Where do you start on one of the most exciting journeys you and I could ever imagine? Like the old proverb says, we simply start with the first step. For many of you that first step was committing to forty days of trusting and obeying God and using this devotional material. This was written with one purpose in mind. Over the next forty days we are being challenged to believe, to fast, and to ask God for His miraculous intervention in our lives. That might come in the form of dreams being fulfilled, financial provision being given, souls being saved, peace being granted, health restored, babies given as wombs open up and conceive or as neglected and unwanted children are adopted, book publication deals cemented, the advancement of God’s kingdom in mission endeavors, along with many other things that bring glory to God.
I am inviting you on this adventurous journey of trusting and obeying God over the next forty days. It is my prayer that each of us will encounter God in powerful ways and our faith will be strengthened with endurance and the rippling muscles that move God to intervene on the behalf of ourselves and those we love. This is not being written to be another program or another exercise in futility. I fully expect to meet with God personally; I expect you to meet with God in profound ways and to see God move and intervene, doing the impossible, the unbelievable, and showing all of us how powerful He really is as well.
Be forewarned, taking this journey is meant to stretch each of us to gain new ground in our walks with the Lord. Our faith will be tested and stretched as we believe God for things that have seemed out of reach for far too long. My heart thrills with each sentence as I think and write about all that God desires to do in, around, and through each of us. This journey will not always be easy, but neither is climbing a lofty mountain. We must experience more of God in our hearts and we must climb higher in Him to view our circumstances from the lofty peaks of faith and prayer. There are things that God longs for us to possess, but we have far too often shrunk back in unbelief. It is time to climb higher toward the summit of God in prayer and secure those things that have burdened our hearts for so long.
Over the course of the next forty days, my prayer is that as we meet with God in the pages of scripture and in the pages of the history of our life experiences, we will behold God working powerfully and miraculously all around us. This forty-day journey is not intended to be one of comfort and ease, but rather one of thrilling adventures of walking with our Creator and Sustainer and trusting Him for those seemingly elusive answers to prayer. Our motives will be brought under the scrutiny of God’s Word and our confidence in His ability to move mountains will be challenged, while our faith will gain new muscle through trials and tests.
I have been walking by faith for many years now and the one thing I can tell you from first-hand experience is that God is faithful - all the time! In every life and in every situation, He is faithful and trustworthy. You and I can depend on Him. He does come through in His time and according to His purposes. He does save the lost, He does provide for our needs, He does bless us with the desires of our hearts, He does lift our burdens, He does make dreams come true, He does move us into our destinies, He does move mountains, and all so that we testify of His greatness and give glory to Him.
Originally this material is being written for the extraordinary people of First Baptist Paradise, TX, as we move into a faith adventure of trusting God for land and buildings debt-free, relocating our church to accommodate current and future growth. What an adventure this has already been of praying and listening to God. Yet, it is my belief that God wants to use this material in larger and more profound ways beyond the scope of our church.
How many of you are facing impossible situations? I talked to a man last night who has a sick wife who recently lost her job, and as a result, also lost their health insurance due to her illness. He is trying to be strong for her, but I could see the pain in his eyes and hear the strain in his voice as he wondered aloud what they were going to do. I know another lady battling a terminal disease. Many have rallied around her but few speak of her healing. I watch as people struggle more and more to make ends meet financially. I have seen the tears in grown men’s eyes as they talk about dreams they felt God planted in their hearts but which now seem so far out of reach. I come into contact with pastors leading dead churches, where the life seems gone and the remnants of those congregations look like a valley of dry bones. I have looked into the broken hearts and tear-filled eyes of those looking for love and companionship but who are unable to find it. Many are facing circumstances where we need God to step in and save the day. We need nothing short of miracles.
Forty days of trusting and obeying God entails a great deal. We are not conditioned to trust God. We build security into our lives and have the wild inclination that trusting God is the most insecure thing imaginable. Few have difficulty trusting God for the forgiveness of sins and for salvation, but we balk at the idea of being called to take steps outside our comfort zone in obedience to the Lord’s promptings. Perhaps this is because we have some fear that God will call us to Africa or the Middle East to be missionaries. What a wrong concept of God! He is not in the business of leading us to be miserable. He will chastise and convict of sin, but He desires to bless us and to bring everlasting joy to us through a vibrant relationship with Him (Psalm 16:11.) He is in the business of calling us to join Him in fulfilling His purposes (Jeremiah 29:11-13.) If we are really seeking Him and want to join Him in those purposes and those purposes call us to Africa or the Middle East, there would be nowhere else on the planet we would rather be. So, relax! God is not seeking to drag you to the last place on earth you want to live and work. He does desire to interrupt your life, your priorities, and your willingness to follow Him anywhere, though. Trusting and obeying means that over the next few weeks we are willing to take the steps God leads us to take, obey what He leads us to do and confidently trust Him for the outcome. Few Christians are really willing to live this way. It can be unsettling to know that as you live surrendered to Him for these days, the word “no” is not an option in response to His promptings.
Are you willing to take the first steps of this amazing adventure by just giving God your “yes?” It doesn’t matter what that will mean or where it will lead. It just means that you trust the Lord enough to lead you along the best route for your life, and more importantly, to fulfill His purposes. You give God your “yes” in faith believing that He has your best interests at heart. This is the first step in taking this forty-day pilgrimage of trusting and obeying the Lord. There are other steps that will follow.
The basic premise of this material is that you find yourself in an impossible situation and you are desperate for God to get involved. As for FBC Paradise, we are trusting God for provision so we can purchase land and build new facilities without going one penny into debt. Many people say this is foolishness, but as we pound the doors of Heaven over the next forty days, let our God prove the experts wrong. Others of you have your own issues and prayer concerns that require God invading space and time to change your circumstances and in many instances, to change you.
Are you desperate enough to fast on some level for the next forty days? I am defining fasting as the abstinence of anything for the purpose of seeking God through prayer in order to meet a spiritual goal. What is it that you want the Lord to do? Once you have determined the goal, your next step is to determine the level of your fast. I know of people who have fasted from food, completely drinking only liquids, or from a certain meal each day such as lunch. Some people have fasted from media such as television and music. Others have fasted from text messaging, video games, desserts, or eating certain types of food. A person could even fast from sleep by rising earlier and/or staying up later for prayer. Before a person enters into any extreme fast such as abstinence from food for an extended period of time, consultation from a physician should be sought to determine the health risks and benefits.
One fast that I would suggest would be a Daniel fast. In Daniel 1:12, Daniel went on a vegetable and water diet. (I think it would be okay to add fruits to this fast also.) There is the obvious abstinence of meat on this fast. This might be a possible suggestion for those starting this journey as a sacrifice - but a manageable one - for those not experienced with the discipline of fasting. You need to seek the Lord as to the level of the fast He is calling you to go on. The most important part of this fast should be that whatever you abstain from, you then use the time that would previously have been occupied by that thing to pray and seek God with greater intensity.
Another of the first steps I am laying before you is to define exactly what you are asking God to do over the next forty days. Be specific and write down your goals, as we read in Habakkuk 2:2-3, Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, and that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, and it will not tarry.
What if the goals you write down do not happen after devoting yourself to prayer for them over these forty days? What if your desired answer tarries and you have to wait for it longer? I can tell you with full assurance that even if you do not get your answer at the end of this journey, you will be much closer to making your withdrawal from God’s bountiful resources after making forty days of faith deposits into your prayer account. Some answers come sooner than others. I have prayed about certain things and have seen the Lord answer almost immediately. Other things I have prayed for and waited on God to answer for years. There are things He is calling us to believe Him for. For FBC Paradise it a particular piece of property nestled up to Hwy 114 and next to ten other acres the Lord has already given our church. You have your own goals and desires you are asking the Lord to meet. Write down what you are asking God to do for you over these next forty days.
Now that we have given God our “yes”, determined our spiritual goals and the level of the fast we will take over the next forty days, there is only one thing left. We now need to pray. These next forty days are going to be a challenge to your prayer life like many may have never experienced. These private prayers and petitions may be tear-filled, intense encounters with a loving Heavenly Father. Let us determine right at the start that we will give ourselves to prayer like we never have over the next forty days.
I urge you to do this in two ways. You need to commit to your own private times of prayer. When will you do this? Where will you do this? These are important issues to consider. Let us make the appointment of our own personal prayer times a greater priority. I am also urging you over these next forty days to join some corporate prayer groups which meet at your convenience and pray together, sharing each other’s burdens and coming before the throne of grace to obtain help and mercy in your time of need. (Hebrews 4:16.)
Father, thank you for this amazing journey You are leading us on. My soul thrills as I think about each encounter with You over the next forty days. I plead with You in these days to meet with us in an intensity like few of us have every known. I ask You to empower us to sustain prayer with more passion and determination than we have ever done. I ask You show what You are calling us to believe You for. I ask You to burn a desire to enter our prayer closets and to meet with You and to gather in small groups for corporate prayer over these next forty days. We need You to intervene, to step in and save the day, to move our mountains and to restore our hope. Lord, I ask You to do the impossible for all of us. I ask You to move in such profound ways that Your glory is promoted throughout the whole earth. Please help us start strong, stay strong along the way, and finish strong. I ask You to breathe life into our seeking of You and private times with You. You are mighty, holy, powerful, glorious, majestic, sovereign, faithful, and our true hope. Please anoint and inspire these days and times with You in ways that will alter our lives. You are life-transforming, and over these next forty days we are not putting our trust in materials or programs. We are putting our trust in You and in You alone. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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