21 Days | Preparation Week: Day 1

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21 Days of Prayer and Fasting

Come seek God intensely for 21 days.

For the last two years, the people of Christ Fellowship have devoted ourselves to God in a season of prayer and fasting for 21 days. We have experienced supernatural healings — physically, relationally and spiritually. Many people have been baptized. These 21-day seasons have been transforming, divine, supernatural, beyond all human expectation.

So, as we enter 2021, I invite you to seek God in prayer and fasting from January 11 to 31. In 2019 our focus was revival and in 2020 knowing God. Now in 2021 we will focus on joy in Christ. Right in the middle of a pandemic, by faith, we seek to experience and radiate joy in Christ. Imagine joining with our entire church family as we become people of joy in a time when so many are feeling the opposite — despair and anxiety.

This focus ties directly to our new vision: to reduce loneliness, anxiety and addiction by having meaningful conversations where people experience Christ through us. The power to change is Christ. It is in experiencing Christ that people can reduce loneliness, ease anxiety and break addictions.

For these 21 days in 2021, rather than meeting every night in the worship center as in the previous two years, we are calling for each of us to engage God individually and with a prayer partner. You’re also invited to join with others live on the Christ Fellowship Facebook page for a brief, guided prayer time at 7:00 pm every evening.

Each week on Monday night, we will hold gatherings for worship and prayer at 7:00 pm (January 11, 18 and 25). Then we will culminate the 21 days on January 31 with a worship celebration that evening at 7:00.

Over these 21 days, my hope is that you will personally pray and fast to experience joy in Christ that overcomes our chaos. May the Spirit of God move with supernatural power in our lives, in our church, and in our community.

What will God do in your life at the start of this new year, as we seek to experience Christ’s joy? How will he move in the relationships around you? How will Christ Fellowship shine the joy of Christ ever brighter in our community?

Let’s find out together. As God transforms you to experience joy in Christ, I invite you to email me at [email protected] so I can celebrate with you. Let’s share the stories of what God does.

In Christ’s joy,

Bruce, 

Senior Pastor

HOW TO GET STARTED

Fast

Choose something to fast from. Check out the Christ Fellowship Home mobile app or visit cfhome.org/21days for tips on fasting and ideas about what you could sacrifice over the 21 days. Use time you gain from fasting to engage with God individually.

Engage God individually

Set a time to pray and read the Bible and use this guide to help you. Since we are not gathering together daily in the Worship Center, commit to spending that hour in prayer. See the resource, “A Guide for Spending an Hour in Prayer” at cfhome.org/21days.

Find a prayer partner

Find a prayer partner to walk with you through the 21 days. Talk daily with your prayer partner(s) in person, or by video chat, phone, or text. Share what you are learning. If you are in a Life Group or other small group, you may want to choose a partner from there.

Unite with others in prayer and worship

Join us for weekly worship and prayer at the McKinney campus (if you feel it is safe for you to do so). We will start at 7:00 pm on Mondays, January 11, 18, 25, and on the final night, Sunday, January 31.

Join with others live and online each night at 7:00 pm for guided prayer on Christ Fellowship McKinney’s Facebook page.

During this season, whenever you meet with your small group, use that time for prayer.

Using the Engage God Daily

We will read central passages on joy in the New Testament supported by key verses in the Old Testament. As we read, study, memorize, and mediate on the Word of God, we will prayerfully seek to experience joy in Christ, no matter what our circumstances or emotions.

Each day the Engage God Daily will guide you to:

  • Pray the theme verse (Romans 15:13) and review that week’s memory verse.
  • Read the passage from the Bible for that day.
  • Pray along the themes present in the passage.
  • Journal what you sense God is saying to you by his Spirit in his Word
  • Share what you are learning with your prayer partner

Theme verse and prayer for each day

Romans 15:13 is the theme verse for this year’s 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit

Defining joy

Before we dive into Day One, it’s important that we understand how the Bible defines joy. Joy is an internal state of gladness that often expresses itself outwardly. It’s more a state of being than an emotion. In the Bible joy comes from God as a gift that we embrace in response to who he is, to what he has done, and to what he promises to do. Joy results from a choice made in the power of the Holy Spirit to rejoice.  

This definition is a relief to the many people who struggle with mood disorders such as depression or anxiety. These Christians often experience unnecessary guilt or shame because they do not feel happy. And yet, joy is possible, even without any positive emotions.

Understanding joy in this way also helps us when we encounter hardships and suffering. In difficult times, you can choose to trust God and rejoice in him. Mature Christians are not “happy” all the time. Their emotions are not always bright and cheery. Jesus himself was sometimes sad. Right in the middle of difficult trials, joy arises from the settled assurance that God is good and great, the quiet confidence that ultimately all is well, and the determined choice to rejoice in God.   

PREPARATION WEEK

January 4-10

Our 21 days of prayer and fasting will officially begin on January 11, so we will use this week to prepare our hearts. This Sunday’s sermon will focus on John 15-17 as we consider how we can find joy in God himself. As we prepare for a dedicated time of prayer and fasting, this week’s Engage God Daily will feature those chapters.

This week’s memory verse

 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:11)

DAY ONE

BEGIN

Pray to experience joy in Christ through our theme verse:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

Review this week’s memory verse:

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:11)

READ

Read and meditate on John 15-17

John 15–17 records Jesus’ final meeting with his disciples in the upper room where they celebrated the Last Supper together. The disciples are anxious and fearful as they anticipate Jesus leaving them. They don’t understand what’s happening or why. And yet, Jesus explains that we can experience permanent joy in God regardless of circumstances as we more and more know him personally in the Word and in prayer.

Today, we want to get an overview of the entire passage by reading it in one sitting. Read it in your own Bible and highlight every use of the word “joy” or “rejoice.” Also notice the big ideas and major themes. Look for what you learn about God and listen for what the Spirit is saying to you through his Word.

PRAY

As the Spirit leads, let these themes guide you in your prayer today:
  • Praise God the Father that he sent Jesus Christ into the world to save us.
  • Ask God to show you how you should fast during the 21 days, starting next week.
  • Thank the Father and Jesus for sending the Holy Spirit, our advocate, comforter, and teacher.
  • Pray that you will experience joy in Christ.

JOURNAL

What are you learning about God as you to seek to experience joy in Christ?

What do you sense God is saying to you through this passage?

SHARE

Talk with your prayer partner about what you are learning, how you are growing to experience more joy in Christ. Pray together.