Fasting Day 1: God’s Plan for Divine Restoration

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Today’s Reading

“Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 

Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.” –  Deuteronomy 30: 3-4

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Reflection

Once again, I welcome you to this year’s 21-day fasting and prayers which begins today, January 8, 2018. As I’ve said previously, we are waiting on the LORD to renew our strength and receive His grace to manifest His promises this year.

We are not fasting so we can change God. Not at all. Our fasting and waiting on the Lord changes us.

We are surrendering to the LORD in humility and looking up to the Holy Spirit to reveal areas in our lives that needs divine intervention. We are seeking His grace to be able to fulfill His plans for our lives this year.

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What to Expect

When the Bible advises us to fast, it is both for our health and spiritual growth, as science now supports. No doubt, fasting is a powerful key available for us to grow our faith in God and overcome the works of darkness.

We are not trying to command God or impress HIM when we fast. We are just humbling and re-humbling ourselves before Him and surrendering our will to His as we live and go about our businesses.

No Christian will achieve God’s full potentials for his/her life without the practice of regular fasting and waiting on the LORD. Here are some benefits of fasting in the life of a believer.

• Fasting helps us to develop spiritual sensitivity and power over demonic activities (Mark 16:17).
• Fasting grows our faith in Christ (Matthew 17:17-21).
• Fasting weakens the flesh and crucifies unholy desires, thus, enabling the human spirit to be effective in moments of prayer or fellowship in the presence of God (Matthew 4:1- 10).
• Fasting can enhance our spiritual breakthrough (Daniel 10:13).
• Fasting can obtain forgiveness from committed abominations (Jonah 3:5-10).

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Recommended Prayer Times

As we begin this fast, here are our recommended prayer times…

• 12:00am – 1:00am (Midnight Session)
• 3:00 Am – 4:00 Am (Early Morning Session)
• 6:00am – 7:00am (Morning Session)
• 12:00 – 1:00pm (Midday Session)
• 3:00pm – 4:00pm (Afternoon Session)
• 9:00pm – 10:00pm (Night Session)

You may choose any of the sessions as you pray. We advise members to spend at least one hour in prayer each day.

However, there are no mandates, which means you could chose afternoon session today and pray, and chose midnight session tomorrow and pray. Whatever is convenient for your schedule is welcome.

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Scripture for the Year

1 Samuel 30: 1-31 (AMP)

Meditate as you read.

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What Kind of Fasting Should I Do?

As always, we are very flexible in our fasting recommendations. We always advise that you skip breakfast and lunch if you can. If you can’t there’s no problem. There are no mandates. If you can only skip one meal a day, that’s okay. If what you can afford is to skip dinner due to your nature of business, that’s fine.

Whether it is 6:00 am to 10 am, 6 am to 12 noon, 6am to 3pm, 6am to 6pm, or just 6pm till 6am – whatever your schedule can afford, it’s fine.

We also encourage people to drink water while fasting. The reason is that you’re not really embarking on a hunger strike. You are waiting on the LORD and you will need your physical strength to pray and listen to the Holy Spirit.

NOTE: If you cannot afford to skip any meal on a health ground, that’s welcome. Do join the prayer sessions and believe God for a miracle in your life this year.

Let’s get started…

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Divine Restoration, What is That?

God is speaking to us about Total Restoration 2018. The Holy Spirit is saying that God will restore to us what the enemy has stolen, kidnapped, or damaged in our lives. He will give us total victory all through the year, and cause us to take over, in Jesus’ name.

The biblical meaning of the word “restoration” is to receive back more than has been lost to the point where the final state is greater than the original condition. The main point is that someone or something is improved beyond measure.

Unlike the regular dictionary meaning of “restoration” which is to return something back to its original condition, the biblical definition of the word has greater connotations that go above and beyond the typical everyday usage.

Repeatedly throughout the Bible, God blesses people for their faith and hardships by making up for their losses and giving them more than they previously had before.

As we see in our Scriptural recommendation and anchor for the year, which will be referenced all through this fasting, David and his men recovered everything that was stolen from them, and got even much more.

We are believing God and claiming His promise of restoration in our lives, marriage, families, health, community, ministry, and in every area, this year. And so shall it be.

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Today’s Prayer Points

Since this is the beginning of the fast, today will be dedicated to prayers of gratitude and thanksgiving.

Spend time in God’s presence and sing and dance before Him. Resist the urge to ask Him anything and only praise Him all through your prayer sessions today.

As much as you can, look deep into your life and only thank God for Who He is and what He has done for us.

 

1. Once again, thank God for the gift of life. Thank Him for protecting us all through the year, 2017. And for helping us to come into year 2018 safely.
   

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2. Thank God for the gift of His Word. Through His Word we are able to know Him and have fellowship with Him.
   

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3. Thank God for the gift of salvation. For it is by grace we have been saved, through faith – and this is not from ourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8)
   

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4. Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father sent in Christ’s name, will teach us all things and will remind us of everything that Christ wants us to know (John 14:26)
   

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5. Thank God for the gift of family, the gift of children, the gift of siblings, and the gift of parents. Without family, we would not experience the love of mother, father, children, husband or wife.
   

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6. Thank God for the gift of good health. For he has blessed us with good health, even as our soul prospered. (3John 1:2)
   

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7. Thank God for the gift of your spouse, the gift of love and the gift of marriage. May His name be praised forever and ever, in Jesus name.
   

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8. Thank God for the gift of prayer, for as we pray, He hears us and answers us, even beyond our expectation. “And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we have asked of Him” (1John 5:14-15).
   

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9. Thank God that He answered all our prayers in 2017 and has assured that as we continue to pray, He will always answer us
   

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10. Thank God for delivering us from all our fears, negativities and false ways in 2017, and keeping us in hope even when we were faithless
    

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11. Thank God for frustrating all the activities of the devil and his wicked agents against our lives and loved ones all through 2017, even unto this day.
    

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12. Thank God for being with us always, even when we walked through valleys of shadows of death.
    

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13. Thank God for turning all the counsels of the wicked against us and our loved ones into utter foolishness, and for enabling us to walk in victory always.
    

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14. Thank God for the Church worldwide. He has continued to build His church and the gates of hell cannot stop it.
    

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15. Thank God for your local church. Thank Him for the leadership, and for empowering the Church to continuously go forward, in Jesus name.
    

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16. Thank God for your country. Despite all the negative political arguments, God has kept and preserved us as a nation.
    

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17. Thank God for Your state, city and community where you live. Thank God that He has continued to protect and preserve the state, the city and the community, in Jesus name.
    

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18. Thank God for the opportunity to wait on Him and receive His guidance for the New Year, 2018.
    

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19. Thank God for His plan of divine restoration and victory for us in 2018. Thank Him for what He has purposed to do in our lives in 2018.
    

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20. Thank God for today and for all the other coming days in 2018. Thank God for He will continuously load us daily with his benefits (Psalm 68:19).
    

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21. Thank God for He is God. He is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? (Numbers 23:19)
    

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May God be praised forever and ever, in Jesus name.

“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.  He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”  – Zephaniah 3:17

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