" Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:" Matthew 7:7
I sat there nervously knowing what our speaker was about to talk about, and what we were about to do shortly after he was finished. He spoke of a little thing called "ATL". No, this is not a talk about a city in Georgia (don't act like you weren't thinking it). This was short for "Ask The Lord". This is something I had heard about, read blogs about, and was very nervous about. In my head I had envisioned that this was a big, huge scary thing that defined my relationship with God. That it was something that defined how "Christian" I really was.
As I began to listen to the words our speaker spoke, a weight began to life off of my shoulders….because he informed us that it was OK to not get definite pictures, images, or words. That sometimes things happen, and then sometimes they don't….and that's OK. That asking the Lord should be something we do on a daily basis, and not just during times such as these. It should become a habit. Waking up, turning to God, and simply saying "what do You see in store for me today?", and just simply….listening.
So that's what we did next. We split up into our teams, silently prayed, and just listened for what God had to say. However, this topic still made me nervous. So I began to pray that God would put the words or visions into my teammates heads that He saw fit….and words and pictures began to flow from my teammates. It was mind blowing to me, because I was still a bit cynical about all of this…..simply because it scared the living daylights out of me.
Next, we ventured out from our launch site, and just tried to see where God wanted us to go. We wandered around for what seemed like forever. We prayed for a man working at a Subway. We prayed for a girl sitting on the side of the road. We prayed over an elderly man working at a car wash….who then showered us with blessings!
We didn't see the pictures or words that people had mentioned, and that was OK. It was like God just wanted to see if we would listen, and if we would follow….and we did….and through that He used us for what He really had in store. Praying over these different people.
As we walked back to the hotel we realized that THIS is exactly what Jesus did. He set out on foot, and just went wherever He felt led…..on foot. That He stopped and spoke life into strangers along the way….and it was GOOD! As I am settling in at my first country I have new perspective on what "ATL" is, and that we should all be doing that…every day! Asking the Lord what HE wants for the day.
So I encourage you to do just that. Wake up every morning, and before you put your feet on the ground, life your eyes to our awesome Savior and ask Him how He sees your day going….and then….just listen! It's a beautiful thang!
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