Pray a Dangerous Prayer

Catch up.   The past few days I have had an unexplainable peace and seen the Lord provide in so many unexpected ways leading up to my launch. I kept thinking, “someone has got to be praying for me because things like this don’t just happen.” I won’t say that I didn’t cry once… or twice before I boarded my flight out of OKC but I didn’t cry when my parents dropped me off and that was a first! I felt ready and excited and then I was so worried I might miss my flight that I didn’t have time to think about what else I was feeling and thinking about leaving for 11 months. I’ve already caught myself doing things and taking in such a way that I never have before. I credit all that to your prayers and God’s working in my life! God is listening and God is answering those prayers. Keep praying for me! 

Cards.   I’ve opened my first two cards and what an encouragement they have been. I have over a pound of cards that loved ones have written for me to open at specific times for the duration of my race. I had to sacrifice a shirt and a pair of shorts to bring them but it has already proven to be so worth it!

Call to prayer.   Last night after worship the speaker challenged racers to pray dangerous prayers for their parents. To pray that their parents would not sit by idly as we do our ministry in other countries but for them to be actively pursing Christ and building his kingdom right where they are, in their own churches, neighborhoods, schools, work, etc. I love how the speaker put it—dangerous prayers. This is what I have been praying for myself. Dangerous prayers that God would take me out of my comfort zone, that he would show me things I’ve never seen before, that his power would work in ways I’ve never known before, that I would see the power of the Spirit living inside of me and coming out through my actions, that He would place me in difficult situations, and push me past my limits.

Challenge.   Can I challenge you (and I pray I don’t regret this in the next month or two) to begin praying dangerous prayers for me (just don’t tell my mom or my grandpa I told you to do this cause they might have a heart attack)? Pray God would not make it easy for me all the time. In the difficult moments I want my response to be to run to Christ and at the end of each trial, I want to see Him receive all the glory. Ask Him to do the unexpected, the unscripted, and the unplanned in my life. I love how William Carey put it, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God”.  That’s what I want to do this year! Expect and attempt. But for that to happen I’ve got to stop praying the safe prayers and begin to pray some crazy prayers. 

Confidence.   I have struggled with confidence basically my whole life. I’ve had times in my life where I would say I have displayed great confidence but those have been rare. But you can’t blame me, being the middle child, the forgotten one (yes this is just a stereotype but sometimes it is accurate), I don’t really have a say in most decisions and have learned to go with the flow. I’ve become a people pleaser and I try to avoid confrontation at all costs. Well, the only One who knows me better than myself decided now was the time for me to begin growing in confidence. Let me back up to right after training camp in June. Each racer was given the opportunity to purchase a key necklace (literally a key on a necklace chain) with either a specific word that we wanted on it or a prophetic word. I opted for the prophetic word. Fast forward to yesterday afternoon when I was given my key necklace. I intentionally didn’t look at it until later that night when I was alone in my room. Before opening it, I wrote down what I thought my word was going to be. My guesses were spirit, prayer, power and faith. It was none of those. The word on my necklace was confidence. I literally laughed out loud when I read it, because it’s another area that I know I need to grow in but was not going to make a priority for this year on the Race. Guess God has other plans for me (doesn’t He always?). A few hours after looking at my necklace, I was getting ready for bed and checked my email one more time and saw that I had gotten an email from our squad mentor. As I quickly scanned the email titled “Big News!” I realized that I was being asked to consider being my team’s leader. Seriously??? I just got a key with the word “confidence” on it and with it the challenge to grow in that area for the next 11 months and then I get asked to be a team leader. Not an easy role or one that I take lightly. This responsibility is humbling and has confirmed to me once again that I cannot do anything apart from Christ. There are all kinds of leaders today and leadership styles and leaders who are known for certain things (good or bad). One thing I want to be known for as a leader of my team is my confidence. Confidence in God, confidence in the leadership over me, confidence in myself and confidence in my teammates. God is really starting me out strong with the whole “no comfort zone”. But I did ask Him to take me out of my comfort zone on this race and God is answering my prayer with a yes (don’t pray for things you really don’t want just because they are good things to ask for cause God might really answer those requests with a yes and you best be ready). 

Thank you for starting this journey with me and I pray that you are encouraged and blessed by what the Lord is doing in my life. Start your own journey of praying dangerous prayers not just for me but for your loved ones and for yourself and watch how the Lord shows up and answers those prayers! 

(When I get faster wifi I will try and upload some pictures to the end of this blog.)