“Jabez called on Israel’s God:
“If only you would greatly bless me and increase my territory.
May your power go with me to keep me from trouble,
so as not to cause me pain.”
And God granted his request.”
(1 Chronicles 4:10, CEB)
Focus Each Day on These Areas
Here we go!
We’ve been preparing for and anticipating this for a while now. Churches around the world are joining us. We are seeking God’s abundant EXPANSION in 2020 over these next 3 weeks.
Every 7 days we will cycle through these seven key areas three times before we are done!
(Note, the date is listed below and then the theme!)
7-DAY THEME
2, 9, 16 – Spiritual Life
3, 10, 17 – Physical Life
4, 11, 18 – Family Life
5, 12, 19 – Career Life
6, 13, 20 – Financial Life
7, 14, 21 – Social Life
8, 15, 22 – Intellectual Life
January 1st – Celebrate the New Year with Family and Friends!
Week One: Surrendering Everything For God-sized Expansion!
(Each day, as you follow this schedule, we are recommending you ADD your own SPECIFIC prayer requests in each of the seven areas we are praying and fasting for.)
January 2nd – Our Spiritual Lives: We’re Accessing All God Has For Us Through Total Surrender …
Surrender all you have been, are, and will become to God for His use and to His honor. (When we are totally surrendered to God, He is able to lead us and guide us into the realm of His supernatural possibilities.)
Ask God these three questions and listen throughout your day for His responses:
• Am I withholding anything from You Lord?
• Am I giving you everything I am and could be?
• Am I seeking only Your will for my future?
Pray for the expansion of your entire life with these words, “Lord, make the rest of my life the best of my life because I surrender it ALL to You to do as You desire. Make my constant prayer to be, ‘Not my will but yours be done in 2020: Our Year of Expansion!'”
January 3rd – Physical: We’re Connecting With God Through the Temple of the Holy Spirit …
Surrender your body and spirit to God (1 Corinthians 6.19-20) (Living a pure life opens the Holy Spirit to be able to use us to the fullness of God’s will while a lifestyle less than pure reduces and diminishes His expansion.)
Ask God these three questions and listen throughout your day for His responses:
• Is there anything I do that disturbs You, Holy Spirit?
• What would You like me to change in my lifestyle, Holy Spirit?
• How can I bring more honor to God through my body and spirit?
Pray for the expansion of your health, strength, and purity with these words, “Lord, I can’t be effective in serving You if my health is poor and my lifestyle dishonors You. So, I am asking You to guide me into healthier and holy choices SO THAT the Spirit of God can magnify Your name and fame through me in greater and greater ways in 2020: Our Year of Expansion!”
January 4th – Family: We’re Creating a Launching Platform for Ministry …
Surrender your priorities so you place your wife or husband second behind God and your family third behind your wife or husband. (How we love each other inside our family will become the catapult to the expansion of our love for others outside of our family.)
Ask God these three questions and listen throughout your day for His responses:
• (If married) Is my spouse my greatest priority behind You, Lord? (Or if single) Am I remaining pure and focused on serving God as my Father?
• (If you have children) Am I nurturing love and faith in my children to Your satisfaction, Lord? (Or if don’t have children) Am I speaking life, hope, and faith into the children within my extended family?
• Am I honoring my parents (Whether they are alive or deceased) with my actions and attitudes?
Pray for the expansion of your genuine love with these words, “Lord, cause me to learn to express sacrificial love inside my family where relationships are real and often raw SO THAT I can love friends and even foes with Your love in 2020: Our Year of Expansion!”
January 5th – Career: We’re Using Our Profession to Declare Our Faith’s Possession …
Surrender your job and career path to God for evangelism. (The contacts we have and the long hours we spend at our jobs provide the relationships and opportunities to expand God’s Kingdom by sharing His love with those around us on a daily basis and share our faith in real-life situations.)
Ask God these three questions and listen throughout your day for His responses:
• Who’s hurting that I might comfort?
• Who’s discouraged that I might encourage?
• Who’s lost that I might shower with the love of Jesus?
Pray for the expansion of your career path with these words, “Lord Jesus, You placed me in this job to be a light in this darkness and a hope to the discouraged. Allow me to expand Your Kingdom with Your love and compassion. Help me to lead some people to surrender to King Jesus in 2020: Our Year of Expansion!”
January 6th – Financial: We’re Resourcing God’s Will for Our Lives …
Surrender your finances to King Jesus, putting His will first in your earning and spending. (Since God gives us all we have, using those resources selflessly is His plan and purpose.)
Ask God these three questions and listen throughout your day for His responses:
• Am I thanking God for what He has and is giving me?
• Am I giving generously to God’s work in my church and around the world?
• As I reserving some funds and possessions for the poor and needy around me?
Pray for the expansion of your financial resources with these words, “King Jesus, thank you for all the money and possessions You have given me so far. Solomon told us that, “Money answers everything!” (Ecclesiastes 10:19, CEB) So, I am asking You to expand my financial resources SO THAT I can be generous to my church, generous to Your Global Mission, and generous to the poor and needy about me in greater and greater ways in 2020: Our Year of Expansion!”
7th – Social: We’re Building a Supportive Community Around Us …
Surrender to drawing people close to you to as God commands. (As the Godhead lives in community, we were designed for the same so as to thrive, flourish, and expand farther and farther.)
Ask God these three questions and listen throughout your day for His responses:
• Who should I reach out to and connect with each week with Your love? (Constantly show me people and suggest names to me this year)
• Am I choosing a lifestyle that focuses predominantly upon having a good time with others or am I seeking to stir them up to love and good works?
• Do I take the time to deepen relationships to get past the surface frivolity and into the gritty world of honesty and transparency?
Pray for the expansion of your supportive community with these words, “I can’t do things alone, Lord Jesus. Life is hard apart from good, solid friends I can depend on. This year I am going the be that intentional friend who sticks closer than a brother to more and more people in 2020: Our Year of Expansion!”
January 8th – Intellectual: We’re Creating a Healthy Mindset …
Surrender what you read, listen to, watch, and think about to the captivity of King Jesus. (If we grow our capacity to see the power, ability, desire, and scope of God’s will and whim, we will be better enabled to step forward by faith when King Jesus prompts us to do something bigger by faith!)
Ask God these three questions and listen throughout your day for His responses:
• Am I focused on Your thoughts?
• Am I considering Your guidance?
• Am I believing Your abilities?
Pray for the expansion of your mindset with these words … “Holy One, I realize that all too often I let my mind wander and waste. I put screens in front of me instead of choosing to challenge my thinking, to stretch my mind, to imagine God-sized possibilities, to consider what could be greater for Your glory, and to think the larger possibilities You desire for my life. Work with me as I choose to expand my mindset in 2020: Our Year of Expansion!
A Year of Expansion!
We are excited about what God is doing and will do in 2020 in our lives. PLEASE take the time to share your experiences below as we step out by FAITH and trust God for greater EXPANSION in our lives!
More coming soon! Stay alert for our next post!
