Day 1: A Hunger for God and a Clean Heart
Bible passage: Psalm 51:10–12; Daniel 6:1–10
The First Day of the Year
Today is Wednesday 1st of January 2020. Happy New Year, and welcome to Day 1 of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting! We start the year by asking God for two things: a deeper hunger for Him and a clean heart.
David asked for both in a single prayer. “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (NLT)
A Heart That Wants God
Clean, Loyal and Willing
David wrote Psalm 51 at the lowest point of his life. He knew that a fresh start was beyond him, so he asked God to create one. He asked for a clean heart, for a loyal spirit and for a spirit that was willing to obey (Psalm 51:10–12).
Holiness and hunger for God belong together. Sin dulls our appetite for Him. A clean heart wants Him again.
Daniel’s Open Window
Daniel shows us what that hunger looks like in daily life. He was a senior official in a foreign empire, with more work and more pressure than most of us will ever know. Yet three times a day he went home, climbed to an upstairs room whose windows faced Jerusalem, knelt down and prayed (Daniel 6:10).
His enemies knew his habit so well that they used it to trap him. They persuaded the king to sign a law that for thirty days nobody could pray to anyone except the king. Daniel heard about the law, and then he went home and prayed, as he had always done.
A Fixed Appointment
The Bible does not tell us that we must pray three times a day. But there is wisdom in what Daniel did. He prayed through the day, no doubt, as we can. He also had set times that nothing was allowed to move.
What we value, we put in the diary. A set time with God each day says that He matters more than whatever else is clamouring for our attention. In that time He fills us, restores us and prepares us for whatever the day will bring.
Opening Your Window
Three Steps for Today
Ask for a clean heart. Pray Psalm 51:10–12 slowly, in your own words. Let the Holy Spirit show you anything that needs to be confessed.
Fix your time. Decide when and where you will meet with God each day of this fast. Put it in your diary and guard it.
Ask for hunger. We cannot make ourselves hungry for God, but we can ask. Tell Him that you want to want Him more.
Daniel’s daily habit carried him through the lions’ den. The habits we build over these 21 days can carry us through the whole year.
Prayer for Today:
Lord, create in me a clean heart and renew a loyal spirit within me. Wake up my love for You. Give me a greater hunger for prayer, for worship and for Your Word. Make my conscience tender and my will ready to obey. I set aside time for You today and every day of this fast. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Keep going
See every day of this guide on our Prayer & Fasting page.
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