ARISE Focus Fast — Day Two
Declare the Victory
Fasting Companion: A September to Remember — Hosanna! Relief Is Here
Today’s Focus: Agreement • Thanksgiving • Victory • Expectancy • Rest
Anchor Scripture:
“The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. There are shouts of joy and victory in the tents of the righteous: ‘The LORD’s right hand performs valiantly!’”
Psalm 118:14–15
Welcome to Day Two of the Focus Fast
Yesterday, our assignment was to empty our hands.
We released bitterness.
We released unforgiveness.
We released the need to know what God was going to do with other people.
We chose rest.
Today, we're doing something different.
We're going to open our mouths.
As I have continued sitting with Psalm 118, I believe the Lord is emphasizing the importance of coming into agreement with Him through what we declare.
Psalm 118 isn't merely a prayer asking God for victory.
It is filled with thanksgiving because of victory.
The psalmist speaks about what God has done, who God is, and what he expects because God is with him.
Today, I want us to intentionally turn our attention away from continually describing what defeated us and begin declaring God's truth over the places where we experienced defeat.
This isn't pretending that difficult things didn't happen.
It isn't positive thinking.
And our words aren't magic.
This is agreement.
We are bringing our mouths into agreement with the character, promises, and truth of God.
Your Mouth Cannot Remain in Yesterday
Some of us have left certain seasons physically, but our language still sounds like captivity.
Nothing ever works for me.
I'll probably always struggle with this.
Every time I get ahead, something happens.
I'll never recover from what happened.
I'll always be behind.
I'll never trust again.
I'll never have enough.
Be careful about allowing an old season to write the vocabulary for a new one.
Psalm 118:17 says:
“I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done.”
Notice the psalmist's language:
I WILL LIVE.
He makes a declaration.
Then he says:
I WILL PROCLAIM.
Something has to come out of his mouth.
Today, I want you to identify the areas where life has trained you to expect defeat and intentionally bring those places back underneath God's truth.
Declare Victory Where You Experienced Defeat
Psalm 118:15 says:
“There are shouts of joy and victory in the tents of the righteous.”
I want you to take this personally today.
Where have you experienced defeat?
Maybe it was in your family.
Your finances.
Your confidence.
Your purpose.
Your relationships.
Your business.
Your ministry.
Your ability to trust.
Your hope.
Your willingness to dream.
Your expectation for the future.
Today, instead of rehearsing the defeat, declare victory over that place.
Not because you control every outcome.
But because defeat does not get the final word over a life surrendered to God.
Hosanna — God Heard You
Yesterday's message centered heavily around Hosanna.
Psalm 118:25 says:
“LORD, save us! LORD, please grant us success!”
Hosanna carries that cry:
Save us, please.
But earlier in the same Psalm, verse 5 says:
“I called to the LORD in distress; the LORD answered me and put me in a spacious place.”
That's what I want you to meditate on today.
You called.
God heard.
And the psalmist says:
God answered.
Some of you have spent years praying about things you haven't seen completely resolved yet.
Don't allow waiting to silence your expectation.
Your declaration today is:
God heard me.
I may not know how.
I may not know when.
I may not know what God's answer will look like.
But I know who heard my prayer.
Speak to the Place of Bondage
In our message, we talked about the number 18 and the biblical pictures connected with prolonged oppression.
In Luke 13, Jesus encounters a woman who had been bound for 18 years.
Jesus says in Luke 13:12:
“Woman, you are free of your disability.”
Before her body completely straightened, Jesus spoke freedom.
Then He laid His hands on her, and Scripture says:
“Instantly she was restored and began to glorify God.”
That is the language I want us using today.
Not:
“I will always be bound.”
But:
“In Christ, I am moving in freedom.”
Not:
“This will always control me.”
But:
“What has restricted me will not determine my future.”
Not:
“I'll never recover.”
But:
“God is restoring me.”
And notice what the woman did when she was restored.
She glorified God.
Victory produced worship.
Declare Over the Gate
Now think about Peter in Acts 12.
Peter was chained.
Guarded.
Confined.
There was an iron gate between him and freedom.
And then God intervened.
The chains fell.
The angel led Peter forward.
And when they reached the iron gate, it opened by itself.
There are things you've spent too much energy trying to force open.
Today, instead of obsessing over the mechanism, declare:
God knows how to open my gate.
You don't have to know how God will do everything He's promised.
Your responsibility is obedience.
The outcome belongs to Him.
That's why today's declaration and yesterday's rest belong together.
You can speak confidently without striving anxiously.
Declare Manasseh and Ephraim
Genesis 41 gives us two beautiful declarations through the names Joseph gives his sons.
First:
Manasseh.
“God has made me forget all my hardship…”
Genesis 41:51
Then:
Ephraim.
“God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
Genesis 41:52
Joseph's language changed.
He wasn't standing in his fruitful season continually declaring:
“I'm the man who was thrown into a pit.”
“I'm the man who was falsely accused.”
“I'm the man who was forgotten in prison.”
Those things happened.
But they were no longer the only testimony coming from Joseph's mouth.
Now Joseph could say:
God made me fruitful.
That's today's assignment.
Your pain gets to be part of your testimony.
It does not get to become your identity.
Thanksgiving Before You See Everything
Psalm 118 begins:
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever.”
Today's Focus Fast should contain a lot of thanksgiving.
Don't spend the entire fast asking.
Spend time thanking.
Thank God for what He's already done.
Thank Him for what He brought you through.
Thank Him for what didn't destroy you.
Thank Him for the doors He closed.
Thank Him for the doors He opened.
Thank Him for what He's healing.
Thank Him for what He's teaching you.
And thank Him because His character remains trustworthy even while some answers are still unfolding.
Thanksgiving changes where your attention rests.
Instead of staring at the gate, you begin looking at the God who opens gates.
Today's Focus Fast Assignment
As you remove distractions today, replace some of that silence with intentional declaration and thanksgiving.
I want you to identify three places where you have experienced significant defeat, restriction, disappointment, or delay.
Write each one down.
Underneath each one, write:
“But God…”
Then complete the sentence using Scripture and what you believe God is teaching you.
For example:
I experienced lack.
But God is my provider, and I will not allow yesterday's lack to determine tomorrow's expectation.
I experienced rejection.
But God has not rejected me. My identity is established in Him.
I experienced confinement.
But God brings His people into spacious places.
I experienced affliction.
But God can make me fruitful in the land of my affliction.
Then say your declarations aloud.
Today isn't only about writing them.
Use your mouth.
Journal With God
Spend some time writing through these questions:
-
What areas of my life have trained me to expect defeat?
-
What negative statements have I repeatedly spoken about myself or my future?
-
What does Scripture say that challenges those statements?
-
Where do I need to replace the language of captivity with the language of faith?
-
What victories has God already given me that I don't thank Him for enough?
-
What would I say today if I truly believed God heard my Hosanna?
Then write:
MY VICTORY DECLARATION:
And create your own declaration to God.
Speak Psalm 118 Over Your Life
At some point during today's fast, read Psalm 118 aloud.
Don't skim it.
Speak it.
When you reach verse 14:
“The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”
Say it aloud.
When you reach verse 15:
“There are shouts of joy and victory in the tents of the righteous.”
Say it aloud.
When you reach verse 17:
“I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done.”
Say it aloud.
When you reach verse 24:
“This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Say it aloud.
And when you reach the cry of verse 25:
“LORD, save us! LORD, please grant us success!”
Remember:
Hosanna.
You are speaking to the God who hears.
Today's Prayer
Father,
Thank You because You are good and Your faithful love endures forever.
Today I bring my mouth into agreement with Your truth.
Forgive me for the places where disappointment has caused me to continually speak defeat over myself, my future, or what You are doing in my life.
Change my language as You change my season.
Where I experienced bondage, I declare freedom.
Where I experienced lack, I declare that You are my provider.
Where I experienced barrenness, I declare fruitfulness according to Your will.
Where I experienced rejection, I declare that my identity is secure in You.
Where I experienced affliction, I declare Manasseh and Ephraim—healing and fruitfulness.
Where I encountered closed gates, I declare that You know how to make a way.
Where I have been confined, I trust You to lead me into the spacious place You have for me.
You heard every prayer.
You heard every Hosanna.
You heard me when I prayed with faith.
You heard me when I prayed through tears.
You heard me when all I could say was, “Jesus, help me.”
And today I thank You.
I will not allow yesterday's defeat to become tomorrow's prophecy.
My words will agree with Your Word.
My expectation will rest in Your character.
And my confidence will remain in You.
I don't have to force the gate.
I don't have to manufacture the miracle.
I don't have to manipulate the outcome.
I will obey.
I will declare.
I will thank You.
And I will rest.
You are my strength.
You are my salvation.
You are my deliverer.
Hosanna.
Thank You for hearing me.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
Today's Victory Declaration
The LORD is my strength and my song.
I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done.
I am leaving the language of captivity behind.
What happened to me will not determine what I expect from God.
I declare freedom where I experienced bondage.
I declare fruitfulness where I experienced affliction.
I declare hope where I experienced disappointment.
I declare restoration over what God has appointed to restore.
I declare that God knows how to open every gate He has ordained for me to walk through.
I will not strive. I will rest.
I will not rehearse defeat. I will remember God's faithfulness.
I cried Hosanna.
God heard me.
And my mouth will declare the victory.
ARISE Focus Fast — Day Two YOUTUBE LIVE YOUTUBE VIDEO
Kandi Nicole ARISE