Devotion – Day 12

James 1:6

“But let him ask in faith, nothing waivering”

 

When you pray, what do you expect?  We are exercising our faith when we pray with earnest and persistent expectation.  “The earnest prayer of righteous people produces powerful results.“  James 5:16.  (….make sure you read yesterday’s devotional!)

 

Sometimes our natural tendency can be to coward or shrink back when praying for the impossible, but we must remember that NOTHING is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).  If we are a student of His Word and know the promises that God has given each of us, and if we understand His character and principles, then we can pray with confidence, boldness and clarity.  We can then trust and believe Him for the answer.

 

I don’t know about you, but Greg and I have some BIG prayers before God during this fast.  They are SO beyond us… BUT NOT BEYOND HIM!!!  And as I read James 1:6, I am reminded to NOT waiver in my faith.  James says “nothing wavering”.

 

So….what are you trusting God for in this season?  How can you line up your expectations with the Word of God when you pray?  I encourage you to find promises in His Word that answer or direct your need and pray the Word of God over your situation.  It is our prayer that you would have “nothing waivering” in your expectation of God.  That you would pray with faith believing boldly and with confidence for what concerns you during this season.  Remember…NOTHING is impossible with God!

 

“When we depend upon organizations, we get what organizations can do; when we depend upon education, we get what education can do; when we depend upon man, we get what man can do; BUT, when we depend upon prayer, we get what God can do.” A.C. Dixon

 

Joyfully Serving Him,

Kathy Fairrington

 

Devotion – Day 11

John 14:16

“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.”

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter…”

 

When Jesus was about to depart from this earth He had one last lesson for the disciples.  He knew it was essential for the disciples to learn how to depend on the Spirit of God and to follow His leadership.  This is what John 14:16 is all about.

 

The disciples had been accustomed to Jesus’ physically and visibly leading them, but now they needed to learn to let the Holy Spirit be their leader.  This Leader would be one they could no longer touch, see or audibly hear, yet they were to follow Him JUST like they had followed Jesus.

 

Jesus chose His last words to His disciples carefully as to dispel all their fears and insecurities about following the Holy Spirits leadership in their lives.  The word “another” in John 14:16 is the Greek word, allos.  It means one of the same kind; same character, same everything or nearly a duplicate.

 

Jesus was clearly emphasizing that the Holy Spirit would be just like Jesus in every way.  That following the Holy Spirit in their lives wouldn’t be different than following Him, except for the fact that the Holy Spirit would not be physically visible.  The point Jesus was strongly making to His disciples and to us today is that, we must learn to let the Holy Spirit guide us and lead us.  The Holy Spirit is Christ in us!! (Col 1:27)

 

And just like the early church prayed for miracles, healings, provisions, salvations, and power, we too can pray for and experience those things and greater things….because Christ is with us just the same.

 

Remember, whatever you are praying for that is the will of God; you can pray for with boldness and faith because Jesus is WITH YOU and He rewards those that diligently seek Him.

 

Joyfully Serving Him,

Kathy Fairrington

 

Devotion – Day 10

Amos 3 :3

“Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?”

 

As we fast together, we all desire to have a closer walk with God.  We know that He too, desires to have that with us as well.  One of the keys to drawing closer to God in our spiritual lives is living in agreement with His will for your life.

 

If you read Genesis 5:22 you will discover a man named, Enoch.  His life is marked by consistently walking with God.  The Bible says, “Enoch walked with God for three hundred years.”  That’s a long life lived in a powerful way!  He lived a life pleasing to God and walked in agreement with the will of God for a long, long time.  (Hebrew 11:5)

 

Many of us may “know” what God’s will for our life is, but it’s totally different to live in agreement and obedience to His will.  What is God asking you to do, to say, to act on today?  That is God’s will for you today!  So do it.

 

In order for you to realize and enjoy the rewards and the best life that God has for you … you must realize God doesn’t change, but many times we must.

 

As you fast, and as you go on to live out this year, make a conscious commitment to earnestly seek to know and agree with God’s will.  I truly believe the level to which you walk with God will determine the degree of closeness you will experience in your life.

 

Joyfully Serving Him,

Kathy Fairrington

 

Devotion – Day 9

Below is a list of scriptures that Greg and I pray for our city and community all year long.  We invite you to pray these paraphrased scriptures along with us.

 

“Today is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2

 

“Let this community be awakened.” Joel 3:12

 

“Your will is that none should perish but all come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

 

“Open to us (me) a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ.” Colossians 4:3

 

“You are revealing to this community the exceeding greatness of your power which raised Christ from the dead and set Him at your right hand.” Ephesians 1:19-20

 

“Therefore we say with our mouth and BELIEVE in our heart.” Romans 10:8-9

 

“Every knee will bow and every tongue confess, Jesus is Lord in this city in Jesus Name!” Philippians 2:10

 

Cling to the language of faith with hope in your heart as you fast!

 

Pray and believe for an awakening as we claim this community for Christ.

 

Joyfully Serving Him,

Kathy Fairrington

 

Devotion – Day 7

Matthew 17:18-21

Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.  Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”  He replied, “Because you have so little faith.  Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you.” (“But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”)

When we pray and fast, our goal is not to change God or His will, instead, by praying and fasting, we end up being the ones changed.  When we fast and pray, our plans and purposes, and our doubts and fears will all come into alignment with God.  This is always the best pathway for our lives.  As we fast and pray, unbelief will leave our lives, and faith and belief will invade our life.  It will give us confidence to pray that “nothing will be impossible” which Jesus tells us in the book of Matthew.

 

As you pray today, ask God to strengthen your heart to fully believe Him and His Word.  I know we can all struggle with unbelief, but recognize, acknowledge and talk to Jesus about that too.  This will be a foundational step in allowing God to build your faith and guide you into His plans for your life.

 

I love this quote from Andrew Murray:

“Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God,

not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do,

expect … above all that we ask or think…”

 

Be blessed today and may you be filled with faith to BELIEVE!  See you in church tomorrow.

 

Joyfully Serving Him,

Kathy Fairrington

Devotion – Day 6

Ephesians 6:10

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”

Are you in a season of life where you could use more strength?

In Ephesians 6:10 the Apostle Paul tells us to be STRONG!  It is the Greek word endunamoo.  It presents the picture of an explosive power that is being deposited into some type of vessel, container, or other type of receptacle.

The Greek word is saying that this power must be deposited into some form of RECEIVER – be STRONG… be POWERFUL IN THE LORD!

God designed each of us to be a receiver, a receptacle of His divine and awesome power.  When the Apostle Paul said, “Be strong in the Lord”, he was really saying, “Don’t miss receiving the supernatural, strengthening and the internal deposit of power into your life.”  We are the receivers, the vessels, the receptacle into which His power is to be deposited and He is the giver.

Whatever you are facing, whatever attack the enemy brings along your pathway … Remember the supernatural power God has available.  God’s power in you can strengthen you to be victorious over ALL attacks that the enemy brings against you or your loved ones.

I love the thought that God specially fashioned you and me to be containers of His power.  Today, as you spend time with God, ask Him and allow Him to give you a fresh infilling of His dynamite explosive Holy Spirit power!  Blow the enemy away!

Joyfully Serving Him,

Kathy Fairrington

Devotion – Day 5

Isaiah 59:1-2

“Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”

This is a heavy scripture, but it’s one that is critical to personally evaluate in your life at the beginning of your fast.

One of the desires and goals of fasting is to draw closer to God, to know Him better, to hear clearly from Him.  So if that is our goal… just what does it take?  Scripture tells us that Jesus fasted and expected fasting to be a regular part of the believer’s life.  He tells us that it is something He even rewards (Matthew 6).  The people of Israel performed the ritual of fasting thinking it could make them “right” with God.  But because it was a duty and not done in the right way they did not hear from God.

The reason they did not hear from God was because of sin in their lives.  Sin had separated them from God so that He WOULD not listen to the cry of their hearts. And it is still the same today…fasting in our lives will have no effect UNTIL we deal with any areas of sin in our life.  God is concerned about our motives as well as our behavior.

If we are living in disobedience in ANY area of our life, then fasting won’t draw us close to God.  He won’t listen!  It is not that God CAN’T hear, but it is that He CHOOSES not to listen to the cry of an unrepentant sinner.

So I want to encourage you to have a successful fast and productive fast.  Take time today to ask God to reveal to you ANY area of disobedience in your life. Deal with it now!  Be obedient to what you need to do.  Clear it out of the way so that you can move forward to draw closer to Him.  Remember, He has a reward awaiting you!!

Joyfully Serving Him,

Kathy Fairrington