Forty Days of Prayer Day Seven - God's Mercy and Grace

WEEK 1 - THE HOLINESS OF GOD

Our focus during this first week is on the Person of God and His attributes. Our Triune God is perfect in holiness and in all of His other attributes. As we see Him for who He is, see Him in the fullness of His glory, may we be drawn to a posture of worship before Him. He is perfectly worthy!

DAY SEVEN - THE MERCY AND GRACE OF GOD BY GARY FRIESEN

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities (Ps. 103:8–10).

God delights in extending mercy and grace to His deeply loved children. More than 20 years ago, I received a call from a friend in another state who was a chaplain in a juvenile prison. He was calling about a 22-year-old prisoner who, at the age of 16, had murdered a gang member who had threatened his life. While in prison, he had responded to the gospel and been discipled by my friend. Because the young man was sentenced as a juvenile, the law now required that he be released. Gang members threatened to kill him if he remained in the area. So, my friend called to arrange for the young man to stay with friends near my home.

Several days later I picked him up from the airport and brought him home. Over dinner that night he told the remarkable story of his conversion and shared how God had miraculously arranged for him to take an internship, working with youth at a church in a nearby city. This young man’s experience of God’s grace was tangible. He knew that he deserved a lifetime in prison, not a new life, a new job, and freedom.

And this is true for each of us. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Like this young man freed from a prison sentence he fully deserved, we all live in the undeserved freedom of God’s grace and mercy provided through Christ.

PRAYER POINTS:

1. Thank God for specific ways He has extended His grace to you.

2. Ask God to reveal to you where you can share with others the grace God has extended to you.

3. Pray for those close to you who desperately need to daily experience His mercy and grace through our Lord Jesus.

Forty Days of Prayer Day Six - God's Unchangeableness

WEEK 1 - THE HOLINESS OF GOD

Our focus during this first week is on the Person of God and His attributes. Our Triune God is perfect in holiness and in all of His other attributes. As we see Him for who He is, see Him in the fullness of His glory, may we be drawn to a posture of worship before Him. He is perfectly worthy!

DAY SIX - THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD BY JEN ASHBY

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (Js. 1:17).

At the end of the high ropes course at a camp I was attending, the final task was to leap from a platform about 30’ high and grab a swinging trapeze bar with both hands. When I jumped, I made contact with the bar but didn’t get a grip. I felt the safety harness jerk and was suddenly upside down, feet in the air, slowly swaying and twisting. To say I was disoriented would be an understatement, and I had no idea how to right myself or this situation. The young camp staffer on the platform called down to me, “Ma’am, put your feet down.” I did so and was instantly flipped upright before being lowered to the ground. Soon my feet were on solid ground again.

Change is constantly coming our way. Earlier in this passage, James says that just as the blossom withers, worldly riches fade (verse 11). He mentions the heavenly lights, sun, and moon, whose shadows are constantly shifting (verse. 17). Sometimes change, especially if unexpected or unwanted, feels like a jerk on the safety harness, leaving us upside down, feet in the air, and disoriented. This passage is a call to “put your feet down” on the One who does not change. He is the Father, Creator of the heavenly lights, and He does not change. He is immutable. Nothing jerks Him upside down, and when we are, we can “put our feet down” and find ourselves standing on solid ground again. We do this by continually placing our faith in the truth of who God is, confident in His consistent, unchanging character and promises.

PRAYER POINTS:

1. Acknowledge to God any ways that change or other circumstances have left you feeling disoriented.

2. Ask God to show you if you’ve been looking for stability or security in anything other than Him.

3. “Put your feet down” by praising and thanking God for being the solid ground that does not change.

Forty Days of Prayer Day Five - God's Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence

WEEK 1 - THE HOLINESS OF GOD

Our focus during this first week is on the Person of God and His attributes. Our Triune God is perfect in holiness and in all of His other attributes. As we see Him for who He is, see Him in the fullness of His glory, may we be drawn to a posture of worship before Him. He is perfectly worthy!

DAY FIVE - THE OMNISCIENCE/OMNIPOTENCE/OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD BY CRAIG SMITH

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Ps. 139:23–24).

Psalm 139 celebrates God’s attributes—His omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. Affirming these realities, the psalmist models for us how to pray in alignment with them.

Based on God’s omniscience, he opens himself to God’s all-knowing scrutiny. Such an intimate review of any of us can reveal deep, hidden secrets that are already fully known to Him. The psalmist subjects himself to such scrutiny with a heartfelt willingness to repent as needed, knowing God’s omnipotence makes Him the only One who can fully forgive and deliver us from sin. He is powerful enough not only for our needs but also the needs of all others for whom we pray.

Because God is everywhere, the psalmist can trust Him to lead him in paths that He ordains for him because He is already there. God’s omnipresence closes the distance gap between us and those we are interceding for, even if a world apart. Oceans may separate us from our international missionary force or from family living miles away. Regardless, God is right there with us as we pray—and with those we are praying for! This allows for intimate, productive praying that reaps results.

PRAYER POINTS:

1. As we pray, let’s begin with full surrender to God’s scrutiny of our lives. Opening ourselves up to an all-knowing God does not provide Him with new information! Such transparency welcomes Him to cleanse, fill, and empower us for holy living.

2. God is capable of doing exceedingly above all we can ask or think. Knowing this should embolden us to pray with divinely inspired confidence. Affirming God’s omnipotence in prayer moves His hand in the lives of those we intercede for, as much as it does in our own.

3. May God’s omnipresence encourage our hearts and move us toward deeper intimacy with Him and those we are interceding for, regardless of distance. His omnipresence will offer those we pray for the strength to endure until the answer comes.

Forty Days of Prayer Day Five - God's Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence (Copy)

WEEK 1 - THE HOLINESS OF GOD

Our focus during this first week is on the Person of God and His attributes. Our Triune God is perfect in holiness and in all of His other attributes. As we see Him for who He is, see Him in the fullness of His glory, may we be drawn to a posture of worship before Him. He is perfectly worthy!

DAY FIVE - THE OMNISCIENCE/OMNIPOTENCE/OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD BY CRAIG SMITH

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Ps. 139:23–24).

Psalm 139 celebrates God’s attributes—His omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. Affirming these realities, the psalmist models for us how to pray in alignment with them.

Based on God’s omniscience, he opens himself to God’s all-knowing scrutiny. Such an intimate review of any of us can reveal deep, hidden secrets that are already fully known to Him. The psalmist subjects himself to such scrutiny with a heartfelt willingness to repent as needed, knowing God’s omnipotence makes Him the only One who can fully forgive and deliver us from sin. He is powerful enough not only for our needs but also the needs of all others for whom we pray.

Because God is everywhere, the psalmist can trust Him to lead him in paths that He ordains for him because He is already there. God’s omnipresence closes the distance gap between us and those we are interceding for, even if a world apart. Oceans may separate us from our international missionary force or from family living miles away. Regardless, God is right there with us as we pray—and with those we are praying for! This allows for intimate, productive praying that reaps results.

PRAYER POINTS:

1. As we pray, let’s begin with full surrender to God’s scrutiny of our lives. Opening ourselves up to an all-knowing God does not provide Him with new information! Such transparency welcomes Him to cleanse, fill, and empower us for holy living.

2. God is capable of doing exceedingly above all we can ask or think. Knowing this should embolden us to pray with divinely inspired confidence. Affirming God’s omnipotence in prayer moves His hand in the lives of those we intercede for, as much as it does in our own.

3. May God’s omnipresence encourage our hearts and move us toward deeper intimacy with Him and those we are interceding for, regardless of distance. His omnipresence will offer those we pray for the strength to endure until the answer comes.

Forty Days of Prayer Day Four - God's Sovereignty

WEEK 1 - THE HOLINESS OF GOD

Our focus during this first week is on the Person of God and His attributes. Our Triune God is perfect in holiness and in all of His other attributes. As we see Him for who He is, see Him in the fullness of His glory, may we be drawn to a posture of worship before Him. He is perfectly worthy!

DAY FOUR THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD - MATT COHEN

Few topics have produced more theological debate than the doctrine of God’s sovereignty. But long before it was a subject of debate, it fueled the fire of worship among Christians. In the original Greek, Ephesians 1:3–14 is a long sentence with one big idea: Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

But why? Why should we glorify God with our lips and our lives? Let’s look for a moment at all the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has done, by His sovereign grace, for all who are in Christ. God “has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (verse 3b). God “chose us in him before the creation of the world” (verse 4). In love, God “predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” (verse 5). Because of the riches of God’s grace, “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (verse 7). God “made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ . . . to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head” (verses 9–10). God “predestined [us] according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (verse 11). God sealed us with “the promised Holy Spirit . . . guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession” (verses 13–14). And God did it all to the praise of His glory.

God’s sovereignty is the fuel that lights the fire of His people’s praises. God has saved us by sovereign grace. Let us praise Him!

PRAYER POINTS:

1. Begin your prayer time by praising God for the spiritual blessings God has lavished upon you in Christ (Ephesians 1:3–14). Consider rewriting this passage as a prayer of adoration and thanksgiving.

2. Confess any ways that you’ve lived in “functional unbelief” about God’s sovereignty and goodness. For example, “Father, I confess I’ve been giving in to fear because I haven’t trusted You to work all things according to the counsel of Your will.”

3. Ask the Father to give you strength to comprehend “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Eph. 3:18). Pray this for yourself, your family, church, community, and our world.

Forty Days of Prayer Day Three - God's Love

WEEK 1 - THE HOLINESS OF GOD

Our focus during this first week is on the Person of God and His attributes. Our Triune God is perfect in holiness and in all of His other attributes. As we see Him for who He is, see Him in the fullness of His glory, may we be drawn to a posture of worship before Him. He is perfectly worthy!

DAY THREE - THE LOVE OF GOD - THOMAS GEORGE

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 Jn. 4:7–8).

The word “love” seems so common. People want it, proclaim it easily, and lose it just as quickly. It seems to be everywhere and nowhere, and its definition varies widely. Scripture, however, is very specific in its use of the word. God is particular in using the word “agape” when talking about Himself. Agape is a defining characteristic of God—what He does comes out of who He is.

Below are three characteristics of agape love.

Agape is unchanging: It is commitment-based love. God does have feelings for us, but agape love is not based on a feeling. It is much stronger and more robust, a higher order love with no expiration date. He does not get bored or change His mind. He does not fall out of love with His creation or His people.

Agape is not transactional: God was not waiting for us to perform to His standards to love us. His love is not based on your earning potential or goodness. God declares you valuable and good.

Agape is active: His love is not just talk. He sent His Son to die for us. He is not distant; He is in our messes. He is forming, shaping, rescuing, restoring, growing. He is patient, long suffering, committed, self-sacrificing, and altruistic, even when we are stubborn and resistant.

God is creating agape love inside of you for Him and for others.

The “I Am” is Agape.

PRAYER POINTS:

1. How does this kind of love affect my life?

2. How can I love others this way?

Forty Days of Prayer Day Two - God's Holiness

WEEK 1 - THE HOLINESS OF GOD

Our focus during this first week is on the Person of God and His attributes. Our Triune God is perfect in holiness and in all of His other attributes. As we see Him for who He is, see Him in the fullness of His glory, may we be drawn to a posture of worship before Him. He is perfectly worthy!

DAY TWO - THE HOLINESS OF GOD - JESSIE RITCHEY

Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed (Rev. 15:4).

While growing up, I was surrounded by adults who often coupled God’s holiness with an emphasis on His otherness. Stories relating to His wrath and destruction seemed to further underscore a distance from humanity. In a young child’s mind, this boiled down to an oversimplified and inaccurate formula: holy = far off.

Therefore, it was a delight to mature into the understanding that while God’s holiness is irrevocably linked to His eternal power and glory, it permeates all He is and does. This is not a characteristic that exists solely to be displayed and admired from a distance. Rather, His holiness is linked and compellingly displayed in a sustained posture of leaning toward His creation in pursuit of relationship with us. He is not a holy God who stands far off but one who:

• Comes down in the cool of the evening to walk in the garden and talk;

• Speaks to Moses from a burning bush and completely redirects his life;

• Leads, accompanies, and protects the Israelites in the form of fire and cloud;

• Sends detailed artistic instructions for the tabernacle and comes to dwell with His people;

• Takes on the limitations of a human body to assure us He is indeed acquainted with our grief;

• Provides His Holy Spirit to lead us into the pursuit of deeper relationship with Him;

• Empowers us to pattern our lives after His holiness; and

• Chooses us as conduits of His holiness as we connect with those around us.

God’s holiness can flow through every area of our lives as it motivates, propels, discerns, convicts, reaches, and impacts.

PRAYER POINTS:

1. Show me what aspects of my life are far off from Your holiness.

2. How would You have me serve as a conduit of Your holiness and to whom?

3. Remind me of Your holy and faithful posture of leaning toward me.

Forty Days of Prayer Day One

WEEK 1 - THE HOLINESS OF GOD

Our focus during this first week is on the Person of God and His attributes. Our Triune God is perfect in holiness and in all of His other attributes. As we see Him for who He is, see Him in the fullness of His glory, may we be drawn to a posture of worship before Him. He is perfectly worthy!

Day One - THE ETERNALNESS OF GOD - MITCH KIM

The promises of God are guaranteed by His own eternal name. When Moses doubts God’s promise to bring Israel out of Egypt, God guarantees His word by saying, “I will be with you” (Exod. 3:12a). He then signs that promissory note with His name, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exod. 3:14). He is an eternal God—not an “I WAS” of the past nor an “I WILL BE” of the future but the great “I AM”—always present in our every area of need. No wonder “I AM” becomes the personal name of God in the Old Testament, the Lord.

Obstacles to God’s promises are opportunities to draw on His guarantees and learn new facets of His name. When Israel faced bitter water and cried out to the Lord, He sweetened the water and revealed Himself as “. . . the Lord, who heals you” (Exod. 15:26b). When they are overwhelmed in battle and lifted up in prayer, they overcome and realize, “The Lord is my Banner” (Exod. 17:15). When the Israelites sin with the golden calf and plead for mercy, they are forgiven and discover “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exod. 34:6). Every challenge they faced became a fresh encounter with new facets of the Lord’s name.

Therefore, we do not fear our challenges. Instead we cry out to the Lord, the eternal God, who is big enough for our problems. Because God is eternal, the riches of His resources never run dry for our troubles. We do not only look forward to seeing His deliverance but also to learning more fully new facets of His name. What new facets of the Lord’s name will He reveal through your challenges today?

PRAYER POINTS:

1. Praise God by speaking His names.

2. Thank God that problems are opportunities to encounter new facets of His presence.

3. Commit your problems to Him today so you may see His deliverance and experience more of His presence.

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Forty Days of Prayer is a new campaign with daily devotionals, guided prayer, weekly messages, and a corresponding study in our Adult and Student Equip classes which meet every Sunday at 9:20 AM in-person and online.

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Bible Reading Plan - Week of December 14th

These passages will prepare you for this week’s sermon which will be preached on Sunday, December 20th. This Sunday we will continue our Christmas message series “Light of the World”.

 Monday - Luke 1:26-38

Tuesday - Luke 1:46-56

Wednesday - Luke 2:22-40

Thursday - Romans 13:8-14

Friday - Philippians 2:12-18

Bible Reading Plan - Week of December 7th

These passages will prepare you for this week’s sermon which will be preached on Sunday, December 13th. This Sunday we will continue our Christmas message series “Light of the World”.

 Monday - Matthew 1:1-17

Tuesday - Matthew 1:18-25

Wednesday - John 1:1-18

Thursday - Hebrews 6:13-20

Friday - Hebrews 10:1-25

Bible Reading Plan - Week of November 30th

These passages will prepare you for this week’s sermon which will be preached on Sunday, December 6th. This Sunday we will continue our Christmas message series “Light of the World”.

 Monday - Matthew 2:1-12

Tuesday - Matthew 2:13-18

Wednesday - John 3:16-36

Thursday - Luke 8:9-18

Friday - Amos 5:18-27

Bible Reading Plan - Week of November 23rd

These passages will prepare you for this week’s sermon which will be preached on Sunday, November 29th. This Sunday we begin our Christmas message series “Light of the World”.

 Monday - Luke 1:5-25

Tuesday - Luke 1:26-45

Wednesday - Luke 1:57-80

Thursday - Malachi 3:1-5

Friday - Malachi 4:1-6

Bible Reading Plan - Week of November 2nd

These passages will prepare you for this week’s sermon which will be preached on Sunday, November 8th.

 Monday - 1 Timothy 2:1-7

Tuesday - Psalm 67:1-7

Wednesday - 1 Peter 2:1-25

Thursday - 2 Peter 3:1-18

Friday - Matthew 20:1-34

Bible Reading Plan - Week of October 26th

These passages will prepare you for this week’s sermon which will be preached on Sunday, November 1st. This Sunday we will conclude our message series called “Kingdom Come”.

 Monday - Philippians 1:12-30

Tuesday - Acts 16:1-40

Wednesday - Acts 19:21-41

Thursday - Acts 28:11-31

Friday - Philippians 4:10-23

Bible Reading Plan Week of October 19th

These passages will prepare you for this week’s sermon which will be preached on Sunday, October 25th. This Sunday we will continue our message series called “Kingdom Come”.

 Wednesday - Daniel 1:1-21

Thursday - Daniel 3:1-30

Friday - Daniel 6:1-28

Bible Reading Plan Week of October 12th

These passages will prepare you for this week’s sermon which will be preached on Sunday, October 18th. This Sunday we will continue our message series called “Kingdom Come”.

 Monday - Leviticus 19:9-18

Tuesday - Numbers 35:9-34

Wednesday - Psalm 72:1-20 and Proverbs 31:8-9

Thursday - Matthew 25:31-46

Friday - James 5:1-6

Bible Reading Plan Week of October 5th

These passages will prepare you for this week’s sermon which will be preached on Sunday, October 11th. This Sunday we will continue our message series called “Kingdom Come”.

 Monday - Psalm 139:1-24

Tuesday - Leviticus 20:1-9

Wednesday - 2 Samuel 12:15-23

Thursday - Psalm 127:1-5

Friday - Luke 1:26-45

Bible Reading Plan Week of September 28th

These passages will prepare you for this week’s sermon which will be preached on Sunday, October 4th. This Sunday we will continue our message series called “Kingdom Come”.

 Monday - Exodus 1:15-2:10

Tuesday - Daniel 1:1-21

Wednesday - Jeremiah 37:1-38:6

Thursday - Esther 4:1-17

Friday - Acts 5:17-32