21 Days of Prayer
You're invited to join us in 21 days of prayer for the mission and vision of Washington Conference, beginning Sunday, January 1, 2023 and ending Sunday, January 21, 2023.
A revival need be expected only in answer to prayer.
Washington Conference needs fresh fire from the Holy Spirit to re-energize the mission and sharpen the vision for the gospel advancement in our territory.
We need to hear from God, and the best way to do that is to fast and pray through His Word, claim his promises, and humble ourselves.
Vision
The LORD our God said to us at Horeb, 'You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance...'
As a conference, we believe this is God's word to us today. There are baptism and membership levels that we've been stuck at long enough. During these 21 days, we encourage you to pray consistently for the people God has placed in your life. Our goal is to advance the mission by adding 1,000 souls to our Washington Conference family in 2023 through baptism and profession of faith.
Fasting
We encourage you to do a Daniel Fast during these 21 days. Starting the year with prayer and fasting is a wonderful way to consecrate our lives to God for the upcoming year.
Now and onward till the close of time the people of God should be more earnest, more wide-awake, not trusting in their own wisdom, but in the wisdom of their Leader. They should set aside days for fasting and prayer. Entire abstinence from food may not be required, but they should eat sparingly of the most simple food.
We know about Daniel, who ate fruits and vegetables for 10 days. We likewise encourage you to adopt a very simple diet during these special days.
If we want clearer minds for hearing God’s voice, and if we want to draw closer to Him, we need to make sure that our diet is not hindering us.
Fasting is not only about abstaining from food.
We also encourage you to fast from TV, movies, computer games, and even Facebook and YouTube.
Sometimes things that are not bad in themselves can take too much of our time. Put aside everything possible so you have more time to spend with the Lord.
Fasting is not a quick way to obtain a miracle from God. Fasting is all about humbling ourselves so God can work in us and through us. Let’s draw closer to Him through prayer and fasting, and He will draw closer to us.
Holy Spirit
Be sure to ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you should pray for in a person’s life or in a particular situation.
The Bible tells us that we do not know what to pray for and that the Holy Spirit is the One who intercedes for us.
We must not only pray in Christ’s name, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This explains what is meant when it is said that the Spirit ‘maketh intercession for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered’ (Romans 8:26). Such prayer God delights to answer. When with earnestness and intensity we breathe a prayer in the name of Christ, there is in that very intensity a pledge from God that He is about to answer our prayer ‘exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think’ (Ephesians 3:20)
Faith
We read in the Spirit of Prophecy that “prayer and faith will do what no power on earth can accomplish” (Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 509).
We are also told that “for any gift He has promised, we may ask; then we are to believe that we receive, and return thanks to God that we have received” (Ellen G. White, Education, p. 258).
Make a habit of thanking God in advance through faith for what He is going to do and how He is going to answer your prayers.
Pray the Vision Forward
During these 21 days we encourage you to pray consistently for the people God has placed in your life.
Choose five to seven people—they can be relatives, friends, coworkers, neighbors, or simply acquaintances.
Take some time to ask God whom He would like you to pray for. Ask Him to give you a real burden for these people.
Write the names on a piece of paper and keep it in a prominent place, such as in your Bible. You’ll be amazed at how God works in response to your prayers!
Pray 1,000
In addition to your personal prayer goal, we believe God is wanting us to advance the mission by adding 1,000 souls to our Washington Conference family in 2023 through baptism and profession of faith.
This is an audacious faith goal that has never been reached in our conference.
What would it take to achieve this goal? Only an average of 10 baptisms or professions or faith per church in 2023.
Is anything too hard for the Lord? Absolutely not. God says, “According to your faith let it be to you” (Matt. 9:29). Let’s pray and advance the vision forward.
Missed the Dates?
We've got you covered. Visit the video archive for pastoral devotions designed to guide you through 21 days of prayer.