Holy Habits: Ten Days of Prayer and Fasting

Devotional

Day 1: Prayer: Connection and Communication with God

Prayer is not merely a list of requests or a transactional exchange; it is a profound opportunity for genuine connection and communication with the God of the universe. It's a chance to confidently approach His throne, not because of our merit, but because of His love and the sacrifice of Jesus. This relationship allows us to speak to Him, sit in His presence, and simply be with Him. God desires a deep, ongoing relationship with us, far beyond just meeting our needs in extreme situations. He loves us too much to leave us where we are, always inviting us into a deeper intimacy. This daily connection transforms our understanding of His heart, not just His hand. [44:51]

Hebrews 4:16 (NASB)
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Reflection: How can I shift my perspective on prayer from a transactional request list to a genuine desire for connection with God?

Day 2: Hallowing God's Name: Prayer as Worship

True prayer begins with worship, placing God at the rightful center and top of our lives. When we hallow His name, we acknowledge His supreme authority and glory above all else. This act of worship helps us recognize our place and His, understanding that His role is not our responsibility. It's a moment to declare, 'God, thank you for who you are,' before anything else is even spoken. By putting His name first, we affirm that He is the one we trust the most, allowing Him to receive all the glory. This foundational act of worship sets the stage for all other aspects of our prayer life. [54:01]

Matthew 6:9 (NASB)
Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.

Reflection: What names or priorities do I sometimes place above God's in my daily thoughts or actions, and how can I intentionally hallow His name more consistently?

Day 3: Surrendering Our Will: Prayer as Submission

Prayer is also a profound act of submission, where we willingly give up our way for God's. It means praying, 'Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,' even when His will differs from our own desires. This submission is not about being entitled to what we want, but about holding our own plans loosely and embracing His. When we submit our lives to God, we accept His path, even if we don't fully understand or agree with it at first. Resenting His will often stems from prayer being solely about getting our way. Instead, true submission allows God to work, releasing our control and trusting His perfect plan. [58:35]

Matthew 6:10 (NASB)
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.

Reflection: In what specific area of my life am I currently struggling to surrender my own desires or plans to God's will, and what would a step of submission look like there?

Day 4: Praying for Needs, Trusting God's Greater Plan

Supplication is a biblical and necessary part of prayer, where we bring our needs and the needs of others before God. We ask for our daily bread, for forgiveness, and for specific outcomes in our lives. However, it's crucial to hold these requests loosely, understanding that God often has a greater purpose in mind. Our prayers for personal comfort or gain should always be balanced with a desire for His kingdom to impact the greater good. How we react when our prayers aren't answered exactly as we wish reveals the true condition of our hearts. We pray for what we need, but we accept whatever answer God gives, trusting His sovereign wisdom. [01:03:33]

Matthew 6:11-12 (NASB)
‘Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Reflection: When I pray for my needs or the needs of others, how often do I genuinely hold those requests loosely, trusting God's ultimate wisdom and kingdom purpose, even if the answer isn't what I expect?

Day 5: Finding Strength in God: Prayer's Empowering Presence

Finally, prayer is a source of immense strength, acknowledging that we cannot navigate life's challenges without God. It's an admission of our weakness, asking Him not to lead us into temptation and to deliver us from evil. When we connect and communicate with the Creator, we walk away feeling better and more empowered than before. The altar is not a place of weakness, but a place where we gain strength by admitting our inability to do it alone. God promises to meet us in our vulnerability, giving us the power to forgive, overcome, and endure. In our weakness, His strength shines most brightly, enabling us to take on anything. [01:08:57]

Matthew 6:13 (NASB)
‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’

Reflection: Where in my life do I feel most vulnerable or weak, and how can I intentionally lean into prayer this week to draw on God's strength in that specific area?

Sermon Summary

A call to seek God’s heart rather than His hand frames a return to the ancient power of altars—places of encounter, covenant, and sacrifice. Drawing from Genesis and Noah’s response after the ark, one emphasis is gratitude and worship as the proper first posture when God’s protection and provision are recognized. That posture shapes prayer: it is not a transactional gumball machine for getting requests fulfilled, but a means of encountering the Creator, aligning the will of the seeker with God’s purposes, and receiving sustaining strength. Using Matthew 6 as a lens, prayer is parsed into four interlocking movements—worship (hallowing God’s name), submission (seeking God’s will), supplication (bringing needs and others before God), and strength (recognition of dependence to resist temptation and forgive)—each redefining how believers approach daily dependence on God.

Jesus’ pattern of cyclical ministry and retreat is held up as a model: large outward work followed by deliberate withdrawal into prayer, then return. That rhythm underscores that ministry flows from intimacy with the Father, not the other way around. Practical discipleship follows: a challenge to abandon average patterns and adopt “holy habits” that produce life in fullness—regular gathering, generosity, serving, meaningful community, and disciplined prayer. To catalyze this, a corporate ten-day season of prayer and fasting is proposed as a way to weaken fleshly control and amplify dependence on the Spirit, with daily prompts offered for communal focus.

The invitation is both inward and outward: inward as renewed commitment to spiritual practices that form character and outward as a summons to invite others and be a community that changes the world. The movement culminates in an open invitation to place life under Christ’s lordship—recognizing that all transformation begins with the cross and flows into renewed habits that align a person with the life Jesus intends. The hope presented is that disciplined prayer, surrendered will, and communal devotion will reshape marriages, families, ministries, and communities into tangible expressions of God’s kingdom.

Key Takeaways

1. Seek God's heart, not His hand Prayer that begins with God’s character reorders desire and devotion; it moves gratitude ahead of requests and shapes expectations around relationship rather than entitlement. When the heart is aligned with God’s purposes, answers are interpreted through covenantal trust instead of immediate satisfaction. This posture reduces spiritual anxiety and cultivates worship that endures through unanswered seasons. [19:04]
2. Prayer forms: worship, submission, supplication, strength Effective prayer is a disciplined architecture: first hallowing God’s name, then yielding personal agendas, bringing needs and intercession, and finally receiving the power to persevere and forgive. Each movement guards against reducing prayer to a checklist and invites transformation of character. Rooting petitions in worship and submission helps accept outcomes without bitterness. [52:08]
3. Imitate Jesus' rhythmic prayer habit Ministry should be cyclically fueled by retreat—not vice versa—so that impact flows out of intimacy rather than busyness. Regular withdrawal for prayer renews vision, recalibrates priorities, and prevents spiritual burnout. Reproducing that rhythm sanctifies public success and keeps service rooted in dependence. [48:45]
4. Ten days of prayer and fasting Fasting crafts a tangible space where fleshly impulses are denied and spiritual appetite is awakened; paired with focused prayer, it becomes a training ground for surrender. Short, intentional fasts recalibrate daily rhythms and reveal where control still resides so God can reorder affections. Committing publicly to a season like this invites communal accountability and profound reorientation toward lived discipleship. [69:26]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[19:04] - Power of Altars
[21:18] - Altar Prayer Invitation
[35:09] - Transition to Matthew 6
[37:31] - Holy Habits & Goals
[41:46] - Commitments: Church, Give, Serve
[42:30] - Prayer Defined: Connection
[48:45] - Jesus' Rhythm of Prayer
[51:50] - The Lord's Prayer Explained
[58:05] - Submission and Supplication
[65:48] - Prayer as Strength and Forgiveness
[69:26] - Ten-Day Prayer & Fasting Call

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading

Matthew 6:9-13 (NASB)
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’”

Hebrews 4:16 (NASB)
“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Genesis 8:20 (NASB)
“Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”

Observation questions

After experiencing God’s protection through the flood, what was the very first action Noah took upon leaving the ark? [19:53]
According to Hebrews 4:16, what is the specific posture or attitude we are encouraged to have when we approach God’s throne? [45:12]
In the model prayer Jesus provides in Matthew 6, what are the four distinct movements or focuses that define how we should communicate with the Father? [52:08]
What was the specific cyclical pattern Jesus followed regarding his public work and his private life? [48:45]

Interpretation questions

Seeking God’s heart rather than His hand changes the nature of a person's request. How does starting with God's character and gratitude reorder a person's desires before they ever ask for a need to be met? [19:04]
In Matthew 6:10, the phrase "Your will be done" implies a release of personal control. What does it look like practically to hold one's own way loosely while grabbing onto God's will, especially when His will doesn't align with personal preferences? [59:07]
Prayer is often treated as a "gumball machine" or a "gold rush" where the goal is simply to get an answer. How does viewing prayer as "connection and communication" rather than a transaction change the way a person handles seasons where God seems silent? [44:51]
The prayer for strength in Matthew 6 is immediately followed by a command regarding forgiveness. Why is the strength of God necessary to forgive others, and why might a lack of forgiveness hinder a person's own experience of God's strength? [01:06:42]

Application questions

Noah built an altar of gratitude immediately after a season of protection. When you look back at the last few months, where has God protected or provided for you? How can you create a "place of encounter" this week to simply say thank you before asking for anything else? [19:53]
We are invited to enter God's presence with confidence, yet many feel they need to "get on His schedule" or apologize for bothering Him. Do you struggle to feel confident when you pray? What "flaws" or "messes" in your life make you hesitate to approach the throne, and how does the promise of grace in Hebrews 4:16 address that hesitation? [45:12] [46:49]
Jesus' ministry flowed out of His intimacy with the Father, not the other way around. Looking at your current schedule, are you operating out of a "rhythm of retreat," or are you trying to serve God out of spiritual burnout? What would it look like for you to "disappear" for a moment this week to reconnect with Him? [48:45] [49:28]
Walking away from an "average" spiritual life requires committing to holy habits like regular gathering, giving, and serving. Which of these habits feels the most difficult for you to prioritize right now? What is one specific step you can take this month to move from "average" to "disciplined" in that area? [40:19] [41:46]
Fasting is a way to tell the flesh that it does not have control over the spirit. As we consider a season of prayer and fasting, what is a "sacrifice" (food, media, or a specific habit) that would truly challenge your dependence on your own comforts? How might denying that impulse for ten days help you hear the Spirit more clearly? [01:09:47] [01:10:26]
If you woke up tomorrow and God had granted every request you made today, how much would the world around you actually change versus just your own personal comfort? How can you shift your prayers this week to focus more on the "greater good" and the impact of God's kingdom? [01:03:33]

Sermon Clips

Everybody would. In fact, when people find out that I'm a pastor, we're in the gym, we're talking, they find out I'm a pastor or we're in the store, whatever. And you know what they say to me? Oh, man. I pray all the time. And I wanna look at them and go, I I never like, it never crossed my mind that you didn't. You know? I didn't think that you didn't. That's great. That's awesome. But what I wish I could say without offending some people is that doesn't make you a believer. Praying does not make you a believer. Come on, y'all. But that's the beauty of prayer is any of us can approach God. Any of us can approach God. Any but when we walk in a relationship with Jesus, prayer is so much more special. [00:42:42] (41 seconds) #RelationshipOverReligion

God had brought him and his family through and brought many others through. And the first thing he did is he didn't go down and go, hey, God. I need He didn't go out and say, hey, God. I want He got out and said, hey, God. Thank you. I wanna encounter you today. God, I wanna I wanna I wanna thank you today for your protection over my life, for your provision over my life. God, I I just wanna encounter you. I wanna sacrifice to you today. And I I just wanna tell you, no matter what season you're in today, God is ready to meet you where you are, but loves us way too much to leave us there. [00:19:55] (34 seconds) #GratitudeFirst

But he's gonna meet with us. Why? Because all God wants is relationship. Prayer is an opportunity to connect and communicate with the God of the universe. And what a blessing. What a blessing. I don't know about you, y'all acting real holy today, but I'm a flawed human being. I'm a flawed person. My mind is a mess sometimes. My intentions are a mess sometimes. My attitude is a mess sometimes. Anybody with me in the room? Come on. I'm a flawed human being. What an honor that I get to go before God. [00:46:28] (35 seconds) #ApproachGodBoldly

Prayer is so powerful. Prayer is something that is just such a moment where we could connect with the Father. We get to connect with God. Most believers, most followers of Jesus say they only pray whenever they're in extreme situation or extreme need. That's statistically true. Most people say that is when I pray. Whenever I'm in a hard situation, I need something, or whenever I just need God to tell me something, answer, I need to and that's when we pray. Can I tell you if that's the only time we pray, we're missing out on the greatest relationship of our life? [00:43:23] (35 seconds) #PrayDailyNotJustInCrisis

And that's what Jesus is trying to get us to see is prayer is worship. Because whenever I place God at the rightful center of my life, when I place God at the top of the throne of my life and I sit him there, watch this, I now begin to realize what my place is and what his place is. So here's what happens. Whenever I start by putting God at the at the top, at the front of it all, when I hallow his name, here's what happens. I realize that his role is not my responsibility. I I get to realize in that prayer, hey, God, you got a lot. You got a big role in this, and at best, I'm a backup dancer on your music video. [00:52:44] (41 seconds) #PrayerIsWorship

You ever you ever sat in a in a room or in a space with people that just give life to you? Like, they're encouraging. They're they're uplifting. They just give you life. Right? So Friday night, we had a brotherhood meeting. We sat around the fire. We ate Philly cheese steaks. It was great. Right? We sat around we talked. We laughed a lot. We even shot a gun. You know, it was great. Not like, at a Target, by the way. Like, we did some we had some fun. Right? And then I went into that, and y'all gonna be honest, I'm I was tired. Sleet is, like, sleepy tired. And I went and I left that, and I was like, I needed that. I mean, that was good. We talked about theology. We talked about Jesus. We talked about life change. We talked about what the next class of brotherhood and discipleship journey that was gonna look like, and what that was gonna be. And I I looked at my wife, and I was like, I needed that fire pit. I needed that time together. Like all the people that led it last year, we talked. And I was like, yeah. I feel good. Why? Because I was I was around I was with my brothers that lifted me up. I felt encouraged. I had some strength about me. [01:07:16] (76 seconds) #StrengthInHisPresence

Now imagine what it's like when I get into the presence of the creator. It's the connection and communication to go, God, I I I can take on anything. And what we tend to do as humans is in our weakness, we overcompensate. For our weakness, we try to act strong. But the bible's very clear. Hey, let your weakness shine because that's where God's strength shines. Prayer strength. That's why the altar is a place of strength, not weakness. [01:08:33] (27 seconds) #WorshipLeadsToSubmission

If you had tomorrow morning, if you wake up at 6AM tomorrow morning, before you go to the gym, before you get started with your cup of coffee, before you're on the way to school or work, whatever, and you had everything you prayed for today, how much impact would the world have versus you? If most of us got what we prayed for today or prayed for yesterday, can I tell you what? Our bank accounts would look better. Praise God. [01:03:17] (29 seconds) #SurrenderYourWay

Ask a question about this sermon

Chatbot

What does seeking God's heart not His hand mean?

What are the four purposes of prayer?

What is the rhythm of Jesus' prayer life?

Holy Habits: Ten Days of Prayer and Fasting

Devotional

Day 1: Prayer: Connection and Communication with God

Day 2: Hallowing God's Name: Prayer as Worship

Day 3: Surrendering Our Will: Prayer as Submission

Day 4: Praying for Needs, Trusting God's Greater Plan

Day 5: Finding Strength in God: Prayer's Empowering Presence

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

Holy Habits: Ten Days of Prayer and Fasting

Share