40 Days of Prayer & Fasting
Prayer Focus: Prepared for What Comes Next
“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”
Joshua 3:5 ESV
Day 40.
Forty days ago, we began this journey with these words from Joshua:
“Consecrate yourselves.”
We prayed.
We fasted.
We searched our hearts.
We listened.
We surrendered.
We asked for wisdom.
We learned to wait.
We chose faith over fear.
We prayed for the harvest.
We asked God to make us witnesses.
We learned to abide, serve, love, trust, and follow.
And now, on Day 40, we return to the same verse where we began.
But this time, we look at the second half:
“For tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”
Consecration Was Preparation
Joshua spoke these words as Israel stood at the Jordan River.
They had not crossed yet.
The Promised Land was ahead of them, but there was still an obstacle standing between where they were and where God was leading them.
Before God told them to move, Joshua told the people to consecrate themselves.
Why?
Because God was preparing them for what came next.
That's an important way to understand these 40 days.
This journey was never simply about completing a spiritual challenge.
It was about preparation.
We didn't pray for 40 days just so we could say we prayed for 40 days.
We have been asking God to prepare our hearts for whatever He wants to do next.
Tomorrow
There's one word in Joshua 3:5 that means something different to us today than it did on Day 1:
Tomorrow.
On Day 1, tomorrow represented the journey ahead.
On Day 40, tomorrow represents what happens after the journey ends.
What will your prayer life look like tomorrow?
Will you continue seeking Him?
Will you continue listening?
Will you continue obeying?
Will you continue carrying the Gospel?
Will you continue making room for His presence?
The 40 days end.
Our pursuit of God does not.
Expect God to Move
Joshua told Israel that the Lord would do wonders among them.
The next day, God stopped the waters of the Jordan and brought His people across on dry ground.
Joshua 3:5 isn't a formula promising that every believer will experience a spectacular miracle tomorrow. It records a specific promise God gave Israel at a decisive moment in their journey.
But the principle gives us a powerful posture as we finish:
Consecrate yourself today and remain expectant about what God will do next.
We don't know everything ahead.
We don't need to.
We know the One who goes before us.
Don't Build a Monument to the 40 Days
When Israel crossed the Jordan, God instructed them to take stones from the river and build a memorial.
The stones weren't intended to make Israel live in the past.
They were intended to help them remember God's faithfulness as they moved forward.
Do the same with these 40 days.
Remember what God showed you.
Remember what He changed.
Remember the prayers He answered.
Remember the things He asked you to surrender.
Remember the hunger you developed for His presence.
But don't camp here.
Take what God has done in you and carry it forward.
Today's Prayer Focus
Thank You for These 40 Days
Remember God's faithfulness throughout this journey.
Complete Your Work in Me
Don't allow what You began during this season to fade.
Prepare Me for What Is Next
Make my heart ready for whatever You have ahead.
Keep Me Expectant
Help me continue believing that You are working even when I cannot yet see what You are doing.
Today's Prayer
Father, thank You for these 40 days.
Thank You for every morning, every prayer, every moment of fasting, every Scripture, every conviction, and every reminder of Your faithfulness.
Forty days ago, we prayed:
“Consecrate us.”
Today, we give ourselves to You again.
Take everything You have begun in us and carry it forward.
Don't let this become merely something we completed.
Let it become something that changed us.
Prepare our hearts for what comes next.
We don't know everything ahead, but we trust the One who goes before us.
And we finish these 40 days with expectation.
Lord, we are ready for what You have next.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Additional Scriptures
Joshua 3:1–17
Joshua 4:1–7
Isaiah 43:18–19
Philippians 1:6
Today's Challenge
Take some time today and look back over the entire journey.
Write down:
What did God reveal to me?
What changed in me?
What do I need to continue?
What am I believing God for next?
Then finish where we started.
Pray:
“Lord, I consecrate myself to You again. Prepare me for whatever comes next.”
Tomorrow there won't be a Day 41.
But there will be another morning.
Another opportunity to pray.
Another opportunity to follow.
Another opportunity to obey.
Another opportunity to carry Jesus into the world.
The 40 days are finished.
The journey is not.
Day 1: Consecrate Yourselves.
Day 40: Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders.
