A SEPTEMBER TO REMEMBER 2026- FOCUS FAST DAY 1

August 30, 2026

ARISE Focus Fast — Day One

Empty Your Hands

Fasting Companion: The Sauls Will Begin to Fall

Today’s Focus: Release • Forgiveness • Clean Hands • Rest

Anchor Scripture:

“Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart…”
Psalm 24:3–4

Welcome to Day One of the Focus Fast

As we prepare to enter the month of September, I believe the Lord is calling us into a very intentional posture:

Empty your hands.

In our message, The Sauls Will Begin to Fall, we talked about the biblical relationship between Saul and David and what happened when God determined that one season of leadership was ending and another was being established.

Saul pursued David.

He mistreated David.

He threw spears at David.

He attempted to manipulate circumstances to destroy David.

He sent people after David.

Yet there is something remarkable about David:

David never allowed Saul’s heart to become his heart.

Saul threw the spear, but David refused to throw it back.

Saul pursued, but David prayed.

Saul attempted to control the outcome, while David continually placed the outcome into God's hands.

And as we enter this Focus Fast, I believe God is asking us to do the same.

Today isn't about Saul.

Today is about what is still in your hands.

What Is the ARISE Focus Fast?

The Focus Fast is an intentional time of removing distractions and turning our attention back toward God.

This isn't necessarily about food.

The question is:

What has been consuming your focus?

Maybe it's social media.

Maybe it's television.

Maybe it's your phone.

Maybe it's unnecessary conversations.

Maybe it's checking someone's page.

Maybe it's constantly consuming information.

Maybe it's simply noise.

Whatever God identifies, intentionally lay it aside today and replace that time with prayer, Scripture, worship, journaling, and quiet time with Him.

The purpose isn't simply to remove something.

We're making room for Someone.

We want to hear God clearly concerning where we've been, where we are, and where He's taking us next.

You Don't Need to Know What Happens to Saul

Romans 12:19 tells us:

“Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God's wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”

Sometimes we have physically left something while still carrying it emotionally.

You may have left the relationship.

You may have left the environment.

You may have stopped responding.

You may have established boundaries.

You may not even be dealing with the situation anymore.

But is it still in your hands?

Maybe you aren't holding the person anymore.

Maybe you're holding what they did.

Maybe you're holding what they said.

Maybe you're holding what they took from you.

Maybe you're holding the apology you never received.

Maybe you're holding the injustice.

Or perhaps you're holding one simple question:

“God, what are You going to do about them?”

Sometimes what we need to surrender isn't our enemy.

It's our desire to see what happens to our enemy.

You don't have to monitor someone's consequences to know God heard your prayers.

You don't need to witness their judgment to know God saw what happened.

Release them.

Delayed Judgment Does Not Mean God Didn't See

One of the things we learned through Saul's story is that there can be an in-between period between God's pronouncement and the visible outcome.

Saul had already been rejected as king before David ever sat on the throne.

David was anointed while Saul was still seated.

God had already determined that a transition would occur, but there was still an interval before that transition became visible.

And sometimes that interval is an extension of God's mercy.

Second Peter 3:9 tells us that God is patient, not wanting anyone to perish but wanting people to come to repentance.

God gives people opportunities.

He gives people time to turn around.

He gives people opportunities to make things right.

Saul received opportunities.

So as we enter this new season, understand something:

You may see certain Sauls fall while other Sauls remain standing.

Don't allow that to become your focus.

Their timeline belongs to God.

God may still be extending mercy.

God may still be providing opportunities for repentance.

God may be doing things behind the scenes that you know absolutely nothing about.

Your assignment is not to determine where somebody else is on God's timeline.

Your responsibility is to make sure your heart is prepared for yours.

Don't Rejoice Over the Fall

When Saul finally died in 1 Samuel 31, David did something extraordinary.

He mourned.

After everything Saul had done to him, David didn't throw a celebration.

He didn't say:

Finally!

He got what he deserved!

Look what my God did to my enemy!

David mourned.

That tells us something about the condition of David's heart.

And I believe this is extremely important as we move into this next season.

If God brings justice, our response should not become:

“Ha! Look what God did to you.”

Our response should be:

“Father, thank You for hearing me. Thank You for protecting me. Thank You for keeping me. Thank You that I didn't have to become what hurt me in order to survive it.”

God's justice should produce reverence, not arrogance.

Don't Let Yesterday's Bitterness Enter Tomorrow's Harvest

Hebrews 12:15 warns us to make sure that no root of bitterness springs up within us.

And sometimes bitterness doesn't concern something happening right now.

Sometimes it's old.

The relationship ended years ago.

The friendship ended.

The season changed.

You've moved forward.

And then something happens.

You hear their name.

You see something.

Someone tells you something.

A memory surfaces.

And suddenly you find yourself having conversations in your head about something that happened years ago.

That's when you have to recognize:

Something is trying to pull me backward.

Don't feed it.

Bring it to God.

The enemy would love to use yesterday's offense to contaminate tomorrow's harvest.

Forgiveness doesn't mean pretending something didn't happen.

It doesn't mean calling evil good.

And it certainly doesn't mean giving someone unrestricted access to you again.

Look at David.

After David spared Saul in 1 Samuel 24, Saul went home.

David returned to the stronghold.

David could release Saul while maintaining distance from Saul.

You can forgive and have boundaries.

You can forgive and use wisdom.

You can forgive and continue walking forward.

Keep Your Hands Clean—and Empty

Psalm 24 asks:

“Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?”

And the answer begins:

“The one who has clean hands and a pure heart…”

I want you to think about your hands today.

God isn't merely asking us to have clean hands.

I believe He's asking us to have empty hands.

Because there are some things we're carrying that don't belong where we're going.

Bitterness doesn't belong there.

Unforgiveness doesn't belong there.

Revenge doesn't belong there.

The need to be vindicated by people doesn't belong there.

The need to monitor what happens to somebody doesn't belong there.

The desire to watch somebody “get theirs” doesn't belong there.

Put it down.

You are going to need your hands for something else.

Today's Focus Fast Assignment

During today's fast, intentionally remove whatever distraction God places on your heart and replace that time with Him.

Ask Him to search you.

Don't begin by telling God what somebody else did.

Begin with:

“Father, what is still in me?”

Pray specifically about unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, revenge, old wounds, the need for vindication, and anything from your previous season that continues occupying emotional space.

Then ask Him:

“What is still in my hands that You are asking me to release?”

Give Him time to answer.

Journal With God

Take some quiet time today and write through these questions:

What am I still holding that belongs to my previous season?
Has old bitterness recently attempted to resurface? What triggered it?
Is there anyone whose consequences I secretly want to witness?
Is there someone I have forgiven but still need to emotionally release?
What would completely placing this situation into God's hands look like for me?
God, what do You want my hands empty enough to receive?

Don't rush the last question.

Sit with it.

A Simple Act of Release

At some point during your prayer time today, physically open your hands.

You may even want to turn your palms upward before God.

Allow your physical posture to represent what you're doing spiritually.

And tell Him:

“Father, I take this out of my hands and place it into Yours.”

You don't need to know when.

You don't need to know how.

You don't need to see the outcome.

You don't need another conversation.

You don't need them to understand.

You don't need to prove what happened.

God saw.

God heard.

God knows.

And now you can rest.

Today's Prayer

Father,

Today I choose to empty my hands.

Search my heart and reveal anything I have carried from an old season that You never intended for me to bring into the new.

I release bitterness.

I release unforgiveness.

I release anger.

I release resentment.

I release the apology I never received.

I release my desire to see anyone punished.

And I release my need to know how You will handle those who have wronged me.

You said vengeance belongs to You, so today I give it back to You.

Where justice has been delayed, teach me not to interpret Your patience as Your absence.

You saw what happened.

You heard every prayer.

You witnessed what happened publicly and privately.

And I trust You.

If You are extending someone mercy, that belongs to You.

If You are correcting someone, that belongs to You.

If judgment has arrived, that belongs to You.

They belong to You.

My responsibility is my heart.

Give me clean hands and a pure heart.

I refuse to become bitter because someone was bitter toward me.

I refuse to become cruel because someone was cruel toward me.

I refuse to pick up the spear simply because somebody threw one at me.

Do not allow Saul's behavior to reproduce Saul's heart inside of me.

As You bring old seasons to their appointed end, prepare me for what comes next.

My hands are empty.

I release what was.

I rest in what You are doing.

And I make room for what You are bringing.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Today's Declaration

I will not throw the spear back.

I will not monitor Saul.

I will not celebrate another person's destruction.

I will not carry yesterday into tomorrow.

Vengeance belongs to God.

My hands are clean.

My heart is surrendered.