The Value of Accountability

One of the great values of the "21 Days to Change" is that it reminded us of the great value of accountability. To know that you have another person to help you stay on track is invaluable in the Christian life. "Iron sharpens iron" we need each other and some close Christians friends to help us along the way.

Below is a list of accountability questions that I came across some time ago while taking a course at Dallas Seminary. Maybe you have a friend or two of the same gender that you could set down with once or twice a month to go other these with.

ACCOUNTABILITY QUESTIONS
1. Have you spent regular time in the Scriptures and in prayer?
2. Have you been completely above reproach in your financial dealings?
3. Have you spent quality relationship time with your family and friends?
4. Have you done your 100% best in your job, studies, business etc?
5. Have you told any half-truths or outright lies, putting yourself in a better light to those around you?
6. Have you shared the Gospel with an unbeliever this week?
7. Have you taken care of your body through regular physical exercise and proper eating/sleeping habits?
8. Have you had any flirtatious or lustful attitudes, tempting thoughts, or exposed yourself to any explicit materials which would not glorify God?
9. Have you allowed any person or circumstance to rob your of your joy?
10. Have you lied to me/us on any of your answers today?

21 Days 2 Change - Day 21

PRAISE GOD!!!!!

We made it. 21 days of prayer, 21 days of fasting, 21 days of the WORD, 21 days of corporate prayer, 21 days of change and we have a lot to be thankful for.

It has not been easy but it definitely has been worth it. I can rejoice because my relationship with God has gone higher...I needed this for "life" has a way of draining your relationship with God but these "21 Days of Change" have reenergized my spiritual walk. I have so enjoyed how prayer and the WORD has moved back into my home as a family and I have so enjoyed the Wednesday nights and Sunday morning prayer. I have also enjoyed the challenge of eating healthy, I am a terrible eater but I have eaten things I never thought I would eat before. I have read labels, I have lost 7 lbs, and I feel better then ever. I don't even have the cravings that I had at one time.

James 4:8a states, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." I have sensed this in awesome ways. Now serving God is not all about feelings, but the actions of fasting and praying have motivated me in a number of ways and I am grateful.

Thank you, Concord for being a church open to change and seeking God so passionately in this season. I am so proud of you. You thought you won't make it but you did and I am so elated for you. God is so awesome!!! May you use this season in your life as a spiritual marker for your walk with God.

See you in a little while...take care! Let's praise HIM this morning for DAY 21!!!!

21 Days 2 Change - Day 17 & 18

As you reflect on your experiences over the past 17 days, I am sure many things come to mind in response to the changes you have made in your life and the growth in your prayer lives. You have changed your spiritual diet and you have changed your physical diet. As you reflect on these changes, what aspects of the "21 Days 2 Change" do you plan to continue even after Sunday arrives? Where do you think we go from here?

21 Days 2 Change - Day 16

Hello Family,

On Sunday night, we hosted a fellowship at the house for some students from Dallas Seminary and the menu was pizza and wings while they brought a salad, two desserts and soda. We had planned the fellowship before the fast and so there was no backing out. I am a junk food addict. We've got a Meat Lovers Pizza, Honey Barbecue wings, Pepperoni pizza, a Oreo Swirl dessert and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. But God is so faithful and he gave me strength to resist and I ate the salad. I have noticed that the times I have struggled most have been when I see other people eating something that I want (sometimes its a commercial).

Isn't that how temptation works? Temptation comes when we start looking at something that we don't need and convincing ourselves that we need it. Ultimately, we exchange God's best for cheap substitutes.

Please keep posting your answers to this question, "How Has 21 Days 2 Change Impacted Me?"

Finally, let me conclude with the final three purposes of fasting.
6. To Express Concern for the Work of God - Nehemiah chapter 1 describes how Nehemiah fasted because he was heartbroken over the city of Jerusalem. Then after a time or prayer and fasting he then went to work to do something tangible and public to strengthen this work of God. Christians may fast and pray because we feel a burden for the work of God in a specific way.

7. To Overcome Temptation and Dedicate Yourself to God - Jesus did this for in Matt 4:1-11, we find Jesus praying and fasting for 40 days and this prepares him for one of the greatest tests of his life. Satan tests him and he passes this test and possibly it was his dedication to God for 40 days that prepared him for the task. Christians can use fasting as a way to dedicate themselves to God as they prepare for a new season in life.

8. To Express Love and Worship to God - Anna in Luke 2:37 exemplifies this for fasting can be an expression of finding your greatest pleasure and enjoyment in God. Fasting honors God and is a means of worshiping Him as such. It means that your stomach isn’t your god as it is with some (see Phil. 3:19). Instead it is God’s servant, and fasting proves it because you’re willing to sublimate its desires to those of the Spirit.

21 Days 2 Change - Days 12, 13, 14 & 15

Well, today is Day 15 the countdown is fast approaching. I have a different mindset these last 6 days then I did when I started, I feel so excited about finishing well. My hope for each of you is that you are experiencing a new closeness with God. Can you believe that you have gone 15 straight days without meat? Can you believe you have gone 15 straight days without soda? Can you believe that you have had 15 straight days of reading the Word and reading your devotional? And even if you missed a day, you still have made some great strides. Congratulations!! Please post on today your answers to this question, "How Has 21 Days 2 Change Impacted Me?" I really need your help, your responses will be included in our Video of Change we plan to show next Sunday. We may not be able to use all of them but please share yours, it will be a great source of encouragement to those who read the blog.

Let me close by offering you two more purposes of fasting.

4. To Express Repentance and a Return to God - Fasting can be a signal to a commitment to obedience and a new direction. The Israelites expressed repentance through fasting in 1 Sam 7:6. Repentance must be a part of any season of repentance as you have seen through the devotions for without repentance, fasting is only a diet. Lack of repentance removes all spiritual significance.

5. To Humble Oneself Before God - Fasting when practiced with the right motives is a physical expression of humility before God, just as kneeling or prostrating yourself in prayer can reflect humility before Him. King Ahab humbled himself in 1 Kings 21:27-29 and King David did in Ps 35:13. Fasting challenges us to humble ourselves by sacrificing what we normally.

21 Days 2 Change - Day 11

Day 11 has arrived and thank God for passing the half way point. Today's devotional was so on point that we simply need to "remember our first love." For the next couple of days, I want to do some reflections from a journal article I recently read on the purposes of prayer. Each day for the next few days, I will give you some biblical principles about the purposes for fasting.

The Purposes for Fasting
1. To strengthen prayer
The most important aspect of the discipline of fasting is its influence on prayer. Scripture does not teach that fasting is some kind of spiritual hunger strike that compels God to do our bidding but it does change our praying. Ezra (in 8:23), Neh (in 1:4), Dan (in 9:3), and Joel (in 2:12) each used fasting as a way to strengthen their prayers. There is something about eliminating things from our life that allows us to pray better.
2. To seek God's guidance
In Judges 20 Israel lost a war to the tribe of Benjamin and it wasn't until they prayed and fasted that God assured them victory (20:28). Fasting does not ensure certainty of receiving God's guidance but it does help us to silence some of the many voices in our lives. I have spoken to families that have turned off the TV and video games for 21 days, they clearly have greater clarity simply because of silencing all the noise in their homes. I have discovered personally that food simply has too much power in my life...someone told me that food is their best friend, it always makes them happy and it always brings comfort...fasting removes the power from food and gives the power back to God.
3. To seek deliverance or protection
After being notified that a vast army was coming against him, King Jehoshaphat was afraid and proclaimed a fast for all Judah. People from all over Judah came together to seek help from the Lord (2 Chron. 20:3–4). We find a similar occurrence in Esther and Ezra, that people fasted to seek deliverance or protection from enemies and circumstances. It seems that corporate fasting by God's people allowed them to unite in prayer and God often answered these prayers.

Have you seen any of these purposes at work in your life during the 21 Days to Change?

21 Days 2 Change - Day 10

I thought some of you might enjoy this video. Sometimes, we forget that we have access all by ourselves...it is a play on those Geico Commercials

Matthew 6:5-8 (NIV)
5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Keep praying and fasting you are half way there...11 days left...