21 Days of Prayer & Fasting 2021: Day 3

DAY 3: I AM ALIVE (IN CHRIST)
Wednesday, February 10

READ
Ephesians 2:1-10

REFLECT
In the classic 1931 movie Frankenstein, we discover Dr. Henry Frankenstein wants to build a man in his own image, using the body of a dead man. He and his assistant, Fritz, dig up a freshly buried body, but they discover the brains of the body are too severely damaged to be put to use. So, they steal a brain from Dr. Frankenstein’s former teacher, Dr. Waldman. Fritz accidently drops the glass jar containing the brain with a “good brain” label on it and decides to take the glass jar with the label “bad brain” instead. Using some type of machine, Dr. Frankenstein brings the body to life in the middle of a thunderstorm, and Frankenstein’s monster is born. The rest of the movie then focuses on the monster’s struggle in his “life after death.”

In the real world, we cannot take what is dead and give it life. However, God can. He specializes in it. He is in the business of giving new life to those who are dead! Ephesians 2:4 tells us it was God who made us alive “in Christ.” As a result, our identities as “alive” people of God gives us strength and confidence when the world tries to offer us “fake” life or tries to wear us down to the point of death.

God makes us alive in order to show us off (v. 7), to produce good works and to glorify Him (vs. 8-10). In fact, He gets tremendous glory when He takes us at our very worst and makes us alive to serve Him. But the reason He does this is because of His great love for us (v. 4). It is not to show off His power or because He is ashamed of His creation and is trying to save face. He makes us alive in Him because of His radical love for us!

RESPOND
Spend time in prayer, following the Upward, Inward, Outward, Upward format.

Upward: Who God is; What God has done, is doing, will do
Inward: Who you are; How you live
Outward: Intercession for others; unified prayer focus with Pathway

TODAY’S PRAYER: God, we thank you for making us alive! We ask you to help us walk as living people who have been transferred from death to life. Guide us toward what encourages us to live out this reality and help us to be aware of the dangers of returning back to our graves.

Upward: Thanksgiving and Worship