Day One-Hundred-Six...40 Days of Faith

I came across this blog a few weeks ago. It's 40-Days of Faith. It was a journey of prayer and faith for the things that you want to see happen in your life. Because I came upon it late, I decided I would wait until the end to take part in the 40 days of faith.

So, here's the beginning of it. Each day, I'm going to paste the author's post and participate on my own.

So, here's the first one...

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Welcome to 40 Days of Faith!

We'll start the official countdown tomorrow. Today is a warm-up day, sort of like when all the runners gather for a pasta dinner the night before the Boston Marathon.

This is an apt comparison, actually--as I discovered the first time I tried asking God for something that mattered to me each day for 40 days, this is a marathon, not a sprint. There will be times you want to give up, days where you couldn't care less, and moments when you think this might be the stupidest thing you've ever tried. It comes with the territory--this is hard, this thing we're doing, putting our hearts out there before God and asking him to make our dreams a reality. But, as Dr. Phil always says, "You can't argue with results..." I've seen amazing results in the times I've set aside to see what God might have to say about my hopes and desires, and I'm only one story out of dozens and dozens. Hard is often worth it; here's hoping this is one of those times!

By way of preparation, here's the basic shape of what we'll be doing.

First: Let's each ask ourselves, "What do I want Jesus to do for me?" If you're not sure about Jesus, that's totally fair. I include him here because he says some pretty astounding things about answering our prayers and giving us a new life that exceeds our expectations...I like the idea of taking him up on this offer. But if this is a new idea, feel free to to preface the question with, "If Jesus really is who he says he is in the Bible, what would I want him to do for me?"A note on this asking: be specific. Ask for something tangible, where you'll know whether or not your prayer has been answered. (For example, I knew exactly when Jesus answered my prayers for a husband. My prayer for a happier attitude towards cleaning the bathroom, on the other hand, is a little tougher to pin down).

Second: Let's consider fasting from something for these 40 Days. I talk about this idea of fasting a bit in my book, and how the Bible suggests it goes hand-in-hand with prayer. During my first 40 Days, I fasted from coffee. In subsequent years I've fasted from reading (which made trips to the hairdresser long as I stared out the window while my highlights foiled...), baked goods, or television. The idea here is that when we're craving coffee or sweets, or passing up the latest issue of People at the salon, we can offer this up to God. I find myself saying, "Lord, I want a husband more than I want caffeine/pop culture updates/dessert right now." Somehow this connects me to my real desires, because I can't escape into the lesser things I use to comfort or distract me.

Important Note: if an eating disorder has ever been a struggle for you, PLEASE don't fast from food. Ask God what your fast should be; he has lots of good ideas!

Third: Teamwork. Each day, I'll post three things on this blog: An inspirational story or passage, some thoughts on why it inspires me, and a song that bolsters my hope when it's flagging. By the end of this time together, not only will we have amazing stories of answered prayer, we'll have a playlist to commemorate this time...what could be better?Your part in this teamwork facet is to check in via the comments. Post a comment every day, letting us know how you're doing. It can be a reaction to the day's writing, an update on something specific, or a funny anecdote that happened that day. If you're losing hope, let us know. If your prayer is answered, let us know. We're in this together!

Okay, that's all for today. I'll see you tomorrow for Day 1. Until then, remember: "What is impossible with man is possible with God." (Luke 18:27) That pretty much covers everything, right?

(This would be a great time, by the way, to click on the comments and say, "I'm in!" If you want to share what you're praying for, great. If not, feel free to keep it private. But let us know you're on the team :))

Bring on the linguini!

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Ok, so...

1) What do I want Jesus to do for me?

This has always been a hard one for me to answer. I want a LOT of things, but I don't want to be greedy, you know? It has always felt like "if you build it, they will come" and I always want to do what God wants me to do. But, in this 40-Days of Faith, I think I'm going to strip down my inhibitions and just "present my requests to God" and watch them come to pass!

So, what do I want? Here's my list (or at least what I can think of at 12:00 in the morning!):

~ I want to get married.
~ I want to have children.
~ I want to be financially secure.
~ I want to buy a house.
~ I want to be out of debt.
~ I want to have a better attitude about myself. That includes about making sure I clean up after myself, keeping my attitude toward my worth higher, keeping my head up and my sense of esteem in Christ first and foremost in my mind.
~ I want to be completely healed from past hurts.
~ I want to make my relationship with the Lord first and foremost in my life.
~ I want to read my Bible daily.
~ I want to pray daily.
~ I want to meditate and hear from God daily.
~ I want to learn to hear His voice.

2) What am I going to fast these next 40 days?

ARGH! I hate this question. I never know exactly what to give up. I could say coffee, but in reality, I don't drink that much. I could say soda, but again, I don't really drink that much. Those wouldn't be much of a sacrifice. I could say beef...I could say chicken...I could say candy...again, not things I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT! So, Lord, what do I fast? Cooking and cleaning? Hee hee! I guess I'm just going to have to pray about this and seek the Lord's direction.

Sigh...

3) Teamwork...well, while I will be looking over the comments on the original blog, I will also make my own comments. If I find something that is interesting, I'll link to it.

An aside about teamwork: when I first read that this was going to be a "team sport", I first thought, "Yay! I won't be in this alone!" However, after blogging this far, I've come to the conclusion that I DO need to do this alone. This is MY 40 days with God. This is MY time to grow closer to Him. This is MY alone time with Him. And that's OK. Jesus was closest to God when He was alone in the desert. Many times, Jesus separated Himself from the crowd to go pray to His Father.

So, starting tonight, I'm going to ask the Lord what He would have me fast. It will have to be something significant, and something I can't replace with something else...otherwise, there is no sacrifice, right?