The Awakening community is spending 30 days to "
Pray on Purpose" as part of our "
Life on Purpose" series. This being my personal blog, I am sharing some of the thoughts I have had during this experience.
Over the last few days I have noticed something that I have experienced before, but have never put so much thought into.
When we simply get started in a little of prayer, God will lead us to pray for more. We've been challenged to pray for our life's purpose, the the Awakening's purpose, and for three others to find their purpose in a saving relationship with Christ. But when I start down that road, I can't simply pray for these things alone. I think we've tapped into something here concerning prayer:
A little turns into a lot. It's amazing what can happen when we just get started.
Have you found this to be true in your prayer life?
What other thins have you added to your prayer list once yous imply Got started?
This morning, I started my day with many others at
The Awakening with prayer. During the next 30 days, (during our "
Life on Purpose" series) we will be participating in the "
Pray on Purpose" campaign. We will pray for three specific areas.
1)
A Personal "Life on Purpose" That we would have a life that seeks to glorify God in all we do and take the opportunities He give to us to do so.
2)
The Awakening to Gather on Purpose. We want to carry out our mission to lead young adults in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ through authentic social community.
3)
The salvation of three others. For three others to experience the Life on Purpose that only comes from a relationship with Christ.
Over the next thirty days, I am going to try and share my experiences as I pray. I will not share every day, but I will share those days, like today, that I sense a greater leading by God in prayer.
Today, As I prayed for a personal life on purpose, I was overcome with a sense of confession. I could not start this thirty days of prayer without confessing my lack of "on Purpose" prayer. I am great at praying through out the day as situations present themselves and comes to mind. But to stop and prayer, even for 10 minutes and to focus on God is not as consistent in my life as I would like it to be.
I also had to confess that I have not taken the opportunities to live a Life on Purpose when God has clearly presented them to me. Opportunities to share my faith, to love others, to help and serve people in need. I get busy doing my things and when His things intersect, I'm too focused on myself. Lame! That is going to change!
I hope you will join many of us in this 30 days of prayer. You can start when ever you want (like right now) and you can tweak it to your own life and passions. But let us agree, if we all start 2011 with 30 days of prayer how much would our lives be different at the beginning of 2012!
Who's Joining Me? Comment below so that I can pray for you as well, and share this post on Facebook or Twitter.
I got to see something really cool happen last night as my family sat at the dinner table. Matthew is now two years old and Shannon and I have been trying (for the past two weeks) to start eating dinner together as a family. For so many reasons this is important. It is at the dinner table where our values are set. It is where I can hear about my wife's day as well as Matthew's when he gets old enough to really communicate. But even now, he thinks he is, and I want the dinner table to be a safe place for him to talk in the future. It's at the dinner table where Matthew gets to see Mommy and Daddy talk and communicate our love for each other and him. In all, the dinner table is hardly just about satisfying our hunger but even more about satisfying our need for familial community. Its about setting the table of our marriage and our lives. It's about building a foundation with everyones participation. The most powerful of all was when Shannon grabbed Matthew's hand and said, "it time to pray." Matthew turned to me, extended his hand and then bowed his head and closed his eyes as if it was something common place. I grabbed his hand, shocked at what he had learned at the dinner table, and led my family in prayer.
It was powerful.
