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Each day during the fast, there will be a set prayer focus in addition to our personal prayers. 

Today our prayer focus is Wrap Up & Give Thanks!

  • Give thanks in advance of what God is doing
  • Give thanks in faith for what God is going to do
  • Stand in faith!

An encouragement from Pastor Hayes:

Matthew 4:1-2
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted a by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

I used this verse earlier in my personal devotions and shared this same commentary during our nightly time together, but it needs to be our final thought as we close. Jesus fasted—and that alone should be enough to stir a desire in us to fast as well. Our goal is to be like Him, and fasting was part of who He was.

But why did Jesus fast? Why would the Son of God separate Himself from daily life to fast and pray? In part, He was preparing Himself for the three years of ministry that lay ahead. Years marked by conflict—battles with Satan, struggles against the flesh, and even the challenges that came from the very people God had given Him to lead. Yet ultimately, everything pointed to one purpose: His death on the cross for our sins. God’s purpose framed everything else.

Why do we fast? Our reasons may differ. Some fast for healing—for themselves or for others. Some fast to grow closer to the Lord or to be delivered from behaviors that do not reflect a Christ-like walk. But in the end, our fasting must move us toward God’s greater purpose: the winning of the lost.

Think about this. At times, we find ourselves chained by sin that so easily entangles us (Hebrews12:1-2). Even as believers, if we are not careful, those chains can begin to control parts of our lives. If we believe God has the power to loose us from those chains, then we must also recognize that the people around us who do not know Christ are bound as well—and they need deliverance too. And we know where the power to “loose” those chains comes from.

Ultimately, we fast so that we can share Jesus.