Weekday Devotions
Each weekday you can read through a short devotion which includes a verse of scripture, prayer, and two reflective questions, all based on the Sunday message.
Ever felt like your New Year's resolutions need divine intervention? Whether you're seeking breakthrough from sin, divine guidance, or spiritual courage, there is a powerful practice that could transform your life. Fasting—more than a spiritual diet—can revolutionize your relationship with God and shift your focus from self-worship to God-worship.
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. - Matthew 4:1-2 (CSB)
Big Idea: Spiritual strength grows through intentional discomfort.
We often avoid discomfort, seeking the path of least resistance in our walk with Jesus. Yet Jesus himself modeled something different—he embraced the wilderness, the hunger, the difficulty. Before beginning his ministry, he chose physical weakness to gain spiritual strength.
When we fast, we're not just skipping meals. We're creating space to hear God more clearly by removing the noise of our comfortable routines. Like Jesus quoting scripture in his moments of temptation, we position ourselves to recognize what truly sustains us. It's not the food we consume or the distractions we cling to—it's every word that comes from God's mouth.
The discomfort we feel when fasting isn't a punishment; it's a teacher. It reveals what controls us and redirects our worship from self to Savior. As we follow Jesus into our own wilderness moments, we discover that he meets us there with the strength we need for whatever lies ahead.
Reflection Questions:
1. What comforts am I clinging to that might be preventing me from experiencing deeper spiritual growth?
2. How can I embrace discomfort this week as an act of worship rather than something to avoid?
Prayer: Father, give me courage to step into uncomfortable places where you want to meet me. Help me understand that spiritual strength often comes through difficulty, not despite it. Teach me to hunger more for your word than for my own comfort. Strip away the distractions that keep me from hearing your voice clearly. In Jesus' name, Amen.
But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting isn't obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. - Matthew 6:17-18 (CSB)
Big Idea: We often protect the wrong things in life.
We spend tremendous energy defending things that don't ultimately matter. Like a quarterback calling the wrong protection and getting blindsided, we misidentify what deserves our focus and end up spiritually vulnerable. We guard our schedules, our comfort, our reputations, our preferences—while leaving our hearts exposed to the enemy's schemes.
Fasting forces us to slow down and evaluate. It's like studying film before the big game, helping us see clearly where we've been focusing our defensive efforts. When we remove food or other distractions, we suddenly realize how much mental and emotional space they occupied. We discover that we've been protecting our right to comfort more than our commitment to Christ's mission.
Jesus reminds us that fasting isn't about public recognition—it's about private realignment. When we fast in secret, we're essentially saying, "God, I need you to show me what really matters." We're asking him to correct our protections, to help us defend what's truly worth defending: our relationship with him and our calling to make disciples.
Reflection Questions:
1. What am I currently protecting in my life that might be distracting me from God's priorities?
2. How can fasting help me identify where I've misplaced my focus and energy?
Prayer: Lord, show me where I've been guarding the wrong things. Help me recognize the distractions I've allowed to crowd out what matters most. Give me wisdom to realign my priorities around your kingdom purposes. Teach me to protect my relationship with you above all else, even when it costs me comfort. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don't eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my female servants will also fast in the same way. After that, I will go to the king even if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish." - Esther 4:16 (CSB)
Big Idea: Fasting gives us courage to follow God's direction.
Sometimes we know exactly what God wants us to do—we just lack the courage to do it. Esther faced a life-or-death decision. She could have remained silent, safe in her position as queen. Instead, she called for a fast, not just for herself but for her entire community. She needed more than knowledge; she needed courage.
How often do we find ourselves in similar situations? We know God wants us to invite that neighbor to church. We sense him leading us to disciple that younger believer. We feel convicted to address a sin pattern we've been tolerating. We understand he's calling us to a new area of service. But fear paralyzes us.
Fasting doesn't just clarify God's direction—it strengthens our resolve to follow it. When we deny ourselves physically, we're training ourselves spiritually to say "yes" to God even when it's costly. Esther's fast prepared her to say, "If I perish, I perish." What is God asking you to do that requires that level of commitment?
Reflection Questions:
1. What has God already shown me that I need courage to act upon?
2. How might fasting help me move from knowing God's will to actually doing it?
Prayer: God, I confess that fear often holds me back from obedience. I know what you're asking, but I lack courage. Through fasting, strengthen my resolve to follow you regardless of the cost. Help me trust that you'll be with me in whatever you're calling me to do. Give me an "if I perish, I perish" faith. In Jesus' name, Amen.
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of the heavens. - Nehemiah 1:4 (CSB)
Big Idea: Fasting replaces consumption with connection to God.
Our culture revolves around consumption. We consume food, media, entertainment, information—constantly filling ourselves with something. Even our spiritual lives can become consumptive: we consume sermons, worship experiences, and Christian content without ever truly connecting with God himself.
Nehemiah's heart broke for his people and Jerusalem's ruins. His response wasn't to consume more information or develop a detailed action plan immediately. He fasted and prayed. He replaced consumption with connection, creating space to grieve with God, to listen to God, to be shaped by God before acting for God.
When we fast, we interrupt our consumption patterns. That empty feeling in our stomach becomes a reminder that we were made for more than what this world offers. The time we'd normally spend preparing, eating, and cleaning up meals becomes time to open scripture, journal our prayers, and worship. We discover that our souls are far hungrier than our stomachs ever were. Fasting teaches us that intimacy with God satisfies in ways that consumption never can.
Reflection Questions:
1. What am I constantly consuming that might be preventing deeper connection with God?
2. How can I use the empty spaces created by fasting to actually connect with God rather than just think about him?
Prayer: Father, I confess I've become addicted to consumption. I fill every moment, every silence, every hunger with something other than you. Help me use fasting to break this pattern. Teach me that connection with you satisfies more than anything I could consume. Meet me in the empty spaces I create. In Jesus' name, Amen.
When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes... Each must turn from his evil ways and from his wrongdoing." - Jonah 3:6, 8b (CSB)
Big Idea: More than any other single thing, fasting reveals the things that control us.
The people of Nineveh took their sin seriously—seriously enough to fast and repent citywide. They recognized that their desires had led them away from God, and they needed a dramatic reset. Fasting revealed what controlled them, and they chose to break free.
What controls us? For many, it's not dramatic sin but subtle self-worship. We worship our comfort, our schedules, our preferences, our plans. We've made gods of good things, and fasting exposes this idolatry. When we're irritable because we're hungry, when we're distracted because we can't scroll, when we're uncomfortable because we've disrupted our routine—fasting reveals that we've been worshiping self more than Savior.
But here's the beautiful part: fasting doesn't just expose what controls us; it frees us from it. When we voluntarily deny ourselves to seek God, we're declaring that he alone is worthy of our worship. We're acknowledging that our wants don't deserve the throne of our hearts. Even if fasting accomplished nothing else, this act of worship would be enough. But when we worship God rightly, he changes us completely.
Reflection Questions:
1. What does my irritability or discomfort during fasting reveal about what actually controls me?
2. How can I view fasting not as deprivation but as an act of worship that declares God's worthiness?
Prayer: Lord, expose the idols in my heart that I've been blind to. Show me where I've been worshiping my own comfort, preferences, and desires instead of you. Help me see fasting as worship, not punishment. Transform my heart as I shift my focus from self to you. You alone are worthy. In Jesus' name, Amen.