The Holy Spirit gave me peace & joy in a challenging time
Chelsea’s Story from the Prayer Challenge
As soon as I heard about the challenge, I immediately wanted to tell the world… We’ve seen so many people immediately dropping walls of anxiety, stress, and fear because they’re taking responsibility off of themselves and handing it over to the Lord.
The 60-day prayer challenge has been changing my friends and me. As soon as I heard about the challenge, I immediately wanted to tell the world. So what did I do? I went to Instagram, and I told the world. I had a few people reach out and say, “I want to do that. I would love the accountability, though.”
I can do anything I want to really well for about a week past that 60 days…we are talking about forming a new habit, so I’m going to need some accountability. And I was excited to find out there were a lot of people that wanted the same. We formed a little chat group, and the stories started rolling in! The accountability has been amazing. We’ve seen so many people immediately dropping walls of anxiety, stress, and fear because they’re taking responsibility off of themselves and handing it over to the Lord.
I think that was one of the first things we all experienced was we’re not doing everything in our power anymore. We’re letting the Lord take control of this. We’re praying for His presence, his purity, for increased faith. And there are things that people are walking out that I know personally about that are very tough. I have heard time and time again that this is been just the perfect time and that it’s vital in this season.
One girl said that sometimes she didn’t know what to pray, but she would think about this challenge, and it would give her direction. And she’d sit down and pray like Jabez. And she said every single time, it gave her that drive to continue through the rest of her day.
We found ourselves in a very adverse situation where our daughter needed some immediate life-saving support. So we ran to Children’s Hospital, called for backup… called for prayer groups, called on Pastor Anthony, our parents, and just said, “Get behind us.” and “Let’s do this together.” It’s not the first time I’ve been in this situation with her, but it has been a long time. Somewhere along that road, I had grown tired, and I had grown weary.
And I know the Bible tells us not to grow tired and weary and to rely on the Lord. But I just started resting when she was better. This challenge gave me direction in my prayer life again… when she really needed her mom, and there was nothing medically, I could do for her other than stand by her side and advocate and pray.
I actually had words. I found that when she really needed me, I knew that the anxiety and the fear, the stress I was feeling, the worry. And I’m sure there was a mix of other emotions I can’t remember right now. They were all trumped by the presence of the Lord and the peace that literally surpasses all understanding. There is no other way to describe it because when the Holy Spirit gives you peace, you have joy in the hardest times!
And it’s only after barely a week of digging into the scriptures deeper, praying harder, and knowing that people have my back in the same thing. It’s like I got my battle cry back again. I learned how to stand on my own two feet, tell the enemy, no, and to back down. I had the power to do that again.
It has been a game-changer in our home. It’s helped me spiritually, mentally, emotionally. I know that if adversity hits again—and it will—I’ll be ready for it.
Prayer isn’t just this nice little chit-chat, fireside, and talk with the Lord. It is a weapon. And I believe our church is coming together and learning how to use it better than ever.
I believe that if you take advantage of this challenge, I almost don’t even want to say challenge because it just should be the way that we live. Like don’t let the 60 days end, and you’re done. Don’t check it off. You’re forming a new habit, and it will take at least 60 or 90 days to really get a hold of what you truly have here.
I’m emotional now because we just came out of a tough season, but I’m excited because I have a fresh grasp on what God is truly trying to do in our lives. I pray that people take advantage of this, and if they need someone to hold their hand through it, they grab an accountability group or a partner. There is someone who will walk through it with you.
