21 Days of Prayer and Fasting - January 5-25, 2025

To Be Truly Free

Joshua 24:15b (NLT) As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.

John 8:31-36 (NLT) Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

33“But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”

34Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. 35A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. 36So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

The Struggle with Freedom

Romans 7:15 (NLT) I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.

Romans 7:21-24 (NLT) I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22I love God’s law with all my heart. 23But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?

I Have Decided To Be Truly Free

Proverbs 28:13 (NLT) People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.

I John 1:9 (NLT) But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

James 5:16 (NLT) Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

We go to God for forgiveness.

We go to God’s people for healing.

Why Small Group Participation Is So Important

#1 - Arena: I know and you know.

Matthew 23:5 (NLT) Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels.

Matthew 23:27 (NLT) What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.

#2 - Mask: I know but you don’t know.

I’ll always stay as sick as my secrets.

Psalm 32:3 (NLT) When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.

Psalm 32:4 (NIV) Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

2 Corinthians 4:2 (MSG) We refuse to wear masks and play games... Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’” ~C.S. Lewis

Colossians 4:12 (NLT) Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God.

#3 - Blind spots: I don’t know but you know

Proverbs 27:6 (NKJV) Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Hebrews 3:12-13 (NLT) Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters.Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. 13You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.

I may not be able to fix your problems, but I promise not to let you deal with them alone.

#4 - Potential: I don’t know and you don’t know.

Proverbs 27:17 (NLT) As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

Colossians 2:19 (NLT) ...the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.

Next Step: Join a small group today.