40 Days of Unstoppable Breakthrough Faith
Do you need answers? Do you find yourself wishing things were different? Is there one or several areas of your life that you are dissatisfied with? Maybe you feel like you are on the verge of a breakthrough, things are about to change, but you don’t know what to do.
Here is what I know. Things never just happen without effort, a change of mind, a new focus or even a new connection. When I read through the bible, I see many people who received miracles and breakthroughs and they all have one thing in common… they were all seekers of God. They pursued God for a healing, a miracle, financial breakthrough, planting a new church, a person who needed Christ, gifts of the spirit, and in turn as they pursued God, miracles began to show up. We see that limited resources were multiplied (Mark 6:41-44), God was changing hearts of some hard cases, (people couldn’t believe that Saul was converted, who would surprise you if God changed their heart?), people were being raised from the dead, impossible healings, and even one guy was teleported from one place to another (Acts 8:38-40). The bible is packed full of impossible situations, and yet we see God DO what man could not do for himself when he pursued God. His Word promises us that when we earnestly seek Him, rewards will be found (Heb. 11:6).
Two things that God loves… (1) His creation to worship Him (Ps. 29:2; Deut. 6:5). (2) His people to FULLY TRUST Him (Prov. 3:5-6; Ps. 20:7). I’m suggesting that we start our new year by eliminating excuses, rekindle our passion for God, and give God back His wonder and awe. He deserves to be worshipped as a God who is not common. God is everything but common. Maybe our lives have become so unattractive to the unbeliever, and miserable to ourselves, is because we have moved away from worshipping an uncommon God. He is miraculous. In a moment, He can change circumstances. In one word, He is able to create something out of nothing. In one command, He can eliminate our obstacles and put things back to order. Oh… He deserves more than a little handclap. He deserves more than one hour a week of worship. Our uncommon God deserves His creation to fall on their faces and worship Him with words of adoration and praise. A.W. Tozer said it best, “A low view of God is the cause of a hundred lesser evils.” But a person with a “high view” of God “is relieved of ten thousand temporal problems.” God loves for His people to worship Him.
What if the breakthrough you seek would come when you decide to fully trust God? Is He capable? Does He have enough resources? Is God powerful enough? Does He have the authority to provide you the miracle? Does He want to give you the breakthrough? What makes you different than anyone else? Answer these questions as you find the answer in His Word, and you will find your faith begin to increase to fully trust in God.
Ok… so you need a miracle, an answer, you want things to change… then take this challenge with us for the next 40 days. Today is the first day of our 40 Days of UNSTOPPABLE BREAKTHROUGH FAITH. This includes our 40 days of prayer and devotions and 21 days of prayer and fasting.
21 Days of Prayer and Fasting
Fasting is time that we press in to God and seek Him. We are trying to remove things that have a tendency to hinder us from spending more time with God, such as, TV, internet, internet social life, large amounts of entertainment, etc. We remove these things so that we can plan to spend time in prayer. We also know that fasting from food has allowed people to receive answers (Daniel 10:1-14), increased faith for authority over strongholds (Matt. 17:21, Mark 9:29). There is nothing that will get your attention better than sacrificing from food and pursuing the Lord in prayer. Some have chose to skip one meal a day, only eat at 5:00 p.m., eat only fruits and vegetables (Daniel Fast, abstaining from meats, bread and sugar), there are number of ways you can fast. I believe the intent should be is that you honestly seek God the very best that you can. Try it.
40 Days of Prayer and Devotions
The book that I have chosen for our congregation to read is “In a Pit, with a Lion, on a Snowy Day”, by Mark Batterson. I strongly encourage you to pick up a copy and read this book. Batterson’s book will increase your faith to pursue God. In spite of the obstacles that you face, using this book as a devotional will keep you on track during your fast and 40 days of devotions and prayer.
My hope is that you will experience God like never before. I pray that for the next 40 days your faith will increase and you become a “Lion Chaser” as Batterson says in his book. Don’t live the common ordinary life, live the extraordinary life with God this year!
Blessings,
Pastor Shannon
