We are now on our 5th day of the 21 days of prayer and fasting. I have already seen God working in full force. In my last post I stated some of the things that I was contending for during this time. One of those was my personal walk with God. I am looking to gain a deeper more intimate time with Him, and He has shown up BIG TIME.

If you are participating in this fast, I want to encourage you to press in and seek the heart of God. I know that it is tough to give up some of the food we really like. Believe me, yesterday was a really hard day. I battled with many food temptations. But the key is that we crucify our flesh and fill ourselves with the Word of God. Make sure you are checking out the daily devotions page and really focus in on what God is doing.

This week I am embarked on a 21 day Daniel Fast. The idea came from Pastor Stovall Weems and Celebration church. They do a fast at the beginning of every year and this year they opened up the fast to anyone in the country that wanted to participate. They are calling this time of prayer and fasting “Awake 21“.

I have never done anything like this before. Sure I have fasted a meal or even a few days, but not 21! So, I am going into this time with some very specific things that I would like God to do in me, for me, and for the new church that we are planting. We are literally 6 months away from our first preview service and things are getting exciting.

Over the next 3 weeks I am going to blog about what God is doing in the midst of this fast for me and for the church. Because I believe in giving Him the glory He deserves. I am in day 3 and I am reading through the book of John. There is some great stuff in this book,  so I will post some thoughts of what God is revealing on a later date.

I believe that 2009 will be a year of breakthrough. Even in the midst of a financial crisis, God can still move in mighty ways if we turn our hearts to Him and seek Him with all we have.

I challenge you to do an evaluation of this year and ask God to do great things. Maybe you need to look into this fast and participate with me.

I would love to hear if you are participating and what God is doing in and through you.

Blessings

Pastor Kalum

This post was inspired after I read a twitter post that lead me to Chris Brogan’s blog “Your 3 Goals for 2009″

If you want to try the process, it works something like this: think of how you want to be successful in 2009. Then, try to think in even broader terms. Extrapolate on the broader terms, and find one word to hang the idea on. Chris Brogan.

Below are my 3 goal words for 2009.

Lead – This year I want to learn how to become a better leader of myself and others. I want to lead in a way that glorifies God and it helps others strive toward God. Every day I want to see opportunities to lead with excellence. Maxwell says that everything rises and falls on leadership. So knowing this, how I lead my family, myself and the church God has for us is critical. It is up to me to become a better leader.

Build – This year I want to be a builder not a destroyer. I want to build relationships with others that I do not know, cultivate my relationship with my wife and children. I want to build my confidence in what God has called me to do. Every day I want to look for opportunities to build people up. I am a pessimist by nature so in 2009 I am going to work hard on pressing back the pessimistic nature and learn how to be an encourager. This won’t be easy, but it will stretch me.

Grow – This year I want to grow in several ways. First I want to grow my walk with God. I blogged about becoming a student of the word and that is just want I want to do. I want see my walk with Him stretched and grown to another level. I am sad to say that in 2008 I became lackadaisical in my reading and prayer life. I also want to grow in knowledge this year. I want to learn and try new things. I want to expand my views and knowledge of the things that affect me.

How about you. What are your 3 goal words.