We invite you to join us for Forty Days of Prayer & Repentance as we prepare for the new year and the fall holidays!
Download our Reflection Schedule. [Full Color][Printable]
How can I join?
All you need to do is download the Reflection Schedule from the link above. Each day, read the recommended passages of scripture, along with any other reading you wish to do. Take time in thought and prayer to focus on the reflection of the day. What areas of that day’s reflection have you fallen short in? Have you done something specifically that you need to ask forgiveness of God and perhaps a person?
What does it mean to repent?
Repentance is much more than just saying, “I’m sorry.” Teshuva, or repentance, means acknowledging your wrong ways, asking forgiveness of those you’ve wronged and making restitution. It also requires you to turn 180 degrees in the opposite direction from where you were going – a complete change and departure from your old way.
Why Forty Days?
Throughout the Bible, the number forty is significant and signals a period of preparation and cleansing. The great flood lasted 40 days and nights. Moses spent 40 days on the mountain with God each time he received the tablets. The children of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years in preparation for their entrance into the Land. Yeshua spent 40 days and nights in the wilderness before the beginning of his ministry among the people of Israel. These are just some of the examples of seasons of 40 days/years that God used to cleanse and prepare the world and different people. What a blessing that God gives us this 40 days each year as we look inside ourselves and to Him during this season of teshuva.
Why is this important?
This can be a difficult process to be honest with yourself and God about your shortcomings, but this season is the time that God calls us to reflect, take stock, and seek teshuva – to turn from our old way of doing things and move forward in a new and better direction. This is a time of spiritual cleansing in readiness for the coming new year. You will get out of it what you put into it. We invite you to join us on this journey that may be arduous but will come to a beautiful conclusion at the close of Yom Kippur as we stand at the threshold of 5785 in anticipation of what He has in store for us this coming year.