The Importance of 40

"Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, 'Yet a little while, And the coming one will come and will not delay; But my righteous one shall live by faith, And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." - Hebrews 10:35-39

The number 40 is mentioned 146 times in the Bible, and often signifies a period of testing:

--Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. (Luke 4:1-13; Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 4:12-13)

--There were 40 days between the resurrection and ascension of Christ. (Acts 1:3)

--Moses lived 40 years in Egypt, and 40 years in the desert before God called him, and (twice) spent 40 days and nights on the top of
Mt. Sinai. (Exodus 24:18, 34:28, Acts 7:23)

--God flooded the earth by having it rain for 40 days and nights.
(Genesis 7:12)

These are just a few examples that show the significance of the number 40 in Scripture, but there are many more! We all know that prayer is crucial to our faith, and we are excited to embark on this intentional 40-day prayer journey together as a church.

To begin, we request that you take a week-long fast from "distractions." Please pick one or more things that grab your attention and thought patterns throughout the day. For some, a distraction might be watching sports, while for others it might be using social media or reading the paper. Whatever your primary distraction is, we'd like you to remove it from your life for a week to create space and prepare your heart for this prayer journey.

Our prayer team has worked hard to put this devotional guide together, and we are so excited for you to use it! Please read one day at a time, using each day's content to focus your prayers. If you're able, keeping a prayer journal during these 40 days could be very helpful to you as well.Our hope is that our church unites in prayer over the next 40 days and seeks personal as well as corporate revival. This begins by removing distractions and putting our focus on God. Lord, we seek revival. Start with me!

-Pastor Mark Balmer and Pastor Chris Stukenberg