Today on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, we invite our congregation to join together in a spiritual adventure where we will live and breathe prayer for the next 40-days.
God’s a big fan of 40-day journeys. Skim through the Bible, and you’ll find that often when God is about to move in a big way, the number 40 is nearby. He took Noah, Moses, David, Elijah, Jonah, Daniel, and Jesus on 40-day adventures which set the stage for seasons of revival.
When you think about it, it makes sense. A one-day conference (like Noble Warriors) can be invigorating. It can show us the Promised Land from afar. But experiencing lasting change can’t happen in a weekend. They say it takes about six weeks to dislodge harmful behaviors and forge new habits. Well there you go: 40-days.
So how should you begin this journey?
First and foremost this 40 Day Prayer Adventure is for you and your Lord to draw closer together.
While the Bible tells us that we are to build one another up in the faith (1 Thessalonians 5:11), did you know that the Bible also says that you are responsible for building your own faith up? Jude 1:20 says, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith, and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourself in the love of God…”
I’ve developed a saying as a pastor when it comes to helping other people out. “I can’t want it more than you do.” If you don’t first show the longing and desire to grow, then there’s little your pastor or Life Group or triad can do for you. So show that spark. Make the decision right now that during this time you will seek God in prayer in a deeper and greater way than you ordinarily do.
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you,” says James 4:8. The Lord’s been at work in your life long before now, pouring his grace upon you. Now it’s your turn to respond to His grace. So make that choice. Take that step.
Pastor and writer Mark Batterson in his powerful 40-day devotional on prayer, Draw The Circle, says, “If you want God to do something new in you, you cannot keep doing the same old thing. You have to do something different. And if you do, God will created new capacities within you. There will be new gifts and new revelations. But you’ve got to pray the price.”
So how should I begin? you ask.
Pastor Mark (who has led his church through several 40-day prayer experiences over the years) shares the story of a prolific revival preacher at the turn of the 20th century named Rodney ‘Gypsy’ Smith, who led tens of thousands to Christ in Europe and America. Once after a meeting, he was approached by a group of believers who asked how they could make a difference with their lives the way he had. He gave them this advice:
Go home. Lock yourself in your room. Kneel down in the middle of the floor, and with a piece of chalk draw a circle around yourself. There, on your knees, pray fervently and brokenly that God would start a revival within that chalk circle.
I can’t think of a better way for each of us to begin this prayer adventure.
What should you say to God while in your prayer circle? Here’s a song that might give you a few ideas: