CRAZY love challenge week ONE: prayer!!!

my husband timmy and i have been greatly enjoying a small group bible study the past several months. we have been reading and reviewing what we've read on a weekly basis about, "crazy love" by francis chan...now, please understand me when i state VERY vocally that this is truly a challenge, a very humbling challenge...i figure it's a good thing when we are asked to look at our lives, especially as followers of Christ, and ask ourselves, "what exactly are we doing to make a difference??"...some of us have jobs where, on a daily basis, we have great opportunity to share Jesus' love by our attitude and actions and possibly even our words:)... others of us may have to create more opportunities to make a difference maybe through volunteerism, quiet acts of service, putting our time or money where our mouths are... but talking about these concepts in the real world? being the Jesus that others may not encounter because they have either never heard of him? or maybe their examples might be through the lens of assumed hypocrisy because words and actions (through humanity) did not match and, frankly, disappointed others, can be more than a bit fearsome (i would compare this with oh, let's say, a lion's den or jumping off a cliff...anything that requires true bravery)...whether you proclaim to the world that you are crazy in love with our Lord Jesus Christ and want to follow him at all costs, or whether you are crazy in love with Jesus but a secret admirer and don't know how to express this in a world that is pretty much...crazy...we all need, guidance... yes, there are questions, concerns, fears and doubts? hopes, dreams and gifts:) so if we're looking for guidance and wisdom from the very one that created us, who knows us better than we know ourselves? then maybe we should really try to make the time to HEAR Him... soooooo this is my proposal, my "challenge"...

for the next week? would you commit with me to get up 10 minutes earlier each day and simply ask God what He would have you do with all that "stuff" He has given you?? (time, talents, finances...you probably already have something in mind)... let's try it for a week, 10 minutes EVERY day, on our knees (or whatever position allows you to be comfortable with God...) and then be accountable to each other that we have completed this first challenge??

WILL YOU STAND WITH ME IN THIS CHALLENGE?
Raise your hand and let's support others that are crazy:)

Philippians 4:6
New King James Version (NKJV)
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

G.P.S.

recently i have been finding that there are many forms of G.P.S. in our lives... there is the obvious vocal coach that you drive around and have them issue many directions (oftentimes with the voice of your choosing...how pleasant)... the directions are repeated in a very persistent, calm voice, and it is difficult to deviate from someone insisting that you "turn right in 500 ft, turn right in 500 ft, TURN RIGHT IN 500 FT!", no they don't yell at you (thank heavens) but it does seem to be a form of automated nagging...

when we were in virginia beach this past summer...four very hot, sweaty, yet exciting and memorable weeks... we used the GPS on timmy's phone (free app, by the way...), we found ourselves in a variety of situations and places that didn't quite make sense and the GPS would actually make sense of it... how princess anne intersects princess anne i have NO idea, (and yes chad, this was for you...)....but something else i found fascinating about this little innovative directional gem is that when we DIDN'T follow the voice? it would say "re-routing, re-routing..." it would take a moment, re-calibrate what we had actually done, and then start us over in the right direction.

yes, many of us see where this is heading (and i'm sure you don't need GPS to get there...) but in each of our lives we are seeking direction! we have an initial path that we begin and then we just "head out"... maybe we need to be more purposeful? maybe we need to actually plug into our God Positioning Service and "assume the position" of prayer where we literally bow our heads and ask our Creator God where He wants us to go.... and that interesting little feature of the worldly GPS where it "re-routes" you? is not by any means lost in this analogy... no matter what we do, no matter where we go, if we are asking God to lead us, guide us and even re-route, He will speak to us in whatever "voice" He chooses to use; time (aka waiting...), prayer, people, His word, His work... if we're following His plan we'll never be lost we'll just find ourselves re-routed...

jeremiah 29:11 "for i know the plans that i have for you," says the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."