DAY 1—CLEANSE OUR HEARTS
Food and Drink Fast—Daniel Fast
National News Fast
“A clean heart is a free heart. A free heart can love Christ with an undivided love in chastity, convinced that nothing and nobody will separate it from His love.” Mother Teresa
For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. [Romans 10:10]
O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you? [Jeremiah 4:14]
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” [Matthew 5:8]
I Samuel 16:7 I John 3:21-22 Ezekiel 36:26 Mark 12:30
CLEANSE OUR HEARTS
The heart in human anatomy is the organ that moves life-sustaining blood through our bodies. Without its function, we would die. The Biblical or spiritual heart is even more important; for in it are the deep and intimate things that God looks upon. I Samuel 16:7 And just as our natural hearts need to be clean and healthy, our spiritual hearts must be clean and pure for us to have a right relationship with Jesus Christ. Relationship with Him starts with the heart. We first believe in our heart before we can be saved. Romans 10:10 We must wash our hearts of all evil if we are to be saved. It is essential that God sees a clean and pure heart. Jeremiah 4:14 Only those with pure hearts can be intimate with Him. And only the pure in heart shall see God. Matthew 5:8 With pure hearts we can have confidence before God. With that confidence we can expect to receive what we ask of Him. I John 3:21-22 We will need to ask Him for many things. For our lives cannot be lived without His help. As we walk with Him, He will give us new hearts and a new spirit and He will remove our hearts of stone. Ezekiel 36:26 For it is only with a new spirit and a new heart that we can love the Lord with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Mark 12:30 We have all sinned! So today let’s cleanse our hearts and walk with Him.
Prayer—O Lord! We know that You do not look on man’s appearances and You do not see as a man sees; but You look on the heart. For it is with the heart that we believe and are justified. Now help us to wash our hearts from evil, that we may be saved and that we no longer allow wicked thoughts to lodge within us. For we know that if our hearts do not condemn us we will have confidence before You, O Lord. Confidence that we will receive whatever we ask from You. We have kept our hearts pure. We have kept Your commandments. Our desire is to please You. You have promised us new hearts, hearts of flesh. It is only with our new hearts that we can love You, our Lord and our God with all of our hearts and with all of our souls and with all of our minds and with all of our strength. Again, help us to cleanse our hearts so that we are not condemned before You. In the name of Jesus we ask these things. Amen.
DAY 2—CLEANSE OUR MOUTHS
Food and Drink Fast—Daniel Fast
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“We fail to say the right words, because we choose to say the wrong words! We choose to say the wrong words, because we fail to think about the right words!” Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
“It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” [Matthew 15:11]
Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. [Ephesians 5:4]
Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! [Psalm 141:3]
II Timothy 2:16 Colossians 4:6 Proverbs 25:11-12 Psalm 19:14
CLEANSE OUR MOUTHS
We need to watch what we say! For it is those things that come out of our mouths that defiles us. Matthew 15:11 We know that we should not season our talk with filthiness; but often we may be guilty of foolish talk and may on occasion indulge in crude joking even though we know that this is out of place. Ephesians 5:4 Further, irreverent “babble” will lead us into more ungodliness. II Timothy 2:16 So let us resolve to cleanse our mouths. Let’s determined that our speech be gracious—aligned with His Holy Word; so that we may know how we ought to answer every person. Colossians 4:6 If we will do this, then we will be able speak in a healthy and “golden” way. Proverbs 25:11-12 We cannot do this within ourselves. The only way we can do this is for the Lord to help us—to set a guard over our mouths—and for Him to keep watch over the door of our lips. Psalms 141:3 Before we speak we should breathe this prayer in our minds—“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord. Psalms 19:14 With our mouths cleansed—all of our conversations will have more meaning and more impact. Our mouths should reveal our pure hearts!
Prayer—O Lord, help us to watch what we say. Don’t allow us to defile ourselves with our mouths. Let no filthy or foolish talk come from within us. Help us to refrain from crude joking and irreverent babble for that leads us to ungodliness; but rather let our speech be gracious—let our speech be words fitly spoken—so that we answer each person and address each situation as we ought. The only way that we can do this is with Your help, O Lord. Now set a guard over our mouths and keep watch over the door of our lips. And let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to You. Then from a pure heart and a clean mouth we will give thanksgiving; and we will praise Your Holy Name. In the Name of Jesus we ask for all of these things. Amen.
DAY 3—RENEW OUR MINDS
Food and Drink Fast—Daniel Fast
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“The time has come to turn to God and reassert our trust in Him for the healing of America - our country is in need of and ready for a spiritual renewal.” Ronald Reagan
And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” [Matthew 22:37-38]
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. [Romans 12:1-2]
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. [I Peter 1:13]
II Corinthians 4:16 Colossians 3:2, 9-10 II Corinthians 5:17 Philippians 4:8
RENEW OUR MINDS
We are commanded by God to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and with all of our soul and with all of our minds. This is the great and first commandment. Matthew 22:37-38 We cannot do this without His help; but by His mercy we can present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. It is our spiritual worship. We must not be conformed to this world, but we must be transformed by the renewal of our minds. By testing we may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 So let us prepare our minds for action, and being sober-minded, set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. I Peter 1:13 We will not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. II Corinthians 4:6 Too often we have our minds in the wrong place. We must set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. We should let everyone know assuredly that we have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Colossians 3:2, 9-10 We are not the people we once were. We are Christians. We must reflect the character and image of our Creator! We are in Christ, we are a new creation. The old has passed away; and the new has come. II Corinthians 5:17 We have resolved that, finally, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, we will think about these things. Philippians 4:8 We will think about them and put action to our thoughts. With our minds renewed we with speak what is true, we will strive to be honorable—to deal with everyone justly. We will strive to keep our hearts and minds pure. We will praise the One who is worthy of all of our praise—for He is lovely and commendable and excellent! We can and will do this with a renewed mind!
Prayer—O Lord! Help us to keep the great and first commandment—to love You with all of our hearts, souls and with all of our minds. As our spiritual worship we present our bodies to You today as a living sacrifice. Help us to be holy and acceptable to You. Now transform us by renewing our minds that by testing we may discern Your will and what is good and acceptable to You. We are preparing our minds for action and have our hope set fully on Your grace that is brought to us by the revelation of Jesus Christ in our lives. The outer man is wasting away; but we will not despair for our inner selves are being renewed by the Holy Spirit day by day. Help us to set our minds on things above as we put off the old self and its ways. Help us to be renewed in knowledge after the image of our creator so that we may reflect Your character—the character of our Creator! Now we need You to help us to think on good things and be doers of the Word and not hearers only. We praise You—the only One worthy of our praise. Now we ask all of these things in the Name of Jesus. Amen.
DAY 4
CLEANSE [DeClutter] OUR SPIRITUAL CLOSETS
[Give Our Burdens to Him]
Food and Drink Fast—Daniel Fast
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“Only good things come from God’s hands. He never gives you more than you can bear. Every burden prepares you for eternity. Basilea Schlink. “We should try our best to pour out all the burdens in our spirit by prayer until all of them have left us.” Watchman Nee
Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [Matthew 11:28-29]
The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts. [Proverbs 20:27]
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. [Hebrews 12:1]
Psalm 19:13 Ephesians 4:31 I Peter 5:7 I John 3:6, 9
CLEANSE [Declutter] OUR SPIRITUAL CLOSETS
[Give Our Burdens to Him]
We must declutter and cleanse our spiritual closets—give Him our burdens—repent of the hidden clinging sins and any presumptuous sin—allow God to sweep out bitterness—cast our anxieties on Him and then refrain from sinning! Jesus tells us to come to him—all who labor and are heavy laden. He promises to give us rest if we will exchange our burdens for His yoke. If we learn from Him, we will find rest for our souls. Matthew 11:28-29 The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts. Proverbs 20:27 It takes the lamp of the Lord to throughly search our spiritual closet to reveal any sin or hindrance that needs to be removed. In Hebrews we are told to lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1 In our spiritual race as in any physical race, we run better without any extra weight or hindrance. One of the worst hindrances that I can think of is a presumptuous sin. Our prayer should be—Keep back your servants from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over us! Then we shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Psalms 19:13 All sin is sin; but presumptuous sins are deliberate, intentional, bold, audacious, arrogant, brazen, rebellious, and defiant. These things are the character traits of Satan. Repeatedly sinning the same sin is presumptuous. Satan could blind us into thinking that repeated sin is no longer sin. Let’s sweep our closet clean. We must be aware of the things that need to be cleansed from our closet. One seemingly clinging sin is bitterness. Paul told the Ephesians to—Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Ephesians 4:31 Though perhaps not a sin, anxiety is one of those “weights” that makes our journey harder. Let’s cast all of our anxieties on Him, because He cares for us. I Peter 5:7 When we have cleansed [of sin] and decluttered [of weights and hindrances] our closets, we must remember—No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. I John 3:6, 9 What will keep our spiritual closets clean now—daily prayer and confession and repentance if we do sin!
Prayer— O Lord! Cleanse our spiritual closets today. First, we give You our burdens and accept Your rest and Your yoke. Let us learn from You—for in Your Word we find rest for our souls. We lay aside every weight and ask Your forgiveness for any clinging sin. Please, O Lord, never lets us sin presumptuously—nor allow a sin to have dominion over us. Remove any bitterness that You find as You shine your light in the hidden places in our closets. Forgive our anger, malice, and slander, Lord. And help us replace the clutter with those things that reflect You. We Cast our anxieties on You and ask that You keep us in Christ so that we do not make a practice of sinning. In Jesus’ name we ask for all of this. Amen.
DAY 5—FORGIVE OTHERS
Food and Drink Fast—Daniel Fast
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“When you forgive, you heal. When you let go, you grow.” Anonymous “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Mahatma Gandhi
“And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” [Mark 11:25]
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. [Matthew 6:14-15]
bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. [Colossians 3:13]
Matthew 18:34-35 Isaiah 43:25 Luke 17:3-4 Proverbs 28:13
FORGIVE OTHERS
Jesus left no doubt in His teachings that we are to forgive others that wrong—or sin against-us. We should as we stand praying, forgive, if we have anything against anyone; so that our Father who is in heaven may also forgive us our trespasses. Mark 11:25 Matthew wrote it in a little different way, “if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15 Further on in Scripture Jesus says, “And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” Matthew 18:34-35 Again, Jesus makes it clear as to how He feels about us forgiving others. If He—who blots out our transgressions for His own sake, and then does not remember them; and who is merciful, loving and forgiving—conditions His forgiveness of our sins on us forgiving others, Isaiah 43:25 then it is more than just important, it is necessary that we do what Jesus says in Luke, “Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him.” Luke 17:3-4 So let us bear with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven us, so we also must forgive. Colossians 3:13 Forgive others so that we will be forgiven—confess and forsake our transgressions so that we can obtain mercy. Proverbs 28:13
Prayer—“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” You taught us how to pray. So today as we stand praying we forgive those who have wronged us or hurt us. Nothing anyone could do to us is worth us forsaking your forgiveness by withholding ours. Now help us to pay attention and not allow any grudge or bitterness to dwell in us. We confess and forsake our transgressions so the we can obtain mercy. May the God who forgets our sins and remembers them no more help us to forget the wrongs that others have done to us. In Jesus’ name we ask for all of this. Amen.
DAY 6—TALK TO GOD DAILY
Food and Drink Fast—Daniel Fast
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“Prayer is simply a two-way conversation between you and God.” Billy Graham “Prayer is the link that connects us with God.” A. B. Simpson
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. [Philippians 4:6]
Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. [Psalm 55:17]
pray without ceasing, [I Thessalonians 5:17]
Luke 6:12 Ephesians 6:18 James 4:3 Daniel 6:10
TALK TO GOD DAILY
If we are to ever have a relationship with God—we have to “talk” to Him. Prayer should be as Billy Graham said, “a two-way conversation between you and God.” Jesus prayed! There are many scriptures in the Bible that show that Jesus prayed. In these days He went out to the mountain to pray, and all night He continued in prayer to God. Luke 6:12 Prayer should include acknowledgment of God—praise—thanks—repentance—and of course prayer should be our go-to-solution for our problems. We should not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let our requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6 Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, should be our daily commitment. Ephesians 6:18 We should learn to pray in the spirit, learn how to ask, and learn what to pray for. We ask and do not receive, because we ask wrongly, to spend it on our passions. James 4:3 Although Scripture tells us not to use vain repetitions and long wordy prayers for a pretense, Scripture does tells us that Jesus prayed all night—king David when he was in trouble says,“Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. Psalms 55:17 And when Daniel knew that the document [decree against prayer] had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. Daniel 6:10 Daniel prayed as he always prayed—three times a day! In any relationship it’s important to continually communicate—so pray often—long prayers and short prayers—when we are in trouble and when we are not—pray without ceasing! I Thessalonians 5:17
Prayer—O Lord God! Hallowed be Your Name. We have asked You for many things; but today we just come to talk with You Lord and to thank You. We find in Your Word that Jesus prayed often and all night—that He would steal away to a desolate place and pray. Now help us to find a place of prayer—a prayer room in our homes, our own “desolate-deserted” place. King David prayed to You evening and morning and noon when he was in trouble and Daniel prayed three times a day and gave You thanks every day regardless of the king’s decree. In addition to praying in our room of prayer, let us learn to pray without ceasing—lets us pray instead of being anxious—pray instead of letting road rage ruin our day—prayer instead of agitation—Lord God we need Your Help with every situation both good and bad. Now forgive us our sins as we forgive others. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.
DAY 7—BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING
Food and Drink Fast—Daniel Fast
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“Anxiety cannot survive in an environment of praise to God. If you have a problem facing you that you don’t know how to solve, remember to praise God.” John MacArthur
And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [Luke 12:22, 25]
Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. [Proverbs 12:25]
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. [Philippians 4:6-7]
I Peter 5:7 Colossians 3:15 John 16:33 Psalm 23:4
BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING
Jesus makes it very clear in Luke that being anxious cannot add anything to our lives. He says, “do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to your life?” Luke 12:22, 25 But rather we are to “cast all of our anxieties on Him, because He cares for us.” I Peter 5:7 “Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” Proverbs 12:25 He promises us peace if we will give Him our anxiety—“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your [pure] hearts and your [renewed] minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 So we should “let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15 We need to be thankful and to stay “in Him.” For in Him we can always have His peace—in the world there is tribulation. We are to take heart—not be anxious—for he has overcome the world. John. 16:33 “Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for You are with us; your rod and your staff, they comfort us.” Psalm 23:4 God has taken care of all of the big things and all of the small things in our lives. He has even taken care of the fear of death; so why worry at all?
Prayer—O Lord help us learn to refrain from worry—and not be anxious for anything; for we cannot add anything to our lives that we need that You have not already promised us and given to us. Lord, we know the way to have peace in our hearts is to cast our anxieties on You. Free of our worries and with our thanksgiving, all we need to do is to make our requests known to You. If we stay in You, then the peace that You give us will guard our hearts and minds against the tribulations of this world—for You have overcome the world. With the peace that only comes from You, we will be able to face any anxiety or fear in life—even walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Again, we pray that You will replace our anxieties and fears with Your peace. In Jesus’ name we ask for all of this. Amen.