One type of ministry the World Race encourages us to do is Ask the Lord (ATL) ministry. During Launch, our teams had the opportunity to practice this on the streets of Atlanta. Fearless Unity spent some time praying before we went out, to see what the Lord wanted us to do. We didn't receive anything specific at that time, but we knew God would let us know as we went. This type of ministry is so different from what I've ever experienced, but it was really cool to feel the Lord nudging me and my team to specific things. It was really amazing to trust the Lord, even when it seemed ridiculous. Fearless Unity started walking down the street, praying as we went that the Lord would reveal to us what we were supposed to do. We picked up litter off a sidewalk, prayed over hotels that we passed (did you know Atlanta is the number one city in the US for human trafficking?), and generally smiled at people and wished them a nice day.
Then Ryan felt God nudging him to walk into McDonald's, buy a meal, and walk around town with it. He wasn't sure why, but he was obedient and walked in to buy a meal. Trent stayed with him while the girls on the team went and prayed over a nail salon. While we were praying, a woman in a striped shirt walked by. We all noticed her, as there were not many people on the street that afternoon. After praying, I felt a nudge to cross the street back to the McDonald's. We met up with the guys, and most of us crossed the street again, except for Stephanie and Linsey, who were stopped by the woman in the striped shirt. Her name was Janiqua, and she asked them what we were doing. They briefly explained about the World Race, and our ATL, and then asked her if she needed prayer. She said yes, she was having a bad day and didn't want to talk about it, but she could use some prayer. They parted ways, and our team continued walking and praying over hotels, construction sites that were going to be hotels, and even a playground.
This whole time, Ryan was carrying around the bag of McDonald's food. He wasn't sure who he was supposed to give it to, but he knew he was supposed to give it away. We heard from another team about a homeless man hanging around our area, so we went in search of him. No luck. We headed back to our hotel and sat in the lobby for a bit before a meeting. Suddenly Ryan stood up and said he felt like he was supposed to go back to the gas station we were just at. So he and Trent walked back there with the McDonald's. And who was sitting there? Janiqua! Ryan walked up to her and told her the Lord had told him to give her the food. She burst into tears and shared that she had no money at the moment and hadn't eaten all day. Ryan and Trent had the opportunity to pray with her and encourage her. All because Ryan was obedient to something that seemed so ridiculous. What things are you struggling with obedience over? What things does the Lord want you to do? Why don't you try asking Him?
