Devotional:
Hey Everybody! It’s Day 20! I hope you are doing well, I pray that your fast has been going well, and I hope that God has been speaking to you and that you’ve been pursuing Him at a deeper level than ever before! If you know me you know that I LOVE sports. I love following sports storylines, specific players, and I’ve been told many times that I am a human sports encyclopedia (I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing). BUT, because of this, I know a lot about the inner workings of what makes a championship level team, and I believe the worst thing a sports team can do is remain stagnant. Not getting any better, but also not getting any worse. When a team gets better, you can see that they’re bringing in better players, better coaches, using different schemes, and drawing closer and closer to a championship. When a team is bad (like the Lions were for almost my entire lifetime), it’s a bummer. They lose a lot of games, they don’t play very well, BUT the consolation to that is, they get better draft picks so they can get better players for their team’s future! Even though they’re bad, they will get better. When a team is stagnant however, they are going nowhere. They are doing the same thing over and over and over again hoping for a different result. They aren’t getting better, and they aren’t getting worse. There’s no hope for a championship, and there’s no hope for the team’s future. During times of fasting, it’s really easy for us to keep God #1 in our life. It’s easy to pursue after God at a deep level, because we don’t have distractions to pull us away from our time with him. All the things we are fasting are put away and our sole focus is on Jesus. During times of fasting God speaks to us, reveals himself to us in new ways, and I believe He calls us to a deep pursuit of him. It’s really easy to say focused on Jesus because we don’t have those distractions. But what happens when the fast is over? What happens when those things we are fasting come back? Oftentimes in my life, I will have had a great time of fasting, and I feel closer to God than ever before, but then, once it’s over, I get distracted. I let others things interfere with my commitment to God, and I don’t pursue God as closely as I did during the fast. I slink back to the same way I was pursuing God. Then next year rolls around and I fast again, and I feel closer to God than ever before, pursue him deeper and deeper. and then I get distracted again. Like these stagnant sports teams you and I can be in a cycle of stagnation once our fast is over! We can keep slinking back to the way we were before the fast. I’ve been there! I’ve made that mistake, and it’s a sad way to live! But I believe that God wants us to continue, and build upon what we learn during our times of fasting. I believe that God wants us to pursue him just as passionately after a fast, as we do during it! Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” God is doing a good work in us! During our time here on earth God is shaping us, growing us, and guiding us in a way to complete that ‘Good Work’ He has for us! The verse doesn’t say “He will carry it to completion… until the fast is over” or “The good work is done… after 21 days,” God is doing a good work In us, until the day we meet Jesus face to face! So just because the 21 days of Prayer and Fasting is coming to an end, doesn’t mean our deep pursuit of God does! He loves us, and wants us to pursue after him, grow deeper in our relationship with Him, and keep growing our commitment to Him each and every day! Whether we’re fasting or not! So as the 21 days comes to a close, what’s going to happen after the 21 days? Where is our commitment going to be? Are you we going to let distractions distract us from our pursuit of God, or are we going to use what God has been teaching us, to follow Him even more?
Questions:
1. What’s going to happen after the 21 days?
2. What happens when those things we are fasting come back?
3. How can you use what God has spoken to you during this fast in 2026?
Prayer:
Dear God, We are so thankful for things that you have done during this fast! We are so grateful for all the things You’ve taught us, the things You’ve spoken to us, and the words that You have given us. I pray that as these 21 days of prayer and fasting come to a close, that we would be committed to you! God that the things you taught us during these 21 days wouldn’t be forgotten, but that we would use them to grow closer to you. God I pray that when those distractions come back, that when the things we are fasting return to our lives, that we would still keep you first. That we would still pursue you at the same level. God I pray that throughout this new year, that this fast would be a stepping stone for growth this year, that we would be able to draw closer to you, and serve you more. God I pray that your will would be done during this fast, and that you would be glorified through it!
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