Welcome to Day Nine of our 21-day Fast. “Jesus, for 40 days and 40 nights, fasted and prayed in the wilderness, being led by the Spirit.” I cannot imagine why He chose that place for such a historical event. It’s so barren out there with none of the comforts of our life. To know what Christ went through there is almost overwhelming.
Today, as we are fasting and we’re praying, I want to focus on those of you who are in a wilderness place right now. I want you to focus on being led of the Spirit, wherever the Spirit leads you. If He’s allowing you to be in the middle of a wilderness situation in your life, it’s because He’s going to bring something out of it.
The Bible said, “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit.” And that’s what I believe is going to happen to you on this fast. As you come out of it, you’re going to return in the power of the Holy Spirit – the very same spirit Jesus was talking about. If you haven’t been able to focus on anything other than your hunger pangs, you are about to experience a sweetness in your daily walk and prayer time. It’s a natural response from a supernatural God.
God has an Amazing Purpose for Your Life
Did you know you were created for a purpose that is bigger than you could imagine? In fact, if I could do anything differently in my thirty-plus years of ministry I would have dreamed bigger! Not only can I never out-give God – I can’t out-dream Him. And neither can you. If there is one thing I can tell you for certain it’s that God has a plan and a purpose for your life that He thought of long before you were even born. Scripture confirms this over and over. What an exciting time to be alive and what an amazing gift to know He has a plan and a purpose for the one life you’ve been given to live.
I want to challenge you to see what’s possible – and then see it bigger. It’s easy to imagine something for a moment and say, “That would be nice.” But I’m talking about actually getting a picture in your head and seeing it, today, tomorrow, and every day. And here’s the good news – none of what you can imagine is dependent solely on you. You plus the Lord is an army and anything is possible.
Today's Bible Reading
John 10:12-14
12But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.13The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.14I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
Ephesians 2:10
10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Joel 2:24-29
24The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
25“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,
The crawling locust,
The consuming locust,
And the chewing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
26You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
And praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
And My people shall never be put to shame.
27Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel:
I am the Lord your God
And there is no other.
My people shall never be put to shame.
God’s Spirit Poured Out
28“And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
29And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
Habakkuk 2:2-3
2Then the Lord answered me and said:
“Write the vision And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
3For 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,
It will not tarry.
Jeremiah 29:11-14
11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
Proverbs 16:1-4
1The preparations of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
2All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
But the Lord weighs the spirits.
3Commit your works to the Lord,
And your thoughts will be established.
4The Lord has made all for Himself,
Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.
Matthew 6:25-34
25“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Prayer:
Allow me to pray for you today. Father, the Bible teaches that You, Jesus, were led of the Spirit, after being baptized in the Jordan River, to the wilderness to fast and pray. And God, I pray for those that are encountering their wilderness. I thank You today, that Your grace is sufficient. I thank You today that the Comforter is with us. And I thank You, Lord, that You’re going to bring people out of this fast, with the power of the Holy Spirit, resting heavily on them.