Brooke’s Story from the Prayer Challenge
As we go through this challenge together, can you imagine what it’s like for our Heavenly Father to hear His sons and daughters praying each morning and night… and the desire behind the prayer is simply this… that we want Him and to be part of growing His kingdom right here and now.
Pastor Anthony invited our whole church family to join in on this 60-day prayer challenge. Pray twice a day for three specific things… the presence of God, increased faith, and the purity of God.
And even just a week into it, I realize how often in the past I’ve prayed simple prayers… safe prayers… the kind where I say bless them, be with me, help me… or I pray for the safety of my kids, the health and well-being of my family. And before I realize it, I’ve limited my prayer life to a list of wants… the kind of prayers that barely scratch the surface of what God wants me to experience with Him in prayer.
But this challenge is calling me to so much more. Even in this first week of the challenge, I’ve sensed the Spirit leading me as I pray, and I know He’s calling me to leave the shallow prayers behind and dive into the deep end. He’s calling me to go deeper, where I come to realize that praying isn’t about me getting what I want from God. It’s understanding that there’s no better place to be than right in the middle of where God wants me, no matter what my life circumstances are, because there’s no better place to be than with Him.
For me, this has been about getting more of God… experiencing Him on a deeper level. This is like Moses praying in Exodus 33… “Show me your glory.” To see and experience God as He really is, to watch Him do what only He can do, and to see that there is no other way to live life than in such a way that allows God to work in me and through me.
As we go through this challenge together, can you imagine what it’s like for our Heavenly Father to hear His sons and daughters praying each morning and night… and the desire behind the prayer is simply this… that we want Him and to be part of growing His kingdom right here and now.
That’s what this challenge is helping me to see… that He wants me at the place where I can say I want Nothing else will do… I just want Him.