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 3: A Purpose We Must Pursue – The Church Multiplied
“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)
The Meditation: “Immeasurably more . . . according to his power that is at work within us.”
“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit.” (John 7:38–39)
The Meditation: “Rivers of living water will flow.”
“Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20:21–22)
The Meditation: “He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me.” (John 12:24–26 NASB)
The Meditation: “If it dies, it bears much fruit.”
“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:1–2, NASB)
The Meditation: “Entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.”
“Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ . . . ‘And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’” (Matthew 16:16, 18, ESV)
The Meditation: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:18–20)
The Meditation: “All authority . . . has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples”
Week 2: A Power We Must Receive – The Comfort of the Holy Spirit
“Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked.” (Nehemiah 4:17b–18)
The Meditation: “Did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other.”
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.” (Colossians 4:2–3)
The Meditation: “Pray . . . that God may open a door for our message.”
“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” (Acts 13:2)
“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” (Romans 8:14)
The Meditation: “The Holy Spirit said . . .”
“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Corinthians 2:4–5)
The Meditation: “My message . . . [was] with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.
“He raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion.” (Ephesians 1:20b–21)
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6)
The Meditation: “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms.
“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 2:2–4)
The Meditation: “Tongues of fire . . . came to rest on each of them.”
“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)
