Draw the Circle Prayer Challenge: Week 1 Update

You just can't make this stuff up.

Today at church the sermon was about how Caleb inherited God's promises 45 years after that failed scouting mission.  When I heard the text for the sermon, my eyes filled with tears.  Without rehashing the sermon let's just say it was confirmation of everything that I've been studying and praying on this week.   The word was:  It's my time.

Background on the Prayer Challenge

Mark Batterson wrote a great book called Draw the Circle:  40 day Pray Challenge.  For those who think this has some kind of link to witchcraft, it does not have anything of the sort. It is also not a name it and claim it hocus-pocus prayer challenge. 

Without even knowing anything this book, I've circled things in my prayer journal in the past where God has answered or I've received some insight on it.

The premise of this book is that God is not Santa Claus.  We do not write out a list of prayers and then hope God delivers them tomorrow.  What needs to happen is that we pray and seek God's will.  By doing so and taking steps of faith, we will  begin to see movement in our lives.

No longer a skeptic

After my experiences in the past year, I am no longer a skeptic in this area.  As I have been reading the book, I've found myself nodding in agreement because I experienced those things last year.  I think God had to give me a glimpse last year because otherwise if I had attempted to do something like this it would have been "OK yeah let's see if it works... but not holding out any hope"  

Taking Risks = Movement on Monday 

There's been a lot of talk about taking risks lately both in the prayer challenge and at church.  I will have to say this past week that I decided to take several risks.  As I have mentioned, I need to find a new job.

So last year I had this idea about the next steps I wanted for my career.  I promptly talked myself out of it. I went for the easier choice because this idea was too scary and involved too much risk.   Well as we all know the easier choice ended up being an epic fail.

I started my prayer challenge on Monday morning and I put it out there.  I circled it and said, "This is what I want to do and I am going to go for it".  

Monday afternoon I received an out of the blue phone call about this very idea.  I was shocked because I don't talk to this person on a regular basis and they just called me to find out some information.  

This all happened on Monday and after being too scared for so long, I dropped off my resume on Friday Morning.

I was feeling even more confident now!  So then I got the other part of the plan rolling, and that appears to be a go. 

I KNOW I wouldn't have attempted to do this in my own strength.  I've been settling for less for so long that I forgot what it's like to take that walk off the cliff.

I'm also back to serving in the trenches and teaching fitness classes. I even got to take my old Friday night class over again!  I found out that on Tuesday- Day 2 of the prayer challenge. 

I was so happy on Friday night! I thought, "This is where I belong"

Act as If with Shameless audacity

Today the challenge was to act as if.  Act as if God has already answered the prayer.  Can I be honest with y'all?  That risk I took in the last 90 day prayer challenge?  That is EXACTLY what I did and it's very scary, but then I thought "Boy the receipts I got on this one....NOBODY can say I made it up.  They will KNOW that had to be God.  I couldn't have made that up if I tried."  I don't think I will ever stop testifying.

I remember thinking "I really have some nerve doing this" but Mark Batterson encourages us to have shameless audacity when praying to God, so this week I took it even further.  I wrote down some of my most AUDACIOUS dreams and circled them!  No limits and no boundaries!

God is a doing a new thing (even in the wilderness)

This is the proof that even if you're in the wilderness that doesn't mean that God has stopped working in your life. Matter of fact, it's even MORE confirmation that He's working.  He's working out his plans and purposes...according to his own timing (I need a lot of grace for that one)

In my prayer time I am not just asking for things.  There's also been a lot of confession and asking God to cleanse my heart of bitterness, envy, and unbelief which I talked about in my last blog post.  That's the thing about getting into a really intimate prayer space with God.  He begins to reveal where he has to CHANGE US to be who He needs us to be.  I'm ready to change.  I want to receive what God has for me and I can't with my heart full of all of that negativity.

When I look at my Big 5 goals for 2014, it isn't even a month in and already one of the main ones is about to be crossed off.  On my own, this would have probably dragged on for another few months while I rationalized and reasoned my way through.   With God's way he says, "Are you going to go or not?"  I decided I'm going!

If all of this happened in the first week, I can't wait to see what happens next!  

To God be the Glory,

Amen