I have selfishly desired God this year. I have desired to witness miracles, receive answers to bold prayers, to see radical transformations of lives, and to experience God in new ways.
Our team organized a 24 hour fast and prayer vigil on our last weekend of ministry. For one day we used the time usually spent on eating and devoted it to God. We made a prayer schedule, so that for each hour of the day there would be two people praying together. I admit that I was anxiously and maybe a little selfishly hoping for God to “show up in a big way”.
One of my first shifts was at 5:00am…I’m not usually a morning person, but it was such a beautiful way to start the day. Jackie and I prayed together as we watched the sun slowly rise and were thankful that God is the one who turns darkness into light.
During the 2:00pm shift, Brant and I stayed in our classroom to pray after our students had gone home. We prayed the future of the ministry in Cambodia. We also prayed for our families and friends at home and for our futures after the Race. We told God things we hadn’t even shared with each other up until point. It was a such a cool moment for me because it felt like we were having a conversation between 3 people, instead of 2. I wrote in my journal that when I get home I want to start having more “conversations” like that with my Christian friends at home.
I prayed for a total of 5 hours during the day with my teammates. It sounds like a long time, but it went by surprisingly quickly. We constantly talk about being intentional in our friendships on the World Race. This was the most intentional days I have spent on the Race so far. Sometimes it is easy to think that you don’t have much in common with someone, but sharing a faith in God brings people together in ways you never thought possible. Too often we use God as a last resort instead of including Him into the conversation from the beginning.
For the last hour of the fast I retreated to my dark, empty classroom with my Bible. I definitely was feeling the dull ache of hunger in my stomach, but for some reason it made me think a little more clearly.
I had my Bible open to Luke where I had highlighted the verse in Chapter 10: “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you”.
I remember previously reading that verse and feeling empowered, but today I was drawn immediately to the following verse that my highlighter had missed… “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven”.
How did I miss that before?
I started the day pursuing the things God might do for me, instead of JUST PURSUING HIM.
It is scary when it becomes too easy to focus on the authority that has been given to us through Christ, instead of focusing solely on Christ…the one who died to give us that authority.
I came into the day hoping for God to show up in big way. He showed me that the life he has called me to is not one spent waiting for him to show up. He already did that. When I was drowning in my sin, Jesus showed up.
I spent that last hour of my day just dwelling on the MAGNITUDE of the gospel…the fact that my sins have been completely paid for by the blood of Jesus, and now the God of the Universe can freely pour out his love to me.
“Laura Alexandra Novak” has been written in heaven.
It doesn’t get better than that.
Jesus, don’t let me ever forget that again.
