January 6 - 26, 2025
21-Day Prayer and Fasting
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." - Acts 1:8
Introduction
How to Use This Devotional
Is Acts 1:8 true for you, today? In Acts 1:8 Jesus promised us an empowered life and ministry. If Jesus said it, we know it’s true. But how true is it for you, today?
Would you like to dramatically increase your empowerment level? Would you like to “move with the Spirit” more in your daily life? This is the Spirit’s invitation over the next 21 Days of Empowerment.
The new on/off/dimmer switch to our kitchen lights is a daily reminder of my empowerment level. If I turn it on, power begins to flow to it. All the power needed to flood our kitchen with light is available. However, I control the dimmer switch and determine how much power will flow to the lights and how bright the room will be.
Likewise, the Spirit’s power is available and ready. Our confession of Christ has turned his power on in our lives. But how empowered we live, is up to us.
Each week focuses on one of these three themes and aids us in understanding, praying, and applying these themes to our lives.
At Exponential we are “multiplication activists.” We believe God’s empowerment is primarily for the purpose of fulfilling your destiny, seeing disciples and churches multiplied, and Jesus’ name being glorified. We pray these 21 Days will significantly empower you for these purposes.
- Dedicate these 21 Days to God as a sacred time in your life.
- Ask for God’s direction for what you will fast from these 21 Days. What you fast should be significant enough to remind you several times daily to seek God’s increased power in your life and ministry.
- Set apart a time daily to slowly read through the devotional. (Each devotional should take about five to seven minutes to read the passages and devotional thoughts.)
- Each devotional includes:
- Title: fitting the theme for the week
- Scripture Passage: reading provides larger context
- The Focus Verse: helps center your heart
- The Meditation: from the focus Scripture to repeat throughout your day
- Empowering Truths: a brief devotional to help you understand and apply the passage
- A Power Truth: to help you focus and shape your thinking throughout the day
- Our Prayer: a prayer to God to prompt your own time of prayer
5. Share your devotion with someone that day. Look for ways to apply the truth for the day. (These two practices dramatically increase retention and impact ofyour devotion time.)
Week 2: A Power We Must Receive – The Comfort of the Holy Spirit
“He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.’” (Acts 1:7–9)
The Meditation: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.”
Week 1: Walking in the Fear of the Lord
“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.” (2 Timothy 1:6–8)
The Meditation: “Fan into flame the gift of God. . . .For the Spirit . . . gives us power.”
“With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 1:11–12)
The Meditation: “By his power he may bring to fruition . . . every deed prompted by faith.”
: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. . . .And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (Ephesians 6:10, 18)
The Meditation: “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”
“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.” (Col. 1:9–11 NIV)
The Meditation: “Fill you with the knowledge of his will . . . so that you may . . . [bear] fruit.”
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” (Deut. 10:12–13)
The Meditation: “Walk in obedience to him . . . for your own good.”
“Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the heavens. You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!” (Psalm 68:34, 35 NIV)
The Meditation: “You, God, are awesome. . . . You give us power and strength.”
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Gal. 5:16 NIV)
