The Significance of Forty Days
Scattered all over the scriptures are records that establish the fact that 40 is a unique number. We will explore some of these below:
What Are The Significance Of Forty
1. Jesus fasted for forty days
Matthew 4:1-2
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry”
Waiting upon God for forty days can change the course of our ministry. Jesus Christ fasted for forty days and forty nights before He started His ministry – We pray that as we are about to start the ministry of BKCC in the land, there will be a supernatural move of God in Jesus’ name. God will equip us for the assignment in Jesus’ name. Also, for whatever you plan to start this year 2021, it could be your ministry too, it could be that business idea, it could be marriage, whatever new beginning that you want to embark on, the Lord will start with you in Jesus’ name
2. Elijah fasted for forty days
1 Kings 19:8
“And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God” ( read 1 Kings 19).
Elijah ate a meal that gave him the supernatural ability to fast for forty days and forty nights. When you are down and your soul is weary, there is a supernatural meal that can give you supernatural sustenance and give you the grace to do the unusual.. In this forty days, I pray that God will feed us with His Word and we will have the supernatural strength for this forty days in Jesus’ name. This meal will take us for forty days and night and sustain us on this mountain of God in Jesus’ name
3. Moses fasted for forty days
Exodus 24:18
“Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights”
Moses was in the presence of God for forty days and forty nights, and he saw the handwriting of God – just like Moses, we will also be on this mountain of God for forty days, we will enjoy the presence of God more than we have ever done before and we will see the handwriting of God also – God will give us instructions that will change our lives forever. Just like Moses saw the glory of God we will also see the glory of God in Jesus’ name. In Exodus 25, right in the presence of God, God began to speak to Moses, we will start hearing the voice of God clearly and audibly from now on in Jesus’ name.
4. Moses fasted for another forty days
Deuteronomy 9:18
“Then I lay prostrate before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger.”
When Moses went before the Lord for the first 40 days to receive the commandments for the Israelites, by the time he came back, the Israelites had sinned against God. They fashioned an idol and they were worshipping it. God was very angry against them and he was ready to destroy them. However, Moses pleaded on their behalf. He broke the first tablet given to him and he went to the presence of God and fasted for another forty days pleading that God will forgive the children of Israel. No matter how grievous your sin is, I pray that during this forty days prayer, the Lord will have mercy on you and change his mind and forgive you. You will receive the blessings of God again. There will be a divine restoration. Moses broke the first tablet where the commandment was written, during the forty days fasting and prayers, the tablet was restored
5. The Philistines harassed Israel for forty days
1 Samuel 17:16
“For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening ( read 1 Samuel 17)
In this verse, we realized that the Philistine, Goliath harassed the Israelites for 40 days. God used David to defeat the uncircumcised Philistine after the forty days of harassment. I pray that after this forty days of prayer and fasting, every form of harassment from the pit of hell will come to an end in Jesus’ name. That Goliath will fall in Jesus’ name. All the enemies of the people of God shall be rooted out in Jesus’ name
6. Israel spied the land for forty days
Numbers 13:25
“At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land”.
Numbers 14:33-34
“And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’
Moses sent 12 spies to spy the land of Canaan and they did that for forty days . 10 of them brought an evil report and God punished them by saying that those generations will die in the wilderness. A journey of 40 days was turned into forty years. That generation was in the wilderness and died there, a day for a year was their punishment. Whatever you have lost by not following God wholeheartedly, I pray that in this forty days as you repent and turn to God, there will be a total restoration in Jesus’ name
7. Ezekiel interceded for Israel for forty days
Ezekiel 4:6
“And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. Forty days I assign you, a day for each year”.
In these forty days, whatever you have lost over the years shall be restored in Jesus’ name. God told Ezekiel that he should lie down for forty days for the sin of Judah, a day will represent a year: For every year that the cankerworm and the caterpillar has eaten, there will be restoration in Jesus’ name. A day for a year. Everything you have lost in the past forty years shall be restored back to you in forty days in Jesus’ name.
8. Jesus Christ appeared to His disciples for 40 days
Acts 1:3
“He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God”
This bible verse talked about Jesus Christ. He appeared to the people for forty days after His resurrection by showing them many proofs. I pray that in the name of Jesus, the Lord will appear to us by many proofs during this forty days prayers in Jesus’ name. To all who have been asking where is your God, they will see many proofs in these forty days in Jesus’ name.
9. Nineveh to be overthrown in 40 days
Jonah 3:1-10
“Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going on a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them…”
Here we realized that God was angry with the city of Nineveh. He told Prophet Jonah to cry out to them. If they could repent within 40 days, God will change His mind and He will not destroy the land. Nineveh genuinely repented and God did not destroy the land. We pray that within this forty days of fasting and prayer, there will be a genuine repentance in our land and God will have mercy on the Land of Calgary, on the land of Canada and in all the nations of the world where we are going to cry unto God. Let us pray for our land and pray that God will change His mind of any destruction he has purposed for the land as a result of sins in Jesus’ name.
10. It rained consistently on the earth for 40 days:
Genesis 7:4
“For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground”.
God decided to destroy the earth with rain within 40 days. It rained consistently for 40 days and 40 nights. We pray that during these 40 days of fasting and prayers, there shall be showers of blessings in such a way that we have never experienced before in Jesus name. Our God will open the flood gates of heaven unto us in Jesus’ name.
11. 40 lashes for punishment of guilty parties in Israel
Deuteronomy 25:1-3
“When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty. 2 If the guilty person deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make them lie down and have them flogged in his presence with the number of lashes the crime deserves, 3 but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes”
From the bible passage above, we realize that when there is a dispute between two people, the maximum lashes that you can give to a guilty person is 40 lashes. If you give more than forty lashes the fellow is considered degraded in the eyes of fellow Israelites. So 40 could represent maximum punishment that someone can receive. Recall that Jesus was beaten like a criminal. He took many lashes so that you and I can be healed. I pray that as we go into this fasting and prayers, we will receive total healing from every form of sicknesses and diseases in Jesus’ name. In this 40 days fasting and prayer, for whatever sin you have committed where you deserve maximum punishment, you will receive forgiveness and total deliverance in Jesus’ name. Amen!
Why Prayer and Worship?
1. Paul and Silas prayed and sang:
In Acts 16, we realize that the combination of prayer and worship is very powerful. Paul and Silas prayed in the prison and they sang. The prison doors opened, all the chains of the prisoners were loosed, the jailer and his household were saved, Paul and Silas were brought back to honour and they were released from the prison. Also, the king of glory came down into their midst and destroy their yoke
2. Jehosaphat and the people of Judah prayed and worship:
In 2 Chronicles 20 when three nations waged a war against Jehoshaphat and the city of Judah, the whole nation cried out unto God in prayers and worship God. As a result, all the nations were utterly destroyed, there was a great abundance because the nation of Israel carried the spoil for three days and there was a permanent peace in the land throughout the realm of Jehoshaphat.
As we embark on this forty days pre-inaugural prayer and worship, let us ensure that we have a proper understanding about what God is about to do in our lives, in this nation and in our ministry. We pray that God will visit us supernaturally and we will have an unusual encounter with God in Jesus’ name. Amen!
Check out the links to some of the 40 days prayer points below:
Day 2: Praying For Confession Of Sins
Day 3: Praying For God’s Favour
