15-16
• 2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Romans 1:15-16- ¹⁵ So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News. ¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentiles.

2 Corinthians 4:3-6- ³ If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. ⁴ Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. ⁵ You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

Remember today that our time of fasting, our time of seeking God, these extra moments you are spending with Him this week are not about earning his approval! Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice on the cross so that every bit of God’s love that is available for us could be poured out. Take a few moments to think about your goals for this fast, what you have experienced to this point, and what your goals are moving forward. Pray that God would examine your heart. Ask him to reveal to you any motives within you that are seeking to EARN His love. Lay those things at the foot of the Cross where Jesus paid the price so you wouldn’t have to work for God’s love. We fast to show us what desires control us, we fast to gain understanding of where God is taking us, we fast as an outward reminder of an inner commitment we have made to Him. Be free today to enjoy this special time with him remembering that God loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love regardless of the things you do.

Reread Romans 1:15-16. Can you feel the excitement in Paul’s writing? He didn’t use the word eager because he thought God would be pleased with it. He chose to use the word eager because he truly felt an impatient longing to speak the truth of the Gospel! The truth that Jesus came, lived a sinless life, died the death of a sinner and was resurrected so that we who were dead in our sin (Ephesians 2:1) might have access to our Heavenly Father. Stop for a moment. Are you eager to share this Gospel? When you think of the people in your life who desperately need to know the truth about Jesus, do you feel an impatient longing to talk to them? Paul goes on to say, “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ.” Is it possible that somewhere inside of you, you are ashamed to share what you have learned about Jesus? The word ashamed is defined as unwilling or restrained because of fear of shame, ridicule, or disapproval. Take some time to write down some reasons that you may be experiencing a fear of sharing the Good News. Before you go on remember the words of Paul in Romans 8:1, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” This self examination is NOT to make you feel guilty. We are examining ourselves and allowing God to examine us to see where we can allow the Holy Spirit to work. Perhaps one of the reasons we may feel a fear of sharing the Good News is because we just don’t think we have the right words to express what Jesus has done for us or how he has changed our lives. Take some time to write an answer to these questions. If you had the opportunity to share Jesus with a friend who desperately wanted to know about him, how would you explain what he did for us through his time on Earth? Now explain what he has done in YOUR life! Share your story. Where were you before Jesus came into your life, how has that changed, what is he doing now, and where are you longing for him to take you? The work of Jesus through his ministry on Earth and on the Cross is Good News and most definitely your story includes many moments that Jesus has done powerful things in your life and has made ugly situations beautiful. It is very unlikely that someone could hear a story of Good News and a changed life and not be affected, even if they don’t show it right away. As you reread your answers to these questions, pray that God would stir up in you an impatient longing to share your story with someone!

In 2 Corinthians, we have the chance to see a rather sad but very true picture painted for us. If we are ashamed and hide the story that is living within us (we all have one, we just wrote it!) behind a veil, we are hiding it from people who are dead IN their sin! Could you ever walk past someone drowning in a clean pool? Probably not. Yet everyday we interact with people in our family, at our job, in stores who are drowning not in a clean pretty pool but in the filth of their sin. Pray that as the reality of this hits you, and you begin to feel the truth of your story resonating in your heart, that you would not be able to keep hidden behind a veil any longer! You have a story that speaks forth light and you are surrounded by people who Satan is blinding so they cannot even see the light. Take a few moments now to think about people in your life who desperately need to hear this Good News we are talking about. It is not by accident that God has placed them in your life. God has given you your story, the good parts and the parts you’d rather forget as a tool to reveal light into the dark parts of their lives. You are called to share the Good News whether you are a sales person, a mail carrier, an engineer, a mom, and on and on. One of the reasons you are alive and breathing today is to be a light in the darkness! Make a list of specific people in your life who need the light that God has placed inside of you. In Matthew 13, Jesus shares a parable about a man sowing seeds. He sows his seeds (his story in this case) on many different kinds of soil. The only soil to grow the seed was the good, rich soil. As we pray today, we are believing that as God has given you a list of people who need to hear about him, that he is also preparing the soil of their hearts. We are praying that when he provides an opportunity for you to share your story with them that the soil of their hearts would be so ready to receive the Good News that the result would be a friend, a family member, a grocery store bagger who is no longer dead in his or her sin but now has the ability to access his or her Heavenly Father for the first time! Really! When that is what is waiting for the people in our life, how could we hold it back?

Prayer: Jesus! I am crying out to you today! Would you give me an impatient longing, an eagerness to share the story you have given me with those around me. Help me to realize the truth of the power of what you have done for me paired with my testimony. I pray that as I go throughout my day that you would help me to create a list of people in my life who need to hear about you and how you have changed me. Open up supernatural opportunities to share what you have done for me with these people. I long to be used as a vessel to pour your light into dark hearts! Help me to push aside fear and shame. Enable me to see the true condition of the people around me and use that to evoke in me a passion to come out from behind the veil. Thank you God that you promise in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that your grace is sufficient for me and your strength is made perfect in my weakness! Be strength in every weak are of my life today. Holy Spirit, empower me to speak the words you have given me. I don’t long to do this one my own but I know that I must rely on you to speak through me. Through the power that is given to me through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross, I bind the work of the Enemy. Satan, you can no longer blind the people I love! God, break through those blinders, allow your light to pierce through the darkness. Go before me and prepare the hearts of every person I will share my story with. Allow them to receive the truth of who you are in the soft soil of their hearts so that they may believe and receive you into their lives! I pray and ask that through this time I have spent with you, studying your word that lives would be transformed from a state of being dead in their sin to alive in Jesus with full access to God, their Heavenly Father! In Jesus’ Name I pray! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: Becoming a Church after God’s own Heart

Focus Through the Word:

• Matthew 16:18
• Proverbs 16:1,3,9
• Ephesians 2:11-18

Press in today. At the beginning of this fast, you were encouraged to set goals, to determine what you were hoping to see happen from this time with the Lord. Review those goals today. Take a few minutes to write down what you have learned, what you have struggled with and what you still hope to see accomplished! As we are about to read in Proverbs 16:3, we are encouraged to “commit our actions to the Lord.” The promise that follows this encouragement is that for those who commit their plans to him, “your plans will succeed.” That is your promise today! Take hold of it in every moment. The third day of a fast is never easy so if you are feeling weak, cling with everything you have to the hope that is found in the Word of God and to the reasons you have set out on this journey. Most importantly remember the words that came from Jesus in his time of fasting in Matthew 4:4, “Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” SEEK after God today, find truth in and savor the power of his word, and commit your plans (for this fast) to him and they will succeed!

Matthew 16:18- Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

Proverbs 16:1,3,9- ¹ We can make our own plans,
but the Lord gives the right answer.

³ Commit your actions to the Lord,
and your plans will succeed.

⁹ We can make our plans,
but the Lord determines our steps.

Ephesians 2:11-18- ¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. ¹⁵ He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

To be a church that presses hard after the Heart of God, we need to understand where we have come from, where we are and where we are going. In Matthew 16, we see what must have been quite an intense conversation between Jesus and Peter. Peter and the other disciples are being asked by the man that they hold in very high esteem who they believe he is. Jesus is setting up the scene to establish his church and to begin to set his promises in place over that very church. After Peter’s confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” in verse 16, Jesus blesses Peter and proclaims that his church will be built on that rock. The rock he refers to is the confession that Peter has just made-the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Loving God. The truth that Jesus IS the Christ, God’s Son must be the cornerstone of any church that desires to be church after God’s heart!

Take some time to read through the verses highlighted in Proverbs 16. Did you notice that each verse began with human action but ultimately ends with us turning those actions to the LORD for his answer, his prosperity, and his approval? In Matthew, we see that Peter had to make a statement of his faith before he could receive the fullness of what Jesus was preparing to speak to him. Again in Proverbs, we see that God calls us to make plans, to dream, to set out in action but more importantly he wants us to commit our plans to Him, to His will. When we flow in this way, we, as a church and as individuals, begin to experience the ability to move and flow and be in agreement and harmony with God’s will, purpose, and plans. Just as we talked about yesterday, we begin to walk in the fullness of what it means to reconciled to Him! As we pray through these verses today, let us SEEK God’s direction for Kingsway Church! We long to be a church after his heart, let today be a day of action- seeking him in prayer for where he is taking us.

It is vital that as a church, we don’t get so consumed with what is happening inside our walls that we forget to seek God for what he wants us to do within our community. How are we, followers of Christ, called to live among people who desperately need him? God speaks clearly in Ephesians 2 of the plans he had through the work of Christ on the Cross. Speaking specifically in this passage about Jews and Gentiles, we are reminded that God’s “purpose was to create in himself one people (or one new humanity)…” He longed to bring peace between two very divided groups. Later in the passage, we are reminded that the Jews and Gentiles, through the work on the Cross, are “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone.” Can you see that God longed for his creation to be unified together bringing honor and glory to his name not separately but together with the truth of Jesus Christ as their linking point? As a church, we are seeking how God would have us function in our community and surrounding areas. Through these verses, it seems as though we have two commands from God. First, God calls us to be peacemakers just as he desired to create peace between the Jews and the Gentiles through sending his Son to die for us.  We are to share the love, peace, and hope that comes from God where ever we are. Second, we are to do this with one mission- to through the power of the Holy Spirit lead people into relationship with Jesus Christ. Therefore, striving to meet God’s longing that his creation would be unified bringing honor and glory to his name with belief in Jesus as the Christ as our cornerstone! We need to seek God’s direction for how he longs to see this take place through Kingsway Church. How do we make that representation corporately and how do we do it when we are interacting with people throughout our daily lives.

Prayer: Jesus, you have called your church to set the truth of what you have done for us as our cornerstone! I pray today that you would stir up in us a burning passion to lift you up in everything we do as a church corporately and as representatives of your church wherever we go individually.  We long to see people in our community be drawn in by your love. We long to stand in worship with those in our surrounding areas acknowledging YOU as our only way to gain access to the Father.

God as we seek you for specific direction for our church in the coming year, make true the promises set forth in Proverbs 16. As we put our hands to the plow, make plans, and dream big for this year, we commit those actions and plans to you believing that you will answer us, determine our steps and ensure our success in delivering the Salvation message of the cross. Set within our pastors and ministry leaders vision for our church, the ability to hear clearly your voice, and follow hard after what you have shown them.

Let us burn with the message of Christ. To those who come in our doors, those who we encounter through community outreaches like Trunk or Treat, and those we see throughout our daily lives, let us be carriers of the truth of the hope that exists only through relationship with Jesus! As a church we long to be used by you! Help us to lay down our agendas, our thoughts about who you are, and what you would have us do. Overtake our thinking and transforms our hearts and our minds to be vessels of your thoughts, your dreams, and your plans. We give every aspect of Kingsway Church in 2011 over to you! Do your work in us! In Jesus’ Name we pray! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: Desiring the Whole Truth of the Word of God
Focus Through the Word:

• Matthew 4:1-4
• Amos 8:11-12
• Philippians 3:19-21
• Ephesians 2:11-22

What would it mean if you took time to savor the Word of God today? Going to your favorite restaurant or to a relative’s house for dinner, you most likely go with expectancy. Expectancy for what you will eat, hopes for what it will taste like, and what your favorite parts will be. Could you imagine if we entered our time in God’s word with this level of expectancy every time? As you read through the verses below, take time to savor the richness of God’s truth for you today! The same creator that longs for us to go on a quest for the truth of who he is also loves you enough to have a specific word for you in this very moment of your life. To savor means to give oneself to the enjoyment of!

Don’t rush through your time in the scripture today- allow yourself to enjoy the richness of God’s word!

Matthew 4:1-4- “ ¹ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. ² For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. ³ During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,   ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Amos 8:11-12- ¹¹ “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread or water
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
¹² People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from border to border^[a]
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.

Philippians 3:19-21- ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

Ephesians 2:11-22- Oneness and Peace in Christ

¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. ¹⁵ He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

A Temple for the Lord

¹⁹ So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. ²⁰ Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. ²¹ We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. ²² Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

You will Crave-How will you Respond?

At some point today, if you haven’t experienced this already, your flesh will begin screaming for the things it misses- your favorite food, coffee, down time in front of the TV or computer. You will begin to see what desires control you. Allow yourself to travel to the desert where Jesus was fasting for 40 days. He was hot, tired, not well rested, and most definitely beginning to feel the extreme physical affects of not eating for a very long time. He was in the middle of a desert!

Let’s look at two things that are very important and have the potential to push you through those times today when your body begins to crave what it is lacking. First, Jesus was on a quest to connect with his Father’s heart. Don’t think that he spent his forty days wallowing in self pity wondering why he was chosen or asked to fast for such a long time. He took the time he was given to SEEK God FIRST. In addition, the enemy was right there tempting him, reminding him of the power he had to make bread appear. Jesus’ flesh was weak, just as weak as you or I would be if we fasted for 40 days. The overwhelming truth though was that his spirit was strong. He was filled with the Spirit of God and in the time of temptation, he fought the enemy with the truth and power of the Word!

Here is your truth today: ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ This is not a nice string of words that some nice man said. This is a powerful truth that came from the mouth of Jesus who now sits at the right hand of God making intercession (praying) for us! Jesus has been RIGHT where you are today- fighting the temptation of hunger and desires that have become too strong. Cling to his response as your hope today.

Think for a moment of the men and women spoken of in Amos 8. Imagine experiencing a time when God’s voice could not be heard. Not only could it not be heard but as hard as a person sought for Him, sought for His truth; the result was silence! Deafening silence! Sorry Indiana Jones, even you couldn’t find this one. People continued to search and continued to search and came up empty. They longed to be able to savor the Word of God. Many of us sit in a house with multiple bibles and access to any translation we could desire through the internet BUT we let days and weeks and months go by without taking a hold of the truth that’s right there for us to savor! Instead we have allowed our appetites to creep in and become god in our life, appetite for delicious food, appetite for acceptance, appetite for more, more, more.

Fill the Void!

Over the next ten days, as you let go of those appetites that have taken an unhealthy place in your life it is essential that you replace them. God longs for us to replace these appetites with a genuine hunger for the truth of his Word. Not just the Word of God in part but the Word of God in it’s whole complete message of life for you. Today, as you begin to make that transition, look at what His Word says about who you are in Christ. Stop and savor the truth of who you were, what Jesus has done for you, and who you are becoming!

Ephesians 2:1-10 reminds us that before Jesus, we were dead in our sin! Dead in your sin! Can you just stop for a second to let that settle in? Whether you were 4, 24, 44, or 64 when Jesus came into your life you left a state of being dead IN your sin. Allow God to give you a picture of what that looked like for you- not for condemnation but so you can begin to appreciate even more who are becoming! Verse ten tells us that we are “God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” Again stop and take time to worship God for the truth of these words. While you were still dead, surrounded by the truth of your sin, God saw you as worthy not only to be worked on but to be reborn through Jesus Christ to do good things- essentially to live a life that brings glory and honor to God. If you’re not feeling overwhelmingly humbled by that truth stop here and pray through these verses until you begin to feel God revealing His truth to you. Jesus’ blood has brought you near to the heart, the plan, and the dream of God. Not only are you near it, you are in the center of it. We have been reconciled to God through the cross. To be reconciled is to be restored, to be brought into agreement and harmony. The creator of the universe so longs for relationship with you that he made a way for you to be restored to him, that your life would move and flow and be in agreement and harmony with his will, purpose, and plan. God doesn’t need you or me to complete his plans but he longs for us so deeply that he desired and made possible unity with him! It’s because of the work of Jesus on the cross that we can fast and pray and go on a quest for God and find him. You have access to your Heavenly Father right now-that is a scriptural right you carry as a follower of Jesus. Finally, not only can God be found but he has made the choice to live inside each one of us through the Holy Spirit! Are you walking in the power of the truth of this today?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I come to you today weak and broken. I know that today I am going to fight cravings for the things I have let go of during this fast. Holy Spirit, I need your empowerment to help me to plug into the Word of God. Help me to savor the truth of the scriptures today even when my flesh in screaming. I choose to believe today that I do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God! I can make it through today denying myself those things my flesh feels it needs. God I long to seek after you like the people in Amos did but thank you that you have made a way for me to find you. Speak to me today, reveal to me those things that you long for me to hear. Jesus how could you, a sinless man, make the choice to take on the filth of my sin and die for me in such a humiliating way so that I could have access to my Heavenly Father? Help me to really grasp the truth of that today! I was dead in my sin but you saw me as worth dieing for. I pray the humility that comes from that truth never loses its power. Thank you God for making a way so I can search hard after you, find you, connect with you, and experience the power of your Holy Spirit living inside of me. Be real inside of me today.

There is nothing more important than the truth that is written loud and clear in the pages of the Bible. God would you stir up inside the heart of every person at Kingsway Church the desire to not only search your scriptures but also to uphold the whole truth of your Word. I long to be a part of a church that loves your word, studies your word, and portrays the fullness of it to those around us in our workplaces, our homes, our schools, everywhere we go. I pray that as you stir up in our church a deeper hunger for your word that you would equip our leaders Pastor Bryon and Pastor Arlena as they minister on Sunday mornings and throughout the week, RJ and Linda and they minister to our young people, and every life group leader who ministers the truth of the Word to those young and old. God give us and our leaders a love for the whole truth of your word, leaving nothing aside. I give you my life and I give you my church today! Do your work in us! In Jesus’ Name! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: What Is Most Important
Focus Through the Word: Matthew 6:33

Take a few moments to read through today’s focus scripture. Reading a verse in different translations will help you gain a deeper understanding of what God was speaking through the author. Don’t forget to write down the things that God speaks to you as you read his word for today.

New Living Translation: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

New International Version: “But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Amplified Version: “But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all his kingdom and his righteousness (his way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.”

God’s heart is so clearly and specifically portrayed in this verse. He longs for us to SEEK him FIRST. To grasp the fullness of what he is asking of us today and everyday, let’s take a deeper look into the meaning of these words.

In the Amplified Version, we see that the word seek means to aim at and strive after. It also means to go in search or quest of. Seek may seem mild and peaceful at first glance but what mild quest have you observed lately? Indiana Jones goes in quest of nothing mildly. He does whatever he has to in order to get to the middle of what he is seeking after! God wants us to go in search of the truth of who he is and what is most important to him with an Indiana Jones kind of passion.

First means before all others or anything else with respect to time, order, rank, importance, etc. The most important thing in our life is not simply to go in quest of who God is but to make that quest above all other things! Today, the Creator of the atom, the Creator of the concept of water, the Creator of the apple you are going to eat for lunch has one desire of your life- that you would go on an all out quest for the truth of who he is and that you would make that quest the most important event in your day.

Prayer: God! You are so Great! Even if I tried I could never comprehend the truth of your power. Still even in your greatness, you long for me to seek you and seek hard after you! Today, God I am seeking you for what is to be most important in my life. I pray that as I move throughout my day that you would help me sort through my life, my thoughts, my feelings, my motives. Reveal to me the things that I need to let go and help me to allow those things that should be most important in my life to take the place that you desire. Give me the ability to make YOU and seeking after you most important in my life.

God you have given me an amazing church equipped with leaders who strive hard after you. Would you help us as a church in 2011 to lock into what is most important to your heart? We long to go on a quest for your goal, mission, and plan for Kingsway Church. Holy Spirit, help us to find the heart of God for our church in 2011 and not stray from it even once. Help our leadership team to catch your vision for what is most important and continually lead us in that direction throughout this year. I surrender my life and my church to the work of your plan! In Jesus’ Name. Amen!

Deep within the heart of God, there is a plan, mission and goal for Kingsway Church and for you in 2011. Fasting is a spiritual discipline used by men and women for centuries to meld our earthly dreams and passions with God’s plan and ultimately with what makes his heart beat. Through this fast, we will pursue God’s plans for our church and for us as individuals.

Definition of Fasting: Throughout Scripture fasting refers to abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. Biblical fasting always centers on spiritual purposes.

Over the next ten days, we will lay down our daily routines of eating, relaxing in front of the TV and spending time on the computer in exchange for pursuing God.  We will exchange our daily distractions for the spiritual disciplines He longs for us to desire through reading the Bible, praying, and journaling.

Our hope is that we will experience a remarkable increase in our genuine hunger for spending time with our Creator.

Don’t forget, the idea is to be real about your goals, not concerned about following rules! Focus more on the details of your personal connection time with God in the coming days and less on your specific menu and you will be overtaken by the blessings designed to flow through a Spirit led fast.

Fast Framework

Sunrise, Monday, January 17, 2011- Begin Daniel Fast

If you are feeling led to partake in a fast that includes food, we recommend a Daniel Fast. Please see the information provided below to see what foods are and are not to be eaten on a Daniel Fast. (Remember, God is seeking hearts that are searching hard after him, not minds that have created the perfect menu!)

If you are limited by any condition that would keep you from completing a Daniel Fast, there are many other options! Continue reading under “Fast Foods” to see what you could give up during the coming days.

Sunset, Wednesday, January 26, 2011- Break the Fast

We will meet together as a church to fellowship and enjoy a much anticipated meal together.

Fast Forward

Take a few quiet moments before Monday at sunrise, to decide why YOU are doing this and what you hope to see happen through these next ten days . Are you hoping to read your Bible instead of eating lunch, spend time praying for the church on your car ride to work, take time to worship while your son or daughter naps instead of catching up on the latest news?  What are you hoping to learn about God? What are you hoping he shows you about yourself? Set goals that you can attain! Pray that God would show you what HE wants to do through you and in you through your sacrifice. We encourage you to keep a record of your experiences. Write down your goals at the beginning, record your struggles and your victories as you walk out your plan each day, and reflect on the experience when  you have finished the journey!

Fast Foods

A Daniel Fast is a partial fast. You will most likely be asked to give up at least one of your favorite foods but you will be provided with an amazing array of foods to choose from. Focus on eating fruits and vegetables that are pure and simple. A list of foods to eat and foods to avoid has been provided for you.

The reason we fast is to replace our daily distractions with extra special time with God. If a fast from a large variety of foods is not possible for you, choose something that will be just as meaningful but within your limitations. Here are some examples: give up a specific food or beverage, television, social media, other technology, or anything else that you could replace with genuine time with God!

* If you have any known medical conditions or suspect such conditions, consult  your doctor before beginning the fast.

Foods to Eat

Fruits
These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Fruits include but are not limited to apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, figs, grapefruit, grapes, guava, honeydew melon, kiwi, lemons, limes, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, prunes, raisins, raspberries, strawberries, tangelos, tangerines, watermelon.

Vegetables
These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Vegetables include but are not limited to artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chili peppers, collard greens, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, ginger root, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, onions, parsley, potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, scallions, spinach, sprouts, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, watercress, yams, zucchini, veggie burgers are an option if you are not allergic to soy.

Whole Grains
All whole grains including but not limited to whole wheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats, barley, grits, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas, rice cakes and popcorn.

Seeds, Nuts, and Sprouts
All nuts and seeds, including but not limited to sunflower seeds, cashews, peanuts, sesame. Also nut butters including peanut butter.

Legumes
These can be canned or dried. Legumes include but are not limited to dried beans, pinto beans, split peas, lentils, black eyed peas, kidney beans, black beans, cannellini beans, white beans.

Oils
All quality oils including but not limited to olive, canola, grape seed, peanut, and sesame.

Beverages
Spring water, distilled water or other pure waters, unsweetened soy milk, herbal tea, honey, natural fruit juice (no sugar added)

Other
Tofu, soy products, vinegar, seasonings, salt, herbs and spices.

Foods to Avoid

Meat – All meat and animal products including but not limited to beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and fish.

Dairy – All dairy products including but not limited to milk, cheese, cream, butter, and eggs.

Sweeteners – All sweeteners including but not limited to sugar, raw sugar, honey, syrups, molasses, and cane juice.

Breads – All leavened bread including Ezekiel Bread (it contains yeast and honey) and baked goods.

Refined/Processed Foods – All refined and processed food products including but not limited to artificial flavorings, food additives, chemicals, white rice, white flour, and foods that contain artificial preservatives.

Fried Foods – All deep fried foods including but not limited to potato chips, French fries, corn chips.

Fats – All solid fats including shortening, margarine, lard and foods high in fat.

Beverages – Beverages including but not limited to coffee, tea, herbal teas, carbonated beverages, energy drinks, and alcohol.

Great Questions to Ask

What is the purpose of the fast?
We are choosing to fast together like Daniel did. He made a decision not to eat the King’s food as an outward symbol of an inward commitment he had made to God. Let your choices over the next ten days reflect the hunger you have for God’s presence in your life.

Why should I participate?
God is certain to bless our life in new and exciting ways during the fast. We encourage you to write down your prayers and the many ways God reveals himself to you. We can’t wait to see what God is going to do in your life and in the life of our church!

How strict should I be with what I eat on the fast?
The list of food provided is merely a first step to get you thinking about making better food choices. Remember, this fast is about growing your relationship with God. He’s not as concerned about what is in your stomach as He is about what is in your heart.

Can I eat foods that are not specifically listed?
If you are not sure about a certain food, ask God to reveal to you whether it should be part of your diet over the next ten days. Since there is no definitive list of foods, for the Daniel Fast, it is truly the spirit of Daniel’s decision that we are imitating over the next ten days.

How can I involve my children?
Attempt to eliminate sugar, bread and possibly dairy from your children’s diet. Include whole wheat pasta and soy milk. Mostly, encourage them to eat what you are eating. You may also want to incorporate some chicken into your children’s meals for added protein. You will be surprised what your children may be willing to try when they are aware of the fast, why they are doing it, and that the whole family is doing it together.

If you are not looking to cut food out of your children’s diets there are many other ways to include them in the fast. Be sure to talk to them about the reason you are fasting and why you want them to be a part of this experience as well. Consider removing daily pleasures from your child’s routine such as computer and/or TV time.  Encourage your children to ask God to show them something he would like them to sacrifice for him during the fast.

What if I have concerns about participating because of my health?
If you have any condition that would prohibit you from being a part of the Daniel Fast, you can participate in a different way! Choose something from your daily routine (i.e. specific foods or beverages, television, other technology, ect.) and fast in that manner for the next 10 days. Remember, the details are not as important as the spirit in which you participate.

Helpful Links

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-crazy-idea-of-fasting-in-09

http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting/fastingbasics.php

http://www.daniel-fast.com/recipes.html

Fast Focus

Focus Through Prayer: It’s Time to Clean House!

Focus Through the Word:

• Romans 8:5-6
• Psalm 51
• Hebrews 4:12

Romans 8:5-6- ⁵ Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. ⁶ So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

Psalm 51- ¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
² Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
³ For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
⁴ Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
⁵ For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
⁶ But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.

⁷ Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
⁹ Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
¹³ Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
¹⁴ Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
¹⁵ Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.

¹⁶ You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
¹⁸ Look with favor on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

Hebrews 4:12 (New Living Translation)- ¹² For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Hebrews 4:12 (New International Version)- ¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified Version)- ¹²For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

“One of the reasons for fasting is to know what is in us…in fasting it will come out. You will see it. And you will have to deal with it quickly or smother it again.” -John Piper

Today is day 5 and you are half way there! Now it is time to get up close and personal.
The fact is we ALL have our stuff! There is not one person reading this today who doesn’t have issues, insecurities, areas of pride, doubt, or shame that cause us to be divided from God’s perfect plan for our life. As Jon Piper makes very clear, fasting will reveal to us those things that need to be dealt with. It’s then our decision whether we allow God to lead us as we work through our issues or if we are going to push that issue down one more time. Today, you have a chance to allow God to search your heart. When he points out the things that are not pleasing to him and are a detriment to you, you then need to choose what you do. Allow God to help you begin to work through what’s keeping you from His best for your life and freedom will be the result!

Hopefully throughout these past five days, you have worked to spend some more time with God and in his word than you normally would. Let’s take a look at the work of God’s word as it deals with what is happening in our hearts. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s word is alive and powerful. When we spend time earnestly seeking God through his word we cannot avoid beginning to see issues that we have in the motives and thoughts of our heart. Chances are, as you have spent more time in his word this week, you have already begun to sense God tugging on your heart in certain areas. Allow God’s word to do its work and take the steps to respond to what he shows you.

Prayer: God thank you for the power of your word and the power of your Holy Spirit that empowers us to desire change. God, today I acknowledge just as David acknowledged in Psalm 51 that I am sinful, that I am in need of your incredible mercy! Would you pour of your forgiveness and grace on me today as I search to align my life with the commandments in your word.

Focus Through Prayer: YOU have a story-Prepare to share it!

Focus Through the Word:

• Romans 1:15-16
• 2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Romans 1:15-16- ¹⁵ So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News. ¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentiles.

2 Corinthians 4:3-6- ³ If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. ⁴ Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. ⁵ You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

Remember today that our time of fasting, our time of seeking God, these extra moments you are spending with Him this week are not about earning his approval! Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice on the cross so that every bit of God’s love that is available for us could be poured out. Take a few moments to think about your goals for this fast, what you have experienced to this point, and what your goals are moving forward. Pray that God would examine your heart. Ask him to reveal to you any motives within you that are seeking to EARN His love. Lay those things at the foot of the Cross where Jesus paid the price so you wouldn’t have to work for God’s love. We fast to show us what desires control us, we fast to gain understanding of where God is taking us, we fast as an outward reminder of an inner commitment we have made to Him. Be free today to enjoy this special time with him remembering that God loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love regardless of the things you do.

Reread Romans 1:15-16. Can you feel the excitement in Paul’s writing? He didn’t use the word eager because he thought God would be pleased with it. He chose to use the word eager because he truly felt an impatient longing to speak the truth of the Gospel! The truth that Jesus came, lived a sinless life, died the death of a sinner and was resurrected so that we who were dead in our sin (Ephesians 2:1) might have access to our Heavenly Father. Stop for a moment. Are you eager to share this Gospel? When you think of the people in your life who desperately need to know the truth about Jesus, do you feel an impatient longing to talk to them? Paul goes on to say, “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ.” Is it possible that somewhere inside of you, you are ashamed to share what you have learned about Jesus? The word ashamed is defined as unwilling or restrained because of fear of shame, ridicule, or disapproval. Take some time to write down some reasons that you may be experiencing a fear of sharing the Good News. Before you go on remember the words of Paul in Romans 8:1, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” This self examination is NOT to make you feel guilty. We are examining ourselves and allowing God to examine us to see where we can allow the Holy Spirit to work. Perhaps one of the reasons we may feel a fear of sharing the Good News is because we just don’t think we have the right words to express what Jesus has done for us or how he has changed our lives. Take some time to write an answer to these questions. If you had the opportunity to share Jesus with a friend who desperately wanted to know about him, how would you explain what he did for us through his time on Earth? Now explain what he has done in YOUR life! Share your story. Where were you before Jesus came into your life, how has that changed, what is he doing now, and where are you longing for him to take you? The work of Jesus through his ministry on Earth and on the Cross is Good News and most definitely your story includes many moments that Jesus has done powerful things in your life and has made ugly situations beautiful. It is very unlikely that someone could hear a story of Good News and a changed life and not be affected, even if they don’t show it right away. As you reread your answers to these questions, pray that God would stir up in you an impatient longing to share your story with someone!

In 2 Corinthians, we have the chance to see a rather sad but very true picture painted for us. If we are ashamed and hide the story that is living within us (we all have one, we just wrote it!) behind a veil, we are hiding it from people who are dead IN their sin! Could you ever walk past someone drowning in a clean pool? Probably not. Yet everyday we interact with people in our family, at our job, in stores who are drowning not in a clean pretty pool but in the filth of their sin. Pray that as the reality of this hits you, and you begin to feel the truth of your story resonating in your heart, that you would not be able to keep hidden behind a veil any longer! You have a story that speaks forth light and you are surrounded by people who Satan is blinding so they cannot even see the light. Take a few moments now to think about people in your life who desperately need to hear this Good News we are talking about. It is not by accident that God has placed them in your life. God has given you your story, the good parts and the parts you’d rather forget as a tool to reveal light into the dark parts of their lives. You are called to share the Good News whether you are a sales person, a mail carrier, an engineer, a mom, and on and on. One of the reasons you are alive and breathing today is to be a light in the darkness! Make a list of specific people in your life who need the light that God has placed inside of you. In Matthew 13, Jesus shares a parable about a man sowing seeds. He sows his seeds (his story in this case) on many different kinds of soil. The only soil to grow the seed was the good, rich soil. As we pray today, we are believing that as God has given you a list of people who need to hear about him, that he is also preparing the soil of their hearts. We are praying that when he provides an opportunity for you to share your story with them that the soil of their hearts would be so ready to receive the Good News that the result would be a friend, a family member, a grocery store bagger who is no longer dead in his or her sin but now has the ability to access his or her Heavenly Father for the first time! Really! When that is what is waiting for the people in our life, how could we hold it back?

Prayer: Jesus! I am crying out to you today! Would you give me an impatient longing, an eagerness to share the story you have given me with those around me. Help me to realize the truth of the power of what you have done for me paired with my testimony. I pray that as I go throughout my day that you would help me to create a list of people in my life who need to hear about you and how you have changed me. Open up supernatural opportunities to share what you have done for me with these people. I long to be used as a vessel to pour your light into dark hearts! Help me to push aside fear and shame. Enable me to see the true condition of the people around me and use that to evoke in me a passion to come out from behind the veil. Thank you God that you promise in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that your grace is sufficient for me and your strength is made perfect in my weakness! Be strength in every weak are of my life today. Holy Spirit, empower me to speak the words you have given me. I don’t long to do this one my own but I know that I must rely on you to speak through me. Through the power that is given to me through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross, I bind the work of the Enemy. Satan, you can no longer blind the people I love! God, break through those blinders, allow your light to pierce through the darkness. Go before me and prepare the hearts of every person I will share my story with. Allow them to receive the truth of who you are in the soft soil of their hearts so that they may believe and receive you into their lives! I pray and ask that through this time I have spent with you, studying your word that lives would be transformed from a state of being dead in their sin to alive in Jesus with full access to God, their Heavenly Father! In Jesus’ Name I pray! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: Becoming a Church after God’s own Heart

Focus Through the Word:

• Matthew 16:18
• Proverbs 16:1,3,9
• Ephesians 2:11-18

Press in today. At the beginning of this fast, you were encouraged to set goals, to determine what you were hoping to see happen from this time with the Lord. Review those goals today. Take a few minutes to write down what you have learned, what you have struggled with and what you still hope to see accomplished! As we are about to read in Proverbs 16:3, we are encouraged to “commit our actions to the Lord.” The promise that follows this encouragement is that for those who commit their plans to him, “your plans will succeed.” That is your promise today! Take hold of it in every moment. The third day of a fast is never easy so if you are feeling weak, cling with everything you have to the hope that is found in the Word of God and to the reasons you have set out on this journey. Most importantly remember the words that came from Jesus in his time of fasting in Matthew 4:4, “Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” SEEK after God today, find truth in and savor the power of his word, and commit your plans (for this fast) to him and they will succeed!

Matthew 16:18- Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

Proverbs 16:1,3,9- ¹ We can make our own plans,
but the Lord gives the right answer.

³ Commit your actions to the Lord,
and your plans will succeed.

⁹ We can make our plans,
but the Lord determines our steps.

Ephesians 2:11-18- ¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. ¹⁵ He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

To be a church that presses hard after the Heart of God, we need to understand where we have come from, where we are and where we are going. In Matthew 16, we see what must have been quite an intense conversation between Jesus and Peter. Peter and the other disciples are being asked by the man that they hold in very high esteem who they believe he is. Jesus is setting up the scene to establish his church and to begin to set his promises in place over that very church. After Peter’s confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” in verse 16, Jesus blesses Peter and proclaims that his church will be built on that rock. The rock he refers to is the confession that Peter has just made-the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Loving God. The truth that Jesus IS the Christ, God’s Son must be the cornerstone of any church that desires to be church after God’s heart!

Take some time to read through the verses highlighted in Proverbs 16. Did you notice that each verse began with human action but ultimately ends with us turning those actions to the LORD for his answer, his prosperity, and his approval? In Matthew, we see that Peter had to make a statement of his faith before he could receive the fullness of what Jesus was preparing to speak to him. Again in Proverbs, we see that God calls us to make plans, to dream, to set out in action but more importantly he wants us to commit our plans to Him, to His will. When we flow in this way, we, as a church and as individuals, begin to experience the ability to move and flow and be in agreement and harmony with God’s will, purpose, and plans. Just as we talked about yesterday, we begin to walk in the fullness of what it means to reconciled to Him! As we pray through these verses today, let us SEEK God’s direction for Kingsway Church! We long to be a church after his heart, let today be a day of action- seeking him in prayer for where he is taking us.

It is vital that as a church, we don’t get so consumed with what is happening inside our walls that we forget to seek God for what he wants us to do within our community. How are we, followers of Christ, called to live among people who desperately need him? God speaks clearly in Ephesians 2 of the plans he had through the work of Christ on the Cross. Speaking specifically in this passage about Jews and Gentiles, we are reminded that God’s “purpose was to create in himself one people (or one new humanity)…” He longed to bring peace between two very divided groups. Later in the passage, we are reminded that the Jews and Gentiles, through the work on the Cross, are “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone.” Can you see that God longed for his creation to be unified together bringing honor and glory to his name not separately but together with the truth of Jesus Christ as their linking point? As a church, we are seeking how God would have us function in our community and surrounding areas. Through these verses, it seems as though we have two commands from God. First, God calls us to be peacemakers just as he desired to create peace between the Jews and the Gentiles through sending his Son to die for us.  We are to share the love, peace, and hope that comes from God where ever we are. Second, we are to do this with one mission- to through the power of the Holy Spirit lead people into relationship with Jesus Christ. Therefore, striving to meet God’s longing that his creation would be unified bringing honor and glory to his name with belief in Jesus as the Christ as our cornerstone! We need to seek God’s direction for how he longs to see this take place through Kingsway Church. How do we make that representation corporately and how do we do it when we are interacting with people throughout our daily lives.

Prayer: Jesus, you have called your church to set the truth of what you have done for us as our cornerstone! I pray today that you would stir up in us a burning passion to lift you up in everything we do as a church corporately and as representatives of your church wherever we go individually.  We long to see people in our community be drawn in by your love. We long to stand in worship with those in our surrounding areas acknowledging YOU as our only way to gain access to the Father.

God as we seek you for specific direction for our church in the coming year, make true the promises set forth in Proverbs 16. As we put our hands to the plow, make plans, and dream big for this year, we commit those actions and plans to you believing that you will answer us, determine our steps and ensure our success in delivering the Salvation message of the cross. Set within our pastors and ministry leaders vision for our church, the ability to hear clearly your voice, and follow hard after what you have shown them.

Let us burn with the message of Christ. To those who come in our doors, those who we encounter through community outreaches like Trunk or Treat, and those we see throughout our daily lives, let us be carriers of the truth of the hope that exists only through relationship with Jesus! As a church we long to be used by you! Help us to lay down our agendas, our thoughts about who you are, and what you would have us do. Overtake our thinking and transforms our hearts and our minds to be vessels of your thoughts, your dreams, and your plans. We give every aspect of Kingsway Church in 2011 over to you! Do your work in us! In Jesus’ Name we pray! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: Desiring the Whole Truth of the Word of God
Focus Through the Word:

• Matthew 4:1-4
• Amos 8:11-12
• Philippians 3:19-21
• Ephesians 2:11-22

What would it mean if you took time to savor the Word of God today? Going to your favorite restaurant or to a relative’s house for dinner, you most likely go with expectancy. Expectancy for what you will eat, hopes for what it will taste like, and what your favorite parts will be. Could you imagine if we entered our time in God’s word with this level of expectancy every time? As you read through the verses below, take time to savor the richness of God’s truth for you today! The same creator that longs for us to go on a quest for the truth of who he is also loves you enough to have a specific word for you in this very moment of your life. To savor means to give oneself to the enjoyment of!

Don’t rush through your time in the scripture today- allow yourself to enjoy the richness of God’s word!

Matthew 4:1-4- “ ¹ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. ² For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. ³ During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,   ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Amos 8:11-12- ¹¹ “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread or water
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
¹² People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from border to border^[a]
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.

Philippians 3:19-21- ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

Ephesians 2:11-22- Oneness and Peace in Christ

¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. ¹⁵ He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

A Temple for the Lord

¹⁹ So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. ²⁰ Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. ²¹ We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. ²² Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

You will Crave-How will you Respond?

At some point today, if you haven’t experienced this already, your flesh will begin screaming for the things it misses- your favorite food, coffee, down time in front of the TV or computer. You will begin to see what desires control you. Allow yourself to travel to the desert where Jesus was fasting for 40 days. He was hot, tired, not well rested, and most definitely beginning to feel the extreme physical affects of not eating for a very long time. He was in the middle of a desert!

Let’s look at two things that are very important and have the potential to push you through those times today when your body begins to crave what it is lacking. First, Jesus was on a quest to connect with his Father’s heart. Don’t think that he spent his forty days wallowing in self pity wondering why he was chosen or asked to fast for such a long time. He took the time he was given to SEEK God FIRST. In addition, the enemy was right there tempting him, reminding him of the power he had to make bread appear. Jesus’ flesh was weak, just as weak as you or I would be if we fasted for 40 days. The overwhelming truth though was that his spirit was strong. He was filled with the Spirit of God and in the time of temptation, he fought the enemy with the truth and power of the Word!

Here is your truth today: ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ This is not a nice string of words that some nice man said. This is a powerful truth that came from the mouth of Jesus who now sits at the right hand of God making intercession (praying) for us! Jesus has been RIGHT where you are today- fighting the temptation of hunger and desires that have become too strong. Cling to his response as your hope today.

Think for a moment of the men and women spoken of in Amos 8. Imagine experiencing a time when God’s voice could not be heard. Not only could it not be heard but as hard as a person sought for Him, sought for His truth; the result was silence! Deafening silence! Sorry Indiana Jones, even you couldn’t find this one. People continued to search and continued to search and came up empty. They longed to be able to savor the Word of God. Many of us sit in a house with multiple bibles and access to any translation we could desire through the internet BUT we let days and weeks and months go by without taking a hold of the truth that’s right there for us to savor! Instead we have allowed our appetites to creep in and become god in our life, appetite for delicious food, appetite for acceptance, appetite for more, more, more.

Fill the Void!

Over the next ten days, as you let go of those appetites that have taken an unhealthy place in your life it is essential that you replace them. God longs for us to replace these appetites with a genuine hunger for the truth of his Word. Not just the Word of God in part but the Word of God in it’s whole complete message of life for you. Today, as you begin to make that transition, look at what His Word says about who you are in Christ. Stop and savor the truth of who you were, what Jesus has done for you, and who you are becoming!

Ephesians 2:1-10 reminds us that before Jesus, we were dead in our sin! Dead in your sin! Can you just stop for a second to let that settle in? Whether you were 4, 24, 44, or 64 when Jesus came into your life you left a state of being dead IN your sin. Allow God to give you a picture of what that looked like for you- not for condemnation but so you can begin to appreciate even more who are becoming! Verse ten tells us that we are “God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” Again stop and take time to worship God for the truth of these words. While you were still dead, surrounded by the truth of your sin, God saw you as worthy not only to be worked on but to be reborn through Jesus Christ to do good things- essentially to live a life that brings glory and honor to God. If you’re not feeling overwhelmingly humbled by that truth stop here and pray through these verses until you begin to feel God revealing His truth to you. Jesus’ blood has brought you near to the heart, the plan, and the dream of God. Not only are you near it, you are in the center of it. We have been reconciled to God through the cross. To be reconciled is to be restored, to be brought into agreement and harmony. The creator of the universe so longs for relationship with you that he made a way for you to be restored to him, that your life would move and flow and be in agreement and harmony with his will, purpose, and plan. God doesn’t need you or me to complete his plans but he longs for us so deeply that he desired and made possible unity with him! It’s because of the work of Jesus on the cross that we can fast and pray and go on a quest for God and find him. You have access to your Heavenly Father right now-that is a scriptural right you carry as a follower of Jesus. Finally, not only can God be found but he has made the choice to live inside each one of us through the Holy Spirit! Are you walking in the power of the truth of this today?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I come to you today weak and broken. I know that today I am going to fight cravings for the things I have let go of during this fast. Holy Spirit, I need your empowerment to help me to plug into the Word of God. Help me to savor the truth of the scriptures today even when my flesh in screaming. I choose to believe today that I do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God! I can make it through today denying myself those things my flesh feels it needs. God I long to seek after you like the people in Amos did but thank you that you have made a way for me to find you. Speak to me today, reveal to me those things that you long for me to hear. Jesus how could you, a sinless man, make the choice to take on the filth of my sin and die for me in such a humiliating way so that I could have access to my Heavenly Father? Help me to really grasp the truth of that today! I was dead in my sin but you saw me as worth dieing for. I pray the humility that comes from that truth never loses its power. Thank you God for making a way so I can search hard after you, find you, connect with you, and experience the power of your Holy Spirit living inside of me. Be real inside of me today.

There is nothing more important than the truth that is written loud and clear in the pages of the Bible. God would you stir up inside the heart of every person at Kingsway Church the desire to not only search your scriptures but also to uphold the whole truth of your Word. I long to be a part of a church that loves your word, studies your word, and portrays the fullness of it to those around us in our workplaces, our homes, our schools, everywhere we go. I pray that as you stir up in our church a deeper hunger for your word that you would equip our leaders Pastor Bryon and Pastor Arlena as they minister on Sunday mornings and throughout the week, RJ and Linda and they minister to our young people, and every life group leader who ministers the truth of the Word to those young and old. God give us and our leaders a love for the whole truth of your word, leaving nothing aside. I give you my life and I give you my church today! Do your work in us! In Jesus’ Name! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: What Is Most Important
Focus Through the Word: Matthew 6:33

Take a few moments to read through today’s focus scripture. Reading a verse in different translations will help you gain a deeper understanding of what God was speaking through the author. Don’t forget to write down the things that God speaks to you as you read his word for today.

New Living Translation: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

New International Version: “But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Amplified Version: “But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all his kingdom and his righteousness (his way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.”

God’s heart is so clearly and specifically portrayed in this verse. He longs for us to SEEK him FIRST. To grasp the fullness of what he is asking of us today and everyday, let’s take a deeper look into the meaning of these words.

In the Amplified Version, we see that the word seek means to aim at and strive after. It also means to go in search or quest of. Seek may seem mild and peaceful at first glance but what mild quest have you observed lately? Indiana Jones goes in quest of nothing mildly. He does whatever he has to in order to get to the middle of what he is seeking after! God wants us to go in search of the truth of who he is and what is most important to him with an Indiana Jones kind of passion.

First means before all others or anything else with respect to time, order, rank, importance, etc. The most important thing in our life is not simply to go in quest of who God is but to make that quest above all other things! Today, the Creator of the atom, the Creator of the concept of water, the Creator of the apple you are going to eat for lunch has one desire of your life- that you would go on an all out quest for the truth of who he is and that you would make that quest the most important event in your day.

Prayer: God! You are so Great! Even if I tried I could never comprehend the truth of your power. Still even in your greatness, you long for me to seek you and seek hard after you! Today, God I am seeking you for what is to be most important in my life. I pray that as I move throughout my day that you would help me sort through my life, my thoughts, my feelings, my motives. Reveal to me the things that I need to let go and help me to allow those things that should be most important in my life to take the place that you desire. Give me the ability to make YOU and seeking after you most important in my life.

God you have given me an amazing church equipped with leaders who strive hard after you. Would you help us as a church in 2011 to lock into what is most important to your heart? We long to go on a quest for your goal, mission, and plan for Kingsway Church. Holy Spirit, help us to find the heart of God for our church in 2011 and not stray from it even once. Help our leadership team to catch your vision for what is most important and continually lead us in that direction throughout this year. I surrender my life and my church to the work of your plan! In Jesus’ Name. Amen!

Deep within the heart of God, there is a plan, mission and goal for Kingsway Church and for you in 2011. Fasting is a spiritual discipline used by men and women for centuries to meld our earthly dreams and passions with God’s plan and ultimately with what makes his heart beat. Through this fast, we will pursue God’s plans for our church and for us as individuals.

Definition of Fasting: Throughout Scripture fasting refers to abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. Biblical fasting always centers on spiritual purposes.

Over the next ten days, we will lay down our daily routines of eating, relaxing in front of the TV and spending time on the computer in exchange for pursuing God.  We will exchange our daily distractions for the spiritual disciplines He longs for us to desire through reading the Bible, praying, and journaling.

Our hope is that we will experience a remarkable increase in our genuine hunger for spending time with our Creator.

Don’t forget, the idea is to be real about your goals, not concerned about following rules! Focus more on the details of your personal connection time with God in the coming days and less on your specific menu and you will be overtaken by the blessings designed to flow through a Spirit led fast.

Fast Framework

Sunrise, Monday, January 17, 2011- Begin Daniel Fast

If you are feeling led to partake in a fast that includes food, we recommend a Daniel Fast. Please see the information provided below to see what foods are and are not to be eaten on a Daniel Fast. (Remember, God is seeking hearts that are searching hard after him, not minds that have created the perfect menu!)

If you are limited by any condition that would keep you from completing a Daniel Fast, there are many other options! Continue reading under “Fast Foods” to see what you could give up during the coming days.

Sunset, Wednesday, January 26, 2011- Break the Fast

We will meet together as a church to fellowship and enjoy a much anticipated meal together.

Fast Forward

Take a few quiet moments before Monday at sunrise, to decide why YOU are doing this and what you hope to see happen through these next ten days . Are you hoping to read your Bible instead of eating lunch, spend time praying for the church on your car ride to work, take time to worship while your son or daughter naps instead of catching up on the latest news?  What are you hoping to learn about God? What are you hoping he shows you about yourself? Set goals that you can attain! Pray that God would show you what HE wants to do through you and in you through your sacrifice. We encourage you to keep a record of your experiences. Write down your goals at the beginning, record your struggles and your victories as you walk out your plan each day, and reflect on the experience when  you have finished the journey!

Fast Foods

A Daniel Fast is a partial fast. You will most likely be asked to give up at least one of your favorite foods but you will be provided with an amazing array of foods to choose from. Focus on eating fruits and vegetables that are pure and simple. A list of foods to eat and foods to avoid has been provided for you.

The reason we fast is to replace our daily distractions with extra special time with God. If a fast from a large variety of foods is not possible for you, choose something that will be just as meaningful but within your limitations. Here are some examples: give up a specific food or beverage, television, social media, other technology, or anything else that you could replace with genuine time with God!

* If you have any known medical conditions or suspect such conditions, consult  your doctor before beginning the fast.

Foods to Eat

Fruits
These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Fruits include but are not limited to apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, figs, grapefruit, grapes, guava, honeydew melon, kiwi, lemons, limes, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, prunes, raisins, raspberries, strawberries, tangelos, tangerines, watermelon.

Vegetables
These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Vegetables include but are not limited to artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chili peppers, collard greens, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, ginger root, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, onions, parsley, potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, scallions, spinach, sprouts, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, watercress, yams, zucchini, veggie burgers are an option if you are not allergic to soy.

Whole Grains
All whole grains including but not limited to whole wheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats, barley, grits, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas, rice cakes and popcorn.

Seeds, Nuts, and Sprouts
All nuts and seeds, including but not limited to sunflower seeds, cashews, peanuts, sesame. Also nut butters including peanut butter.

Legumes
These can be canned or dried. Legumes include but are not limited to dried beans, pinto beans, split peas, lentils, black eyed peas, kidney beans, black beans, cannellini beans, white beans.

Oils
All quality oils including but not limited to olive, canola, grape seed, peanut, and sesame.

Beverages
Spring water, distilled water or other pure waters, unsweetened soy milk, herbal tea, honey, natural fruit juice (no sugar added)

Other
Tofu, soy products, vinegar, seasonings, salt, herbs and spices.

Foods to Avoid

Meat – All meat and animal products including but not limited to beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and fish.

Dairy – All dairy products including but not limited to milk, cheese, cream, butter, and eggs.

Sweeteners – All sweeteners including but not limited to sugar, raw sugar, honey, syrups, molasses, and cane juice.

Breads – All leavened bread including Ezekiel Bread (it contains yeast and honey) and baked goods.

Refined/Processed Foods – All refined and processed food products including but not limited to artificial flavorings, food additives, chemicals, white rice, white flour, and foods that contain artificial preservatives.

Fried Foods – All deep fried foods including but not limited to potato chips, French fries, corn chips.

Fats – All solid fats including shortening, margarine, lard and foods high in fat.

Beverages – Beverages including but not limited to coffee, tea, herbal teas, carbonated beverages, energy drinks, and alcohol.

Great Questions to Ask

What is the purpose of the fast?
We are choosing to fast together like Daniel did. He made a decision not to eat the King’s food as an outward symbol of an inward commitment he had made to God. Let your choices over the next ten days reflect the hunger you have for God’s presence in your life.

Why should I participate?
God is certain to bless our life in new and exciting ways during the fast. We encourage you to write down your prayers and the many ways God reveals himself to you. We can’t wait to see what God is going to do in your life and in the life of our church!

How strict should I be with what I eat on the fast?
The list of food provided is merely a first step to get you thinking about making better food choices. Remember, this fast is about growing your relationship with God. He’s not as concerned about what is in your stomach as He is about what is in your heart.

Can I eat foods that are not specifically listed?
If you are not sure about a certain food, ask God to reveal to you whether it should be part of your diet over the next ten days. Since there is no definitive list of foods, for the Daniel Fast, it is truly the spirit of Daniel’s decision that we are imitating over the next ten days.

How can I involve my children?
Attempt to eliminate sugar, bread and possibly dairy from your children’s diet. Include whole wheat pasta and soy milk. Mostly, encourage them to eat what you are eating. You may also want to incorporate some chicken into your children’s meals for added protein. You will be surprised what your children may be willing to try when they are aware of the fast, why they are doing it, and that the whole family is doing it together.

If you are not looking to cut food out of your children’s diets there are many other ways to include them in the fast. Be sure to talk to them about the reason you are fasting and why you want them to be a part of this experience as well. Consider removing daily pleasures from your child’s routine such as computer and/or TV time.  Encourage your children to ask God to show them something he would like them to sacrifice for him during the fast.

What if I have concerns about participating because of my health?
If you have any condition that would prohibit you from being a part of the Daniel Fast, you can participate in a different way! Choose something from your daily routine (i.e. specific foods or beverages, television, other technology, ect.) and fast in that manner for the next 10 days. Remember, the details are not as important as the spirit in which you participate.

Helpful Links

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-crazy-idea-of-fasting-in-09

http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting/fastingbasics.php

http://www.daniel-fast.com/recipes.html

FAST FOCUS

Our Weakness-His Will

Focus Through the Word: Romans 8:26-30

One week ago, you set out on a journey. You prayed and decided what you would give up, what desires you would lay aside, what you hoped to see happen through it all. Whether you have made it through everyday without giving in once or whether you have found yourself weak every day, today God has a new word for you and something new he would like to show you! Isn’t it so wonderful how God’s mercies are new every morning? There is a good chance that you have had one or two mornings in your life that you have woken up still gritting your teeth over something that happened before. Isn’t amazing that God never has a morning like that? As much as you struggled with your sin yesterday, God greeted you this morning with a clean slate, the chance to meet with him in the exact way that he has planned. Take the time to meet with him today despite your weaknesses and you will be changed.

Romans 8:26-30- ²⁶ And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. ²⁷ And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers^[a] in harmony with God’s own will. ²⁸ And we know that God causes everything to work together^[b] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. ²⁹ For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

On certain days and in certain situations, we just have no idea what or how to pray. This can be very disheartening. When praying is the only thing you feel you can do to have an impact on a situation, the desires is there to want to “get it right”, to be able to pray in a way that makes a lasting difference. Two problems exist in this mentality. If we are seeking to please God by our words, we can very quickly cross over into believing in the act of praying rather than in praying as an act that humbly expressing our faith in and need for God!  We can also begin to rely more on ourselves and our good words and thoughts rather than what the Holy Spirit wants to pray through us. Self reliance in everything opposite of what God calls us to. God promises in Romans 8 that when we are weak and lacking the words to pray, the Holy Spirit prays for us. He prays what we don’t have the ability or knowledge to pray. That’s a pretty cool promise by itself. Now consider that the Holy Spirit is in unity with the Father. He knows the will of God. Because of this, what he prays always lines up with God’s will! Isn’t it awesome that our weakness, not knowing what or how to pray, leads to the Holy Spirit accessing the perfect will of God for us? As you take time to pray today, pray that the Holy Spirit would pray for you when you don’t have the words to pray.

Verse 28 promises that “all things work together for the good for those who love” him. Sometimes in our finite minds, we take this to mean that whatever we go through is going to make us feel good, make us happy, or go the way we were hoping. Truly, what God is speaking of here is what we were put on this Earth for. God is promising that whatever situation we find ourselves in, what we are facing in this moment, what ever road we are about to journey down, God promises that through it, his name will be glorified and that you will be drawn into closer relationship with him.

Let’s take a few minutes to be blown away by the end of this passage! We start out by being reminded that we are weak but God has provided a way for us to access him perfectly through the Holy Spirit. God knows we are weak yet we are told beginning in verse 28 that despite our weaknesses, God has chosen us! Not only has he chosen us but he has called us to glorify his name and be an active part of what he is doing today. If that isn’t cool enough, in order to see these things fulfilled, God has given us right standing with him. Come on now, are you starting to see the fullness of God’s love for you? That’s not even the end of it. He has chosen us, called us to be vessels of his power and Holy Spirit to change lives, given us right standing with him, and finally has placed on us his glory. Stop right there. What does that mean for you today? In God’s perfect will, you are to be covered with his glory. Glory is defined as distinction bestowed by common consent. Are you walking the fullness of God’s glory today? If not, don’t go any further until you seek God for the fullness of his glory promised in Romans 8 to set you apart today!

Prayer: God, today I am weak. I wish I had the words to pray to change everything I and those around me are facing. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of me and pray for me in this moment. Show me how to access the fullness of this truth today. Holy Spirit, I need you to pray for me today, for my life, the life of those around me, and for my church. You have access to the heart and true will of God. Pray the things I don’t know to pray so that the ultimate will of God may be done in everything I am facing and in every decision that Kingsway Church will make in the coming year. God I thank you that even though I might not like what I am seeing in my life right now that you promise to work all things for the good. I acknowledge that doesn’t guarantee my earthly comfort but it does promise that your name will be lifted up in everything I face and that through everything I will be drawn into closer relationship with you! God, I long to be used by you today even through my weaknesses. Thank you for equipping me with the Holy Spirit to counteract those weaknesses. I am humbled by the truth of your desire for my life even in my short comings. Who am I to be chosen and called by you? Your amazing grace has given me right standing with you, something I could never attain if I worked every day of my whole life. God teach me what it is to walk in the fullness of your glory today. Use me as your vessel today despite my weaknesses! In Jesus’ Name! Amen

—————————-

Day Six

Focus: Frequent, Fervent, Full of Faith: Power in Prayer

Focus Through the Word:

• James 5:16-18
• Luke 11:1-13

James 5:16-18- ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

¹⁷ Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Luke 11:1-13-¹ One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

² He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,^[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.^[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.^[c]
And lead us not into temptation.^[d]’”

⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity^[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for^[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

We must never forget that the highest kind of prayer is never the making of requests.  Prayer at its holiest moment is the entering into God, to a place of such blessed union as it makes miracles seem tame and remarkable answers to prayer appear something very far short of wonderful by comparison. -A.W. Tozer

Do you believe in prayer? Don’t. Believe instead in a God who hears and responds. James tells us the prayer of a righteous man IS powerful and effective. There is no question there! Why is prayer powerful and effective, because we are righteous on our own? Absolutely not! It’s all about dependence on and faith in God. In order for us to be made righteous, we have to believe that Jesus came, walked on the earth, died, and rose again for our forgiveness. To approach God in prayer, we have to believe that his ways are higher than our ways and that he has our ultimate good in his view. After praying, we have to believe that God is working on our behalf whether we hear him, feel him, and see him, or have no proof beside our faith that he listened to what’s going on in our world. So you see, prayer has nothing to with us or our words and everything to do with our belief that God IS hearing and working!

Jesus lovingly and clearly lays out for us how we should pray. In summarizing Luke 11, we see that Jesus commands three things of our prayer, frequency, fervency, and faith. What do these words mean in relation to our prayer life and how we access our Heavenly Father? Frequency speaks to persistence. The man who was in need of bread would not stop knocking on his friend’s door until he got what he wanted! He wasn’t even concerned that his neighbor would get annoyed, he knew what he needed and he was not stopping until he got it. Are you persistently seeking God for the things that you need in this moment? Fervency speaks to intensity. Paint a picture of this parable in your head. A man needs food, it’s midnight, he needs it enough to knock on someone else’s door. If he is that desperate, there is very little chance that his knocks were light and dainty; chances are he was pounding on the door. Jesus endorsed this kind of intensity in seeking what we need from God! Does the intensity of your prayer life reflect the desperation of your need? Finally, Jesus, through all of Luke 11 commands us to have faith when we pray, faith that God can provide for us, faith that God can forgive us, faith that when we approach God he will provide an answer. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” God is asking us to believe for these things even when we have no earthly view of them when we pray. Are you seeking God persistently, intensely, and in faith for the things that you need?

Do you believe God hears you and will respond to your prayers?  Don’t answer that too quickly.  The way to know the answer is to identify how much time and energy you invest into praying.

Prayer: God, I want my prayer life to be effective and powerful! I long to seek for you just like the man in Luke 11 sought for the bread that he so desperately needed. Holy Spirit, empower me to believe for things I cannot see! God search my heart, show me whether I have believed in prayer or whether I believe in the power of a God who promises to respond when I pray. Help me to align the time and energy I invest in my prayer time with my belief that you hear me and will respond. Guide me as I journey to a place of richer, deeper prayer, communing with you. I believe that you have made me righteous and I also believe the promise in James that says that the prayer of a righteous person IS powerful and effective. Hold me up in the moments when it’s hard to believe you hear me and strengthen me to know you are right there working in every moment. I long to be close to you. In Jesus’ Name! Amen!

Fast Focus

Focus Through Prayer: It’s Time to Clean House!

Focus Through the Word:

• Romans 8:5-6
• Psalm 51
• Hebrews 4:12

Romans 8:5-6- ⁵ Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. ⁶ So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

Psalm 51- ¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
² Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
³ For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
⁴ Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
⁵ For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
⁶ But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.

⁷ Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
⁹ Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
¹³ Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
¹⁴ Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
¹⁵ Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.

¹⁶ You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
¹⁸ Look with favor on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

Hebrews 4:12 (New Living Translation)- ¹² For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Hebrews 4:12 (New International Version)- ¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified Version)- ¹²For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

“One of the reasons for fasting is to know what is in us…in fasting it will come out. You will see it. And you will have to deal with it quickly or smother it again.” -John Piper

Today is day 5 and you are half way there! Now it is time to get up close and personal.
The fact is we ALL have our stuff! There is not one person reading this today who doesn’t have issues, insecurities, areas of pride, doubt, or shame that cause us to be divided from God’s perfect plan for our life. As Jon Piper makes very clear, fasting will reveal to us those things that need to be dealt with. It’s then our decision whether we allow God to lead us as we work through our issues or if we are going to push that issue down one more time. Today, you have a chance to allow God to search your heart. When he points out the things that are not pleasing to him and are a detriment to you, you then need to choose what you do. Allow God to help you begin to work through what’s keeping you from His best for your life and freedom will be the result!

Hopefully throughout these past five days, you have worked to spend some more time with God and in his word than you normally would. Let’s take a look at the work of God’s word as it deals with what is happening in our hearts. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s word is alive and powerful. When we spend time earnestly seeking God through his word we cannot avoid beginning to see issues that we have in the motives and thoughts of our heart. Chances are, as you have spent more time in his word this week, you have already begun to sense God tugging on your heart in certain areas. Allow God’s word to do its work and take the steps to respond to what he shows you.

Prayer: God thank you for the power of your word and the power of your Holy Spirit that empowers us to desire change. God, today I acknowledge just as David acknowledged in Psalm 51 that I am sinful, that I am in need of your incredible mercy! Would you pour of your forgiveness and grace on me today as I search to align my life with the commandments in your word.

Focus Through Prayer: YOU have a story-Prepare to share it!

Focus Through the Word:

• Romans 1:15-16
• 2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Romans 1:15-16- ¹⁵ So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News. ¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentiles.

2 Corinthians 4:3-6- ³ If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. ⁴ Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. ⁵ You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

Remember today that our time of fasting, our time of seeking God, these extra moments you are spending with Him this week are not about earning his approval! Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice on the cross so that every bit of God’s love that is available for us could be poured out. Take a few moments to think about your goals for this fast, what you have experienced to this point, and what your goals are moving forward. Pray that God would examine your heart. Ask him to reveal to you any motives within you that are seeking to EARN His love. Lay those things at the foot of the Cross where Jesus paid the price so you wouldn’t have to work for God’s love. We fast to show us what desires control us, we fast to gain understanding of where God is taking us, we fast as an outward reminder of an inner commitment we have made to Him. Be free today to enjoy this special time with him remembering that God loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love regardless of the things you do.

Reread Romans 1:15-16. Can you feel the excitement in Paul’s writing? He didn’t use the word eager because he thought God would be pleased with it. He chose to use the word eager because he truly felt an impatient longing to speak the truth of the Gospel! The truth that Jesus came, lived a sinless life, died the death of a sinner and was resurrected so that we who were dead in our sin (Ephesians 2:1) might have access to our Heavenly Father. Stop for a moment. Are you eager to share this Gospel? When you think of the people in your life who desperately need to know the truth about Jesus, do you feel an impatient longing to talk to them? Paul goes on to say, “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ.” Is it possible that somewhere inside of you, you are ashamed to share what you have learned about Jesus? The word ashamed is defined as unwilling or restrained because of fear of shame, ridicule, or disapproval. Take some time to write down some reasons that you may be experiencing a fear of sharing the Good News. Before you go on remember the words of Paul in Romans 8:1, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” This self examination is NOT to make you feel guilty. We are examining ourselves and allowing God to examine us to see where we can allow the Holy Spirit to work. Perhaps one of the reasons we may feel a fear of sharing the Good News is because we just don’t think we have the right words to express what Jesus has done for us or how he has changed our lives. Take some time to write an answer to these questions. If you had the opportunity to share Jesus with a friend who desperately wanted to know about him, how would you explain what he did for us through his time on Earth? Now explain what he has done in YOUR life! Share your story. Where were you before Jesus came into your life, how has that changed, what is he doing now, and where are you longing for him to take you? The work of Jesus through his ministry on Earth and on the Cross is Good News and most definitely your story includes many moments that Jesus has done powerful things in your life and has made ugly situations beautiful. It is very unlikely that someone could hear a story of Good News and a changed life and not be affected, even if they don’t show it right away. As you reread your answers to these questions, pray that God would stir up in you an impatient longing to share your story with someone!

In 2 Corinthians, we have the chance to see a rather sad but very true picture painted for us. If we are ashamed and hide the story that is living within us (we all have one, we just wrote it!) behind a veil, we are hiding it from people who are dead IN their sin! Could you ever walk past someone drowning in a clean pool? Probably not. Yet everyday we interact with people in our family, at our job, in stores who are drowning not in a clean pretty pool but in the filth of their sin. Pray that as the reality of this hits you, and you begin to feel the truth of your story resonating in your heart, that you would not be able to keep hidden behind a veil any longer! You have a story that speaks forth light and you are surrounded by people who Satan is blinding so they cannot even see the light. Take a few moments now to think about people in your life who desperately need to hear this Good News we are talking about. It is not by accident that God has placed them in your life. God has given you your story, the good parts and the parts you’d rather forget as a tool to reveal light into the dark parts of their lives. You are called to share the Good News whether you are a sales person, a mail carrier, an engineer, a mom, and on and on. One of the reasons you are alive and breathing today is to be a light in the darkness! Make a list of specific people in your life who need the light that God has placed inside of you. In Matthew 13, Jesus shares a parable about a man sowing seeds. He sows his seeds (his story in this case) on many different kinds of soil. The only soil to grow the seed was the good, rich soil. As we pray today, we are believing that as God has given you a list of people who need to hear about him, that he is also preparing the soil of their hearts. We are praying that when he provides an opportunity for you to share your story with them that the soil of their hearts would be so ready to receive the Good News that the result would be a friend, a family member, a grocery store bagger who is no longer dead in his or her sin but now has the ability to access his or her Heavenly Father for the first time! Really! When that is what is waiting for the people in our life, how could we hold it back?

Prayer: Jesus! I am crying out to you today! Would you give me an impatient longing, an eagerness to share the story you have given me with those around me. Help me to realize the truth of the power of what you have done for me paired with my testimony. I pray that as I go throughout my day that you would help me to create a list of people in my life who need to hear about you and how you have changed me. Open up supernatural opportunities to share what you have done for me with these people. I long to be used as a vessel to pour your light into dark hearts! Help me to push aside fear and shame. Enable me to see the true condition of the people around me and use that to evoke in me a passion to come out from behind the veil. Thank you God that you promise in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that your grace is sufficient for me and your strength is made perfect in my weakness! Be strength in every weak are of my life today. Holy Spirit, empower me to speak the words you have given me. I don’t long to do this one my own but I know that I must rely on you to speak through me. Through the power that is given to me through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross, I bind the work of the Enemy. Satan, you can no longer blind the people I love! God, break through those blinders, allow your light to pierce through the darkness. Go before me and prepare the hearts of every person I will share my story with. Allow them to receive the truth of who you are in the soft soil of their hearts so that they may believe and receive you into their lives! I pray and ask that through this time I have spent with you, studying your word that lives would be transformed from a state of being dead in their sin to alive in Jesus with full access to God, their Heavenly Father! In Jesus’ Name I pray! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: Becoming a Church after God’s own Heart

Focus Through the Word:

• Matthew 16:18
• Proverbs 16:1,3,9
• Ephesians 2:11-18

Press in today. At the beginning of this fast, you were encouraged to set goals, to determine what you were hoping to see happen from this time with the Lord. Review those goals today. Take a few minutes to write down what you have learned, what you have struggled with and what you still hope to see accomplished! As we are about to read in Proverbs 16:3, we are encouraged to “commit our actions to the Lord.” The promise that follows this encouragement is that for those who commit their plans to him, “your plans will succeed.” That is your promise today! Take hold of it in every moment. The third day of a fast is never easy so if you are feeling weak, cling with everything you have to the hope that is found in the Word of God and to the reasons you have set out on this journey. Most importantly remember the words that came from Jesus in his time of fasting in Matthew 4:4, “Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” SEEK after God today, find truth in and savor the power of his word, and commit your plans (for this fast) to him and they will succeed!

Matthew 16:18- Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

Proverbs 16:1,3,9- ¹ We can make our own plans,
but the Lord gives the right answer.

³ Commit your actions to the Lord,
and your plans will succeed.

⁹ We can make our plans,
but the Lord determines our steps.

Ephesians 2:11-18- ¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. ¹⁵ He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

To be a church that presses hard after the Heart of God, we need to understand where we have come from, where we are and where we are going. In Matthew 16, we see what must have been quite an intense conversation between Jesus and Peter. Peter and the other disciples are being asked by the man that they hold in very high esteem who they believe he is. Jesus is setting up the scene to establish his church and to begin to set his promises in place over that very church. After Peter’s confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” in verse 16, Jesus blesses Peter and proclaims that his church will be built on that rock. The rock he refers to is the confession that Peter has just made-the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Loving God. The truth that Jesus IS the Christ, God’s Son must be the cornerstone of any church that desires to be church after God’s heart!

Take some time to read through the verses highlighted in Proverbs 16. Did you notice that each verse began with human action but ultimately ends with us turning those actions to the LORD for his answer, his prosperity, and his approval? In Matthew, we see that Peter had to make a statement of his faith before he could receive the fullness of what Jesus was preparing to speak to him. Again in Proverbs, we see that God calls us to make plans, to dream, to set out in action but more importantly he wants us to commit our plans to Him, to His will. When we flow in this way, we, as a church and as individuals, begin to experience the ability to move and flow and be in agreement and harmony with God’s will, purpose, and plans. Just as we talked about yesterday, we begin to walk in the fullness of what it means to reconciled to Him! As we pray through these verses today, let us SEEK God’s direction for Kingsway Church! We long to be a church after his heart, let today be a day of action- seeking him in prayer for where he is taking us.

It is vital that as a church, we don’t get so consumed with what is happening inside our walls that we forget to seek God for what he wants us to do within our community. How are we, followers of Christ, called to live among people who desperately need him? God speaks clearly in Ephesians 2 of the plans he had through the work of Christ on the Cross. Speaking specifically in this passage about Jews and Gentiles, we are reminded that God’s “purpose was to create in himself one people (or one new humanity)…” He longed to bring peace between two very divided groups. Later in the passage, we are reminded that the Jews and Gentiles, through the work on the Cross, are “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone.” Can you see that God longed for his creation to be unified together bringing honor and glory to his name not separately but together with the truth of Jesus Christ as their linking point? As a church, we are seeking how God would have us function in our community and surrounding areas. Through these verses, it seems as though we have two commands from God. First, God calls us to be peacemakers just as he desired to create peace between the Jews and the Gentiles through sending his Son to die for us.  We are to share the love, peace, and hope that comes from God where ever we are. Second, we are to do this with one mission- to through the power of the Holy Spirit lead people into relationship with Jesus Christ. Therefore, striving to meet God’s longing that his creation would be unified bringing honor and glory to his name with belief in Jesus as the Christ as our cornerstone! We need to seek God’s direction for how he longs to see this take place through Kingsway Church. How do we make that representation corporately and how do we do it when we are interacting with people throughout our daily lives.

Prayer: Jesus, you have called your church to set the truth of what you have done for us as our cornerstone! I pray today that you would stir up in us a burning passion to lift you up in everything we do as a church corporately and as representatives of your church wherever we go individually.  We long to see people in our community be drawn in by your love. We long to stand in worship with those in our surrounding areas acknowledging YOU as our only way to gain access to the Father.

God as we seek you for specific direction for our church in the coming year, make true the promises set forth in Proverbs 16. As we put our hands to the plow, make plans, and dream big for this year, we commit those actions and plans to you believing that you will answer us, determine our steps and ensure our success in delivering the Salvation message of the cross. Set within our pastors and ministry leaders vision for our church, the ability to hear clearly your voice, and follow hard after what you have shown them.

Let us burn with the message of Christ. To those who come in our doors, those who we encounter through community outreaches like Trunk or Treat, and those we see throughout our daily lives, let us be carriers of the truth of the hope that exists only through relationship with Jesus! As a church we long to be used by you! Help us to lay down our agendas, our thoughts about who you are, and what you would have us do. Overtake our thinking and transforms our hearts and our minds to be vessels of your thoughts, your dreams, and your plans. We give every aspect of Kingsway Church in 2011 over to you! Do your work in us! In Jesus’ Name we pray! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: Desiring the Whole Truth of the Word of God
Focus Through the Word:

• Matthew 4:1-4
• Amos 8:11-12
• Philippians 3:19-21
• Ephesians 2:11-22

What would it mean if you took time to savor the Word of God today? Going to your favorite restaurant or to a relative’s house for dinner, you most likely go with expectancy. Expectancy for what you will eat, hopes for what it will taste like, and what your favorite parts will be. Could you imagine if we entered our time in God’s word with this level of expectancy every time? As you read through the verses below, take time to savor the richness of God’s truth for you today! The same creator that longs for us to go on a quest for the truth of who he is also loves you enough to have a specific word for you in this very moment of your life. To savor means to give oneself to the enjoyment of!

Don’t rush through your time in the scripture today- allow yourself to enjoy the richness of God’s word!

Matthew 4:1-4- “ ¹ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. ² For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. ³ During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,   ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Amos 8:11-12- ¹¹ “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread or water
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
¹² People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from border to border^[a]
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.

Philippians 3:19-21- ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

Ephesians 2:11-22- Oneness and Peace in Christ

¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. ¹⁵ He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

A Temple for the Lord

¹⁹ So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. ²⁰ Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. ²¹ We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. ²² Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

You will Crave-How will you Respond?

At some point today, if you haven’t experienced this already, your flesh will begin screaming for the things it misses- your favorite food, coffee, down time in front of the TV or computer. You will begin to see what desires control you. Allow yourself to travel to the desert where Jesus was fasting for 40 days. He was hot, tired, not well rested, and most definitely beginning to feel the extreme physical affects of not eating for a very long time. He was in the middle of a desert!

Let’s look at two things that are very important and have the potential to push you through those times today when your body begins to crave what it is lacking. First, Jesus was on a quest to connect with his Father’s heart. Don’t think that he spent his forty days wallowing in self pity wondering why he was chosen or asked to fast for such a long time. He took the time he was given to SEEK God FIRST. In addition, the enemy was right there tempting him, reminding him of the power he had to make bread appear. Jesus’ flesh was weak, just as weak as you or I would be if we fasted for 40 days. The overwhelming truth though was that his spirit was strong. He was filled with the Spirit of God and in the time of temptation, he fought the enemy with the truth and power of the Word!

Here is your truth today: ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ This is not a nice string of words that some nice man said. This is a powerful truth that came from the mouth of Jesus who now sits at the right hand of God making intercession (praying) for us! Jesus has been RIGHT where you are today- fighting the temptation of hunger and desires that have become too strong. Cling to his response as your hope today.

Think for a moment of the men and women spoken of in Amos 8. Imagine experiencing a time when God’s voice could not be heard. Not only could it not be heard but as hard as a person sought for Him, sought for His truth; the result was silence! Deafening silence! Sorry Indiana Jones, even you couldn’t find this one. People continued to search and continued to search and came up empty. They longed to be able to savor the Word of God. Many of us sit in a house with multiple bibles and access to any translation we could desire through the internet BUT we let days and weeks and months go by without taking a hold of the truth that’s right there for us to savor! Instead we have allowed our appetites to creep in and become god in our life, appetite for delicious food, appetite for acceptance, appetite for more, more, more.

Fill the Void!

Over the next ten days, as you let go of those appetites that have taken an unhealthy place in your life it is essential that you replace them. God longs for us to replace these appetites with a genuine hunger for the truth of his Word. Not just the Word of God in part but the Word of God in it’s whole complete message of life for you. Today, as you begin to make that transition, look at what His Word says about who you are in Christ. Stop and savor the truth of who you were, what Jesus has done for you, and who you are becoming!

Ephesians 2:1-10 reminds us that before Jesus, we were dead in our sin! Dead in your sin! Can you just stop for a second to let that settle in? Whether you were 4, 24, 44, or 64 when Jesus came into your life you left a state of being dead IN your sin. Allow God to give you a picture of what that looked like for you- not for condemnation but so you can begin to appreciate even more who are becoming! Verse ten tells us that we are “God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” Again stop and take time to worship God for the truth of these words. While you were still dead, surrounded by the truth of your sin, God saw you as worthy not only to be worked on but to be reborn through Jesus Christ to do good things- essentially to live a life that brings glory and honor to God. If you’re not feeling overwhelmingly humbled by that truth stop here and pray through these verses until you begin to feel God revealing His truth to you. Jesus’ blood has brought you near to the heart, the plan, and the dream of God. Not only are you near it, you are in the center of it. We have been reconciled to God through the cross. To be reconciled is to be restored, to be brought into agreement and harmony. The creator of the universe so longs for relationship with you that he made a way for you to be restored to him, that your life would move and flow and be in agreement and harmony with his will, purpose, and plan. God doesn’t need you or me to complete his plans but he longs for us so deeply that he desired and made possible unity with him! It’s because of the work of Jesus on the cross that we can fast and pray and go on a quest for God and find him. You have access to your Heavenly Father right now-that is a scriptural right you carry as a follower of Jesus. Finally, not only can God be found but he has made the choice to live inside each one of us through the Holy Spirit! Are you walking in the power of the truth of this today?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I come to you today weak and broken. I know that today I am going to fight cravings for the things I have let go of during this fast. Holy Spirit, I need your empowerment to help me to plug into the Word of God. Help me to savor the truth of the scriptures today even when my flesh in screaming. I choose to believe today that I do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God! I can make it through today denying myself those things my flesh feels it needs. God I long to seek after you like the people in Amos did but thank you that you have made a way for me to find you. Speak to me today, reveal to me those things that you long for me to hear. Jesus how could you, a sinless man, make the choice to take on the filth of my sin and die for me in such a humiliating way so that I could have access to my Heavenly Father? Help me to really grasp the truth of that today! I was dead in my sin but you saw me as worth dieing for. I pray the humility that comes from that truth never loses its power. Thank you God for making a way so I can search hard after you, find you, connect with you, and experience the power of your Holy Spirit living inside of me. Be real inside of me today.

There is nothing more important than the truth that is written loud and clear in the pages of the Bible. God would you stir up inside the heart of every person at Kingsway Church the desire to not only search your scriptures but also to uphold the whole truth of your Word. I long to be a part of a church that loves your word, studies your word, and portrays the fullness of it to those around us in our workplaces, our homes, our schools, everywhere we go. I pray that as you stir up in our church a deeper hunger for your word that you would equip our leaders Pastor Bryon and Pastor Arlena as they minister on Sunday mornings and throughout the week, RJ and Linda and they minister to our young people, and every life group leader who ministers the truth of the Word to those young and old. God give us and our leaders a love for the whole truth of your word, leaving nothing aside. I give you my life and I give you my church today! Do your work in us! In Jesus’ Name! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: What Is Most Important
Focus Through the Word: Matthew 6:33

Take a few moments to read through today’s focus scripture. Reading a verse in different translations will help you gain a deeper understanding of what God was speaking through the author. Don’t forget to write down the things that God speaks to you as you read his word for today.

New Living Translation: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

New International Version: “But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Amplified Version: “But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all his kingdom and his righteousness (his way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.”

God’s heart is so clearly and specifically portrayed in this verse. He longs for us to SEEK him FIRST. To grasp the fullness of what he is asking of us today and everyday, let’s take a deeper look into the meaning of these words.

In the Amplified Version, we see that the word seek means to aim at and strive after. It also means to go in search or quest of. Seek may seem mild and peaceful at first glance but what mild quest have you observed lately? Indiana Jones goes in quest of nothing mildly. He does whatever he has to in order to get to the middle of what he is seeking after! God wants us to go in search of the truth of who he is and what is most important to him with an Indiana Jones kind of passion.

First means before all others or anything else with respect to time, order, rank, importance, etc. The most important thing in our life is not simply to go in quest of who God is but to make that quest above all other things! Today, the Creator of the atom, the Creator of the concept of water, the Creator of the apple you are going to eat for lunch has one desire of your life- that you would go on an all out quest for the truth of who he is and that you would make that quest the most important event in your day.

Prayer: God! You are so Great! Even if I tried I could never comprehend the truth of your power. Still even in your greatness, you long for me to seek you and seek hard after you! Today, God I am seeking you for what is to be most important in my life. I pray that as I move throughout my day that you would help me sort through my life, my thoughts, my feelings, my motives. Reveal to me the things that I need to let go and help me to allow those things that should be most important in my life to take the place that you desire. Give me the ability to make YOU and seeking after you most important in my life.

God you have given me an amazing church equipped with leaders who strive hard after you. Would you help us as a church in 2011 to lock into what is most important to your heart? We long to go on a quest for your goal, mission, and plan for Kingsway Church. Holy Spirit, help us to find the heart of God for our church in 2011 and not stray from it even once. Help our leadership team to catch your vision for what is most important and continually lead us in that direction throughout this year. I surrender my life and my church to the work of your plan! In Jesus’ Name. Amen!

Deep within the heart of God, there is a plan, mission and goal for Kingsway Church and for you in 2011. Fasting is a spiritual discipline used by men and women for centuries to meld our earthly dreams and passions with God’s plan and ultimately with what makes his heart beat. Through this fast, we will pursue God’s plans for our church and for us as individuals.

Definition of Fasting: Throughout Scripture fasting refers to abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. Biblical fasting always centers on spiritual purposes.

Over the next ten days, we will lay down our daily routines of eating, relaxing in front of the TV and spending time on the computer in exchange for pursuing God.  We will exchange our daily distractions for the spiritual disciplines He longs for us to desire through reading the Bible, praying, and journaling.

Our hope is that we will experience a remarkable increase in our genuine hunger for spending time with our Creator.

Don’t forget, the idea is to be real about your goals, not concerned about following rules! Focus more on the details of your personal connection time with God in the coming days and less on your specific menu and you will be overtaken by the blessings designed to flow through a Spirit led fast.

Fast Framework

Sunrise, Monday, January 17, 2011- Begin Daniel Fast

If you are feeling led to partake in a fast that includes food, we recommend a Daniel Fast. Please see the information provided below to see what foods are and are not to be eaten on a Daniel Fast. (Remember, God is seeking hearts that are searching hard after him, not minds that have created the perfect menu!)

If you are limited by any condition that would keep you from completing a Daniel Fast, there are many other options! Continue reading under “Fast Foods” to see what you could give up during the coming days.

Sunset, Wednesday, January 26, 2011- Break the Fast

We will meet together as a church to fellowship and enjoy a much anticipated meal together.

Fast Forward

Take a few quiet moments before Monday at sunrise, to decide why YOU are doing this and what you hope to see happen through these next ten days . Are you hoping to read your Bible instead of eating lunch, spend time praying for the church on your car ride to work, take time to worship while your son or daughter naps instead of catching up on the latest news?  What are you hoping to learn about God? What are you hoping he shows you about yourself? Set goals that you can attain! Pray that God would show you what HE wants to do through you and in you through your sacrifice. We encourage you to keep a record of your experiences. Write down your goals at the beginning, record your struggles and your victories as you walk out your plan each day, and reflect on the experience when  you have finished the journey!

Fast Foods

A Daniel Fast is a partial fast. You will most likely be asked to give up at least one of your favorite foods but you will be provided with an amazing array of foods to choose from. Focus on eating fruits and vegetables that are pure and simple. A list of foods to eat and foods to avoid has been provided for you.

The reason we fast is to replace our daily distractions with extra special time with God. If a fast from a large variety of foods is not possible for you, choose something that will be just as meaningful but within your limitations. Here are some examples: give up a specific food or beverage, television, social media, other technology, or anything else that you could replace with genuine time with God!

* If you have any known medical conditions or suspect such conditions, consult  your doctor before beginning the fast.

Foods to Eat

Fruits
These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Fruits include but are not limited to apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, figs, grapefruit, grapes, guava, honeydew melon, kiwi, lemons, limes, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, prunes, raisins, raspberries, strawberries, tangelos, tangerines, watermelon.

Vegetables
These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Vegetables include but are not limited to artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chili peppers, collard greens, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, ginger root, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, onions, parsley, potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, scallions, spinach, sprouts, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, watercress, yams, zucchini, veggie burgers are an option if you are not allergic to soy.

Whole Grains
All whole grains including but not limited to whole wheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats, barley, grits, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas, rice cakes and popcorn.

Seeds, Nuts, and Sprouts
All nuts and seeds, including but not limited to sunflower seeds, cashews, peanuts, sesame. Also nut butters including peanut butter.

Legumes
These can be canned or dried. Legumes include but are not limited to dried beans, pinto beans, split peas, lentils, black eyed peas, kidney beans, black beans, cannellini beans, white beans.

Oils
All quality oils including but not limited to olive, canola, grape seed, peanut, and sesame.

Beverages
Spring water, distilled water or other pure waters, unsweetened soy milk, herbal tea, honey, natural fruit juice (no sugar added)

Other
Tofu, soy products, vinegar, seasonings, salt, herbs and spices.

Foods to Avoid

Meat – All meat and animal products including but not limited to beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and fish.

Dairy – All dairy products including but not limited to milk, cheese, cream, butter, and eggs.

Sweeteners – All sweeteners including but not limited to sugar, raw sugar, honey, syrups, molasses, and cane juice.

Breads – All leavened bread including Ezekiel Bread (it contains yeast and honey) and baked goods.

Refined/Processed Foods – All refined and processed food products including but not limited to artificial flavorings, food additives, chemicals, white rice, white flour, and foods that contain artificial preservatives.

Fried Foods – All deep fried foods including but not limited to potato chips, French fries, corn chips.

Fats – All solid fats including shortening, margarine, lard and foods high in fat.

Beverages – Beverages including but not limited to coffee, tea, herbal teas, carbonated beverages, energy drinks, and alcohol.

Great Questions to Ask

What is the purpose of the fast?
We are choosing to fast together like Daniel did. He made a decision not to eat the King’s food as an outward symbol of an inward commitment he had made to God. Let your choices over the next ten days reflect the hunger you have for God’s presence in your life.

Why should I participate?
God is certain to bless our life in new and exciting ways during the fast. We encourage you to write down your prayers and the many ways God reveals himself to you. We can’t wait to see what God is going to do in your life and in the life of our church!

How strict should I be with what I eat on the fast?
The list of food provided is merely a first step to get you thinking about making better food choices. Remember, this fast is about growing your relationship with God. He’s not as concerned about what is in your stomach as He is about what is in your heart.

Can I eat foods that are not specifically listed?
If you are not sure about a certain food, ask God to reveal to you whether it should be part of your diet over the next ten days. Since there is no definitive list of foods, for the Daniel Fast, it is truly the spirit of Daniel’s decision that we are imitating over the next ten days.

How can I involve my children?
Attempt to eliminate sugar, bread and possibly dairy from your children’s diet. Include whole wheat pasta and soy milk. Mostly, encourage them to eat what you are eating. You may also want to incorporate some chicken into your children’s meals for added protein. You will be surprised what your children may be willing to try when they are aware of the fast, why they are doing it, and that the whole family is doing it together.

If you are not looking to cut food out of your children’s diets there are many other ways to include them in the fast. Be sure to talk to them about the reason you are fasting and why you want them to be a part of this experience as well. Consider removing daily pleasures from your child’s routine such as computer and/or TV time.  Encourage your children to ask God to show them something he would like them to sacrifice for him during the fast.

What if I have concerns about participating because of my health?
If you have any condition that would prohibit you from being a part of the Daniel Fast, you can participate in a different way! Choose something from your daily routine (i.e. specific foods or beverages, television, other technology, ect.) and fast in that manner for the next 10 days. Remember, the details are not as important as the spirit in which you participate.

Helpful Links

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-crazy-idea-of-fasting-in-09

http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting/fastingbasics.php

http://www.daniel-fast.com/recipes.html

Fast Focus

Focus Through Prayer: It’s Time to Clean House!

Focus Through the Word:

• Romans 8:5-6
• Psalm 51
• Hebrews 4:12

Romans 8:5-6- ⁵ Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. ⁶ So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

Psalm 51- ¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
² Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
³ For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
⁴ Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
⁵ For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
⁶ But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.

⁷ Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
⁹ Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
¹³ Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
¹⁴ Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
¹⁵ Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.

¹⁶ You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
¹⁸ Look with favor on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

Hebrews 4:12 (New Living Translation)- ¹² For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Hebrews 4:12 (New International Version)- ¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified Version)- ¹²For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

“One of the reasons for fasting is to know what is in us…in fasting it will come out. You will see it. And you will have to deal with it quickly or smother it again.” -John Piper

Today is day 5 and you are half way there! Now it is time to get up close and personal.
The fact is we ALL have our stuff! There is not one person reading this today who doesn’t have issues, insecurities, areas of pride, doubt, or shame that cause us to be divided from God’s perfect plan for our life. As Jon Piper makes very clear, fasting will reveal to us those things that need to be dealt with. It’s then our decision whether we allow God to lead us as we work through our issues or if we are going to push that issue down one more time. Today, you have a chance to allow God to search your heart. When he points out the things that are not pleasing to him and are a detriment to you, you then need to choose what you do. Allow God to help you begin to work through what’s keeping you from His best for your life and freedom will be the result!

Hopefully throughout these past five days, you have worked to spend some more time with God and in his word than you normally would. Let’s take a look at the work of God’s word as it deals with what is happening in our hearts. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s word is alive and powerful. When we spend time earnestly seeking God through his word we cannot avoid beginning to see issues that we have in the motives and thoughts of our heart. Chances are, as you have spent more time in his word this week, you have already begun to sense God tugging on your heart in certain areas. Allow God’s word to do its work and take the steps to respond to what he shows you.

Prayer: God thank you for the power of your word and the power of your Holy Spirit that empowers us to desire change. God, today I acknowledge just as David acknowledged in Psalm 51 that I am sinful, that I am in need of your incredible mercy! Would you pour of your forgiveness and grace on me today as I search to align my life with the commandments in your word.

Focus Through Prayer: YOU have a story-Prepare to share it!

Focus Through the Word:

• Romans 1:15-16
• 2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Romans 1:15-16- ¹⁵ So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News. ¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentiles.

2 Corinthians 4:3-6- ³ If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. ⁴ Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. ⁵ You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

Remember today that our time of fasting, our time of seeking God, these extra moments you are spending with Him this week are not about earning his approval! Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice on the cross so that every bit of God’s love that is available for us could be poured out. Take a few moments to think about your goals for this fast, what you have experienced to this point, and what your goals are moving forward. Pray that God would examine your heart. Ask him to reveal to you any motives within you that are seeking to EARN His love. Lay those things at the foot of the Cross where Jesus paid the price so you wouldn’t have to work for God’s love. We fast to show us what desires control us, we fast to gain understanding of where God is taking us, we fast as an outward reminder of an inner commitment we have made to Him. Be free today to enjoy this special time with him remembering that God loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love regardless of the things you do.

Reread Romans 1:15-16. Can you feel the excitement in Paul’s writing? He didn’t use the word eager because he thought God would be pleased with it. He chose to use the word eager because he truly felt an impatient longing to speak the truth of the Gospel! The truth that Jesus came, lived a sinless life, died the death of a sinner and was resurrected so that we who were dead in our sin (Ephesians 2:1) might have access to our Heavenly Father. Stop for a moment. Are you eager to share this Gospel? When you think of the people in your life who desperately need to know the truth about Jesus, do you feel an impatient longing to talk to them? Paul goes on to say, “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ.” Is it possible that somewhere inside of you, you are ashamed to share what you have learned about Jesus? The word ashamed is defined as unwilling or restrained because of fear of shame, ridicule, or disapproval. Take some time to write down some reasons that you may be experiencing a fear of sharing the Good News. Before you go on remember the words of Paul in Romans 8:1, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” This self examination is NOT to make you feel guilty. We are examining ourselves and allowing God to examine us to see where we can allow the Holy Spirit to work. Perhaps one of the reasons we may feel a fear of sharing the Good News is because we just don’t think we have the right words to express what Jesus has done for us or how he has changed our lives. Take some time to write an answer to these questions. If you had the opportunity to share Jesus with a friend who desperately wanted to know about him, how would you explain what he did for us through his time on Earth? Now explain what he has done in YOUR life! Share your story. Where were you before Jesus came into your life, how has that changed, what is he doing now, and where are you longing for him to take you? The work of Jesus through his ministry on Earth and on the Cross is Good News and most definitely your story includes many moments that Jesus has done powerful things in your life and has made ugly situations beautiful. It is very unlikely that someone could hear a story of Good News and a changed life and not be affected, even if they don’t show it right away. As you reread your answers to these questions, pray that God would stir up in you an impatient longing to share your story with someone!

In 2 Corinthians, we have the chance to see a rather sad but very true picture painted for us. If we are ashamed and hide the story that is living within us (we all have one, we just wrote it!) behind a veil, we are hiding it from people who are dead IN their sin! Could you ever walk past someone drowning in a clean pool? Probably not. Yet everyday we interact with people in our family, at our job, in stores who are drowning not in a clean pretty pool but in the filth of their sin. Pray that as the reality of this hits you, and you begin to feel the truth of your story resonating in your heart, that you would not be able to keep hidden behind a veil any longer! You have a story that speaks forth light and you are surrounded by people who Satan is blinding so they cannot even see the light. Take a few moments now to think about people in your life who desperately need to hear this Good News we are talking about. It is not by accident that God has placed them in your life. God has given you your story, the good parts and the parts you’d rather forget as a tool to reveal light into the dark parts of their lives. You are called to share the Good News whether you are a sales person, a mail carrier, an engineer, a mom, and on and on. One of the reasons you are alive and breathing today is to be a light in the darkness! Make a list of specific people in your life who need the light that God has placed inside of you. In Matthew 13, Jesus shares a parable about a man sowing seeds. He sows his seeds (his story in this case) on many different kinds of soil. The only soil to grow the seed was the good, rich soil. As we pray today, we are believing that as God has given you a list of people who need to hear about him, that he is also preparing the soil of their hearts. We are praying that when he provides an opportunity for you to share your story with them that the soil of their hearts would be so ready to receive the Good News that the result would be a friend, a family member, a grocery store bagger who is no longer dead in his or her sin but now has the ability to access his or her Heavenly Father for the first time! Really! When that is what is waiting for the people in our life, how could we hold it back?

Prayer: Jesus! I am crying out to you today! Would you give me an impatient longing, an eagerness to share the story you have given me with those around me. Help me to realize the truth of the power of what you have done for me paired with my testimony. I pray that as I go throughout my day that you would help me to create a list of people in my life who need to hear about you and how you have changed me. Open up supernatural opportunities to share what you have done for me with these people. I long to be used as a vessel to pour your light into dark hearts! Help me to push aside fear and shame. Enable me to see the true condition of the people around me and use that to evoke in me a passion to come out from behind the veil. Thank you God that you promise in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that your grace is sufficient for me and your strength is made perfect in my weakness! Be strength in every weak are of my life today. Holy Spirit, empower me to speak the words you have given me. I don’t long to do this one my own but I know that I must rely on you to speak through me. Through the power that is given to me through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross, I bind the work of the Enemy. Satan, you can no longer blind the people I love! God, break through those blinders, allow your light to pierce through the darkness. Go before me and prepare the hearts of every person I will share my story with. Allow them to receive the truth of who you are in the soft soil of their hearts so that they may believe and receive you into their lives! I pray and ask that through this time I have spent with you, studying your word that lives would be transformed from a state of being dead in their sin to alive in Jesus with full access to God, their Heavenly Father! In Jesus’ Name I pray! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: Becoming a Church after God’s own Heart

Focus Through the Word:

• Matthew 16:18
• Proverbs 16:1,3,9
• Ephesians 2:11-18

Press in today. At the beginning of this fast, you were encouraged to set goals, to determine what you were hoping to see happen from this time with the Lord. Review those goals today. Take a few minutes to write down what you have learned, what you have struggled with and what you still hope to see accomplished! As we are about to read in Proverbs 16:3, we are encouraged to “commit our actions to the Lord.” The promise that follows this encouragement is that for those who commit their plans to him, “your plans will succeed.” That is your promise today! Take hold of it in every moment. The third day of a fast is never easy so if you are feeling weak, cling with everything you have to the hope that is found in the Word of God and to the reasons you have set out on this journey. Most importantly remember the words that came from Jesus in his time of fasting in Matthew 4:4, “Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” SEEK after God today, find truth in and savor the power of his word, and commit your plans (for this fast) to him and they will succeed!

Matthew 16:18- Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

Proverbs 16:1,3,9- ¹ We can make our own plans,
but the Lord gives the right answer.

³ Commit your actions to the Lord,
and your plans will succeed.

⁹ We can make our plans,
but the Lord determines our steps.

Ephesians 2:11-18- ¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. ¹⁵ He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

To be a church that presses hard after the Heart of God, we need to understand where we have come from, where we are and where we are going. In Matthew 16, we see what must have been quite an intense conversation between Jesus and Peter. Peter and the other disciples are being asked by the man that they hold in very high esteem who they believe he is. Jesus is setting up the scene to establish his church and to begin to set his promises in place over that very church. After Peter’s confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” in verse 16, Jesus blesses Peter and proclaims that his church will be built on that rock. The rock he refers to is the confession that Peter has just made-the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Loving God. The truth that Jesus IS the Christ, God’s Son must be the cornerstone of any church that desires to be church after God’s heart!

Take some time to read through the verses highlighted in Proverbs 16. Did you notice that each verse began with human action but ultimately ends with us turning those actions to the LORD for his answer, his prosperity, and his approval? In Matthew, we see that Peter had to make a statement of his faith before he could receive the fullness of what Jesus was preparing to speak to him. Again in Proverbs, we see that God calls us to make plans, to dream, to set out in action but more importantly he wants us to commit our plans to Him, to His will. When we flow in this way, we, as a church and as individuals, begin to experience the ability to move and flow and be in agreement and harmony with God’s will, purpose, and plans. Just as we talked about yesterday, we begin to walk in the fullness of what it means to reconciled to Him! As we pray through these verses today, let us SEEK God’s direction for Kingsway Church! We long to be a church after his heart, let today be a day of action- seeking him in prayer for where he is taking us.

It is vital that as a church, we don’t get so consumed with what is happening inside our walls that we forget to seek God for what he wants us to do within our community. How are we, followers of Christ, called to live among people who desperately need him? God speaks clearly in Ephesians 2 of the plans he had through the work of Christ on the Cross. Speaking specifically in this passage about Jews and Gentiles, we are reminded that God’s “purpose was to create in himself one people (or one new humanity)…” He longed to bring peace between two very divided groups. Later in the passage, we are reminded that the Jews and Gentiles, through the work on the Cross, are “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone.” Can you see that God longed for his creation to be unified together bringing honor and glory to his name not separately but together with the truth of Jesus Christ as their linking point? As a church, we are seeking how God would have us function in our community and surrounding areas. Through these verses, it seems as though we have two commands from God. First, God calls us to be peacemakers just as he desired to create peace between the Jews and the Gentiles through sending his Son to die for us.  We are to share the love, peace, and hope that comes from God where ever we are. Second, we are to do this with one mission- to through the power of the Holy Spirit lead people into relationship with Jesus Christ. Therefore, striving to meet God’s longing that his creation would be unified bringing honor and glory to his name with belief in Jesus as the Christ as our cornerstone! We need to seek God’s direction for how he longs to see this take place through Kingsway Church. How do we make that representation corporately and how do we do it when we are interacting with people throughout our daily lives.

Prayer: Jesus, you have called your church to set the truth of what you have done for us as our cornerstone! I pray today that you would stir up in us a burning passion to lift you up in everything we do as a church corporately and as representatives of your church wherever we go individually.  We long to see people in our community be drawn in by your love. We long to stand in worship with those in our surrounding areas acknowledging YOU as our only way to gain access to the Father.

God as we seek you for specific direction for our church in the coming year, make true the promises set forth in Proverbs 16. As we put our hands to the plow, make plans, and dream big for this year, we commit those actions and plans to you believing that you will answer us, determine our steps and ensure our success in delivering the Salvation message of the cross. Set within our pastors and ministry leaders vision for our church, the ability to hear clearly your voice, and follow hard after what you have shown them.

Let us burn with the message of Christ. To those who come in our doors, those who we encounter through community outreaches like Trunk or Treat, and those we see throughout our daily lives, let us be carriers of the truth of the hope that exists only through relationship with Jesus! As a church we long to be used by you! Help us to lay down our agendas, our thoughts about who you are, and what you would have us do. Overtake our thinking and transforms our hearts and our minds to be vessels of your thoughts, your dreams, and your plans. We give every aspect of Kingsway Church in 2011 over to you! Do your work in us! In Jesus’ Name we pray! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: Desiring the Whole Truth of the Word of God
Focus Through the Word:

• Matthew 4:1-4
• Amos 8:11-12
• Philippians 3:19-21
• Ephesians 2:11-22

What would it mean if you took time to savor the Word of God today? Going to your favorite restaurant or to a relative’s house for dinner, you most likely go with expectancy. Expectancy for what you will eat, hopes for what it will taste like, and what your favorite parts will be. Could you imagine if we entered our time in God’s word with this level of expectancy every time? As you read through the verses below, take time to savor the richness of God’s truth for you today! The same creator that longs for us to go on a quest for the truth of who he is also loves you enough to have a specific word for you in this very moment of your life. To savor means to give oneself to the enjoyment of!

Don’t rush through your time in the scripture today- allow yourself to enjoy the richness of God’s word!

Matthew 4:1-4- “ ¹ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. ² For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. ³ During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,   ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Amos 8:11-12- ¹¹ “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread or water
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
¹² People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from border to border^[a]
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.

Philippians 3:19-21- ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

Ephesians 2:11-22- Oneness and Peace in Christ

¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. ¹⁵ He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

A Temple for the Lord

¹⁹ So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. ²⁰ Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. ²¹ We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. ²² Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

You will Crave-How will you Respond?

At some point today, if you haven’t experienced this already, your flesh will begin screaming for the things it misses- your favorite food, coffee, down time in front of the TV or computer. You will begin to see what desires control you. Allow yourself to travel to the desert where Jesus was fasting for 40 days. He was hot, tired, not well rested, and most definitely beginning to feel the extreme physical affects of not eating for a very long time. He was in the middle of a desert!

Let’s look at two things that are very important and have the potential to push you through those times today when your body begins to crave what it is lacking. First, Jesus was on a quest to connect with his Father’s heart. Don’t think that he spent his forty days wallowing in self pity wondering why he was chosen or asked to fast for such a long time. He took the time he was given to SEEK God FIRST. In addition, the enemy was right there tempting him, reminding him of the power he had to make bread appear. Jesus’ flesh was weak, just as weak as you or I would be if we fasted for 40 days. The overwhelming truth though was that his spirit was strong. He was filled with the Spirit of God and in the time of temptation, he fought the enemy with the truth and power of the Word!

Here is your truth today: ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ This is not a nice string of words that some nice man said. This is a powerful truth that came from the mouth of Jesus who now sits at the right hand of God making intercession (praying) for us! Jesus has been RIGHT where you are today- fighting the temptation of hunger and desires that have become too strong. Cling to his response as your hope today.

Think for a moment of the men and women spoken of in Amos 8. Imagine experiencing a time when God’s voice could not be heard. Not only could it not be heard but as hard as a person sought for Him, sought for His truth; the result was silence! Deafening silence! Sorry Indiana Jones, even you couldn’t find this one. People continued to search and continued to search and came up empty. They longed to be able to savor the Word of God. Many of us sit in a house with multiple bibles and access to any translation we could desire through the internet BUT we let days and weeks and months go by without taking a hold of the truth that’s right there for us to savor! Instead we have allowed our appetites to creep in and become god in our life, appetite for delicious food, appetite for acceptance, appetite for more, more, more.

Fill the Void!

Over the next ten days, as you let go of those appetites that have taken an unhealthy place in your life it is essential that you replace them. God longs for us to replace these appetites with a genuine hunger for the truth of his Word. Not just the Word of God in part but the Word of God in it’s whole complete message of life for you. Today, as you begin to make that transition, look at what His Word says about who you are in Christ. Stop and savor the truth of who you were, what Jesus has done for you, and who you are becoming!

Ephesians 2:1-10 reminds us that before Jesus, we were dead in our sin! Dead in your sin! Can you just stop for a second to let that settle in? Whether you were 4, 24, 44, or 64 when Jesus came into your life you left a state of being dead IN your sin. Allow God to give you a picture of what that looked like for you- not for condemnation but so you can begin to appreciate even more who are becoming! Verse ten tells us that we are “God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” Again stop and take time to worship God for the truth of these words. While you were still dead, surrounded by the truth of your sin, God saw you as worthy not only to be worked on but to be reborn through Jesus Christ to do good things- essentially to live a life that brings glory and honor to God. If you’re not feeling overwhelmingly humbled by that truth stop here and pray through these verses until you begin to feel God revealing His truth to you. Jesus’ blood has brought you near to the heart, the plan, and the dream of God. Not only are you near it, you are in the center of it. We have been reconciled to God through the cross. To be reconciled is to be restored, to be brought into agreement and harmony. The creator of the universe so longs for relationship with you that he made a way for you to be restored to him, that your life would move and flow and be in agreement and harmony with his will, purpose, and plan. God doesn’t need you or me to complete his plans but he longs for us so deeply that he desired and made possible unity with him! It’s because of the work of Jesus on the cross that we can fast and pray and go on a quest for God and find him. You have access to your Heavenly Father right now-that is a scriptural right you carry as a follower of Jesus. Finally, not only can God be found but he has made the choice to live inside each one of us through the Holy Spirit! Are you walking in the power of the truth of this today?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I come to you today weak and broken. I know that today I am going to fight cravings for the things I have let go of during this fast. Holy Spirit, I need your empowerment to help me to plug into the Word of God. Help me to savor the truth of the scriptures today even when my flesh in screaming. I choose to believe today that I do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God! I can make it through today denying myself those things my flesh feels it needs. God I long to seek after you like the people in Amos did but thank you that you have made a way for me to find you. Speak to me today, reveal to me those things that you long for me to hear. Jesus how could you, a sinless man, make the choice to take on the filth of my sin and die for me in such a humiliating way so that I could have access to my Heavenly Father? Help me to really grasp the truth of that today! I was dead in my sin but you saw me as worth dieing for. I pray the humility that comes from that truth never loses its power. Thank you God for making a way so I can search hard after you, find you, connect with you, and experience the power of your Holy Spirit living inside of me. Be real inside of me today.

There is nothing more important than the truth that is written loud and clear in the pages of the Bible. God would you stir up inside the heart of every person at Kingsway Church the desire to not only search your scriptures but also to uphold the whole truth of your Word. I long to be a part of a church that loves your word, studies your word, and portrays the fullness of it to those around us in our workplaces, our homes, our schools, everywhere we go. I pray that as you stir up in our church a deeper hunger for your word that you would equip our leaders Pastor Bryon and Pastor Arlena as they minister on Sunday mornings and throughout the week, RJ and Linda and they minister to our young people, and every life group leader who ministers the truth of the Word to those young and old. God give us and our leaders a love for the whole truth of your word, leaving nothing aside. I give you my life and I give you my church today! Do your work in us! In Jesus’ Name! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: What Is Most Important
Focus Through the Word: Matthew 6:33

Take a few moments to read through today’s focus scripture. Reading a verse in different translations will help you gain a deeper understanding of what God was speaking through the author. Don’t forget to write down the things that God speaks to you as you read his word for today.

New Living Translation: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

New International Version: “But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Amplified Version: “But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all his kingdom and his righteousness (his way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.”

God’s heart is so clearly and specifically portrayed in this verse. He longs for us to SEEK him FIRST. To grasp the fullness of what he is asking of us today and everyday, let’s take a deeper look into the meaning of these words.

In the Amplified Version, we see that the word seek means to aim at and strive after. It also means to go in search or quest of. Seek may seem mild and peaceful at first glance but what mild quest have you observed lately? Indiana Jones goes in quest of nothing mildly. He does whatever he has to in order to get to the middle of what he is seeking after! God wants us to go in search of the truth of who he is and what is most important to him with an Indiana Jones kind of passion.

First means before all others or anything else with respect to time, order, rank, importance, etc. The most important thing in our life is not simply to go in quest of who God is but to make that quest above all other things! Today, the Creator of the atom, the Creator of the concept of water, the Creator of the apple you are going to eat for lunch has one desire of your life- that you would go on an all out quest for the truth of who he is and that you would make that quest the most important event in your day.

Prayer: God! You are so Great! Even if I tried I could never comprehend the truth of your power. Still even in your greatness, you long for me to seek you and seek hard after you! Today, God I am seeking you for what is to be most important in my life. I pray that as I move throughout my day that you would help me sort through my life, my thoughts, my feelings, my motives. Reveal to me the things that I need to let go and help me to allow those things that should be most important in my life to take the place that you desire. Give me the ability to make YOU and seeking after you most important in my life.

God you have given me an amazing church equipped with leaders who strive hard after you. Would you help us as a church in 2011 to lock into what is most important to your heart? We long to go on a quest for your goal, mission, and plan for Kingsway Church. Holy Spirit, help us to find the heart of God for our church in 2011 and not stray from it even once. Help our leadership team to catch your vision for what is most important and continually lead us in that direction throughout this year. I surrender my life and my church to the work of your plan! In Jesus’ Name. Amen!

Deep within the heart of God, there is a plan, mission and goal for Kingsway Church and for you in 2011. Fasting is a spiritual discipline used by men and women for centuries to meld our earthly dreams and passions with God’s plan and ultimately with what makes his heart beat. Through this fast, we will pursue God’s plans for our church and for us as individuals.

Definition of Fasting: Throughout Scripture fasting refers to abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. Biblical fasting always centers on spiritual purposes.

Over the next ten days, we will lay down our daily routines of eating, relaxing in front of the TV and spending time on the computer in exchange for pursuing God.  We will exchange our daily distractions for the spiritual disciplines He longs for us to desire through reading the Bible, praying, and journaling.

Our hope is that we will experience a remarkable increase in our genuine hunger for spending time with our Creator.

Don’t forget, the idea is to be real about your goals, not concerned about following rules! Focus more on the details of your personal connection time with God in the coming days and less on your specific menu and you will be overtaken by the blessings designed to flow through a Spirit led fast.

Fast Framework

Sunrise, Monday, January 17, 2011- Begin Daniel Fast

If you are feeling led to partake in a fast that includes food, we recommend a Daniel Fast. Please see the information provided below to see what foods are and are not to be eaten on a Daniel Fast. (Remember, God is seeking hearts that are searching hard after him, not minds that have created the perfect menu!)

If you are limited by any condition that would keep you from completing a Daniel Fast, there are many other options! Continue reading under “Fast Foods” to see what you could give up during the coming days.

Sunset, Wednesday, January 26, 2011- Break the Fast

We will meet together as a church to fellowship and enjoy a much anticipated meal together.

Fast Forward

Take a few quiet moments before Monday at sunrise, to decide why YOU are doing this and what you hope to see happen through these next ten days . Are you hoping to read your Bible instead of eating lunch, spend time praying for the church on your car ride to work, take time to worship while your son or daughter naps instead of catching up on the latest news?  What are you hoping to learn about God? What are you hoping he shows you about yourself? Set goals that you can attain! Pray that God would show you what HE wants to do through you and in you through your sacrifice. We encourage you to keep a record of your experiences. Write down your goals at the beginning, record your struggles and your victories as you walk out your plan each day, and reflect on the experience when  you have finished the journey!

Fast Foods

A Daniel Fast is a partial fast. You will most likely be asked to give up at least one of your favorite foods but you will be provided with an amazing array of foods to choose from. Focus on eating fruits and vegetables that are pure and simple. A list of foods to eat and foods to avoid has been provided for you.

The reason we fast is to replace our daily distractions with extra special time with God. If a fast from a large variety of foods is not possible for you, choose something that will be just as meaningful but within your limitations. Here are some examples: give up a specific food or beverage, television, social media, other technology, or anything else that you could replace with genuine time with God!

* If you have any known medical conditions or suspect such conditions, consult  your doctor before beginning the fast.

Foods to Eat

Fruits
These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Fruits include but are not limited to apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, figs, grapefruit, grapes, guava, honeydew melon, kiwi, lemons, limes, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, prunes, raisins, raspberries, strawberries, tangelos, tangerines, watermelon.

Vegetables
These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Vegetables include but are not limited to artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chili peppers, collard greens, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, ginger root, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, onions, parsley, potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, scallions, spinach, sprouts, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, watercress, yams, zucchini, veggie burgers are an option if you are not allergic to soy.

Whole Grains
All whole grains including but not limited to whole wheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats, barley, grits, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas, rice cakes and popcorn.

Seeds, Nuts, and Sprouts
All nuts and seeds, including but not limited to sunflower seeds, cashews, peanuts, sesame. Also nut butters including peanut butter.

Legumes
These can be canned or dried. Legumes include but are not limited to dried beans, pinto beans, split peas, lentils, black eyed peas, kidney beans, black beans, cannellini beans, white beans.

Oils
All quality oils including but not limited to olive, canola, grape seed, peanut, and sesame.

Beverages
Spring water, distilled water or other pure waters, unsweetened soy milk, herbal tea, honey, natural fruit juice (no sugar added)

Other
Tofu, soy products, vinegar, seasonings, salt, herbs and spices.

Foods to Avoid

Meat – All meat and animal products including but not limited to beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and fish.

Dairy – All dairy products including but not limited to milk, cheese, cream, butter, and eggs.

Sweeteners – All sweeteners including but not limited to sugar, raw sugar, honey, syrups, molasses, and cane juice.

Breads – All leavened bread including Ezekiel Bread (it contains yeast and honey) and baked goods.

Refined/Processed Foods – All refined and processed food products including but not limited to artificial flavorings, food additives, chemicals, white rice, white flour, and foods that contain artificial preservatives.

Fried Foods – All deep fried foods including but not limited to potato chips, French fries, corn chips.

Fats – All solid fats including shortening, margarine, lard and foods high in fat.

Beverages – Beverages including but not limited to coffee, tea, herbal teas, carbonated beverages, energy drinks, and alcohol.

Great Questions to Ask

What is the purpose of the fast?
We are choosing to fast together like Daniel did. He made a decision not to eat the King’s food as an outward symbol of an inward commitment he had made to God. Let your choices over the next ten days reflect the hunger you have for God’s presence in your life.

Why should I participate?
God is certain to bless our life in new and exciting ways during the fast. We encourage you to write down your prayers and the many ways God reveals himself to you. We can’t wait to see what God is going to do in your life and in the life of our church!

How strict should I be with what I eat on the fast?
The list of food provided is merely a first step to get you thinking about making better food choices. Remember, this fast is about growing your relationship with God. He’s not as concerned about what is in your stomach as He is about what is in your heart.

Can I eat foods that are not specifically listed?
If you are not sure about a certain food, ask God to reveal to you whether it should be part of your diet over the next ten days. Since there is no definitive list of foods, for the Daniel Fast, it is truly the spirit of Daniel’s decision that we are imitating over the next ten days.

How can I involve my children?
Attempt to eliminate sugar, bread and possibly dairy from your children’s diet. Include whole wheat pasta and soy milk. Mostly, encourage them to eat what you are eating. You may also want to incorporate some chicken into your children’s meals for added protein. You will be surprised what your children may be willing to try when they are aware of the fast, why they are doing it, and that the whole family is doing it together.

If you are not looking to cut food out of your children’s diets there are many other ways to include them in the fast. Be sure to talk to them about the reason you are fasting and why you want them to be a part of this experience as well. Consider removing daily pleasures from your child’s routine such as computer and/or TV time.  Encourage your children to ask God to show them something he would like them to sacrifice for him during the fast.

What if I have concerns about participating because of my health?
If you have any condition that would prohibit you from being a part of the Daniel Fast, you can participate in a different way! Choose something from your daily routine (i.e. specific foods or beverages, television, other technology, ect.) and fast in that manner for the next 10 days. Remember, the details are not as important as the spirit in which you participate.

Helpful Links

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-crazy-idea-of-fasting-in-09

http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting/fastingbasics.php

http://www.daniel-fast.com/recipes.html

Ten days. Two hundred and forty hours. Eight work days and an entire weekend.  In the next ten days, the average person will eat 30 meals and at least 20 snacks. The average person will watch at least 25 hours of TV. The average person will devote well over 120 minutes into some type of social media.

Ten days.  Will you take this challenge to pursue God,  to drink in all he has for you through his word, and connect with him through prayer? Will you sacrifice a meal, turn off your computer, unplug your TV? We sure hope you will!

What an incredible journey you are about to embark upon! Below, you will find the tools you need to help make these next ten days successful for you!

Day Six

Focus: Frequent, Fervent, Full of Faith: Power in Prayer

Focus Through the Word:

• James 5:16-18
• Luke 11:1-13

James 5:16-18- ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

¹⁷ Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Luke 11:1-13-¹ One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

² He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,^[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.^[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.^[c]
And lead us not into temptation.^[d]’”

⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity^[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for^[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

We must never forget that the highest kind of prayer is never the making of requests.  Prayer at its holiest moment is the entering into God, to a place of such blessed union as it makes miracles seem tame and remarkable answers to prayer appear something very far short of wonderful by comparison. -A.W. Tozer

Do you believe in prayer? Don’t. Believe instead in a God who hears and responds. James tells us the prayer of a righteous man IS powerful and effective. There is no question there! Why is prayer powerful and effective, because we are righteous on our own? Absolutely not! It’s all about dependence on and faith in God. In order for us to be made righteous, we have to believe that Jesus came, walked on the earth, died, and rose again for our forgiveness. To approach God in prayer, we have to believe that his ways are higher than our ways and that he has our ultimate good in his view. After praying, we have to believe that God is working on our behalf whether we hear him, feel him, and see him, or have no proof beside our faith that he listened to what’s going on in our world. So you see, prayer has nothing to with us or our words and everything to do with our belief that God IS hearing and working!

Jesus lovingly and clearly lays out for us how we should pray. In summarizing Luke 11, we see that Jesus commands three things of our prayer, frequency, fervency, and faith. What do these words mean in relation to our prayer life and how we access our Heavenly Father? Frequency speaks to persistence. The man who was in need of bread would not stop knocking on his friend’s door until he got what he wanted! He wasn’t even concerned that his neighbor would get annoyed, he knew what he needed and he was not stopping until he got it. Are you persistently seeking God for the things that you need in this moment? Fervency speaks to intensity. Paint a picture of this parable in your head. A man needs food, it’s midnight, he needs it enough to knock on someone else’s door. If he is that desperate, there is very little chance that his knocks were light and dainty; chances are he was pounding on the door. Jesus endorsed this kind of intensity in seeking what we need from God! Does the intensity of your prayer life reflect the desperation of your need? Finally, Jesus, through all of Luke 11 commands us to have faith when we pray, faith that God can provide for us, faith that God can forgive us, faith that when we approach God he will provide an answer. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” God is asking us to believe for these things even when we have no earthly view of them when we pray. Are you seeking God persistently, intensely, and in faith for the things that you need?

Do you believe God hears you and will respond to your prayers?  Don’t answer that too quickly.  The way to know the answer is to identify how much time and energy you invest into praying.

Prayer: God, I want my prayer life to be effective and powerful! I long to seek for you just like the man in Luke 11 sought for the bread that he so desperately needed. Holy Spirit, empower me to believe for things I cannot see! God search my heart, show me whether I have believed in prayer or whether I believe in the power of a God who promises to respond when I pray. Help me to align the time and energy I invest in my prayer time with my belief that you hear me and will respond. Guide me as I journey to a place of richer, deeper prayer, communing with you. I believe that you have made me righteous and I also believe the promise in James that says that the prayer of a righteous person IS powerful and effective. Hold me up in the moments when it’s hard to believe you hear me and strengthen me to know you are right there working in every moment. I long to be close to you. In Jesus’ Name! Amen!

Fast Focus

Focus Through Prayer: It’s Time to Clean House!

Focus Through the Word:

• Romans 8:5-6
• Psalm 51
• Hebrews 4:12

Romans 8:5-6- ⁵ Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. ⁶ So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

Psalm 51- ¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
² Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
³ For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
⁴ Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
⁵ For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
⁶ But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.

⁷ Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
⁹ Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
¹³ Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
¹⁴ Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
¹⁵ Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.

¹⁶ You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
¹⁸ Look with favor on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

Hebrews 4:12 (New Living Translation)- ¹² For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Hebrews 4:12 (New International Version)- ¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified Version)- ¹²For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

“One of the reasons for fasting is to know what is in us…in fasting it will come out. You will see it. And you will have to deal with it quickly or smother it again.” -John Piper

Today is day 5 and you are half way there! Now it is time to get up close and personal.
The fact is we ALL have our stuff! There is not one person reading this today who doesn’t have issues, insecurities, areas of pride, doubt, or shame that cause us to be divided from God’s perfect plan for our life. As Jon Piper makes very clear, fasting will reveal to us those things that need to be dealt with. It’s then our decision whether we allow God to lead us as we work through our issues or if we are going to push that issue down one more time. Today, you have a chance to allow God to search your heart. When he points out the things that are not pleasing to him and are a detriment to you, you then need to choose what you do. Allow God to help you begin to work through what’s keeping you from His best for your life and freedom will be the result!

Hopefully throughout these past five days, you have worked to spend some more time with God and in his word than you normally would. Let’s take a look at the work of God’s word as it deals with what is happening in our hearts. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s word is alive and powerful. When we spend time earnestly seeking God through his word we cannot avoid beginning to see issues that we have in the motives and thoughts of our heart. Chances are, as you have spent more time in his word this week, you have already begun to sense God tugging on your heart in certain areas. Allow God’s word to do its work and take the steps to respond to what he shows you.

Prayer: God thank you for the power of your word and the power of your Holy Spirit that empowers us to desire change. God, today I acknowledge just as David acknowledged in Psalm 51 that I am sinful, that I am in need of your incredible mercy! Would you pour of your forgiveness and grace on me today as I search to align my life with the commandments in your word.

Focus Through Prayer: YOU have a story-Prepare to share it!

Focus Through the Word:

• Romans 1:15-16
• 2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Romans 1:15-16- ¹⁵ So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News. ¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentiles.

2 Corinthians 4:3-6- ³ If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. ⁴ Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. ⁵ You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

Remember today that our time of fasting, our time of seeking God, these extra moments you are spending with Him this week are not about earning his approval! Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice on the cross so that every bit of God’s love that is available for us could be poured out. Take a few moments to think about your goals for this fast, what you have experienced to this point, and what your goals are moving forward. Pray that God would examine your heart. Ask him to reveal to you any motives within you that are seeking to EARN His love. Lay those things at the foot of the Cross where Jesus paid the price so you wouldn’t have to work for God’s love. We fast to show us what desires control us, we fast to gain understanding of where God is taking us, we fast as an outward reminder of an inner commitment we have made to Him. Be free today to enjoy this special time with him remembering that God loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love regardless of the things you do.

Reread Romans 1:15-16. Can you feel the excitement in Paul’s writing? He didn’t use the word eager because he thought God would be pleased with it. He chose to use the word eager because he truly felt an impatient longing to speak the truth of the Gospel! The truth that Jesus came, lived a sinless life, died the death of a sinner and was resurrected so that we who were dead in our sin (Ephesians 2:1) might have access to our Heavenly Father. Stop for a moment. Are you eager to share this Gospel? When you think of the people in your life who desperately need to know the truth about Jesus, do you feel an impatient longing to talk to them? Paul goes on to say, “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ.” Is it possible that somewhere inside of you, you are ashamed to share what you have learned about Jesus? The word ashamed is defined as unwilling or restrained because of fear of shame, ridicule, or disapproval. Take some time to write down some reasons that you may be experiencing a fear of sharing the Good News. Before you go on remember the words of Paul in Romans 8:1, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” This self examination is NOT to make you feel guilty. We are examining ourselves and allowing God to examine us to see where we can allow the Holy Spirit to work. Perhaps one of the reasons we may feel a fear of sharing the Good News is because we just don’t think we have the right words to express what Jesus has done for us or how he has changed our lives. Take some time to write an answer to these questions. If you had the opportunity to share Jesus with a friend who desperately wanted to know about him, how would you explain what he did for us through his time on Earth? Now explain what he has done in YOUR life! Share your story. Where were you before Jesus came into your life, how has that changed, what is he doing now, and where are you longing for him to take you? The work of Jesus through his ministry on Earth and on the Cross is Good News and most definitely your story includes many moments that Jesus has done powerful things in your life and has made ugly situations beautiful. It is very unlikely that someone could hear a story of Good News and a changed life and not be affected, even if they don’t show it right away. As you reread your answers to these questions, pray that God would stir up in you an impatient longing to share your story with someone!

In 2 Corinthians, we have the chance to see a rather sad but very true picture painted for us. If we are ashamed and hide the story that is living within us (we all have one, we just wrote it!) behind a veil, we are hiding it from people who are dead IN their sin! Could you ever walk past someone drowning in a clean pool? Probably not. Yet everyday we interact with people in our family, at our job, in stores who are drowning not in a clean pretty pool but in the filth of their sin. Pray that as the reality of this hits you, and you begin to feel the truth of your story resonating in your heart, that you would not be able to keep hidden behind a veil any longer! You have a story that speaks forth light and you are surrounded by people who Satan is blinding so they cannot even see the light. Take a few moments now to think about people in your life who desperately need to hear this Good News we are talking about. It is not by accident that God has placed them in your life. God has given you your story, the good parts and the parts you’d rather forget as a tool to reveal light into the dark parts of their lives. You are called to share the Good News whether you are a sales person, a mail carrier, an engineer, a mom, and on and on. One of the reasons you are alive and breathing today is to be a light in the darkness! Make a list of specific people in your life who need the light that God has placed inside of you. In Matthew 13, Jesus shares a parable about a man sowing seeds. He sows his seeds (his story in this case) on many different kinds of soil. The only soil to grow the seed was the good, rich soil. As we pray today, we are believing that as God has given you a list of people who need to hear about him, that he is also preparing the soil of their hearts. We are praying that when he provides an opportunity for you to share your story with them that the soil of their hearts would be so ready to receive the Good News that the result would be a friend, a family member, a grocery store bagger who is no longer dead in his or her sin but now has the ability to access his or her Heavenly Father for the first time! Really! When that is what is waiting for the people in our life, how could we hold it back?

Prayer: Jesus! I am crying out to you today! Would you give me an impatient longing, an eagerness to share the story you have given me with those around me. Help me to realize the truth of the power of what you have done for me paired with my testimony. I pray that as I go throughout my day that you would help me to create a list of people in my life who need to hear about you and how you have changed me. Open up supernatural opportunities to share what you have done for me with these people. I long to be used as a vessel to pour your light into dark hearts! Help me to push aside fear and shame. Enable me to see the true condition of the people around me and use that to evoke in me a passion to come out from behind the veil. Thank you God that you promise in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that your grace is sufficient for me and your strength is made perfect in my weakness! Be strength in every weak are of my life today. Holy Spirit, empower me to speak the words you have given me. I don’t long to do this one my own but I know that I must rely on you to speak through me. Through the power that is given to me through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross, I bind the work of the Enemy. Satan, you can no longer blind the people I love! God, break through those blinders, allow your light to pierce through the darkness. Go before me and prepare the hearts of every person I will share my story with. Allow them to receive the truth of who you are in the soft soil of their hearts so that they may believe and receive you into their lives! I pray and ask that through this time I have spent with you, studying your word that lives would be transformed from a state of being dead in their sin to alive in Jesus with full access to God, their Heavenly Father! In Jesus’ Name I pray! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: Becoming a Church after God’s own Heart

Focus Through the Word:

• Matthew 16:18
• Proverbs 16:1,3,9
• Ephesians 2:11-18

Press in today. At the beginning of this fast, you were encouraged to set goals, to determine what you were hoping to see happen from this time with the Lord. Review those goals today. Take a few minutes to write down what you have learned, what you have struggled with and what you still hope to see accomplished! As we are about to read in Proverbs 16:3, we are encouraged to “commit our actions to the Lord.” The promise that follows this encouragement is that for those who commit their plans to him, “your plans will succeed.” That is your promise today! Take hold of it in every moment. The third day of a fast is never easy so if you are feeling weak, cling with everything you have to the hope that is found in the Word of God and to the reasons you have set out on this journey. Most importantly remember the words that came from Jesus in his time of fasting in Matthew 4:4, “Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” SEEK after God today, find truth in and savor the power of his word, and commit your plans (for this fast) to him and they will succeed!

Matthew 16:18- Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

Proverbs 16:1,3,9- ¹ We can make our own plans,
but the Lord gives the right answer.

³ Commit your actions to the Lord,
and your plans will succeed.

⁹ We can make our plans,
but the Lord determines our steps.

Ephesians 2:11-18- ¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. ¹⁵ He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

To be a church that presses hard after the Heart of God, we need to understand where we have come from, where we are and where we are going. In Matthew 16, we see what must have been quite an intense conversation between Jesus and Peter. Peter and the other disciples are being asked by the man that they hold in very high esteem who they believe he is. Jesus is setting up the scene to establish his church and to begin to set his promises in place over that very church. After Peter’s confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” in verse 16, Jesus blesses Peter and proclaims that his church will be built on that rock. The rock he refers to is the confession that Peter has just made-the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Loving God. The truth that Jesus IS the Christ, God’s Son must be the cornerstone of any church that desires to be church after God’s heart!

Take some time to read through the verses highlighted in Proverbs 16. Did you notice that each verse began with human action but ultimately ends with us turning those actions to the LORD for his answer, his prosperity, and his approval? In Matthew, we see that Peter had to make a statement of his faith before he could receive the fullness of what Jesus was preparing to speak to him. Again in Proverbs, we see that God calls us to make plans, to dream, to set out in action but more importantly he wants us to commit our plans to Him, to His will. When we flow in this way, we, as a church and as individuals, begin to experience the ability to move and flow and be in agreement and harmony with God’s will, purpose, and plans. Just as we talked about yesterday, we begin to walk in the fullness of what it means to reconciled to Him! As we pray through these verses today, let us SEEK God’s direction for Kingsway Church! We long to be a church after his heart, let today be a day of action- seeking him in prayer for where he is taking us.

It is vital that as a church, we don’t get so consumed with what is happening inside our walls that we forget to seek God for what he wants us to do within our community. How are we, followers of Christ, called to live among people who desperately need him? God speaks clearly in Ephesians 2 of the plans he had through the work of Christ on the Cross. Speaking specifically in this passage about Jews and Gentiles, we are reminded that God’s “purpose was to create in himself one people (or one new humanity)…” He longed to bring peace between two very divided groups. Later in the passage, we are reminded that the Jews and Gentiles, through the work on the Cross, are “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone.” Can you see that God longed for his creation to be unified together bringing honor and glory to his name not separately but together with the truth of Jesus Christ as their linking point? As a church, we are seeking how God would have us function in our community and surrounding areas. Through these verses, it seems as though we have two commands from God. First, God calls us to be peacemakers just as he desired to create peace between the Jews and the Gentiles through sending his Son to die for us.  We are to share the love, peace, and hope that comes from God where ever we are. Second, we are to do this with one mission- to through the power of the Holy Spirit lead people into relationship with Jesus Christ. Therefore, striving to meet God’s longing that his creation would be unified bringing honor and glory to his name with belief in Jesus as the Christ as our cornerstone! We need to seek God’s direction for how he longs to see this take place through Kingsway Church. How do we make that representation corporately and how do we do it when we are interacting with people throughout our daily lives.

Prayer: Jesus, you have called your church to set the truth of what you have done for us as our cornerstone! I pray today that you would stir up in us a burning passion to lift you up in everything we do as a church corporately and as representatives of your church wherever we go individually.  We long to see people in our community be drawn in by your love. We long to stand in worship with those in our surrounding areas acknowledging YOU as our only way to gain access to the Father.

God as we seek you for specific direction for our church in the coming year, make true the promises set forth in Proverbs 16. As we put our hands to the plow, make plans, and dream big for this year, we commit those actions and plans to you believing that you will answer us, determine our steps and ensure our success in delivering the Salvation message of the cross. Set within our pastors and ministry leaders vision for our church, the ability to hear clearly your voice, and follow hard after what you have shown them.

Let us burn with the message of Christ. To those who come in our doors, those who we encounter through community outreaches like Trunk or Treat, and those we see throughout our daily lives, let us be carriers of the truth of the hope that exists only through relationship with Jesus! As a church we long to be used by you! Help us to lay down our agendas, our thoughts about who you are, and what you would have us do. Overtake our thinking and transforms our hearts and our minds to be vessels of your thoughts, your dreams, and your plans. We give every aspect of Kingsway Church in 2011 over to you! Do your work in us! In Jesus’ Name we pray! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: Desiring the Whole Truth of the Word of God
Focus Through the Word:

• Matthew 4:1-4
• Amos 8:11-12
• Philippians 3:19-21
• Ephesians 2:11-22

What would it mean if you took time to savor the Word of God today? Going to your favorite restaurant or to a relative’s house for dinner, you most likely go with expectancy. Expectancy for what you will eat, hopes for what it will taste like, and what your favorite parts will be. Could you imagine if we entered our time in God’s word with this level of expectancy every time? As you read through the verses below, take time to savor the richness of God’s truth for you today! The same creator that longs for us to go on a quest for the truth of who he is also loves you enough to have a specific word for you in this very moment of your life. To savor means to give oneself to the enjoyment of!

Don’t rush through your time in the scripture today- allow yourself to enjoy the richness of God’s word!

Matthew 4:1-4- “ ¹ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. ² For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. ³ During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,   ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Amos 8:11-12- ¹¹ “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread or water
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
¹² People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from border to border^[a]
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.

Philippians 3:19-21- ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

Ephesians 2:11-22- Oneness and Peace in Christ

¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. ¹⁵ He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

A Temple for the Lord

¹⁹ So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. ²⁰ Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. ²¹ We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. ²² Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

You will Crave-How will you Respond?

At some point today, if you haven’t experienced this already, your flesh will begin screaming for the things it misses- your favorite food, coffee, down time in front of the TV or computer. You will begin to see what desires control you. Allow yourself to travel to the desert where Jesus was fasting for 40 days. He was hot, tired, not well rested, and most definitely beginning to feel the extreme physical affects of not eating for a very long time. He was in the middle of a desert!

Let’s look at two things that are very important and have the potential to push you through those times today when your body begins to crave what it is lacking. First, Jesus was on a quest to connect with his Father’s heart. Don’t think that he spent his forty days wallowing in self pity wondering why he was chosen or asked to fast for such a long time. He took the time he was given to SEEK God FIRST. In addition, the enemy was right there tempting him, reminding him of the power he had to make bread appear. Jesus’ flesh was weak, just as weak as you or I would be if we fasted for 40 days. The overwhelming truth though was that his spirit was strong. He was filled with the Spirit of God and in the time of temptation, he fought the enemy with the truth and power of the Word!

Here is your truth today: ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ This is not a nice string of words that some nice man said. This is a powerful truth that came from the mouth of Jesus who now sits at the right hand of God making intercession (praying) for us! Jesus has been RIGHT where you are today- fighting the temptation of hunger and desires that have become too strong. Cling to his response as your hope today.

Think for a moment of the men and women spoken of in Amos 8. Imagine experiencing a time when God’s voice could not be heard. Not only could it not be heard but as hard as a person sought for Him, sought for His truth; the result was silence! Deafening silence! Sorry Indiana Jones, even you couldn’t find this one. People continued to search and continued to search and came up empty. They longed to be able to savor the Word of God. Many of us sit in a house with multiple bibles and access to any translation we could desire through the internet BUT we let days and weeks and months go by without taking a hold of the truth that’s right there for us to savor! Instead we have allowed our appetites to creep in and become god in our life, appetite for delicious food, appetite for acceptance, appetite for more, more, more.

Fill the Void!

Over the next ten days, as you let go of those appetites that have taken an unhealthy place in your life it is essential that you replace them. God longs for us to replace these appetites with a genuine hunger for the truth of his Word. Not just the Word of God in part but the Word of God in it’s whole complete message of life for you. Today, as you begin to make that transition, look at what His Word says about who you are in Christ. Stop and savor the truth of who you were, what Jesus has done for you, and who you are becoming!

Ephesians 2:1-10 reminds us that before Jesus, we were dead in our sin! Dead in your sin! Can you just stop for a second to let that settle in? Whether you were 4, 24, 44, or 64 when Jesus came into your life you left a state of being dead IN your sin. Allow God to give you a picture of what that looked like for you- not for condemnation but so you can begin to appreciate even more who are becoming! Verse ten tells us that we are “God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” Again stop and take time to worship God for the truth of these words. While you were still dead, surrounded by the truth of your sin, God saw you as worthy not only to be worked on but to be reborn through Jesus Christ to do good things- essentially to live a life that brings glory and honor to God. If you’re not feeling overwhelmingly humbled by that truth stop here and pray through these verses until you begin to feel God revealing His truth to you. Jesus’ blood has brought you near to the heart, the plan, and the dream of God. Not only are you near it, you are in the center of it. We have been reconciled to God through the cross. To be reconciled is to be restored, to be brought into agreement and harmony. The creator of the universe so longs for relationship with you that he made a way for you to be restored to him, that your life would move and flow and be in agreement and harmony with his will, purpose, and plan. God doesn’t need you or me to complete his plans but he longs for us so deeply that he desired and made possible unity with him! It’s because of the work of Jesus on the cross that we can fast and pray and go on a quest for God and find him. You have access to your Heavenly Father right now-that is a scriptural right you carry as a follower of Jesus. Finally, not only can God be found but he has made the choice to live inside each one of us through the Holy Spirit! Are you walking in the power of the truth of this today?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I come to you today weak and broken. I know that today I am going to fight cravings for the things I have let go of during this fast. Holy Spirit, I need your empowerment to help me to plug into the Word of God. Help me to savor the truth of the scriptures today even when my flesh in screaming. I choose to believe today that I do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God! I can make it through today denying myself those things my flesh feels it needs. God I long to seek after you like the people in Amos did but thank you that you have made a way for me to find you. Speak to me today, reveal to me those things that you long for me to hear. Jesus how could you, a sinless man, make the choice to take on the filth of my sin and die for me in such a humiliating way so that I could have access to my Heavenly Father? Help me to really grasp the truth of that today! I was dead in my sin but you saw me as worth dieing for. I pray the humility that comes from that truth never loses its power. Thank you God for making a way so I can search hard after you, find you, connect with you, and experience the power of your Holy Spirit living inside of me. Be real inside of me today.

There is nothing more important than the truth that is written loud and clear in the pages of the Bible. God would you stir up inside the heart of every person at Kingsway Church the desire to not only search your scriptures but also to uphold the whole truth of your Word. I long to be a part of a church that loves your word, studies your word, and portrays the fullness of it to those around us in our workplaces, our homes, our schools, everywhere we go. I pray that as you stir up in our church a deeper hunger for your word that you would equip our leaders Pastor Bryon and Pastor Arlena as they minister on Sunday mornings and throughout the week, RJ and Linda and they minister to our young people, and every life group leader who ministers the truth of the Word to those young and old. God give us and our leaders a love for the whole truth of your word, leaving nothing aside. I give you my life and I give you my church today! Do your work in us! In Jesus’ Name! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: What Is Most Important
Focus Through the Word: Matthew 6:33

Take a few moments to read through today’s focus scripture. Reading a verse in different translations will help you gain a deeper understanding of what God was speaking through the author. Don’t forget to write down the things that God speaks to you as you read his word for today.

New Living Translation: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

New International Version: “But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Amplified Version: “But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all his kingdom and his righteousness (his way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.”

God’s heart is so clearly and specifically portrayed in this verse. He longs for us to SEEK him FIRST. To grasp the fullness of what he is asking of us today and everyday, let’s take a deeper look into the meaning of these words.

In the Amplified Version, we see that the word seek means to aim at and strive after. It also means to go in search or quest of. Seek may seem mild and peaceful at first glance but what mild quest have you observed lately? Indiana Jones goes in quest of nothing mildly. He does whatever he has to in order to get to the middle of what he is seeking after! God wants us to go in search of the truth of who he is and what is most important to him with an Indiana Jones kind of passion.

First means before all others or anything else with respect to time, order, rank, importance, etc. The most important thing in our life is not simply to go in quest of who God is but to make that quest above all other things! Today, the Creator of the atom, the Creator of the concept of water, the Creator of the apple you are going to eat for lunch has one desire of your life- that you would go on an all out quest for the truth of who he is and that you would make that quest the most important event in your day.

Prayer: God! You are so Great! Even if I tried I could never comprehend the truth of your power. Still even in your greatness, you long for me to seek you and seek hard after you! Today, God I am seeking you for what is to be most important in my life. I pray that as I move throughout my day that you would help me sort through my life, my thoughts, my feelings, my motives. Reveal to me the things that I need to let go and help me to allow those things that should be most important in my life to take the place that you desire. Give me the ability to make YOU and seeking after you most important in my life.

God you have given me an amazing church equipped with leaders who strive hard after you. Would you help us as a church in 2011 to lock into what is most important to your heart? We long to go on a quest for your goal, mission, and plan for Kingsway Church. Holy Spirit, help us to find the heart of God for our church in 2011 and not stray from it even once. Help our leadership team to catch your vision for what is most important and continually lead us in that direction throughout this year. I surrender my life and my church to the work of your plan! In Jesus’ Name. Amen!

Deep within the heart of God, there is a plan, mission and goal for Kingsway Church and for you in 2011. Fasting is a spiritual discipline used by men and women for centuries to meld our earthly dreams and passions with God’s plan and ultimately with what makes his heart beat. Through this fast, we will pursue God’s plans for our church and for us as individuals.

Definition of Fasting: Throughout Scripture fasting refers to abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. Biblical fasting always centers on spiritual purposes.

Over the next ten days, we will lay down our daily routines of eating, relaxing in front of the TV and spending time on the computer in exchange for pursuing God.  We will exchange our daily distractions for the spiritual disciplines He longs for us to desire through reading the Bible, praying, and journaling.

Our hope is that we will experience a remarkable increase in our genuine hunger for spending time with our Creator.

Don’t forget, the idea is to be real about your goals, not concerned about following rules! Focus more on the details of your personal connection time with God in the coming days and less on your specific menu and you will be overtaken by the blessings designed to flow through a Spirit led fast.

Fast Framework

Sunrise, Monday, January 17, 2011- Begin Daniel Fast

If you are feeling led to partake in a fast that includes food, we recommend a Daniel Fast. Please see the information provided below to see what foods are and are not to be eaten on a Daniel Fast. (Remember, God is seeking hearts that are searching hard after him, not minds that have created the perfect menu!)

If you are limited by any condition that would keep you from completing a Daniel Fast, there are many other options! Continue reading under “Fast Foods” to see what you could give up during the coming days.

Sunset, Wednesday, January 26, 2011- Break the Fast

We will meet together as a church to fellowship and enjoy a much anticipated meal together.

Fast Forward

Take a few quiet moments before Monday at sunrise, to decide why YOU are doing this and what you hope to see happen through these next ten days . Are you hoping to read your Bible instead of eating lunch, spend time praying for the church on your car ride to work, take time to worship while your son or daughter naps instead of catching up on the latest news?  What are you hoping to learn about God? What are you hoping he shows you about yourself? Set goals that you can attain! Pray that God would show you what HE wants to do through you and in you through your sacrifice. We encourage you to keep a record of your experiences. Write down your goals at the beginning, record your struggles and your victories as you walk out your plan each day, and reflect on the experience when  you have finished the journey!

Fast Foods

A Daniel Fast is a partial fast. You will most likely be asked to give up at least one of your favorite foods but you will be provided with an amazing array of foods to choose from. Focus on eating fruits and vegetables that are pure and simple. A list of foods to eat and foods to avoid has been provided for you.

The reason we fast is to replace our daily distractions with extra special time with God. If a fast from a large variety of foods is not possible for you, choose something that will be just as meaningful but within your limitations. Here are some examples: give up a specific food or beverage, television, social media, other technology, or anything else that you could replace with genuine time with God!

* If you have any known medical conditions or suspect such conditions, consult  your doctor before beginning the fast.

Foods to Eat

Fruits
These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Fruits include but are not limited to apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, figs, grapefruit, grapes, guava, honeydew melon, kiwi, lemons, limes, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, prunes, raisins, raspberries, strawberries, tangelos, tangerines, watermelon.

Vegetables
These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Vegetables include but are not limited to artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chili peppers, collard greens, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, ginger root, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, onions, parsley, potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, scallions, spinach, sprouts, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, watercress, yams, zucchini, veggie burgers are an option if you are not allergic to soy.

Whole Grains
All whole grains including but not limited to whole wheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats, barley, grits, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas, rice cakes and popcorn.

Seeds, Nuts, and Sprouts
All nuts and seeds, including but not limited to sunflower seeds, cashews, peanuts, sesame. Also nut butters including peanut butter.

Legumes
These can be canned or dried. Legumes include but are not limited to dried beans, pinto beans, split peas, lentils, black eyed peas, kidney beans, black beans, cannellini beans, white beans.

Oils
All quality oils including but not limited to olive, canola, grape seed, peanut, and sesame.

Beverages
Spring water, distilled water or other pure waters, unsweetened soy milk, herbal tea, honey, natural fruit juice (no sugar added)

Other
Tofu, soy products, vinegar, seasonings, salt, herbs and spices.

Foods to Avoid

Meat – All meat and animal products including but not limited to beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and fish.

Dairy – All dairy products including but not limited to milk, cheese, cream, butter, and eggs.

Sweeteners – All sweeteners including but not limited to sugar, raw sugar, honey, syrups, molasses, and cane juice.

Breads – All leavened bread including Ezekiel Bread (it contains yeast and honey) and baked goods.

Refined/Processed Foods – All refined and processed food products including but not limited to artificial flavorings, food additives, chemicals, white rice, white flour, and foods that contain artificial preservatives.

Fried Foods – All deep fried foods including but not limited to potato chips, French fries, corn chips.

Fats – All solid fats including shortening, margarine, lard and foods high in fat.

Beverages – Beverages including but not limited to coffee, tea, herbal teas, carbonated beverages, energy drinks, and alcohol.

Great Questions to Ask

What is the purpose of the fast?
We are choosing to fast together like Daniel did. He made a decision not to eat the King’s food as an outward symbol of an inward commitment he had made to God. Let your choices over the next ten days reflect the hunger you have for God’s presence in your life.

Why should I participate?
God is certain to bless our life in new and exciting ways during the fast. We encourage you to write down your prayers and the many ways God reveals himself to you. We can’t wait to see what God is going to do in your life and in the life of our church!

How strict should I be with what I eat on the fast?
The list of food provided is merely a first step to get you thinking about making better food choices. Remember, this fast is about growing your relationship with God. He’s not as concerned about what is in your stomach as He is about what is in your heart.

Can I eat foods that are not specifically listed?
If you are not sure about a certain food, ask God to reveal to you whether it should be part of your diet over the next ten days. Since there is no definitive list of foods, for the Daniel Fast, it is truly the spirit of Daniel’s decision that we are imitating over the next ten days.

How can I involve my children?
Attempt to eliminate sugar, bread and possibly dairy from your children’s diet. Include whole wheat pasta and soy milk. Mostly, encourage them to eat what you are eating. You may also want to incorporate some chicken into your children’s meals for added protein. You will be surprised what your children may be willing to try when they are aware of the fast, why they are doing it, and that the whole family is doing it together.

If you are not looking to cut food out of your children’s diets there are many other ways to include them in the fast. Be sure to talk to them about the reason you are fasting and why you want them to be a part of this experience as well. Consider removing daily pleasures from your child’s routine such as computer and/or TV time.  Encourage your children to ask God to show them something he would like them to sacrifice for him during the fast.

What if I have concerns about participating because of my health?
If you have any condition that would prohibit you from being a part of the Daniel Fast, you can participate in a different way! Choose something from your daily routine (i.e. specific foods or beverages, television, other technology, ect.) and fast in that manner for the next 10 days. Remember, the details are not as important as the spirit in which you participate.

Helpful Links

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-crazy-idea-of-fasting-in-09

http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting/fastingbasics.php

http://www.daniel-fast.com/recipes.html

Fast Focus

Focus Through Prayer: It’s Time to Clean House!

Focus Through the Word:

• Romans 8:5-6
• Psalm 51
• Hebrews 4:12

Romans 8:5-6- ⁵ Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. ⁶ So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

Psalm 51- ¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
² Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
³ For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
⁴ Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
⁵ For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
⁶ But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.

⁷ Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
⁹ Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
¹³ Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
¹⁴ Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
¹⁵ Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.

¹⁶ You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
¹⁸ Look with favor on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

Hebrews 4:12 (New Living Translation)- ¹² For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Hebrews 4:12 (New International Version)- ¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified Version)- ¹²For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

“One of the reasons for fasting is to know what is in us…in fasting it will come out. You will see it. And you will have to deal with it quickly or smother it again.” -John Piper

Today is day 5 and you are half way there! Now it is time to get up close and personal.
The fact is we ALL have our stuff! There is not one person reading this today who doesn’t have issues, insecurities, areas of pride, doubt, or shame that cause us to be divided from God’s perfect plan for our life. As Jon Piper makes very clear, fasting will reveal to us those things that need to be dealt with. It’s then our decision whether we allow God to lead us as we work through our issues or if we are going to push that issue down one more time. Today, you have a chance to allow God to search your heart. When he points out the things that are not pleasing to him and are a detriment to you, you then need to choose what you do. Allow God to help you begin to work through what’s keeping you from His best for your life and freedom will be the result!

Hopefully throughout these past five days, you have worked to spend some more time with God and in his word than you normally would. Let’s take a look at the work of God’s word as it deals with what is happening in our hearts. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s word is alive and powerful. When we spend time earnestly seeking God through his word we cannot avoid beginning to see issues that we have in the motives and thoughts of our heart. Chances are, as you have spent more time in his word this week, you have already begun to sense God tugging on your heart in certain areas. Allow God’s word to do its work and take the steps to respond to what he shows you.

Prayer: God thank you for the power of your word and the power of your Holy Spirit that empowers us to desire change. God, today I acknowledge just as David acknowledged in Psalm 51 that I am sinful, that I am in need of your incredible mercy! Would you pour of your forgiveness and grace on me today as I search to align my life with the commandments in your word.

Focus Through Prayer: YOU have a story-Prepare to share it!

Focus Through the Word:

• Romans 1:15-16
• 2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Romans 1:15-16- ¹⁵ So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News. ¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentiles.

2 Corinthians 4:3-6- ³ If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. ⁴ Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. ⁵ You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

Remember today that our time of fasting, our time of seeking God, these extra moments you are spending with Him this week are not about earning his approval! Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice on the cross so that every bit of God’s love that is available for us could be poured out. Take a few moments to think about your goals for this fast, what you have experienced to this point, and what your goals are moving forward. Pray that God would examine your heart. Ask him to reveal to you any motives within you that are seeking to EARN His love. Lay those things at the foot of the Cross where Jesus paid the price so you wouldn’t have to work for God’s love. We fast to show us what desires control us, we fast to gain understanding of where God is taking us, we fast as an outward reminder of an inner commitment we have made to Him. Be free today to enjoy this special time with him remembering that God loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love regardless of the things you do.

Reread Romans 1:15-16. Can you feel the excitement in Paul’s writing? He didn’t use the word eager because he thought God would be pleased with it. He chose to use the word eager because he truly felt an impatient longing to speak the truth of the Gospel! The truth that Jesus came, lived a sinless life, died the death of a sinner and was resurrected so that we who were dead in our sin (Ephesians 2:1) might have access to our Heavenly Father. Stop for a moment. Are you eager to share this Gospel? When you think of the people in your life who desperately need to know the truth about Jesus, do you feel an impatient longing to talk to them? Paul goes on to say, “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ.” Is it possible that somewhere inside of you, you are ashamed to share what you have learned about Jesus? The word ashamed is defined as unwilling or restrained because of fear of shame, ridicule, or disapproval. Take some time to write down some reasons that you may be experiencing a fear of sharing the Good News. Before you go on remember the words of Paul in Romans 8:1, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” This self examination is NOT to make you feel guilty. We are examining ourselves and allowing God to examine us to see where we can allow the Holy Spirit to work. Perhaps one of the reasons we may feel a fear of sharing the Good News is because we just don’t think we have the right words to express what Jesus has done for us or how he has changed our lives. Take some time to write an answer to these questions. If you had the opportunity to share Jesus with a friend who desperately wanted to know about him, how would you explain what he did for us through his time on Earth? Now explain what he has done in YOUR life! Share your story. Where were you before Jesus came into your life, how has that changed, what is he doing now, and where are you longing for him to take you? The work of Jesus through his ministry on Earth and on the Cross is Good News and most definitely your story includes many moments that Jesus has done powerful things in your life and has made ugly situations beautiful. It is very unlikely that someone could hear a story of Good News and a changed life and not be affected, even if they don’t show it right away. As you reread your answers to these questions, pray that God would stir up in you an impatient longing to share your story with someone!

In 2 Corinthians, we have the chance to see a rather sad but very true picture painted for us. If we are ashamed and hide the story that is living within us (we all have one, we just wrote it!) behind a veil, we are hiding it from people who are dead IN their sin! Could you ever walk past someone drowning in a clean pool? Probably not. Yet everyday we interact with people in our family, at our job, in stores who are drowning not in a clean pretty pool but in the filth of their sin. Pray that as the reality of this hits you, and you begin to feel the truth of your story resonating in your heart, that you would not be able to keep hidden behind a veil any longer! You have a story that speaks forth light and you are surrounded by people who Satan is blinding so they cannot even see the light. Take a few moments now to think about people in your life who desperately need to hear this Good News we are talking about. It is not by accident that God has placed them in your life. God has given you your story, the good parts and the parts you’d rather forget as a tool to reveal light into the dark parts of their lives. You are called to share the Good News whether you are a sales person, a mail carrier, an engineer, a mom, and on and on. One of the reasons you are alive and breathing today is to be a light in the darkness! Make a list of specific people in your life who need the light that God has placed inside of you. In Matthew 13, Jesus shares a parable about a man sowing seeds. He sows his seeds (his story in this case) on many different kinds of soil. The only soil to grow the seed was the good, rich soil. As we pray today, we are believing that as God has given you a list of people who need to hear about him, that he is also preparing the soil of their hearts. We are praying that when he provides an opportunity for you to share your story with them that the soil of their hearts would be so ready to receive the Good News that the result would be a friend, a family member, a grocery store bagger who is no longer dead in his or her sin but now has the ability to access his or her Heavenly Father for the first time! Really! When that is what is waiting for the people in our life, how could we hold it back?

Prayer: Jesus! I am crying out to you today! Would you give me an impatient longing, an eagerness to share the story you have given me with those around me. Help me to realize the truth of the power of what you have done for me paired with my testimony. I pray that as I go throughout my day that you would help me to create a list of people in my life who need to hear about you and how you have changed me. Open up supernatural opportunities to share what you have done for me with these people. I long to be used as a vessel to pour your light into dark hearts! Help me to push aside fear and shame. Enable me to see the true condition of the people around me and use that to evoke in me a passion to come out from behind the veil. Thank you God that you promise in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that your grace is sufficient for me and your strength is made perfect in my weakness! Be strength in every weak are of my life today. Holy Spirit, empower me to speak the words you have given me. I don’t long to do this one my own but I know that I must rely on you to speak through me. Through the power that is given to me through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross, I bind the work of the Enemy. Satan, you can no longer blind the people I love! God, break through those blinders, allow your light to pierce through the darkness. Go before me and prepare the hearts of every person I will share my story with. Allow them to receive the truth of who you are in the soft soil of their hearts so that they may believe and receive you into their lives! I pray and ask that through this time I have spent with you, studying your word that lives would be transformed from a state of being dead in their sin to alive in Jesus with full access to God, their Heavenly Father! In Jesus’ Name I pray! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: Becoming a Church after God’s own Heart

Focus Through the Word:

• Matthew 16:18
• Proverbs 16:1,3,9
• Ephesians 2:11-18

Press in today. At the beginning of this fast, you were encouraged to set goals, to determine what you were hoping to see happen from this time with the Lord. Review those goals today. Take a few minutes to write down what you have learned, what you have struggled with and what you still hope to see accomplished! As we are about to read in Proverbs 16:3, we are encouraged to “commit our actions to the Lord.” The promise that follows this encouragement is that for those who commit their plans to him, “your plans will succeed.” That is your promise today! Take hold of it in every moment. The third day of a fast is never easy so if you are feeling weak, cling with everything you have to the hope that is found in the Word of God and to the reasons you have set out on this journey. Most importantly remember the words that came from Jesus in his time of fasting in Matthew 4:4, “Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” SEEK after God today, find truth in and savor the power of his word, and commit your plans (for this fast) to him and they will succeed!

Matthew 16:18- Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

Proverbs 16:1,3,9- ¹ We can make our own plans,
but the Lord gives the right answer.

³ Commit your actions to the Lord,
and your plans will succeed.

⁹ We can make our plans,
but the Lord determines our steps.

Ephesians 2:11-18- ¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. ¹⁵ He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

To be a church that presses hard after the Heart of God, we need to understand where we have come from, where we are and where we are going. In Matthew 16, we see what must have been quite an intense conversation between Jesus and Peter. Peter and the other disciples are being asked by the man that they hold in very high esteem who they believe he is. Jesus is setting up the scene to establish his church and to begin to set his promises in place over that very church. After Peter’s confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” in verse 16, Jesus blesses Peter and proclaims that his church will be built on that rock. The rock he refers to is the confession that Peter has just made-the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Loving God. The truth that Jesus IS the Christ, God’s Son must be the cornerstone of any church that desires to be church after God’s heart!

Take some time to read through the verses highlighted in Proverbs 16. Did you notice that each verse began with human action but ultimately ends with us turning those actions to the LORD for his answer, his prosperity, and his approval? In Matthew, we see that Peter had to make a statement of his faith before he could receive the fullness of what Jesus was preparing to speak to him. Again in Proverbs, we see that God calls us to make plans, to dream, to set out in action but more importantly he wants us to commit our plans to Him, to His will. When we flow in this way, we, as a church and as individuals, begin to experience the ability to move and flow and be in agreement and harmony with God’s will, purpose, and plans. Just as we talked about yesterday, we begin to walk in the fullness of what it means to reconciled to Him! As we pray through these verses today, let us SEEK God’s direction for Kingsway Church! We long to be a church after his heart, let today be a day of action- seeking him in prayer for where he is taking us.

It is vital that as a church, we don’t get so consumed with what is happening inside our walls that we forget to seek God for what he wants us to do within our community. How are we, followers of Christ, called to live among people who desperately need him? God speaks clearly in Ephesians 2 of the plans he had through the work of Christ on the Cross. Speaking specifically in this passage about Jews and Gentiles, we are reminded that God’s “purpose was to create in himself one people (or one new humanity)…” He longed to bring peace between two very divided groups. Later in the passage, we are reminded that the Jews and Gentiles, through the work on the Cross, are “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone.” Can you see that God longed for his creation to be unified together bringing honor and glory to his name not separately but together with the truth of Jesus Christ as their linking point? As a church, we are seeking how God would have us function in our community and surrounding areas. Through these verses, it seems as though we have two commands from God. First, God calls us to be peacemakers just as he desired to create peace between the Jews and the Gentiles through sending his Son to die for us.  We are to share the love, peace, and hope that comes from God where ever we are. Second, we are to do this with one mission- to through the power of the Holy Spirit lead people into relationship with Jesus Christ. Therefore, striving to meet God’s longing that his creation would be unified bringing honor and glory to his name with belief in Jesus as the Christ as our cornerstone! We need to seek God’s direction for how he longs to see this take place through Kingsway Church. How do we make that representation corporately and how do we do it when we are interacting with people throughout our daily lives.

Prayer: Jesus, you have called your church to set the truth of what you have done for us as our cornerstone! I pray today that you would stir up in us a burning passion to lift you up in everything we do as a church corporately and as representatives of your church wherever we go individually.  We long to see people in our community be drawn in by your love. We long to stand in worship with those in our surrounding areas acknowledging YOU as our only way to gain access to the Father.

God as we seek you for specific direction for our church in the coming year, make true the promises set forth in Proverbs 16. As we put our hands to the plow, make plans, and dream big for this year, we commit those actions and plans to you believing that you will answer us, determine our steps and ensure our success in delivering the Salvation message of the cross. Set within our pastors and ministry leaders vision for our church, the ability to hear clearly your voice, and follow hard after what you have shown them.

Let us burn with the message of Christ. To those who come in our doors, those who we encounter through community outreaches like Trunk or Treat, and those we see throughout our daily lives, let us be carriers of the truth of the hope that exists only through relationship with Jesus! As a church we long to be used by you! Help us to lay down our agendas, our thoughts about who you are, and what you would have us do. Overtake our thinking and transforms our hearts and our minds to be vessels of your thoughts, your dreams, and your plans. We give every aspect of Kingsway Church in 2011 over to you! Do your work in us! In Jesus’ Name we pray! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: Desiring the Whole Truth of the Word of God
Focus Through the Word:

• Matthew 4:1-4
• Amos 8:11-12
• Philippians 3:19-21
• Ephesians 2:11-22

What would it mean if you took time to savor the Word of God today? Going to your favorite restaurant or to a relative’s house for dinner, you most likely go with expectancy. Expectancy for what you will eat, hopes for what it will taste like, and what your favorite parts will be. Could you imagine if we entered our time in God’s word with this level of expectancy every time? As you read through the verses below, take time to savor the richness of God’s truth for you today! The same creator that longs for us to go on a quest for the truth of who he is also loves you enough to have a specific word for you in this very moment of your life. To savor means to give oneself to the enjoyment of!

Don’t rush through your time in the scripture today- allow yourself to enjoy the richness of God’s word!

Matthew 4:1-4- “ ¹ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. ² For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. ³ During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,   ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Amos 8:11-12- ¹¹ “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread or water
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
¹² People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from border to border^[a]
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.

Philippians 3:19-21- ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

Ephesians 2:11-22- Oneness and Peace in Christ

¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. ¹⁵ He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

A Temple for the Lord

¹⁹ So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. ²⁰ Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. ²¹ We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. ²² Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

You will Crave-How will you Respond?

At some point today, if you haven’t experienced this already, your flesh will begin screaming for the things it misses- your favorite food, coffee, down time in front of the TV or computer. You will begin to see what desires control you. Allow yourself to travel to the desert where Jesus was fasting for 40 days. He was hot, tired, not well rested, and most definitely beginning to feel the extreme physical affects of not eating for a very long time. He was in the middle of a desert!

Let’s look at two things that are very important and have the potential to push you through those times today when your body begins to crave what it is lacking. First, Jesus was on a quest to connect with his Father’s heart. Don’t think that he spent his forty days wallowing in self pity wondering why he was chosen or asked to fast for such a long time. He took the time he was given to SEEK God FIRST. In addition, the enemy was right there tempting him, reminding him of the power he had to make bread appear. Jesus’ flesh was weak, just as weak as you or I would be if we fasted for 40 days. The overwhelming truth though was that his spirit was strong. He was filled with the Spirit of God and in the time of temptation, he fought the enemy with the truth and power of the Word!

Here is your truth today: ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ This is not a nice string of words that some nice man said. This is a powerful truth that came from the mouth of Jesus who now sits at the right hand of God making intercession (praying) for us! Jesus has been RIGHT where you are today- fighting the temptation of hunger and desires that have become too strong. Cling to his response as your hope today.

Think for a moment of the men and women spoken of in Amos 8. Imagine experiencing a time when God’s voice could not be heard. Not only could it not be heard but as hard as a person sought for Him, sought for His truth; the result was silence! Deafening silence! Sorry Indiana Jones, even you couldn’t find this one. People continued to search and continued to search and came up empty. They longed to be able to savor the Word of God. Many of us sit in a house with multiple bibles and access to any translation we could desire through the internet BUT we let days and weeks and months go by without taking a hold of the truth that’s right there for us to savor! Instead we have allowed our appetites to creep in and become god in our life, appetite for delicious food, appetite for acceptance, appetite for more, more, more.

Fill the Void!

Over the next ten days, as you let go of those appetites that have taken an unhealthy place in your life it is essential that you replace them. God longs for us to replace these appetites with a genuine hunger for the truth of his Word. Not just the Word of God in part but the Word of God in it’s whole complete message of life for you. Today, as you begin to make that transition, look at what His Word says about who you are in Christ. Stop and savor the truth of who you were, what Jesus has done for you, and who you are becoming!

Ephesians 2:1-10 reminds us that before Jesus, we were dead in our sin! Dead in your sin! Can you just stop for a second to let that settle in? Whether you were 4, 24, 44, or 64 when Jesus came into your life you left a state of being dead IN your sin. Allow God to give you a picture of what that looked like for you- not for condemnation but so you can begin to appreciate even more who are becoming! Verse ten tells us that we are “God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” Again stop and take time to worship God for the truth of these words. While you were still dead, surrounded by the truth of your sin, God saw you as worthy not only to be worked on but to be reborn through Jesus Christ to do good things- essentially to live a life that brings glory and honor to God. If you’re not feeling overwhelmingly humbled by that truth stop here and pray through these verses until you begin to feel God revealing His truth to you. Jesus’ blood has brought you near to the heart, the plan, and the dream of God. Not only are you near it, you are in the center of it. We have been reconciled to God through the cross. To be reconciled is to be restored, to be brought into agreement and harmony. The creator of the universe so longs for relationship with you that he made a way for you to be restored to him, that your life would move and flow and be in agreement and harmony with his will, purpose, and plan. God doesn’t need you or me to complete his plans but he longs for us so deeply that he desired and made possible unity with him! It’s because of the work of Jesus on the cross that we can fast and pray and go on a quest for God and find him. You have access to your Heavenly Father right now-that is a scriptural right you carry as a follower of Jesus. Finally, not only can God be found but he has made the choice to live inside each one of us through the Holy Spirit! Are you walking in the power of the truth of this today?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I come to you today weak and broken. I know that today I am going to fight cravings for the things I have let go of during this fast. Holy Spirit, I need your empowerment to help me to plug into the Word of God. Help me to savor the truth of the scriptures today even when my flesh in screaming. I choose to believe today that I do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God! I can make it through today denying myself those things my flesh feels it needs. God I long to seek after you like the people in Amos did but thank you that you have made a way for me to find you. Speak to me today, reveal to me those things that you long for me to hear. Jesus how could you, a sinless man, make the choice to take on the filth of my sin and die for me in such a humiliating way so that I could have access to my Heavenly Father? Help me to really grasp the truth of that today! I was dead in my sin but you saw me as worth dieing for. I pray the humility that comes from that truth never loses its power. Thank you God for making a way so I can search hard after you, find you, connect with you, and experience the power of your Holy Spirit living inside of me. Be real inside of me today.

There is nothing more important than the truth that is written loud and clear in the pages of the Bible. God would you stir up inside the heart of every person at Kingsway Church the desire to not only search your scriptures but also to uphold the whole truth of your Word. I long to be a part of a church that loves your word, studies your word, and portrays the fullness of it to those around us in our workplaces, our homes, our schools, everywhere we go. I pray that as you stir up in our church a deeper hunger for your word that you would equip our leaders Pastor Bryon and Pastor Arlena as they minister on Sunday mornings and throughout the week, RJ and Linda and they minister to our young people, and every life group leader who ministers the truth of the Word to those young and old. God give us and our leaders a love for the whole truth of your word, leaving nothing aside. I give you my life and I give you my church today! Do your work in us! In Jesus’ Name! Amen!

Focus Through Prayer: What Is Most Important
Focus Through the Word: Matthew 6:33

Take a few moments to read through today’s focus scripture. Reading a verse in different translations will help you gain a deeper understanding of what God was speaking through the author. Don’t forget to write down the things that God speaks to you as you read his word for today.

New Living Translation: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

New International Version: “But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Amplified Version: “But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all his kingdom and his righteousness (his way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.”

God’s heart is so clearly and specifically portrayed in this verse. He longs for us to SEEK him FIRST. To grasp the fullness of what he is asking of us today and everyday, let’s take a deeper look into the meaning of these words.

In the Amplified Version, we see that the word seek means to aim at and strive after. It also means to go in search or quest of. Seek may seem mild and peaceful at first glance but what mild quest have you observed lately? Indiana Jones goes in quest of nothing mildly. He does whatever he has to in order to get to the middle of what he is seeking after! God wants us to go in search of the truth of who he is and what is most important to him with an Indiana Jones kind of passion.

First means before all others or anything else with respect to time, order, rank, importance, etc. The most important thing in our life is not simply to go in quest of who God is but to make that quest above all other things! Today, the Creator of the atom, the Creator of the concept of water, the Creator of the apple you are going to eat for lunch has one desire of your life- that you would go on an all out quest for the truth of who he is and that you would make that quest the most important event in your day.

Prayer: God! You are so Great! Even if I tried I could never comprehend the truth of your power. Still even in your greatness, you long for me to seek you and seek hard after you! Today, God I am seeking you for what is to be most important in my life. I pray that as I move throughout my day that you would help me sort through my life, my thoughts, my feelings, my motives. Reveal to me the things that I need to let go and help me to allow those things that should be most important in my life to take the place that you desire. Give me the ability to make YOU and seeking after you most important in my life.

God you have given me an amazing church equipped with leaders who strive hard after you. Would you help us as a church in 2011 to lock into what is most important to your heart? We long to go on a quest for your goal, mission, and plan for Kingsway Church. Holy Spirit, help us to find the heart of God for our church in 2011 and not stray from it even once. Help our leadership team to catch your vision for what is most important and continually lead us in that direction throughout this year. I surrender my life and my church to the work of your plan! In Jesus’ Name. Amen!

Deep within the heart of God, there is a plan, mission and goal for Kingsway Church and for you in 2011. Fasting is a spiritual discipline used by men and women for centuries to meld our earthly dreams and passions with God’s plan and ultimately with what makes his heart beat. Through this fast, we will pursue God’s plans for our church and for us as individuals.

Definition of Fasting: Throughout Scripture fasting refers to abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. Biblical fasting always centers on spiritual purposes.

Over the next ten days, we will lay down our daily routines of eating, relaxing in front of the TV and spending time on the computer in exchange for pursuing God.  We will exchange our daily distractions for the spiritual disciplines He longs for us to desire through reading the Bible, praying, and journaling.

Our hope is that we will experience a remarkable increase in our genuine hunger for spending time with our Creator.

Don’t forget, the idea is to be real about your goals, not concerned about following rules! Focus more on the details of your personal connection time with God in the coming days and less on your specific menu and you will be overtaken by the blessings designed to flow through a Spirit led fast.

Fast Framework

Sunrise, Monday, January 17, 2011- Begin Daniel Fast

If you are feeling led to partake in a fast that includes food, we recommend a Daniel Fast. Please see the information provided below to see what foods are and are not to be eaten on a Daniel Fast. (Remember, God is seeking hearts that are searching hard after him, not minds that have created the perfect menu!)

If you are limited by any condition that would keep you from completing a Daniel Fast, there are many other options! Continue reading under “Fast Foods” to see what you could give up during the coming days.

Sunset, Wednesday, January 26, 2011- Break the Fast

We will meet together as a church to fellowship and enjoy a much anticipated meal together.

Fast Forward

Take a few quiet moments before Monday at sunrise, to decide why YOU are doing this and what you hope to see happen through these next ten days . Are you hoping to read your Bible instead of eating lunch, spend time praying for the church on your car ride to work, take time to worship while your son or daughter naps instead of catching up on the latest news?  What are you hoping to learn about God? What are you hoping he shows you about yourself? Set goals that you can attain! Pray that God would show you what HE wants to do through you and in you through your sacrifice. We encourage you to keep a record of your experiences. Write down your goals at the beginning, record your struggles and your victories as you walk out your plan each day, and reflect on the experience when  you have finished the journey!

Fast Foods

A Daniel Fast is a partial fast. You will most likely be asked to give up at least one of your favorite foods but you will be provided with an amazing array of foods to choose from. Focus on eating fruits and vegetables that are pure and simple. A list of foods to eat and foods to avoid has been provided for you.

The reason we fast is to replace our daily distractions with extra special time with God. If a fast from a large variety of foods is not possible for you, choose something that will be just as meaningful but within your limitations. Here are some examples: give up a specific food or beverage, television, social media, other technology, or anything else that you could replace with genuine time with God!

* If you have any known medical conditions or suspect such conditions, consult  your doctor before beginning the fast.

Foods to Eat

Fruits
These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Fruits include but are not limited to apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, figs, grapefruit, grapes, guava, honeydew melon, kiwi, lemons, limes, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, prunes, raisins, raspberries, strawberries, tangelos, tangerines, watermelon.

Vegetables
These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Vegetables include but are not limited to artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chili peppers, collard greens, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, ginger root, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, onions, parsley, potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, scallions, spinach, sprouts, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, watercress, yams, zucchini, veggie burgers are an option if you are not allergic to soy.

Whole Grains
All whole grains including but not limited to whole wheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats, barley, grits, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas, rice cakes and popcorn.

Seeds, Nuts, and Sprouts
All nuts and seeds, including but not limited to sunflower seeds, cashews, peanuts, sesame. Also nut butters including peanut butter.

Legumes
These can be canned or dried. Legumes include but are not limited to dried beans, pinto beans, split peas, lentils, black eyed peas, kidney beans, black beans, cannellini beans, white beans.

Oils
All quality oils including but not limited to olive, canola, grape seed, peanut, and sesame.

Beverages
Spring water, distilled water or other pure waters, unsweetened soy milk, herbal tea, honey, natural fruit juice (no sugar added)

Other
Tofu, soy products, vinegar, seasonings, salt, herbs and spices.

Foods to Avoid

Meat – All meat and animal products including but not limited to beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and fish.

Dairy – All dairy products including but not limited to milk, cheese, cream, butter, and eggs.

Sweeteners – All sweeteners including but not limited to sugar, raw sugar, honey, syrups, molasses, and cane juice.

Breads – All leavened bread including Ezekiel Bread (it contains yeast and honey) and baked goods.

Refined/Processed Foods – All refined and processed food products including but not limited to artificial flavorings, food additives, chemicals, white rice, white flour, and foods that contain artificial preservatives.

Fried Foods – All deep fried foods including but not limited to potato chips, French fries, corn chips.

Fats – All solid fats including shortening, margarine, lard and foods high in fat.

Beverages – Beverages including but not limited to coffee, tea, herbal teas, carbonated beverages, energy drinks, and alcohol.

Great Questions to Ask

What is the purpose of the fast?
We are choosing to fast together like Daniel did. He made a decision not to eat the King’s food as an outward symbol of an inward commitment he had made to God. Let your choices over the next ten days reflect the hunger you have for God’s presence in your life.

Why should I participate?
God is certain to bless our life in new and exciting ways during the fast. We encourage you to write down your prayers and the many ways God reveals himself to you. We can’t wait to see what God is going to do in your life and in the life of our church!

How strict should I be with what I eat on the fast?
The list of food provided is merely a first step to get you thinking about making better food choices. Remember, this fast is about growing your relationship with God. He’s not as concerned about what is in your stomach as He is about what is in your heart.

Can I eat foods that are not specifically listed?
If you are not sure about a certain food, ask God to reveal to you whether it should be part of your diet over the next ten days. Since there is no definitive list of foods, for the Daniel Fast, it is truly the spirit of Daniel’s decision that we are imitating over the next ten days.

How can I involve my children?
Attempt to eliminate sugar, bread and possibly dairy from your children’s diet. Include whole wheat pasta and soy milk. Mostly, encourage them to eat what you are eating. You may also want to incorporate some chicken into your children’s meals for added protein. You will be surprised what your children may be willing to try when they are aware of the fast, why they are doing it, and that the whole family is doing it together.

If you are not looking to cut food out of your children’s diets there are many other ways to include them in the fast. Be sure to talk to them about the reason you are fasting and why you want them to be a part of this experience as well. Consider removing daily pleasures from your child’s routine such as computer and/or TV time.  Encourage your children to ask God to show them something he would like them to sacrifice for him during the fast.

What if I have concerns about participating because of my health?
If you have any condition that would prohibit you from being a part of the Daniel Fast, you can participate in a different way! Choose something from your daily routine (i.e. specific foods or beverages, television, other technology, ect.) and fast in that manner for the next 10 days. Remember, the details are not as important as the spirit in which you participate.

Helpful Links

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-crazy-idea-of-fasting-in-09

http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting/fastingbasics.php

http://www.daniel-fast.com/recipes.html