21 Days: Day 1

Devotional:

Welcome to 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting! This season we are in the series, “First This, Then That.” So today, on Day 1, we will start with “First God, then…,” and then we get to fill in the blank. What has God done in our lives? What has God done in your life?

Romans 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

This verse reminds us that we need to renew our minds, and the only way that we renew our minds is through God's Word. In some of my years of life (and I've had quite a few years of life) I figured out a few things. I've always known that my best time of the day is early in the morning, so I've always done my devotions early in the morning, but there was a time in my life when running and exercise became really important in everything I did.

I would get up early in the morning and I would exercise, and I would run, and then I would come back, and then my girls would be up, and then I'd have to do breakfast for them and get them ready, and then it’s the end of the day and I had not spent any time with God. I realized that something had to change because my life was falling behind, because I was suffering the consequences of not being with God first. I had to recognize that in order to renew my mind, God had to come first, and then I could fit everything else in. I changed everything that I did. If I was going to exercise early with my friends, or if I was going to go running early, I set the time to get up an hour earlier.

I put God first, and then everything else fell into place. I learned that when I put God first, then everything else falls in my schedule the way it should and falls into importance the way that it needs to. It was this powerful moment that I remembered I need to put God first, and then everything else on my schedule will work. I've learned that through time. I've learned that through trying it out. And I've learned that through trial and error. What is it that you can do to put God first and see what can happen next?

Prayer:

God, would you be with us today? Thank you for this day that you've given to us. Thank you for this day and this reminder that when we put you first, then other things fall into place. God, would you just be with us in everything that we are doing and that as we are putting you first in our conversations, our relationships, and in everything that we do, that you would you show us the way to put you first, and then we can experience everything else throughout the rest of our day. Amen.

Thank you for joining us today for 21 Days! Tune in tomorrow and we'll have another devotional for you. Join us every Tuesday night at 6:30pm at each location as we gather together to worship, have a devotional, and pray together during these 21 Day of Prayer and Fasting.