21 Days of Prayer & fasting

January 1 - 21

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

Day 8: Morning Prayer

Dear Father, make me more appreciative of others. Help me never to fail to say thank you for everything that is done for me and never to take anything for granted that I get accustomed to receiving every day. Help me to always be ready to speak a word of praise whenever a word of praise is possible and sometimes, even when it doesn’t seem to be earned or deserved, let me find a reason to give praise. Help me to see beyond what normal eyes see. Help me to be quick to notice things.  Help me to be quick to notice when a person is depressed, discouraged or unhappy. Help me to be quick to see when someone is lonely, shy or being left out of things; draw them into community. Lord Jesus, all through today, help me to see people through and with your eyes. This I ask for loves sake, Amen.

 Day 8: Evening Prayer

Forgive me, Father, for all the trouble I have caused today. Forgive me if I made a nuisance of myself by being stubborn, needlessly defensive or foolishly fussy. Forgive me if I have caused other people trouble by keeping them waiting for me or by being late for any appointments or by simply failing to keep a promise. Forgive me if I have irritated others by trying to be funny at the wrong time, making light of the wrong things or by being difficult, irritable or insincere. Forgive me if I could see no point of view other than my own or if I was hard to work with or difficult to live with. Tonight, forgive me as I forgive others who I encountered in these same ways today. Tomorrow is another day, so help me to do better and be better than I was today. I ask these things in Jesus’ name, for love’s sake! Amen.

 Day 8 Reading: Isaiah 55:6-11 

Day 9: Morning Prayer

O Father, help me today, to live in joy and maintain an attitude of grace. Help me to live in quietness of soul so that nothing that comes my way, either great disappointments or petty pinpricks, are able to steal my joy. Help me to live with patience, absorbing any annoyance from people or things. Help me so I don’t get overwhelmed or overly excited, but take things easily and just as they come. Help me to work in a way that I get things done when they ought to be and in a way that they get completed so there is no last minute rush today. Help me to not take offence nor disagree in bitterness with anyone today. Today, dear Father, I set my course equipped with your peace and your strength to live life above the worldly pulls at my heart and mind. These things I ask with thankfulness, in Jesus name, Amen.

Day 9: Evening Prayer

Dear Father, if I behaved today as if I was the only important person in the world, forgive me. If I treated others as if I was the only person who had a lot of things to do, forgive me. If I allowed the weight of my responsibilities to steal my joy and infect my attitude with self pity, forgive me. If I behaved as if I was the only person in the world who was misjudged or misunderstood, feeling like I was the only person getting a raw deal, forgive me. Forgive me most of all for magnifying my troubles and forgetting my blessings. Help me to see things from a new perspective tomorrow thinking far less about myself and far more about others. Thank you for your love and grace, in Jesus name, Amen.

 Day 9 Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:53-58 

Day 10: Morning Prayer

Dear God, my Father, give me courage to do the things today that I am afraid to do. Give me tenacity to do the things I don’t want to. Give me the grace to get alongside people I might not like or who don’t like me. Give me the ability to find joy in the dull routine of the day’s work and remember I am doing what I do unto You first, so that the uninteresting things may become interesting and the things that do not seem to matter become important. Help me to be happy all through the day, life-giving to all I meet and work with, so as to add joy and a measure of happiness to their world as well. All for His glory in Jesus name, Amen.

 Day 10: Evening Prayer 

Oh my wonderful Savior, thank You for today. Thank You that I was able to work and do all the tasks that provide support for myself and those who I love and depend on me. Thank You for the people I met and the company of those I enjoy every day. Thank You that with your strength I overcame many temptations. Thank You for the new things You enabled me to learn. Thank You for enabling me to serve those around me, helping me know them better and grow closer to them. Help me to sleep with a quiet mind and to wake tomorrow with my soul restored and my heart glad to meet the new day. In the holy name of Jesus my Lord, Amen.

 Day 10 Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34

 Day 11: Morning Prayer

 I thank You, my Father. I thank You for health and strength to go out and do my work and I ask you to remember those who cannot due to circumstances beyond their control. I ask You to remember those who are not well, in pain at home or in the hospitals. I ask You to send Your healing word to them. I ask You to remember those bedridden or in wheelchairs, those in rehab centers recovering from illnesses. I ask You to help those who are suffering with mental illnesses or whose minds have collapsed under the pressures and strains of life. I ask You to remember those who have lived long lives and whose working years are over, help them to feel useful and alive with purpose. I ask You to remember those who are without jobs, who are worried about basic necessities for their homes and loved ones. I ask You to remember the homeless and those that are hungry and in need. Bring Your blessings to the broken and help me to be grateful even if my work is challenging, dull, worrying or I feel under-appreciated. Help me to remember how fortunate I am for the health and strength You have given to enable me to do the things I do. Help me never to forget to be grateful, in Jesus name, Amen.

 Day 11: Evening Prayer

Dear Father, help me to rest in You so that my mind and body find refreshment. Take from me the tension that makes rest impossible. I surrender the worries that fill my mind with thoughts that steal sleep. Take from me the fears that lurk in the shadows of my mind and wrestle for control when I am feeling tired and alone. Help me tonight to truly cast all my cares on You and to tangibly feel the everlasting arms wrapping me in Your love. Help me to sleep tonight, not the sleep of tiredness, but the sleep of peace under the watchful eye of the Prince of Peace. In Jesus wonderful name, Amen.

 Day 11 Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

 Day 12: Morning Prayer

My Dear Father, thank You for giving me the things that will enable me to live well today. Give me the ability to see what is important and what is not so that I don’t get upset about things that really don’t matter. Give me a sense of humor today. Help me to learn to laugh often and especially at myself so I don’t take myself too seriously. Give me a sense of responsibility. Help me to see each task as an opportunity to serve You well and those that depend on me. Give me a sensitivity in my spirit. Help me to see when I am hurting others by what I say or do. Help me to not blindly or thoughtlessly trample on the feelings of others, but live with a generosity of kindness. Give me today a continual awareness of the presence of Jesus so I wouldn’t do anything that might grieve Him or say anything that would hurt Him to hear. This I humbly ask and pray for Your love and name’s sake, Amen.

 Evening Prayer: Day 12

 Oh God, thank You for today. I thank You for all the beautiful things I have seen or experienced. I thank You for anything that happened to me that me feel that life is truly worth living. I thank You for the laughter that was part of my world today. I thank You too for any moment that brought home the seriousness and meaning of life. I thank You especially for those I love and for those who love me, and for all the difference it has made to me to know them and all the happiness it brings me to be with them. O Father, forgive me for anything today that may have troubled others or things I did that might have disappointed You, my family or my friends. Thank you for the blood of Jesus that washes my heart clean. Give me a sense of being forgiven so I can lay my head down in peace. Mercy has found me, in Jesus name, Amen.

 Day 12 Reading: Joel 2:28-32

 Day 13: Morning Prayer

 My Father in Heaven, how good You are to all. Help me to be thankful for the promises I will read in Your words. Help me to be quick to praise today, quick with words of comfort and encouragement. Help me to never forget to thank people for anything they do for me, no matter how small. Help me to always be ready with a word of appreciation so that no service is taken for granted nor any help pass unnoticed. Help me to be quick to notice people in pain; give me the ability to make a difference in their lives that will help them and encourage them in the journey. All through the day, help me to think far less of myself and far more about others and in that, find my happiness in making others happy. May my life elevate the name of Jesus always, Amen.

 Day 13: Evening Prayer

 My dear Father, before I sleep tonight, I want to pray a special prayer today for all the people that I know or don’t know that experienced a special day of gladness or of grief, of trouble or of joy. Bless the homes today of those who experience the joy of new life or the sorrow of one whose life has ended; comfort them. For those who experienced the joy of new birth: care for the new mother, father and baby. For those who were married today or are celebrating an anniversary: may today begin many years of happiness, loyalty and love. Be near to those whose homes have experience heartbreak, divorce, unfaithfulness or dishonor. Help them through the pain, embarrassment or shame. Lift up the broken as they call to You and rescue faithfully those who are called by Your name. Grant that every home would feel your presence and call upon You in their need. Let them experience Your divine love through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, Amen.

 Day 13 Reading: Galatians 6:1-5 

Day 14: Morning Prayer

 O Father, I know that there are dangers and spiritual enemies that are always a threat to me. Keep me from taking my eyes off of You and focusing on things that are of no profit personally or spiritually. Keep me from taking people and all they do for me for granted and help me to show them how much I appreciate and value them for all they do for me. Keep me from being satisfied with less and less, from lowering my standards, from forgetting my ideals and the truths and convictions of Your Holy Word. Keep me from taking sin less and less seriously, from allowing myself things that I at one time would have refused, from accepting as inevitable things which would have shocked me. Help me to walk today looking to Jesus, that I might see all things in the light of His life and walk in the way He walked, the way of the cross. May this day bring me closer to You. This I ask in Jesus name, Amen.

 Day 14: Evening Prayer

Thank You, my Father, for this day and all your help through out the day. There were things I did today that could only be done with Your help and you did it! Thank you! There were things I did today that were frightening to me, but with your help I found that I could face them. Thank you! There were people who You brought into my life that made my life better, more interesting and opened my mind to new things. Thank you! There were unexpected joys as well as unexpected sorrows, but You were with me in all of them. Thank you! There are friends who grow dearer to me every day, who make my life full and worthwhile. Thank you! There were people who gave me such generous love when I know I haven’t deserved it in the least.  Thank you! As I lay my head on my pillow tonight, help me to count my blessings. You are good! I pray these things in Jesus name, Amen.

 Day 14 Reading: Micah 6:6-8