[lead dropcap="yes"]It’s our 9th and final week on our collection of talks featuring the book of James. What a good time to take a step back and reflect on faith, more specifically, the prayer of faith. Think for a moment: What really drives a prayer of faith? Is it the moments of devastation or even those of desperation?[/lead]While devastation and desperation can certainly drive us to pray, they are not exactly the best motivators for developing a prayer of faith. Pastor Rich points us to a better way, dedication.

The Prayer of Faith

A dedicated prayer life is characterized by properly prioritizing a time in our schedules to pray, a place to connect with God, and a plan that encourages us to dig deeper in prayer. When we prioritize our prayers in this way, we are setting ourselves up to first win the spiritual battle in order to then see the results in our present situation (the natural battle). Thus, prayers can change things for the good and, rather than serving as last ditch efforts, become the go-to source for solutions.

“The truth about faith is you have to have it before you need it” Pastor Rich

A simple model for prayer is contained within the acronym of ACTS:

ADORATIONBegin prayers with an acknowledgment of God’s awesomeness.

CONFESSIONUse prayer to realign with what God wants for our lives; to change our perspective and declare what Christ has called us to be.

THANKSGIVINGCount the many blessing in our lives; seek out God for what he is doing rather than what we do not have.

SUPPLICATION

Ask the Lord for our needs, and believe for an answer.

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What it means to you

Launching into #PrayFirst, 21 days of prayer and fasting, we take heart in knowing that anything we can possibly give up is all to get more of Christ and the promises he has for us. Like Elijah and his momentous moment of calling down fire from heaven, we can be bold in knowing that the source of our lives comes not from what the commodities of this world but from God. Because we believe in Christ: All things are possible.

"The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16

Looking for a place to start? Here is a simple prayer that you can pray to begin the #PrayFirst journey:Dear heavenly father, thank you for the life that you have given me. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to enter a time of fasting so that I can get closer to you. I seek you as my daily bread. I pray that you strengthen me and give me a clear vision for my life as I stand in faith today.

Why are you choosing to fast this season?

After hearing Pastor Rich's message on Sunday, we asked some of you about your reasons for joining us on the fast. Here is what you had to say:

I'm choosing to fast as a reminder of how blessed I am on a daily basis. I have the opportunity to be surrounded by great leaders and during my fasting, I'm able to focus on my relationship with God and ignore the superficial external forces. I'm able to strengthen my relationship with God, which allows me to strengthen my faith as well. Genie

My fast is about letting go and walk away from the things that distract me and walk towards God and truly finding a place, time and a plan to spend time with God. I am fasting because I need to remind myself that what I think is most important, including that which I think "sustains" me, is exactly what I need to place in God's hands first. My fast is not about giving something up or suffering, it's about realigning and re-gearing for what is ahead because I know the best is yet to come! Dani

I'm fasting and believing it to add an intensity to my prayers and to receive a breakthrough on things I've been praying about. David

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Pray First

We believe that God can do amazing things if we just have faith to ask and believe that we will receive. As a church, we've entered in 21 days of fasting and prayer believing that God will do the impossible as we lean into him. Join us during these 21 days, believe with us and experience the power of God, activated by our collective faith. Find out more at vouschurch.com/prayfirst.

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