Weekend Devo — Praising & Thanking

‎In conclusion to our week of:

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." — Ephesians 3:20-21

What an amazing week! I will share with you that my week of fasting and praying played out differently than I thought it would. I leave this week with a great sense of peace, which just blows me away since God told me my word for this year is PEACE! This is a new experience for me.

I hope and pray that God has met you in some amazing ways during your time seeking Him. The smallest of moments often turn out the be the most impactful.

Special thanks and gratitude to Rosheeda for giving us such wonderful Scriptures and prayers each day. Thanks, Ro! We love you!

As I said, my word for this year is peace. Many of you shared words God gave you like trust, be intentional and believe. I walk away from this week with Scriptures to pray for my hubby, my daughters and precious family members who've yet to know how amazing God is.

Many of you shared in the comments who you were praying for. Know that Lynn and I read through and prayed for them each day! We were honored and privileged to get to do that.

So, in closing, share in the comments what you found most life changing, helpful, meaningful, comforting or even just memorable this past week. Remember to write this down in your journal too. A year from now you will want to go back and re-read it as you prepare for 2013.

And I have a feeling you will be amazed! God always does immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.

Praying and believing,
Dineen

 

A Strong Finish

 

Song of Solomon 7:11
Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages.

 

Lord I praise You today. Sit with me as my Beloved. Feed me. Feast with me. May we bask today in the beauty of relationship. Thank you for Your love, Your grace, Your mercy. Have Your way today and prepare me for what lies ahead beyond this time with You.

In Jesus' Name. Amen.

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How may Dineen, Ro and I (Lynn) pray specifically for you today. Write in the comments a request for your spiritual life.

I have been reading all the prayer requests and praying for each of you. I plan to print them all out and pray through them during the entire month of January.

We count it a privilege to have walked this week with you, to pray, to fast, to seek God's will for our lives.

Praying and Believing, Lynn

Thursday - Prayer and Fasting

 

Psalm 119:25

I am laid low in the dust;preserve my life according to your word.

 

Lord, I am humble before You. Broken. Hungry. Thirsty. Meet me here right now today. Give me life beyond my flesh. Be my food. Be my water. Be my source. Lord, I pray that I would faint not, but that You would help me endure to the end.

In Jesus' Name. Amen.

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We are now reaching into the long stretch. Strongholds are being broken, plans are set in motion in the heavens for the salvation of many, the redemption of marriages, the return of the prodigals, the proclamation of joy in our homes. All because we prayed.

Today, let us know how we can pray along side of you. Whom are you praying today? Praying and believing, Lynn

Day Three Looking for the Miraculous

 

1 John 5:5-8 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. ⁶ This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

Good morning Lord.

I come to You asking that You would live for me. Reveal Yourself to me today. Give me more of You. Allow my heart to believe and my eyes to see. Even as my flesh wages war against Your spirit at work in me, I beg You to prevail. Show me that You are greater than the depths of my humanity. Help me to focus on You so that I will see You in countless ways along the road to Your promises in my life. Lord, let Your Spirit testify in my life. In Jesus name, Amen

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Are you praying for your children today? Leave their first name in the comments and we will pray along side you. Praying and believing, Lynn, Dineen and Ro.

Fasting Day Two

 

Deuteronomy 6:5
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your strength.

Lord, teach me to love You. Fill me today with Your truth. Give me the grace to give You my all. Make me strong.

In Jesus' Name. Amen

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Who will you be praying for today. Leave their first name in the comments and we will pray along side you. Also, if you want us to pray specifically, please let us know how to pray for those you name. Praying and believing, Lynn, Dineen and Ro.

The Journey Begins

Proverbs 3:5-6 (5)Trust in the LORD with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Father, there is something so special about being able to trust You. As I begin my time of fasting and seeking, I ask Lord that you would purify me; forgive me for my sins and failures and give me the grace to move into this week with the right heart and right spirit. Teach me this week what it is to submit to You, to follow You. As You lay prayers and praises on my tongue, make my spirit sensitive to your leadership and willing to yield to Your direction no matter the costs.

Lord, I pray that I would trust You with all my heart and that I would lean not to my own understanding, but that in all my ways I would submit myself to you so that You can make my paths straight. Make me a willing servant this week and an obedient vessel throughout the year. In Jesus Name. Amen.

I'm so excited! This is such a powerful time. I cannot wait to see what God does. Please share during the week! It's always an encouragement seeing God speak and reveal Himself with others on the journey with you. Love ya'll a lot! ~Rosheeda Lee

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I'm absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer number of God's people who have chosen to sacrifice this week and fast. It's going to be an amazing journey. Please take a minute and share in the comments, a loved-one, friend, or specifics for yourself in which you are praying. Rosheeda, Dineen and I will pray along with you.

Praying and believing, Lynn

Prayer and Fasting 2012

Fasting keeps you sensitive to His Spirit, enabling You to live holy.

I am convinced that we will never walk in the perfect will of God until we seek Him through fasting. When you present your body in the manner, you open yourself up to hear from God. You will prove or discover His good and perfect will for your life. Paul was fasting when God called him and shared the assignment for his life (Acts 9:7-9). Peter was fasting on the rooftop when God gave him a new revelation and called him to take the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10). Fasting prepares the way for God to give you fresh revelation, fresh vision, and clear purpose. ~J. Franklin

I want a fresh start in 2012. Do you?

Our fast will begin on sunrise of January 2nd and last through sunset of January 6th. That's this Monday. There are many ways to fast but if you are medically able, fast from food in some way. I am preparing to fast on a liquid fast for three days and then finish the week out with a Daniel fast. This is what I hear the Lord asking of me. What is He asking of you.

Do you want a breakthrough? Do you want to be rid of a habitual sin or a bad habit? More importantly, do you want to hear from the Lord what He wants for your life? What is His will in your marriage? I know I do.

So join us on Monday. I'm so excited that so many of you have committed to join us. You will not be disappointed. God will surely show up when you offer this sacrifice to Him.

On Monday, Rosheeda Lee, who leads our fast every year, will post a scripture verse to reflect upon and a prayer to start the day. So stop in early and pray with us corporately.

Dineen and I believe this year God has called us to pray very specifically for our families. On Monday, pray for your spouse. Every aspect, his/her health, job, parenting, hobbies, his soul, heart, and emotional state. Pray to understand him better. Ask God to show you where you can be a better spouse and to give you the courage to take action in whatever area He reveals. Pray, pray, pray.

Light a candle.

Each time you see the flame along with your hunger pangs; both will remind you to shoot up prayers.

On Tuesday, pray for your oldest child. All day. In the same manner. On days-three, four, and five pray for each subsequent child. If you have more than three kids double up days or extend your fast. If you don't have three kids, then pray for another significant relationship in your life.

The community of believers here at Spiritually Unequal Marriage is an expectant bunch. We truly believe God answers prayer. I know I have seen the miraculous in my prayer life, so let’s expect God to hear, to act, to show up and show off.

Then let us bring Him praise. Lynn

Fasting. Does It Work?

When you eliminate food from your diet for a number of days, your spirit becomes uncluttered by the things of this world and amazingly sensitive to the things of God. 

Matthew 6:

Jesus said, "When you give....When you pray..... When you fast...." 

This passage in Matthew six is where Jesus made it clear that fasting, like giving and praying, is a normal part of the believer's life.

On January 2-6 we will fast as a community of believers. There are many different ways to fast. Last year we set out several examples of fasts and I want to list them here again today. Please begin to pray and ask God to prepare you and to point you to the fast that will work for you.

 

 

 
 
Are you willing to forgo a Snicker's bar in the afternoon to over come a recurring sin in your life?

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So what is fasting? It's the humbling of ourselves to draw closer to God.

Fasting must be coupled with prayer and reading of God's word. This three cord approach is what releases God's supernatural power into our life. Without all three, fasting is just dieting.

Fasting is NOT:

• A tool for weight-loss.
• An attempt to arm twist God into our way of thinking.
• Advisable for those with medical conditions that are complicated from fasting.

True fasting is giving of our basic human nature completely over to the Lord. To allow Him to fill us up spiritually as we empty physically.

There are many ways to fast. You can fast from television. Or give up one meal a day. Or like, Daniel, fast certain foods. The Biblical fasts include fasting from food for one, three, ten, 21, and 40 day fasts.

In his book, Fasting, Jentezen Franklin, describes the types of fasts:

• Absolute Fast: Food and water fast. For only a limited time and under medical consultation.
• Normal Fast: No food, clear liquids, lots of water, 1 gal purified the first day, broth and juice when necessary.
• Partial Fast: The Daniel fast was vegetables and water.

If you have never fasted before, I would suggest trying out a one day fast. Forgo food from dawn to dusk. After sunset you join the family for a modest evening meal. This was the first kind of fast I participated in. It was amazing. This was the type of fasting I did during our annual fast last January.

Why do this corporately? We all are living in some difficult and challenging circumstances. When we pray and FAST together we bring down the power of God. We will also bring God into our planning for 2011.

Okay today, if you are feeling that excitement build, leave "I'm In" in the comments again. Also share any experiences you have had during a time of fasting. Your experiences can help others to be ready.

Additionally, I discovered some excellent information about the details of fasting on the Campus Crusade website. Take a look:

Why You Should Fast 

How to Fast Safely

How Long and What Type of Fast

We will be sharing the focus of our fast for the week on Friday. See you then.

Be blessed, Lynn

Praying & Fasting for 2012

With the New Year ahead, I find myself anticipating what God has planned. If you were with us here at S.U.M. last January, you may remember that we fasted that first week. I will confess that I did not want to participate.

First of all, fasting has never been easy for me. I’m one of those people who struggles with a food addiction so this is a big undertaking for me.

Second, my family and I were traveling from Florida back to California by car that week. Fasting on the road seemed even more daunting. I made up my mind to do what I could. I wanted to at least fast during the day.

So, as the week of fasting approached, I started praying and asking God to prepare me to do this. He above anyone else knows how I struggle in this area. My heart's desire was to honor Him. Plus, I use this first week to ask God for words and Scriptures for myself and my family to guide me in my prayers for the rest of the year.

Finally, the week arrived. Day one of the fast and our first day on the road. I allowed myself only basic liquids, like tea and broth. Evening came and I felt like God was calling me to continue. I continued to pray for strength to continue because what I really hoped and longed to do was fast for three days—something I’d never been able to do.

By the end of this first day, God gave me my word for for 2011: VICTORY. I will tell you, I stand in awe of what God has done in a year that seemed to start out rough but has truly become a year of true victory for my family in so many ways, with some still coming to fruition.

Day two arrived and I continued on. I didn't want to be low on energy because I wanted to help drive and alert for my husband. God amazed me and continued to strengthen and keep me going. As I prayed for direction for myself, God gave me a wonderful verse to affirm my work for Him in ministry and speaking.

Evening came and I felt God's strength to keep going. I was amazed how He provided for me through a bottle of juice and the broth from a bowl of chicken soup from Subway!

Day three arrived and I focused my prayers on my family. God gave me insights and a Scripture to pray for each of them. The one that amazes me the most was for my youngest daughter who still struggled with health and emotional issues from her past battle with cancer.

I have prayed Malichi 4:2 (But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.) this past year for my daughter and claimed this promise from God even when things seemed worse. God is so faithful. My daughter is flourishing and growing in ways I hadn't even imagined possible at this point. She is truly like this calf, leaping with joy from its stall.

When day four arrived, I felt God's release to break my fast. I was amazed. I'd actually done it, even while traveling on the road and stopping at restaurants for meals, which is part of the fun! And my family seemed to understand too. Even my hubby. I already felt victorious as I started my year of victory!

Friends, as we approach the first week of January, will you start praying now for God to guide you in a decision to fast? We will start at sunrise January 2nd and end at sunset January 6th.

You can fast for one meal, just for the day until sunset or as many full days as God leads you to. And that is key here. This has to be about what God is calling you to do. And it can be a fast from food, just sweets, television, the computer or whatever it is you feel God putting on your heart.

As one who still struggles with the discipline of fasting, I can tell you there is something powerful that happens when we align ourselves like this and submit our wills completely to God in order to know His. He loves to meet with us in this most sacred of places. 

Will you join Lynn and I as we take this most amazing journey again? Let's walk this road together and start our year with the strength and guiding wisdom of God. Each day, starting January 2nd, we will meet here at S.U.M. to share a prayer for our unbelieving spouse and our children. Each day will be geared to pray for one person, and we will light a candle each day as our reminder to pray each time we see its flame.

If you're an Advent wreath nut like I am, use that center candle, the Christ candle, each day as your connection and reminder to pray your loved ones into the loving arms of Jesus and His grace. Come each day and share what you feel God is telling you or just to be encouraged to keep going and continue to seek God.

God's love for us is like that candle's flame, only unimaginably brighter and hotter in His passion and pursuit of us. Let's hear what He so longingly wants to tell us for 2012.

Praying and believing,
Dineen

A Change of Heart

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. — 2 Cor. 3:3

Many of us participated in the Fasting & Praying week here at S.U.M., but I want to share something that happened the week before.

Fasting has never been easy for me. I struggle with it greatly and have actually avoided it for the last couple years, using my food issues as an excuse not to. The enemy used that one on me very effectively.

So as this week approached I began praying for God to help me do it. I needed to do it because I was facing some big issues in the New Year and my gut was telling me it was time to break the bondage that had gripped my family in a matter of weeks!

I will tell you that God enabled me to fast as I’ve never done so before. I will also say that the week wasn’t easy in the sense of hearing God. I probably struggled more there than I did with food. But what I want to share with you is something that God did before this.

My family and I went to Florida to spend Christmas with our families. We haven’t been able to do this in about 10 years. My husband’s family is huge, and I adore these wonderful people. I miss them as much as I do my own mother. Thankfully they all live in the same city—the city my husband and I met, went to school together, fell in love, and got married.

The idea of moving back to Florida has cropped up periodically through the years, but my husband has resisted it. Mainly because of the type of work he does—Silicon Valley really is the place to be if you’re a software engineer.

Just after we got there, my mother, my youngest daughter, and I prayed together, which is amazing in itself because I’ve not prayed with my mother like that out of respect for her comfort level. We joined hands and prayed for a change of heart for my husband to want to move to Florida. I’ve felt this pull in my own heart for a long time, and losing my dad last year really brought home how precious time is and how quick it flies by.

Now, fast-forward to after Christmas. We’re still in Florida for a few more days. My husband asks me to run a quick errand with him so we can have some time alone. On our way, he asks me how I felt about moving back to Florida.

I was shocked! So surprised, in fact, that I stuttered when I tried to answer. It was as if God were showing me He was at work in my family and already honoring my prayers to come. And I’m pretty sure God knew I would need that reassurance as well.

For those of you who participated yet wonder or even doubt if your prayers were heard because nothing changed immediately, I’m there with you too, despite this startling and quick answer to prayer. I’m struggling to believe God for the promises He’s given for me and my family for 2012 because it pushes me to trust in areas I’ve seen “fail” over and over again.

I need a change of heart too, and I’m determined to leave this place of doubt and continually affirm my trust in God. Probably one of the most important lessons I’m learning is that God does not require us to have perfect faith. He just wants us to step out in faith, even with our doubts and reservations.

He can work with that. He can take our mustard-size seed of faith, plant it, water it, and bless it to grow into a fruitful tree. Perhaps that’s where our prayers can and should start. To ask God to grow our faith and help us believe His promises for 2012. Then we can leave the perfecting of our faith to Jesus (Heb. 12:2) and trust God for the rest. Like changing the heart of our unbelieving spouse.

Praying and believing,
Dineen