*Day 7: First Things First*
Today we end the first week of our Prayer and Fasting and begin the second week. Well Done for remaining engaged. The first week can be very good or very shaky and If you have struggled to Fast or stay engaged to God, don’t worry this new week will only get better as you honestly come before God and allow him to be your strength and your focus.
As we practice putting God first we find ourselves coming closer to God in everything we do.
When you don’t put God first you are saying I can do it myself but when you put God first you say; He can do it better than me so let Him lead. As you do this God takes your life and He elevates you, making you the head and not the tail. He lifts you up and allows you to be honoured in his sight and the sight of many. All of what I am saying is truth and treasure that is hidden in God’s word you just need to read diligently and your will understand what God wants for you.
One of the things that God wants you be is a pioneer who leads in the place of our God given purpose, but often we settle for less because we don’t take time to read Gods word to see what he wants for us and how we can do it and then Pray to receive direction and guidance of the journey.
In the book of acts, the early Church understood that God was doing *a new thing* and in order to align with the new thing they had to come around *the word of God and prayer* which was the author and pioneer of creation and the instigator of *the new*.
John 1:1 tells us of the role of the Word of God in creation. It illustrates that In the beginning was *the word* and the Word was with God and the Word was God… God and His word are one!!! Through the word all things were created in fact without the word nothing was created that has been created. We see this in Genesis that God created or pioneered the earth by speaking forth His word and it is that very word that he has given us to come around so that we too can be empowered to pioneer just like the word broke through the darkness and disorder to Pioneer a new genesis.
A pioneer is someone who goes where others fear and starts new things that others have never done before. A pioneer is a ground breaker who torches a trail where no path existed before. The early Church were pioneers and in the book of Acts we see a new move of God, no longer were people coming to God through sacrifices and other rituals but Jesus had come and written a new covenant with his blood and now the early Church had to pionner a new way o worship. How did they do this ? Well Acts 2:42 tells us that *they devoted themselves to being taught the Word of God by the Apostles* and they fellow-shipped and prayed together around *God's word* as they broke bread together.
The early Church understood that apart from God's word they could not pioneer or build the Church according to the instructions Jesus had left.
Today we find ourselves facing a pioneering season. How can we navigate this year of 2023 which noone has ever traversed before? Like the early Church we can come around the teaching of God word and prayer so that we can be empowered to Pioneer through this Season and bring God solutions to the world.
*Challenge:*
As you pray and fast, ask God what he is asking you to pioneer and let his Holy Spirit direct you to the word and show you as well as teach you, what you ought to do.