God laid prayer on my heart a few months ago. I promptly ignored Him.
God laid prayer on my heart a few weeks ago. I gave Him a cursory nod and agreed to step it up a little bit. But in reality I never really stepped it up.
God laid prayer on my heart last week and would not drop it. There was a big, fat finger pressing my button. PRAY PRAY PRAY
Prayer is hard for me. Am I allowed to say that?
It is hard for me to remove myself from the constant noise, chaos, and constant distraction of our lifestyle. I thought I had unplugged from the busyness of the American lifestyle, but my phone rings almost as much here. The nature of my job on the race leads to constant questions, requests for prayer, excitement and encouragement. I absolutely love it and love being plugged into the lives of my fellow world-changers!
I thrive on chaos. Noise, distractions, long conversations over coffee; all of them are my favorite things, but sometimes they are not conducive to good quality time in prayer.
I struggle to have the discipline to actually shut myself in a “prayer closet” and miss out on all the good stuff going on around me. There is always a great game of speed Scrabble, Phase 10, or Rummy going on, and there are always emails to send, blogs to write, and conversations to be had.
Have I mentioned that I live with 26 other people? It is virtually impossible to find a quiet space alone. Some people can plug in their ipod and check out, but I am not one of them. I am easily distracted and can’t focus of the Lord if there is outside noise, people coming and going, and general life happening.
All of this has led to the decline of my prayer life. Not to say it was really all that great before the race. It goes back to that same old problem where the same things you struggled with at home didn’t just get left on the tarmac at the Atlanta airport. I struggled with discipline in my prayer life at home and I struggle with it here.
Back to the big, fat finger on my prayer button. God was pressing it in a major way. I squirmed and squirmed and he continued to just keep on pressing.
You know when your computer is frozen and you can’t get it to re-boot? You press the power button, nothing happens, you press it again with no response—then you just get frustrated and hold the button down for about a minute and FINALLY it reboots? That was me. God has been trying to reboot my system for a few months and I have finally relented.
Cambodia is my re-start. Through the mercy and grace of a loving God I am getting another chance. 
The strongholds in Cambodia are just that, strongholds. It is an intense spiritual atmosphere here and what better place to begin my prayer campaign anew? The Lord made it very clear to me that our teams need to be covered in prayer in a mighty way and I am humbled that He would ask me to take on the task. Certainly there is someone more qualified to sit and pray for hours a day, but he picked me. I am humbled that my Father God would call me righteous.
“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16
Because of Jesus’ death on the cross I am considered righteous, and the Word of God says that my prayer is powerful and effective. Praise the Lord for that. I pray that it is effective for this country; I pray that it is effective for my teammates; I pray that it is effective for my family and friends at home.
“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” Ephesians 3:12
I will boldly approach the throne of God with freedom and confidence in my calling and KNOW that He will have open ears and He waits in eager expectation to answer my petitions.
While everyone goes about their ministry hustle and bustle each day I will be found in my “prayer closet” chugging away at re-connecting with God. I ask for your prayers in the coming weeks. It will probably be my biggest struggle yet to sit and watch while the world swirls around me.
I am also struggling some with legalism. If I say I am going to pray all day does that mean 8am-5pm, does that mean 4 hours a day, can I also journal, worship and read my Bible? I KNOW the answers to all these questions, but Satan is so good at pointing them out and distracting me from the real calling. Pray that I can resist him and his lies.
Pray that I can focus on God and not be distracted. Pray that I remain faithful in my calling this month. Pray that my spirit remains strong—it is easy to be hot, tired and lethargic. Pray that I have listening ears and a slow tongue. Pray that I am sensitive to the Spirit and how he is leading me.
I know there are so many of you reading, following, supporting and encouraging us on our journey. Can I challenge you this month too? Will you join me in prayer for the next 30 days for Cambodia? I will be warring for this country on my knees all day and would love to know you are beside me. Ask God to show you how to pray for HIS children and then let me know how he has led you and we will pray together. Imagine what will happen to Cambodia if all of us join together? I truly can’t wait to report back to you how YOU are changing this country through prayer.
My promise to you is that I will update once a week on what He is revealing to me in prayer on this side of the world and how HIS light is being revealed here in Cambodia.
