Focus

Call me whatever you want to call me, but I love traditions. Traditions remind me of the things that have value, because if something doesn't have value, it won't {or shouldn't} last very long.

Maybe this doesn't count as a tradition, but in some ways it feels like one, so here goes. For the past several years, my church has set aside the first full week in January as a week for prayer and fasting. This year things have been adjusted and we're fasting and praying Tuesday through Saturday instead of the whole week, but I think the different length will help/is helping us to go deeper. It's a brief drilling down deep, instead of an extended trough.

This month {ha, all seven days of it!} there are a few big things I'm praying about and asking God for revelation, and I'm really grateful for this short intense time of prayer and fasting. I think some great breakthroughs are coming, and I'm excited to see God move!

The Lord has already given me a theme for this year, but He's also emphasizing a different theme for each day of fasting and praying, too. This thrills me, because I find it's so much easier to pray specific, targeted prayers. Which, ironically or not, is tied to today's theme. Today, the theme is focus.

via

Today I'm focusing my prayers on:

• the next step in life
• goals {10 years, 5 years, 1 year}
• growth, healing, reconciliation in my church body

Hopefully I'll get my life together and share the next 4 themes with you this week. That would be something, to look back at the end of 2014 and say "Here is the specific fruit of these specific prayers!" I'm looking forward to that :)