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January
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2018 Prayer and Fasting
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2 0 1 8 P R AY E R A N D F A S T I N G

At the end of one year and the beginning of a new, it is normal for people to want to
make resolutions and set goals. These may be personal fitness goals, relational goals, or
financial goal. The New Year gives us an opportunity to look at our lives from a different
perspective.

As we step into 2018, as a church, I am excited about what the Lord has in store. Will
there be struggles? Yes. Will there be challenges? Absolutely. God does not guarantee us
a life pain free, but rather he gives us the opportunity for a life of power, purpose, and
passion.

This year, my prayer, not only for our church, but also for me and my family, is that we
will be open and hungry for the Holy Spirit. We will be expecting a move of God that
will not only transform us, but also our communities.

As I have been praying and seeking the Lord, I hear him say “pray, believe, and expect.”

As you step into 2018, know that God has good things planned for you. No matter what
the situation may look like, He is in control and He will have the victory.

In Christ’ service,

Pastor Matt Ramirez

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JANUARY 1, 2018 (WRITTEN BY RUSTY FORD)

B E H O LY, B E C A U S E I A M H O LY

1 PETER 1: 3-16

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you
when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires
you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;
for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

The apostle tells us to be holy as God is holy. The term holy in the Old and New Testament means to be
separate from or different than. As Christians, we are called to be different than the world. We are called
to leave the way we lived in the past behind and to begin to live a life that honors God in all we do.

The first thing that Peter tells us here is to have our minds alert and fully sober. Living a holy life begins
and ends in the battle for our mind. Peter goes on to say, “do not conform to the evil desires you had
when you lived in ignorance.” It is easy to fall back to our old ways of coping and living our lives. When
things get hard it is easy to choose not to be sober and depend on things like drugs, alcohol or porn to
distract our minds from the problems we face. But as Christians we are called to something higher and
ultimately we have much more fulfilling ways to handle the stresses in our life.

In Romans 12:1 we are told “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the
renewing of your minds.” God wants our minds to conform with what he is doing with our spirits. As we
let him change the way we think, our lives begin to be filled with so much love joy and peace, we no
longer need the worlds coping systems to get us through.

Starting off a new year, like Peter, I encourage you to be holy in all you do.

Question

A new year is starting. What is an area of my life that I can commit to living in a better way for Jesus
this year?

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JANUARY 2, 2018 (WRITTEN BY JIM MOORE)

TRUSTING GOD

Hebrews 4:16 AMPC

Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s
unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in
good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].

It's pretty hard to trust or have faith in something that you don't know very well. And that is true of God
too, but it is important to remember a few things about him. First is that he is a person not a thing, and
you should get used to referring to him that way. We are created in his image, everyone in humankind is
created as a person with feelings and emotions. God also has feelings and emotions.

The second and most important is that he loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. God
loves you so much that he provides Christ to substitute for you, so that there are no more barriers
between you and him. This allows us to boldly approach God in prayer. We are so important to him that
Jesus said that God knows what we need before we can even ask him. Jesus also teaches us that God is
love.

How do you get to know God? The best way is to read the Bible, to learn about him and find out how
much he loves you. This Is a sure way to hear God speak to you and to learn his personality.

Thoughts

Think about how you start and end your day. Do you include God in your thoughts about what you are
planning or how your day went?

How often do you include God in your plans? Is it at the beginning, and throughout the process, or is it
just at the end?

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JANUARY 3, 2018 (WRITTEN BY GRACE HARRISON)

T H E P O W E R O F A G O O D P R AY E R L I F E

Throughout the Bible we can read the stories of prayer warriors, all who spoke to God in their
own unique way. God would appear to Abraham and they would talk like friends, like a true relationship
(Genesis 17:1, James 2:23). David spent years of his life lamenting and crying out to God in prayer,
showing relentless vulnerability with the Lord (Psalm 22:1-8). David is also one of the greatest
examples of praising the Lord amid his complaining (Psalm 18: 1-3). We can see the words of countless
Old Testament prophets whose prayers were both requests to hear from God, and pleas for the nations
who had turned away from the Lord. When we move into the New Testament the prayer’s become more
directed towards God’s impact on people, and His ability to change heart’s and bring salvation
(Colossians 4: 2-4, Romans 10:1-3).

Thankfully, God hears your prayer no matter you heart or goal (1 Peter 3:10-12). We know that
our greatest commandment is to love God and love people (Luke 10: 27-28). But we are also called to
live a life of prayer (1 Timothy 2: 1-8). Prayer is necessary to ministry. How can you share God’s word
if you aren’t speaking with Him? How can you encourage others to turn to God if you are not? How can
you expect God’s power in your ministry if you aren’t asking for it?

Take Anna as an example. After her husband of seventy years passed away, she devoted her life
to prayer and ministry (Luke 2: 36-38). Consider Daniel and his ministry during times of oppression
against believers and in a city that served idols and false God’s. Prayer was illegal, but he lived a life full
of prayer and his ministry was blessed (Daniel 9). Solomon showed that the most powerful of prayers
are the selfless ones. He felt insecure to lead the people and unprepared for the authority he would
receive. He prayed for help with a heart that was not for him, but for the people, and God gave him ten-
fold of what he asked (Solomon 3:6-15).

Questions to think about:

1. If someone wrote a story about your prayer life, would it inspire others? What type of
pray warrior would they say you were?

2. What is something you’ve been praying about for many years? Do you still prayer for it
with the same expectancy?

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3. Do you feel like you live up to the commandment in 1 Timothy 2:1-8? What can you do
to better your prayer life?

4. Are your prayer’s selfless like Solomon’s?

Reflect on prayers that have been answered and praise God for His faithfulness.

Today, pray this passage over your life:

Isaiah 12

Then you will say on that day,


“I will give thanks to You, O LORD;

For although You were angry with me,

Your anger is turned away,

And You comfort me.

2 “Behold, God is my salvation,


I will trust and not be afraid;


For the LORD GOD is my strength and song,

And He has become my salvation.”

3 Therefore you will joyously draw water


From the springs of salvation.


4 And in that day you will say,


“Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name.


Make known His deeds among the peoples;

Make them remember that His name is exalted.”

5 Praise the LORD in song, for He has done excellent things;


Let this be known throughout the earth.


6 Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,


For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

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JANUARY 4, 2018 (WRITTEN BY CANDICE RAMIREZ)

F O C U S O N J E S U S , N O T O U R C I R C U M S TA N C E

Matthew 14: 28-31

If I am honest, this has been a tough year. My mom was diagnosed with cancer and two of my aunts and
my grandfather passed away. On top of the normal everyday busy life of a working mom of two, and a
husband who works two jobs…. My circumstances often looked pretty overwhelming. I wish I could tell
you that every day I kept my eyes on Jesus and that I always had faith and peace, but I do not always.
What I can tell you is what God has been teaching me and how he has been faithful to walk me through
these difficult times..

The verse God has brought me to is when Peter walked on water with Jesus. When he first started out he
had faith, confidence, and peace. But then he looked down, he took his eyes off Jesus and began to look
at his circumstance. He was in the middle of a raging sea! He could drown! He started to panic and sink.
He cried out and Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. There are two things I see from this
passage.

First, it says Jesus IMMEDIATELY reached out. I checked multiple versions KJV, NIV, ASV, and NLT
each one says IMMEDIATELY. Jesus didn’t take His time, or wait until Peter was really in trouble. No,
He immediately went to Peters rescue. Our God will not let us stumble or drown. He is quick to come to
our rescue.

Secondly, when Peter’s eyes were fixed on Jesus he was confident and faith filled. He knew if Jesus said
he could come out on the water that he could. And he did! For a minute there, Peter was doing the
impossible. He was walking on water! But then something happened. The wind started up, the waves
began to crash. Peter took his eyes off Jesus. He took his eyes off the miracle that was currently
happening and panicked. I would like to say that Peter is crazy. I mean, there he was, doing something
no one should be able to do. He was in the midst of a miracle. Why would he doubt when he literally
was in the midst of doing the impossible? That seems crazy to me. Yet I look at my own life and think
“Oops. I do that too.” God has always been faithful to me. He has never once let me down. I have seen
God do amazing things. Yet when life throws a curve ball I often lose sight of Him and begin to panic,
just like Peter. God has been showing me, and proving faithful all year, that when I focus on him I can
do what seems impossible. I can have faith, even when my mom has cancer. I can have joy, even when
I’m mourning the loss of loved ones. I can have peace, even when the laundry is piled high, dishes are

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overflowing the sink, the children are acting cray, and I just worked a full day. How? Because these
things don’t come from the world. They don’t come from my circumstances. They come from God.

Ask God these Questions

1.) Where are your eyes focused?

2.) Where do you have doubts and need Jesus to rescue you?

Prayer

Lord, I ask that you would reveal to me areas where I am not focused on you. Please show me where I
have doubts. Give me the strength I need to turn my eyes and attention on you and give me the faith to
pull though what seems too hard. Fill me with faith, love, joy, and peace. Help me to keep my eyes
focused on you and alert me if my eyes start to fall again. Amen.

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JANUARY 5, 2018 (WRITTEN BY JONNIE RUTLEDGE)

T H E I M P O R T A N C E O F E VA N G E L I S M

Acts 20:24

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the
task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace."

I have an outstanding life. I am a huge fan of it. I have an amazing husband who blesses me daily,
dreams with me and for me, and constantly sacrifices for his family's happiness and well being. I've got
wonderful family and friends who flavor my life with their love and joy and support us through triumphs
and losses. I own copious possessions and eat a vast variety of delicious food. I am grateful. But it all
means nothing if my life doesn't point to the gospel and my mouth doesn't testify His Name. Without the
gospel everything in my life, including my marriage, has no purpose other than keeping me from getting
bored while I breathe this air, for a while.

So what stops us from sharing the greatest thing in all of time and space? What holds us back from
speaking the Name that set us free and in turn will set free the captives that surround us? For me, it has
always been fear. I will probably look stupid, get rejected, I'm not ready, I won't know what to say, etc.
All of these things are true. I sat down to write this in a coffee shop. A woman struck up a conversation
with me and started sharing about her life, her struggles lately, and that she felt like a bird with nowhere
to land. I shared some of my life with her and asked her if it would be all right if I prayed for her. She
said yes, only if she could cast a spell over me. I declined. We politely ended our conversation and she
all but ran towards the door. The gospel always gets a reaction. If I'm representing Christ and His story,
His power, His goodness then I better get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

I can no longer allow fear and apathy to control who gets to hear about His love. What would happen if
we evangelized our Savior as much as we evangelize our favorite restaurants, favorite, products, favorite
teams etc.? Jesus isn't my favorite savior, favorite teacher, or my favorite way, He is the only One.
People are dying. Do I care enough to do anything about it? Penn Jillete, a well known atheist once
stated, "I've always said, I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you
believe there is a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or
whatever, and you think it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially
awkward. How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate
someone to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”

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It stings. It wakes me up. I don't care if Christians, atheists, or my dog respects me. I care that I run as
fast and hard as I can towards the light and that my heart aches enough to take people with me.

A few questions

1. Am I asking Him for opportunities daily?

2. Will I speak despite the fear?
3. Who in my life needs to know how good Jesus is?
4. Do I care enough to tell them?

Prayer

Jesus, please change my selfish heart. I repent of all fear and apathy and ask that your Holy Spirit would
guide me as I tell the world who You really are. I ask that you make me uncomfortable for the sake of
Your Name. Amen.

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JANUARY 6, 2018 (WRITTEN BY ANNA STOCKTON)

B E I N G FA I T H F U L I N S E A S O N S O F D O U B T

2 Corinthians 5:17

The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians to walk by faith not by sight. God knew we would need to hear this
Scripture in times of doubt and in times of trouble. What we see can lead us to doubt our faith and our
God. Situations and circumstances can lead us to doubt our faith and our God. So what are we to do
when so much in and around us is leading us to feel doubtful?

First, let us remember what we know to be true about God. He is love, holy, merciful, full of grace, pure,
able, true and faithful to name a few. We can think on the times of God’s deliverance and provision in
the Bible and in our own life. Thinking of these things will build our faith.

Next, realize that our emotions can lie to us. How we are feeling initially about a situation is often not
the truth. The negative emotion doubt is fueled by lies from Satan and our own flesh. We must
remember that God is above all. He is above the whispers of Satan, our human limitations and His ways
are not our ways. He is calling our thoughts to be high above the noise of hell and our flesh. He is
calling us to seek Him first and know that He is at work in every situation, even when we can’t see or
understand.

Finally, we increase our faith by hearing the Word, speaking the Word and praying. We can read
Scripture go to church and talk with family and friends of faith. We can pray to God and be real with
Him. We can ask him to increase our faith and give us the boldness to act on it. He is asking us to
change our perspective about the issue. Is there anything that we don’t understand about Him and His
true character that would cause any doubt?

And lastly, ask God to take our seed of faith and bless it to
be a great tree of faithfulness so we may see things come to pass.

Lord,

Increase my faith. Help me to live by faith and not by sight. Refresh my memories of Your goodness,
Your provision and Your deliverance. Renew my mind to release any doubt. Give me the courage to step
out in faith in areas that You are asking. Help me to not be a wave tossed by the wind. I confess any

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doubt as sin before You and ask Your forgiveness. I want to be rid of doubt so You can work in and
though me to move mountains in Your name.

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JANUARY 7, 2018 (WRITTEN BY NAOMI SHERMAN)

P R A Y I N G F O R R E V I VA L

Psalms 80

This Psalm is a cry to the Lord to revive the church and it’s people. The psalmist is crying out for help from the
Lord. He tells the Lord of the turmoil the church is enduring during this time and reflects on times when the Lord
has saved them of similar distress.

Reading this Psalm, I reflect on the state of our nation today. The nation is very divided right now. There are so
many strong opinions and emotions in the hearts of people that cause such a divide. The church should not be
silent and sit idly by. This is a time when we as the church should rise and pray for revival, similar to what is
spoken in Psalm 80.

Our nation needs the love and peace of the Lord. Praying for revival doesn’t need to look complicated. We simply
need to be faithful to the Lord and know that He is the peace in this storm. Our prayers should contain cries of
help to the Lord. Our prayers should also contain hope and faith that what we pray for comes to pass, in God’s
perfect timing.

As the Church, we need to have a heart for the world around us. That is the mission of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Look for opportunities in the direct area around you that you can pray revival over.

Psalm 80:3
“Restore us, O God;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.”

Questions

1. If our nation and world depended on your prayers, faith, and obedience, would we ever experience revival?

2. How many times per week are your prayers for other people and not yourself?

3. When you pray, do you have faith that what you ask for will actually come to pass?

Prayer:

Heavenly Father,
I pray that You would revive this nation. I pray that the divide among Your church and those that need You would
be mended. I pray that the church would not be timid, but instead, pray for revival like their life depended on it.
Lord, light the hearts of Your people on fire for revival for the unsaved

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around us. Give us a spirit of evangelism that would allow us to reach the lost with the good news of Your
salvation.

Amen

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