21 DAYS OF PRAYER
JANUARY 14 2026:
HOW SACRIFICE AND HEARING FROM THE LORD WORK TOGETHER
ROMANS 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your
bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not
conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect
will.
Devotional:
Hearing and obeying God’s voice does not come naturally to us. The old Adamic nature
is deaf to the voice of God. (Derek Prince). Hearing is something that must be learned
and cultivated. We introduced this topic during our first week of devotions, but I really
felt that we needed to spend a few days sharpening our ability to hear the voice of the
Spirit. The success of our relationship with the Lord, and success in obtaining all that
God has ordained for us is dependent on hearing the voice of God.
Hearing accurately should be a high priority for our lives because it is a priority of the
Lord’s. Jeremiah 7:22-24; “For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke
to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I
have them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people.
Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. But they did not listen
or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts.”
What makes a people God’s people? Hearing and obeying the voice of God is what
qualified them to be his people. The New Testament condition of being a follower of
Jesus is the same: John 10:27; “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they
follow me. I will give them eternal life.”
If you are a follower of Jesus, you can hear him. You have the Divine interpreter in you
– the Holy Spirit who leads you into all truth. He is committed to working alongside you
to cultivate listening to the Lord.
As we previously introduced, hearing is making the time to cultivate and recognize his
voice and Romans 12:1-2 takes us further into how we cultivate listening:
1. We offer ourselves to him. We must have a willingness to hear what he is
saying, not what we want him to say.
All through scripture we are compared to sheep and God/Jesus was presented as the
Good Shepherd. Basic principle of sheep and shepherds is that the shepherds do the
leading and sheep do the following. Not the other way around. Sounds simple and
even silly, but when the sheep start making the focus of their walk with the Lord about
what they have already decided they want to hear it makes it hard to REALLY hear what
he is wanting to say.
Hearing starts with a willingness to present ourselves to him for his purposes. We are
following him; he is not following us. The goal of our lives is to align ourselves with his
will not he ours. That is the starting point. The Adamic nature is deaf to the voice of
God because we want what we want. After we are born again we are new creations
and Holy Spirit places new desires in us. Desires to follow the Lord not our own
desires. It is a daily surrender.
To hear God’s voice, we must present ourselves to him, a living sacrifice. If sheep do all
the talking in our prayer times and never give the shepherd the chance to talk we will
never hear his voice.
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2. Romans 12:2 tells us that we can know what God’s will is when we refuse
conformity to the world and choose to be renewed in our minds.
There are some things that crowd out the voice of God. Life is noisy. What are some of
the things that crowd out, or drown out the still small voice of the Lord? I’m sure two or
three things immediately came to mind. Here are some that came to my mind;
- Our own desires
- Our own understanding and wisdom (or lack).
- Distractions, the noise and business of daily life
- Seasons when we are in the furnace of trial
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This is why mind renewal is necessary.
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Paul writes, “Do not conform to this world..”
Conform in the original language is more completely defined as pressed into a mold –
pattern of this world. If the world with its priorities and values are shaping us it will be a
challenge to hear accurately. This word conformed speaks of outward pressure – the
temptations to sin, to cave into pressure, to allow the worlds values press us into its mold.
Instead, we are to be transformed – metamorphisis. It speaks of inward transformation.
Instead of being shaped by outward pressures, we are to be transformed by the inward
power of the Holy Spirit. The inward force of Holy Spirit’s life and power pushes out
against the pressures of the world and not only protects us from being molded by
outward pressure but is so powerful it transforms us despite external pressure.
This happens by the renewing of our minds.
How do we renew our minds? We renew our minds by the word of God, by prayer and
being in his presence, by bringing our thoughts under the authority of Jesus Christ.
The renewing of our minds allows our minds to start thinking like God thinks. His
desires and his priorities become ours.
If our Adamic nature is deaf to the voice of the Lord, then our born again/new creation
nature can hear him. It is yielding to his Spirit and making room for our new creation
nature to overcome our old nature that sharpens our spiritual ears to hear.
It is when we have a renewed mind that we will discern what his good and pleasing will
is and 2 Corinthians 10:5 gives us a major key how this process happens:
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“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the
knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
When our minds are renewed and God’s word is known, we can evaluate our thoughts
and feelings against the Word of God. Anything that is out of line with his revealed will
in the word we can bring it under the authority of Christ. We reject it. We embrace his will.
Take captive was a word used meaning to take prisoner captive and render them
powerless by locking them up. They could no longer assault or wound because
they were stripped of their weapons and locked away. Taking captive every
thought means we no longer allow thoughts that wreak havoc on our peace or tell
us something that is not true rule our thinking.
The greater our level of obedience to what he is telling us, the greater we will grow in
our ability to hear his voice.
God bless and I am excited to hear your testimonies of what the Spirit is saying to you
in this time. He has many promises and good plans for your life.
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Pastor Jay
JANUARY 15 2026:
WHAT EXAMPLE ARE YOU SETTING?
1 Corinthians 11:1
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Devotional:
Integrity used to mean something. I know that the generation that came before me lived by convictions such as, “my word is as good as my bond.” A handshake was binding, a person could be trusted to say what they mean and do what they say. Things have changed. Even those people that have very public platforms and carry great influence often have lives that don’t match what they say. Maybe you’ve heard the statement, do as I say not as I do. That seems to be a growing trend.
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And this has creeped into the church. We could look at all the scandals that have grieved the church over the past decade. Well known Pastors, teachers, evangelists and now Christian authors have been exposed because of onging personal sin and moral failure. What they have modeled is the mantra, do as I say, but not as I do. They have lived hidden lives to maintain the façade of integrity. And we feel indignant don’t we. How dare they those hypocrites. But here is a probing question I think is good for all of us to ask. If someone were to watch my life closely over the next week, could I say as Paul wrote in I Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” Without using words, what would an observer conclude about your life? Would it become clear that Jesus is the center of your life? Would they see a person responding to the challenges of daily life in the fruit of the Spirit? What would they determine are your values, your core beliefs about yourself, the Lord, and life in general?
If you were on trial for being a Christian (a follower of Jesus) would they find enough evidence to convict you?
I Corinthians 11:1 is my personal life and ministry vision statement. It is what I strive for because it is the goal. The Living Bible translation writes it like this; “And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.”
Do you sense the weight of responsibility that brings? It is an invitation to follow Christ, become like Christ, think like Christ, and do what Christ did, by modeling your life after me. This command informs every decision, every reaction, and everything we do. How I spend my money, what I do with my leisure time, how I respond to conflict, how I treat others, all are modeled after Christ values and priorities. I am inviting people to follow my example so that their lives can be modeled after Christ character, values, and priorities.
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It is surrendering my life to the Holy Spirit because my decisions, my reactions, and my priorities are no longer my own to do what I want. My life is under the scrutiny of others who are learning through me what Jesus is like. I must yield to Holy Spirits authority and work in my life so that my life is revealing Jesus.
This is living do as I do not just what I say. This is how we are meant to live. This is why Holy Spirit has come to transform us.
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We all fall short, but falling short is not an excuse to live recklessly and selfishly. I’ve discovered something over the years. People don’t expect perfection. I will never be perfect on this side of heaven. I will sometimes do things that don’t line up with what I say and sometimes I will say things that don’t line up with my doing. As I follow Christ however, humbly modeling what a life of repentance, being teachable, and learning from my mistakes looks like it encourages others to follow Christ despite being imperfect.
Living transparently and honestly while we to submit to Holy Spirit’s transforming work gives the people in my life someone to follow who is pursuing Jesus. My pursuit of Jesus isn’t just for my pursuit alone, but it is for others to follow. People are watching your life. It might be your kids, your spouse, school mates, work mates your extended family – is your life matching your words? The work of the Spirit in us is bringing our lives into greater alignment with what we say we believe. And by God’s grace that gap is narrowing every single day.
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God bless and let the Lord love you today in all your flaws and failures. Let him pick you up and set you back on your way. You are a masterpiece and God isn’t finished with you yet. Don’t give up, keep following Jesus and others will follow in your steps.
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Pastor Jay
JANUARY 16 2026:
FAN INTO A FLAME
2 Timothy 1:5
I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
Devotional:
The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to encourage a young pastor named Timothy. The older and more experienced Apostle knew that every believer will face trials, opposition, and setbacks that can discourage us in our walk with the Lord. So he reminds him of the zeal and faith Timothy first had when he came to the Lord.
It’s never good to live in the past. I often say that there is a reason the windshield is significantly larger than the rearview mirror in a car. We can’t live in the past. The good old days weren’t always that good, and if they were then believe that the days are ahead are better than the days past. I sincerely believe the Lord wants to take us from glory to glory. The glory days aren’t behind us in the past but before us in even greater measure. But God wants to remind us of where we started and where we came from.
It’s important to reflect - not to live in the past or pine for the good old days, but to remember the investments that were made in our lives by others, those people and circumstances the Lord used to bring us to faith in him.
It can be healthy to remember life before Christ and how sweet it was when we came in repentance and experienced sins forgiven and the hope -and joy we felt for the first time.
When I look back there was this sincere excitement and joy knowing that God had chosen me and that Jesus loved me gave himself for me.
Paul is encouraging Timothy to remember the sincere faith that was passed down to him. Remember the zeal, the trust and faith you had. We are never to get stuck in the past but remembering our past, the root of our faith spurs us into our future. Paul continues in verse 6; “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God”…
Sometimes the passions and gifts that come by way of the Holy Spirit die down in us. It’s not that the Spirit of God has left us, but the gifts, the desires, the passion that once drove us go dormant.
How many of us when we were young in Christ had a passion or a dream that God placed in our lives. Then as time passed and circumstances and changed, we put those things on the back burner. We can even chalk it up as youthful zeal or believe that the season for those things has passed.
Could it be that as Timothy became more experienced, he started to depend more on his expertise and experience. Maybe the zeal for the gifts of the Spirit was being replaced with something else? And Paul writes to remind him, Timothy it is still there, it’s dormant because of lack of use but you can stir that up again. You can have zeal again! The fire the Lord put in you can be stoked and burn hotter than ever!
Is the Lord calling you back to something you let slip out of your life? Is the Spirit wanting to stir up a passion or promise that he gave you when you were younger in faith?
Maybe you had a burden for the lost or a lost loved one and you used to pray so faithfully. But over time some of your own burdens, disappointments and busyness of life put that zeal to the side. Maybe the Lord placed a dream and strategy for finances or a career, and the blessing came the blessing overtook and replaced your zeal for the Lord.
It could be any number of things that God put in your heart but over time the zeal was gone.
Paul told Timothy his gift came through the laying on of hands. How you received the gift isn’t as important as the gift God wanted to give you.
You can stir that up again. So how do you do that? Do what you did when you were zealous and exercising the gift. Remember the assignment that came attached to the promise and ask Holy Spirit to empower you to be faithful to that assignment.
Ask Jesus to give you a fresh baptism in the Spirit, and ask the Spirit to renew and breath on the embers of what was deposited in your life. And then step out in it. I’ve discovered over the years the spiritual principle of hunger.
Spiritually the way we increase our hunger for the Word is by reading the Word. Our hunger for the presence of God increases by being in the presence of God. It is the taste and see that God is good principle. You have to taste and experience him first as an act of the will, then you will see the goodness of God.
In the natural we eat because we are hungry. Spiritually we hunger because we eat. If there is something dormant in your life you have to step out and exercise the gift and then it is stirred up in you. It will grow into a blaze if you step out in the ember that is still in you.
Paul reminds Timothy of his early faith to stir up the gifts that came with his early faith. Stir up the zeal that once burned so brightly for the Lord. Remind yourself of God’s promises. Remind yourself of the assignment he gave with the promise and the blessing.
In Revelation 2 Jesus speaks to the church in a city called Ephesus. Ephesus was a mega church. It had an amazing history. Some of its members were the Apostle John and Mary. Yes, that Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. Can you imagine the pressure the pastor felt when he was preaching on the life of Jesus and two of the main stars are sitting in the front row?? It was a powerhouse, disciple making, Holy Ghost filled church! Unfortunately, something shifted and Jesus sends a message to them through John.
Revelation 2; 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.
Do you see the Lord Jesus Christ’s instruction for a church who had gone from a hot blazing love for him to barely an ember? He told them to repent and do the things you did at first.
Have you neglected your first love, or let a gift that he gave you go from a burning flame to barely an ember? We must repent before the Lord. He entrusted something to us we neglected. But there is good news. Repentance brings restoration and restoration allows us to do the things we once did!
Stir up the gifts of God, revisit the promises and purposes he once spoke over your life. Ask Holy Spirit to breathe new life into them and then step out and pursue them once again.
If you are breathing it’s never too late. He is so good and his plans for your life are good. Let him take you back to that time and place where you once burned for him and allow the Sprit to reignite your life!
Pastor Jay
JANUARY 17 2026:
FOR WHO HE IS
Isaiah 6:1-3
I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. … [Mighty seraphim] were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!
Devotional:
Take a step back for a minute, and consider the magnitude, holiness, and love of our God. Scripture says that Isaiah was so overwhelmed by the holiness of God that all he could see was the weight of his sin and the gravity of his unclean heart. “I’m as good as dead,” he told himself. Yet, in this moment of coming face to face with the presence of God, Isaiah also encountered His amazing grace. An angel of the LORD touched his lips and declared, “Look. Gone is your guilt, your sins wiped out completely.” Then, a laser-focused Isaiah raised his hand … humbled, strengthened, and ready … and said, “Here I am. Send me.”
As you pray today, let the magnitude and holiness of God cover you. Ask him to reveal his holiness and magnificence and give you fresh eyes to see how amazing he is.
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Let His grace heal and release you. Let his perfect love empower you. God is stirring your heart because He’s called you to a life of powerful purpose. When we gain a clearer and sharper vision of who the Lord is, and we are anchored to the unchanging and unwavering foundation of his character and his word, we gain the perspective needed to advance in his purposes for our lives. It’s time to step out and put action to our faith. The God who calls is faithful. The Lord wants to give you a vision of himself that exceeds our vision of the obstacles that stand in the way of us pursuing every plan and purpose he has for us in 2026. Isaiah was given spiritual eyes to see the God who dwarfs every giant, overwhelms everything that overwhelms us, and can remove every obstacle that challenges our obedience to his call. He saw a God whose holiness immediately exposed Isaiah and the nation of Israels sin. But the Lord provided the provision of cleansing. And immediately after cleansing Isaiah the Lord asks in verse 8; 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
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Our resistance to God’s will comes because of not seeing him rightly, and not seeing ourselves rightly. When Isaiah was ushered by the Spirit into the throne room of God he saw with clarity his standing before the Lord and all he could do was cry out, “Woe is me, I am undone.” God provided the provision of cleansing for Isaiah. There was nothing Isaiah could do on his own behalf. There was no appeal to his own goodness, charitable acts, or religious fervor. Without God’s provision of cleansing Isaiah was finished. He was as good as dead. Aren’t you so grateful for the Lord’s provision of cleansing through Jesus blood? We can come and stand before the Lord clothed in the righteousness of Christ, cleansed, forgiven, and welcomed into God’s presence. But make no mistake my friend. To know him rightly is to know that Isaiah’s response is the only acceptable one when the Lord commissions and directs our lives. “Here I am Lord send me.”
A good prayer to pray today would be to surrender to him and declare;
God, more than anything, I want to put up my hand and say, “Here I am. Send me,” whether that means sending me more deeply into the trenches of prayer, more brightly as a light to my family and neighbors, or more faithfully in service to others. I know that first, I need to acknowledge your greatness and receive your beautiful grace. I know that you alone are my portion and strength. Thank you that you have chosen me. And because of you, I have purpose and hope that will change my world. Amen.
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How about you take some time today to come before the Lord and ask, “Is there anything you have required of me and I am with holding? Is there a commissioning to serve and step out that fear has caused me to hesitate?” If anything comes to mind write it down and ask the Lord to reveal the obstacles that have hindered your obedience? Is it fear, selfishness, unwillingness? Ask him for fresh revelation of the Lord that will overwhelm any argument, obstacle, or hindrance to your obedience today. Repent and receive the forgiveness of Jesus that frees us to receive all he has ordained for us.
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Pastor Jay
JANUARY 18 2026:
THE HARVEST IS PLENTIFUL
Matthew 9:37-38
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.’
Devotional:
Jesus uses an agricultural metaphor to help us understand the nature of God’s mission and the urgency of the need. When I read these verses, I imagine Jesus walking from one village to the next town as he shared the good news about the kingdom of God. He is thinking about all of people he has just ministered to. The joy that came after a shriveled hand was restored. Imagine being able to witness a blind father being healed and seeing his children and wife for the first time! The hope that came to the hopeless when they heard the good news that God loved them. And his thoughts start to turn to the town he is heading towards, knowing that waiting for him there will be hundreds of lost, hurting, and hungry people. In fact in verse 36 we read, “Jesus had compassion on them because they were distressed and dejected like sheep without a shepherd.”
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And in-between each place he visits he is passing by fields and orchards ready to be harvested.
Jesus said to his followers, the harvest is abundant, but the workers are so few! Imagine how his heart burned as he heard each story, saw the suffering, and knew that there were thousands more just as hungry for the truth and healing he carried but they would never hear. The harvest truly was abundant and ready for reaping but there were no workers to harvest it!
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Hebrews 13:8; Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Jesus love for people has not changed. His mission to save humanity, heal their bodies, to bring hope and freedom to the distressed, depressed and oppressed is as passionate now as it was when he walked on earth.
And Christ in us longs to reach the people that are in our lives. Christ in us wants to touch people with the same grace, healing, and power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus ministered. You and I are the answer to his prayer for workers. We are the workers and ministers he will flow through to bring salvation to the people we encounter each day.
When Christ is formed in us his passions and mission is formed in us as well. To grow in Christ-likeness is to grow in a desire to see lives saved and transformed by his power.
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Let’s challenge ourselves at the beginning of the New Year. Can we let the Holy Spirit place one name, one person on our hearts that doesn’t yet know Jesus. Can we commit to praying for them every day. Asking the Lord to give us opportunities to share the love of Jesus with them. It is not accidental the Lord used the metaphor of agriculture. Growing a crop and caring for it until it is harvest ready takes time, diligence, and hard work. We can sow the seeds of the gospel into their lives through kindness, building relationship, asking the Lord to give us the strategies and opportunities to keep planting seeds. We water them by prayer. And one day we may have the opportunity to bring them to Jesus. I can’t think of a more Christ honoring New Years resolution than committing to one persons salvation!
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Every time you pray you can know for certain you are praying God’s perfect will for their life! I guarantee that the Lord will open the door of opportunity over and over again for you to demonstrate that the kingdom of God is within you.
Let’s challenge ourselves! Who will I commit to intentionally praying, and sharing, and seeking the Holy Spirit for strategies and opportunities to share the love of Jesus?
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Friends, people are more willing to hear the gospel than you realize! The harvest is plentiful and the Father wants to send you to reap souls for his kingdom. Even one life is a person rescued for all of eternity. And as that person is discipled and follows Jesus, the Lord will do the same through them. One life saved becomes the opportunity for salvation in their family and their circle of friends.
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Here are a few ideas that will help keep you faithful to this calling;
-Write their name down in a place that you will see daily.
-Put their picture in your Bible and pray over their image.
-Write down and journal your prayers for them, the opportunities you have to connect and minister to them. Ask the Spirit to guide your prayers. Look up verses from the Bible that you can speak over their lives prophetically. And then expect a harvest!
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Pastor Jay
JANUARY 19 2026:
SURRENDER
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Devotional:
In the Bible there are so many examples of people living a life of surrender to the Lord:
- Abraham leaving home and offering Isaac
-Moses obeying God despite hardship
-Esther risking her life for her people
-Paul becoming a bondservant
-Peter obeying Christ’s command to fish
They all had surrender in common. Surrender isn't about defeat, but about aligning one's life with God's plan, often leading to profound blessings and spiritual growth.
So, what is it about surrender that is so difficult? Fear of not knowing an outcome, fear of releasing control, pride, self-sufficiency, disappointment. Which one is most difficult for you?
Understand this, surrender is not what you do for God. Surrender is the giving away of your WHOLE heart. It is the release of your flesh- of YOUR will and desires.
I have shared with you many times over the last five years that I have strongly felt in my spirit that God is calling Calvary corporately, as well as individually, to live in surrender. Not just the parts of us that we are comfortable with, but with those things we have buried or tried to keep hidden, the things that others don’t see, the things that we push aside in our minds because we don’t want to face them. Jesus understands the pain of surrender. He has felt that pain. But He was also the perfect example of what surrender actually is. He laid down his life, even though He was perfect. He surrendered to the Father.
The process of surrender almost always doesn’t feel great. It requires dying to yourself, it brings discomfort at the loss of our will. It requires humility. Not just that we step out in faith, but that we continue in faith once that initial step has been taken. It requires the kind of trust where we truly believe that He is for us, that He is a covenant keeping God and that His ways are higher than our ways.
When Abraham surrendered to the Lord, he became the father of many nations.
When Jonah surrendered, to the Lord, God used him to turn a whole city to Himself.
When Noah surrendered his will and let people make fun of him, He, along with his family were spared from the flood. That tells me, that when we surrender and are willing to trust the Lord, He propels us on to greatness!
A valuable question to ask is this-when battles arise, is your confidence in human strategies or in the covenant you have with God? When we are walking in covenant consciousness, our enemies must flee. Fear empowers the enemy. But walking in covenant paralyzes his attacks.
Hebrews 4:16 tells us that we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence.
The beauty of our Saviour is that when we are willing to choose surrender, it is not just a one-way transaction. It is an exchange between you and God. You are allowing God to influence you. You are allowing him the opportunity to give you everything that you need. You are giving him access to prune away all the parts of us that are not lining up with His Word. You are giving Him permission to show you who He is, and who you are in Him. When you walk in obedience, it opens the doors for his deliverance and blessings. Deliverance gets us out of Egypt, but it is SURRENDER that gets Egypt out of us. Don’t you want to have the kind of intimacy with Father that comes with surrender? This picture has made a huge impact on my life:
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How often are we afraid to give God what we are holding on to because we don’t see the bigger picture in the natural realm. He is wanting to see us walking in greater blessing but we can’t let go of how we think things should look like. Maybe, just maybe, if we stopped looking at things in the natural, and trusted that in the supernatural He is able to do so much more, that life would look very differently for our individual lives, as well as the church as a whole!
Can I encourage you throughout 2026, allow God to take you deeper. Whether you are on the river bank and need to jump in, or you are ankle deep, knee deep or waist deep. He is waiting to saturate you in all of His goodness. Don’t hold back. This past year has been one of the most difficult years of my life, yet God is continually showing me His beauty and grace, love and forgiveness as I continue to surrender all of the things before Him. What a matchless love He gives. Get yourself into the current of God’s Spirit and let Him carry you places you never could possibly imagine. If He is doing it for me, he can do it for you!
Pastor Jackey
JANUARY 20 2026:
MAKE A HABIT OUT OF IT
John 1:35-39
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), where are you staying? “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying and spent that day with him.
Devotional:
We find out a few verses later that one of the two men was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. After this encounter with the Lord they go and find their friends and tell them, “We have found the Messiah.” What convinced them beyond a shadow of a doubt about Jesus’ identity was the time they spent with him. John the Baptist had been proclaiming Jesus as Messiah and pointing his own followers in the direction of the Lord. It was time spent in Jesus presence that solidified in their hearts the reality of who he was.
I know the time spent denying myself some of the ‘normal’ pleasures and things I spend time on, plus the added focus on the Lord in prayer and his word has changed me. I’ve experienced peace in the midst of uncertainties; He has spoken to me, stretched my faith, dealt with some issues I’ve been too busy to attend to, convicted me, deepened my dependency and walk with him, and I am at peace. I have experienced his grace, enjoyed fellowship with him and have a greater awareness of his abiding love for me.
The benefits and blessings we have been receiving over the past few weeks are the result of intentionally making room for him and focusing on those disciplines and practices that bring life to us. But you know as well as I do, that we can often start the year off strong but by December 2026 our fervor could be sizzling out.
My prayer is that all of us will continue to spend time in Jesus’ presence getting to know his heart and mind. That we won’t let busyness creep back in and rob us of what had been gained in these past few weeks. Let’s continue to spend time in the secret place and allow time with him to confirm to us that he is everything we need him to be in the coming year. Let us increase in revelation, holiness, and devotion to him the further we journey into the year. Instead of fizzling out, we can end the year stronger than we started. But it will take being intentional and maintaining a diligence to keep what is foremost, foremost in our daily life.
Jesus asked those two men who were following him, ‘What do you want?’ May we respond to that question, ‘What I want Jesus is you. More of you in my life.’
The life and joy we have experienced since the start of the year is just the beginning. He has so much more for us in ever increasing glory. Let this be the start to the greatest year of the manifestation of his goodness and glory over you that you have ever experienced.
Pastor Jay
JANUARY 21 2026:
FINISH STRONG (EVEN IF ITS WITH BLOODY KNEES)
Hebrews 12:1
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us
Devotional:
I have always been a good long-distance runner. In public school during gym class or track and field training I would consistently end up first or top 3-4 runners in any race that was 800 metres or longer.
In the city of Kingston there was a 21-kilometre marathon, and I entered with a man named Paul from our church. Paul was a soldier in the Canadian Military and had recently finished his boot camp. We ran the race together, and at the end of the 21K I had the best time of anyone entered that was 14 years or younger.
So when the time came for the city-wide track and field, I was entered into the 800-metre race. The gun went off and off we went. I don’t know if it was nerves or the clumsiness I’ve been gifted with, but halfway round the track I tripped and fell. My knees were scraped, my hands were road burnt and most of all my pride took a beating. By the time I was able to recover the rest of the runners were all the way around the track and just passing the starting point. My coach and school mates were yelling at me to run, go Jay go! So that’s what I did. I decided I might as well finish so I started to run with the hopes I wouldn’t be too far behind. By the time I was onto my final lap the last runner was only a few feet in front of me. I started passing the slower runners and when I rounded the bend for the final sprint, I poured it on. I wish I could say I passed all the runners and ended up winning the race but this isn’t a movie. I didn’t win and I didn’t place second or third either. But I didn’t lose, I ended up in the middle of the pack which for me was great because I was able to tell myself, ‘If I hadn’t of fallen, maybe I would have won that race!’
I don’t know what would have happened in where I would have ultimately ended up in standings, but the lesson I learned that day was this; how we end is as important as how we start.
The older I get the more important it is for me to finish my race well. I don’t know when the finish line will be for me, but I know that when I cross it there will be a crown of life waiting for me. And I want to be able to look back on my life and know that I ran the race with perseverance and I finished strong and I finished well.
When I was running that day I did feel like giving up. The embarrassment of bouncing down the track on my face instead of my feet was enough to defeat me. Feeling the hopelessness of ever catching up to the pack was discouraging. But in the end I decided to get up and keep running.
Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7-87 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
That warm June day in Kingston ON I finished the race. And I finished it strong. And the race we are in called faith or following Jesus is so much more important. But the some of the principles are the same.
We must train and be equipped to run well. With Holy Spirit as our coach and the Bible as our play book, we can be as equipped as we want to be. With others cheering us on and encouraging us we know we are not alone, but other runners like us are in this race as well. There are times it will take tenacity and discipline to stay spiritually fit, and we will have to deny ourselves some things others freely participate in. But it is worth it because the joy of running well and simply being in the race is the payoff!
Sometimes we will fail and we will fall. Then pick yourself back up and keep running. Don’t ever let the enemy tell you that falling puts you out of the race. Simply get up, dust yourself off, have a good cry, and even with bloody knees and an aching body, keep moving forward. Your coach Holy Spirit is with you, healing you, encouraging you, running right alongside you, and he will make sure you make it to the end where Jesus is waiting for you with your reward!
These past 21 Days have a been a joy for me. I have enjoyed the increased focus these days have brought to me as well as the joy of knowing my coach Holy Spirit has been increasing my capacity and equipping me for the next leg of my race. Training for a marathon or any other sport is not easy. It can be painful. But it serves the purpose of running well and to the best of our ability.
I am excited for the next lap around the track should I be spared for the entire year of 2026. None of us know when we will cross the finish line. Unlike a race on the track the finish line is different for all of us. But each of us can run well today, and know, should I cross the line today, tomorrow, or decades from now, when my time comes, I can say with Apostle Paul, I have run my race well.
Some of us will cross the line more bloodied than others. In my case many of my bruises are self-inflicted. Others of you the bruises you bear came because of life. It hasn’t been an easy leg of the race for you. There are some who are in a season of running as if it is effortless. (It’s okay, your time will come).
But what we all have in common is we need to stay in the race. Don’t give up, keep running to win, and if you do, you can’t lose. Jesus the author and finisher of your faith will make sure you stay in the race and in the end, you will win!
At the start of this year, let’s make the determination to end 2026 well. Thanks for journeying with us over these 21 days. See you on the track, I’m cheering you on!
​
Pastor Jay
