40 days...

Our church is beginning a journey....a 40 day journey... from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.  Many churches around the nation are doing something similar, but I'm excited about spending the next 40 days in commitment with other believers to seek Him unreservedly. Yeah, I know, sounds kinda 'churchy', doesn't it?  That's ok...this isn't about church, this is about Him.  Since this is one place where I feel that I can be completely open and vulnerable, here is what I wrote in my journal yesterday...

3/9/11
As lent season begins, I am joining my church on a 40 day journey.  My personal journey involves seeking my Lord's face and seeking His favor where new levels of intimacy will be found.  In 40 days, I don't want to be the same person I am today.  I want to experience You in Your fullness. I want to see Your glory.  I pray for a renewing of my mind and my spirit.   I pray that others would see me through Your eyes and that they might extend to me the hand of grace and peace.  It's not that I feel that I deserve it.  I know that I lost the respect and love that I once cherished from some and as much as my heart aches every single day over that loss, I know that I'm not defined by that.  I only ask that You, Father bring a spirit of peace between us.   I pray that You will whisper to my kids in these 40 days, that they will come to know You in a different way. I pray that Mark would be refreshed and renewed, that You would speak words of authority and truth into his life.
I want to be so focused during these 40 days that nothing else gains my interest.  I want to watch Your hand move. I want to see the grace of Christ win the battle that rages. I want your grace to once and for all cover the shame that looms over me.  I want to see Jesus.  Whatever it takes....


Last week our pastor spoke of how our God is able to do anything that we ask....but we have to ask.  Can I encourage you to go on a journey with me over these next 40 days?  Let's seek His face together, finding intimacy with Him in ways that leave us hungering for more. Let's sit at His feet together, look up into His eyes, and see what He has to say to us.  During Lent season, you usually 'give up' something. Some fast, some give up chocolate or television or video games.  The Lord has told me what to fast during this 40 days and I will do that, but it goes beyond that.  It's giving up self . Ouch.  That's the hardest thing to give up. Sometimes we think we've given Him our all....and then a tough situation comes up and self comes shining through, in all of its glory!  Let's see what He has in store for us as we lay more and more of self at His feet.  I don't know about you, but I'm excited about this journey.  It's a journey of victory, right?  I mean, how can it not be?  We know what happens at the end of the 40 days. Easter.  Victory.