So part of the ministry we’ve been doing here in Nicaragua has been going to a local hospital and praying over people.
On a scale of 1 to 10, of being uncomfortable, I was a 10.
There was something super cliche to me about being a group of North Americans going to a hospital in Nicaragua to pray for sick people.
Honestly, the hours leading up going to the hospital, I was dreading it.
Sounds like someone needs a heart transplant, eh?
So one morning before we went to the hospital my team sat down and talked about how we felt about going to the hospital.
I threw it out there.
“I don’t like it.
And I don’t like that I don’t like it.”
I started talking about how it made me uncomfortable and how I’d been praying empty prayers. I would go and pray out of obedience, because that’s what I was supposed to do, after all, I am a missionary.
One of my teammates said something along the lines of…
I can’t expect to grow if I do things out of obedience without an open and receptive spirit.
Well, dang.
If I didn’t like my attitude and heart about the hospital, then ask the Lord to change it.
I spent the next hour in prayer asking the Lord to change my heart.
“I am open and receptive to what you want out of this time. Spirit, lead me.”
It’s crazy cool how preparing your heart with prayer before doing ministry can completely change how it goes.
That afternoon, best hospital visit ever. I felt the thick presence of the Spirit. It wasn’t awkward. I didn’t pray empty prayers. It was genuine love and compassion driving me.
It made me think, how often do I rush into things without preparing my heart with careful prayer and meditation?
How many times have I said, “Well, that sucked.”
When it could have been, “Well, THAT WAS AWESOME!”
Heart preparation.
Seems so simple, but in reality, it can make all the difference.
