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Last week was the Feast of Purim, which is a reminder that God can turn the tables quickly on impossible situations. As soon as Purim was over Acts 28:27 jumped off the page at me and it says that if we would TURN God will heal us. Purim is a turning point in God's Yearly Cycle. 

Before we get into this concept of Turning lets touch on some upcoming Yearly Cycle Dates. 

We are currently in the 40 days of Lent, which is a time when people abstain from things such as meat, alcohol, etc. In Exodus it says that on the 7th day God rested and abstained from his work. The most important thing for us to be abstaining from is our own works. To turn from our ways and learn to rest in God's grace and his way of doing things. This time of the year is a reminder to clean out and let go of our old ways and the most important thing to clean out is all the ways we are working in our own strength rather than turning to God and relying on his strength, grace, and his inexhaustible...

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This is part 4 in our series on the 30 Day Prayer Challenge. 

Here is a recap of what we have done in the 30 Day Prayer Challenge so far...

• Pray the 2 minute prayer each day.
• Then take a few minutes to be still and listen for God's direction. Here are some good questions to ask...
  1. What do you know to do over the next day?
  2. is there anything you have been procrastinating on or that keeps popping up in your conscience?
  3. Ask God what the most important thing is that he is trying to communicate with you today?
  4. Ask God if there is anything else he wants you doing over the next day.
• This whole process should take just a few minutes but once done you have a plan for the day. You haven't finished praying until you have listened. 
• Then execute trusting that God is with you and helping you.
• Make sure to listen and stay tuned into God throughout the day so he can course correct you if needed. He may adjust your plan as the day goes. 

I like to go through th...

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Purim is today and is a reminder of how quickly God can turn the tables and take us from fasting to feasting. The typical tradition is to fast during the daylight hours and feast during the evening.  When fasting make sure to rely on God's grace for help rather than trying to discipline yourself out of will power. If fasting is too extreme for you, consider eating a little lighter during the day and having a slightly bigger meal in the evening.

Moving from fasting to feasting in one day symbolizes how God can quickly turn around situations that look impossible. When things are against us God can turn the tables and give us the upper hand, causing us to come out on top. 

Purim comes from book of Esther. A law was written that was going to destroy God's people, and once the law was written it could not be undone.

The answer was to write a new law that would override the old. When Queen Esther and Mordecai approached the king about writing a new law the king told t...

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Summary

• The Feast of Purim is Friday and reminds us that God is fighting for us and can turn situations around quickly. 
• Pray the 2 minute prayer from the 30 Day Prayer Challenge each day.
• After praying ask the following questions and listen for what God may tell you.
  • What do you know to do over the next 24 hours?
  • Is there anything you have been procrastinating on?
  • What is the most important thing God is trying to show or tell you today?
  • Is there anything else God wants you to do or focus on over the next day?
• The answers are the plan for the next 24 hours. 
• We asked God to help us do TODAY what is right and best according to him. Now we must develop confidence that he is going to help us. Confidence is one of the highest expressions of trust. 
• Think of it like a GPS. First we set the goal or destination. Then we activate the GPS by choosing to start navigation. Then we listen and follow the prompts on the journey. 
• Often we must first dea
...

Important Dates Coming Up - Purim Feb 25th - Feb 26th

The Feast of Purim begins on the evening of Feb 25th and ends the evening of Feb 26th. Purim comes from the book of Esther and is the day the tables were turned for God's people. It is a reminder of how quickly God can take us from fasting to feasting when the tables are turned. The typical tradition is to fast during the daylight hours on Feb 26th(basically skip breakfast and lunch) and feast in the evening, as a reminder of how quickly God can turn things around.

Confidence for Today

Yesterday started the 40 day period of Lent leading up to Passover. During Lent it's customary for people to abstain from things like meat, alcohol, or other things they feel led to abstain from. In Exodus 31:16-17 it says that on the 7th day God abstained from work and rested.

The most important thing to abstain from is our own works, and to rest and allow God to work through us. The key is immersing ourselves in God's word to clean out ways we...

This is part 2 of the Other Half of Prayer from the 30 Day Prayer Challenge.

In the video above you will see a process for creating a plan for the day with God. 

Here is how to do this...

1. Pray the 2 minute prayer in the video.
2. Write down a list of everything you know to do over the next 24 hours.
3. Write down a list of anything that is on your conscience.
4. Ask God for the one most important thing he was trying to tell you or show you today and listen.
5. Ask God if there is anything else he wants you to do over the next 24 hours and listen.
6. Execute your plan trusting that God is with you helping you. Execute with joy.
7. Expect supernatural results.
8. This is a very freeing way to live. 

February is a reminder that our foundation in life is meant to be God's word and last week we started the 30 Day Prayer Challenge based on praying God's word. The challenge is simple...pray the 2 minute prayer each day (there is a link to the prayer below this message).

But, prayer is meant to be a 2 way communication. When you finish praying the 2 minute prayer you are not quite done...take some time to listen. 

Take a few minutes to be still and listen for what God says to you. Part of the 2 minute prayer is asking God to help us do what is right and best according to him today. But, in order to do this we need to listen to what he wants us to do.

Here is what to do. 

Take out a pen and paper and write down anything you know you need to do today. Then write down anything that has been on your conscience(it's one of the ways God speaks to us)... such as pay a bill, forgive someone, spend more time with your family, start eating better, start exercising, etc. Then be still and li...

In the Old Testament there were two times when the foundation of the temple was laid in the 2nd month. February being the 2nd month is a reminder that God's word is supposed to be the foundation of our lives. One of the greatest ways to make God's word our foundation is by praying his word consistently. 

With that in mind we are going to be starting a 30 Day Prayer Challenge next week. In this challenge I will be teaching the prayer that I pray over myself and all those around me everyday. When I first started the Abundant Life Blueprint my goal was to develop a program I could pass onto my kids and this prayer is one of the most important things I want to pass onto them. 

This prayer can be seen in the video above and has taken shape over several years. It combines several scriptures into one prayer. It has scriptures from Isaiah 61, Colossians 1, Acts 4, 2 Timothy 1, and the bulk of it comes from Ephesians 1 and the Prayer of Jabez.

Next Tuesday night at 7pm EST I will be teachi...

God in his grace has given us access to an unlimited inexhaustible supply of his love, power, peace, patience, joy, kindness, energy, and much more, but we must learn to receive this and let it flow in our lives. For me personally this has meant learning a completely different but much better way to live. It also meant unlearning much of what I thought to be true. In many ways we block the flow of grace because we rely on ourselves or other people. 

This training is meant to help us self assess how well this grace is flowing in our lives. Down below is a little more on the grace checkup.

Grace must be received from God, then it must flow through us, and out into the world.

The fruit of grace is that we see effortless growth and progress even when in tough situations.

First we must understand what God has made available and receive it by faith.

Then we must learn to let it flow through us by taking the pressure off of ourselves and getting out of the way.

Finally we must trust t...

In the Old Testament there were 2 times when the foundation of the temple was laid in the 2nd month. February being the 2nd month is a reminder that we need a solid foundation in our lives. In the Abundant Life Blueprint our foundation is built by trusting in God's word. 

Trusting in God's word means we trust his intentions, that he will keep his promises, and that we trust his timing. Every area of our lives... Purpose, health, family, finances, order, time, and community are supposed to be built upon a foundation of trust in God. It is this trust that leads to beautiful solutions in each area of our lives. 

Often in life we have problems or issues and we try to fix them, but usually our solutions lead to side effects and other issues we weren't expecting. For example, we focus on fixing a problem at work but it comes at the expense of our family or health.

A beautiful solution is one that happens by God's grace and it sets us free while also creating a ripple effect for good in ...