My Whole Heart

Psalms 138:1

 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;

When it comes to serving God what is your norm? What defines what is average or normal in your life. Chances are if we stacked up our Christianity and how we serve God alongside scriptures there would be a definite gap between the two with very distinguishable differences. This scripture, amongst many, exemplify what a life after God's heart looks like.

David is the writer of this scripture but the Holy Spirit is the author. In this scripture the Spirit spurs David to give thanks to the Lord. David gives thanks and does it with his WHOLE heart. That phrase is one of my favorite in all of scripture. With my WHOLE heart! With everything in me i will serve and follow you Lord. With my WHOLE heart.

David is not speaking of a physical beating heart but he is talking about the center of who he is. As the heart is the center of all blood flow in the body and serves the function of pumping blood to all the extremities of the body David declares with all my heart i will worship follow and serve you. I will pump your righteousness through ALL my veins and through ALL my body and I will subject my entire life and my entire being towards your purpose and your will. With  my whole heart.

David's fleshly heart was sinful and David had many things wrong with him but yet he did not fail to try and pursue God with everything in Him. Maybe serving God with your whole heart isn't your NORMAL but maybe its time to redefine your normal and push out into deeper spiritual waters. Push out into waters so deep your survival depends solely on God and not your ability to save yourself. Abandon temporal earthly desires and pursue heavenly minded goals that will bear fruit worth having.

Day 21 Daniel's Fast Devotional

Day 21

Congratulations! You’ve reach day 21! Doesn’t it feel amazing? There many have been many times you felt like quitting, but you made it and that’s something to celebrate!

Philippians 4:13 says: For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

By our own strength and will power, we may not have gotten through day one, but with the super natural strength that only comes from Christ, we are able to complete what we started 21 days ago!

I know that God is honored and glorified through our worship and sacrifice to Him. As you continue on this year, I urge you to remain prayerful always. The same power that helped you through the last 21 days, can and will help you daily. Whether it be at home, work, school or church, Christ will give you the strength the continuously preserve and conquer the daily battles life brings you!

Keep on pressing into the Lord, seeking Him diligently and watch how He shows up for you!

Day 20 Daniel's Fast

Day 20

I believe you receive the most direction and correction from the Lord while seeking Him through prayer while fasting. It during those times in your prayer closet that God reveals His purpose and promise for your life. It’s also the time where His holy spirit brings correction and direction regarding areas of your life that might not be very pleasing to Him.

As the fast comes to an end, and life slowly goes back to “normal” I would challenge you to live a fasted lifestyle, remembering those days in your prayer closet and those sweet whispers from God. It will be easy to fall back into the trap of “business” but I believe if you make an honest effort to keep God the center of your life daily and continue to seek Him, you can experience this closeness to Him throughout the year.

Do you every wonder why there is so much clarity and understanding given from the Lord during fasting? I believe it is our mental and physical commitment to Him.

James 1:5- 7 tells us this:

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave in the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double minded man, unstable in all he does.

When you fast, your mind is set on one thing, the Lord. That is what gives you stabilization. You can choose to be double minded, loving God one moment and doubting Him the next. Praying one day and worrying the next, fasting one day and indulging in the pleasures of this world the next, OR  you can decide to be single minded, with a mind continuously set on God, seeking His purpose and will DAILY, not yearly. God desires to know you personally and intimately.

Will you set your mind on the Lord this year?

Day 19 Daniel's Fast Devotional

Day 19

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4

God honored unity on the day of Pentecost and He still honors unity today. There is something very powerful about a body of believers in one place, with one mind set, seeking one thing. An undivided heart, completely committed to the Lord and seeking His will is POWERFUL, so how much more powerful would a collective group of the same spirited people be?

As we’ve been fasting and praying corporately, God has not only heard our prayers, but I am certain our UNITY has attracted His attention and it will be honored.

I encourage you this morning, as you prepare for today’s service, set your heart and mind upon the Lord. Let’s come to one place this morning, with one mindset , seeking one thing and watch how God moves in the midst of His people. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Just as He desired to pour His spirit out on the day of Pentecost, He desires to do it today!

Day 18 Daniel's Fast Devotional

Day 18

Do not be deceived : God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction, the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:7-9

It would certainly be a surprise if this spring you plant sunflower seeds and weeks later a rose bush popped up! It’s natural that we will reap what we sow. It goes for a silly example as this, as well as other aspects of life such as our relationship with God and others.

No matter what you decide to sow in your life, you will reap from what you have sown. For example, if all day you gossip, complain and bicker with those around you, your life will full of negativity and spiritual death! However, if you sow seeds of love, patience and kindness, continuously seeking the Lord, you will reap joy and everlasting life.

Every single day you have an opportunity to sow seeds into your future, what are you planting today? What harvest will you reap in the coming hours, days, weeks or even months?

Day 17 Daniel's Fast

Day 17

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

We all know what we want in life but sometimes, what we want isn’t what God wants. The truth is, no matter how much we pray and fast, if it’s not in God’s will for us, it just might not happen. That’s ok thought! God’s grace is sufficient for us. God’s grace will bring your through any situation, no matter how difficult it may seem. Sometimes as Christian’s we much rather ask God to change our situation, than to ask God to change us.

If Christianity were meant to be comfortable, we wouldn’t need a Comforter. Sometimes God will draw you closer and closer to your fears and further and further from your comfort zone, just to show you who He truly is! Don’t fight it. It’s in those times of discomfort that God can mold you, shape you and prune you into the man or women of God that He has called you to be.

You might be facing some big situations in your life right now, and your prayer for a long time might have been “God, please change it!” but you have an opportunity to pray something even bolder than that, you can pray that instead of changing the situation, God would change YOU. You may think it’s too hard, it will never work, but God says in your weakness, HIS STRENGTH is made perfect. I don’t know about you but I would rather have God’s strength over my own any day!!

 

Day 16 Daniel's Fast Devotional

Day 16

 

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14

As the fast is coming to an end, you might find yourself getting tired of the food, a little less eager to pray or a little less time to read your bible. You might be feeling like “yes its almost done!”

 

The truth is, we aren’t almost done. We will never be done until the day we die or Jesus returns.  I would encourage you during the last few days, this is the time to press in a little harder, go a little deeper and finish off strong! God has called each and every one of us for a time such as this, press in and continue to seek His will and purpose for you.

 

Fasting cleanses your soul and makes your spirit sensitive to God. This is the time to pray, this is the time to seek His will, this is the time to call upon the name of Jesus. Don’t settle in, comfortable with what you’ve seen so far. PRESS ON and MOVE FORWARD. Finish STRONG. Don’t waste one moment.