21 Days of Fasting & Prayer

Day 6

OUR TEMPLES

BE STILL                      Spend 2 minutes in stillness and silence with God 

SCRIPTURE                       Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 

1 Corinthians 3:16 

DEVOTION 

Have you ever watched those old treasure-hunting movies? Something I’ve noticed is the plots usually follow a similar pattern: a passionate scientist turned treasure-hunter becomes consumed with finding a “lost” artifact on the other side of the world. Through a quest filled with hope, misfortune, and chaos the treasure-hunter ends up in an ancient tomb where the artifact lies. However, there’s one enormous problem - booby traps. The tomb is heavily guarded with traps to protect what lies inside. 

While our lives probably don’t mirror the adventures of a treasure- hunter, we do have something in common with these movies. We too are protecting something precious and are obligated to keep bad things from getting in. Our bodies are temples that house Holy Spirit, and He is precious cargo! Self-care with our temples looks like taking measures on the outside to shield what’s on the inside. 

When looking into the ancient tombs and temples I discovered that not only do they have traps, but they are constantly being preserved and restored to keep them in the best condition. They are taken care of by using humidity removal, having extensive documentation of artifacts, limiting how close tourists can get, and outward preservation projects. We can implement these same principles to take care of our own temples! 

We can keep a record of what we have inside of us and remove what should not be there. Our soul care time with God should take care of that. We also can pay attention to what we allow to enter our temples – what music, food, movies, or gossip are we consuming that aren't very beneficial to the soul? Next, it’s important to think about how we are guarding our temple. Are there any physical, mental, and emotional boundaries in place to keep the wrong things from getting in and impacting us spiritually? Lastly, what can we do to keep our temples from breaking down on us? It may be that a walk in the park or a new gym membership is in order for us. 

Guarding our temples is an act of self-care. Remember that we thrive from the inside out, so we have to protect what’s inside of us. If you haven’t caught on to how we’re ending each day in this section, get your speaking voice ready! Go ahead and clear your throat and say aloud, “Protecting my temple is not an option, but a necessity.” Rinse and repeat as necessary. 

In what ways are you GREAT at protecting your temple? 

In what ways can you IMPROVE in protecting your temple? 

PRAY IT OUT 

God, I thank You for this temple that You have given me. I thank You that until my spirit is with You in heaven, I have a body to borrow on this Earth. I want to love myself by protecting my temple. I present my body to You as a living sacrifice, that it may be holy and acceptable to You, which is my reasonable service. When Jesus died on the cross for my sins, He bought my body at a price. I choose to glorify You with it. 

Help me to do better at loving on my temple, Lord! I do not want to be like the drunkards or gluttons who become poor, but I want to live in the riches of Your glory. Forgive me for any times I have not been a good steward over my body. I turn away from any gluttony, sexual immorality, gossip, lack of boundaries, laziness, and the like that have been more harmful to me than good. I choose not to listen to, watch, or remain in environments that negatively impact me, for I desire to be a friend of You and not of this world. 

Give me the strength, Lord. Help me to love on my temple in a way that is pleasing to You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen