Day 3 Fasting & Prayer Encouragement

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

Today our prayer focus is the Church.

• Pray for our pastor, staff, and ministry leaders
• Presence of God to remain a vital part of our ministry
• Overall health of the Church as a whole.

Forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty Jews—along with servants and musicians—returned from Babylon carrying the supplies they would need to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. They understood a vital truth: you cannot rebuild a nation until you rebuild the city, and a city must have walls. For fifty-two days they labored with intensity, fully aware that the enemy was watching and waiting for an opportunity to attack.

When the work was finished, they began what should have been a celebration. But instead of feasting, they gathered around the Word of the Lord. For twenty-three days they read Scripture from morning to evening. At night they slept in temporary shelters made from branches, because nothing was more important to them than hearing from God through His Word.

Then, on the twenty-fourth day, they fasted. They put on sackcloth—itchy, uncomfortable clothing—and poured dust on their heads. Why? Wasn’t it time to celebrate? They had accomplished the impossible. The walls were complete. They were ready to reclaim the Promised Land.

Nope.

They realized they were not worthy of the Lord’s blessings.

There wasn’t “sin in the camp.” They had been obedient. They had been sacrificial. But during a fast, the Lord often reveals not obvious sins, but hidden things within us. When we focus fully on Him—as fasting allows us to do—we open our spirit to His Spirit. Suddenly, we begin to see ourselves as He sees us.

And that’s when transformation happens.

Now I can identify the parts of me that are not like the Lord and allow Him to change them. And once those things are surrendered, His Spirit can pour through me without hindrance.