Getting up at 6 AM is not an easy task, especially if mornings aren't your favorite time of the day. Even for those who are accustomed to waking up early, remembering to call into the prayer adds another layer of difficulty to this challenge.
I won't say that it will be easy, but I do want to help. If you are struggling to wake up, you can sign up for a wake up alert to be sent right to your phone. I'll also try to add accountability by checking in on those who need reminders and alerts. I want us to come out victorious! And a large part of success in this challenge is consistency from both you and I. As I work to hold you guys accountable, please do the same for me! If you don't receive devotions or if prayer isn't starting promptly, email me. We can get to the end, if we hold each other up.
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As we begin on this journey of seeking out the presence of God early and earnestly, God reminded me of two things: purging and hyssop.
This year in my private preparation for the challenge, I prayed that God would purge me of the things that I had gathered that were not from him. And I asked God to purify my deceitfully wicked heart with a supernatural hyssop. I was brought back to a memory from three years of when I first knew God for myself. I was filled with gratitude and worry, because within a few short months of salvation I knew God had called me to intercession. I tried to imagine why God commissioned me to come boldly to his throne through prayer, when I was so flawed in sin. My worry has since turned into an understanding that I will never how little of God's goodness I can imagine. An ever pure God, we filthy rags could never know the full righteousness of our king here on earth. I can never know why God chose me to lead you in this journey of prayer. But I can trust in the providence of God. When Jesus died his blood served as our pathway to the inheritance of righteousness. The blood purges us. It turns is from sinners into fishers of men. Every person embarking upon a serious relationship with the Father will be giving a commission or a task. It's our job to answer it. As you and I answer the call of daily prayer, we can't be loaded down with the baggage of yesterday's sin or mistakes. David cried into God to be cleansed and washed from the sin he committed with Bathsheba. His plea was so sincere. He asked to be cleansed both inside and out. Hyssop was the salve that he called for God to use. And while the herb has many uses, hyssop has nothing on the blood of Jesus. I'm so grateful that the Son of God died. Because we don't have to seek the proper usage or the proper dosage of his death on Calvary for it to be effective. We just have to repent and believe. I believe today that if you allow the blood to be hyssop in your life your wounds will be healed and your afflictions will be delivered. I believe that the prayer of David was just a sneak peek into the power of God. If God created a plant that could heal respiratory disease and fight infection how much more powerful do you think the blood of Jesus is? When the Lord was bruised and battered, every blow carried out a different cleansing purpose for your life. Let this week be the week you offer up your broken things to God to purge with the hyssop that is the blood of Jesus. Prayer: First Dear Lord, I want to thank you for dying for my sins on Calvary. Without your sacrifice my sins would be unpaid for. And for that I offer up praises of gratitude. Your holiness is beyond my imagination. Thank you God for being the purging hyssop in my life today. Father I've gathered things that have weighed me down. But on today I give them unto you in submission. Anything that has not been ordained by you to bring me to my expected end remove it. I give you my friendships, my relationships, my desires, my finances, my heart, my mind, purge me lord, for your glory. As you have your way in my life, give me the wisdom to navigate the snares of the enemy so that my life will never be the same. As we prepare for this year's challenge, I want to point out some big differences between last year and this year. There are some things that we will not be continuing and I wanted to make sure that we started with clarity.
For starters, this year, instead of setting our mind on 5 goals we are focusing on three goals. I will be honest, last year felt like a rat race of sorts. My prayer is that in focusing in on fewer goals, we can slow down and really accomplish the things we set out to do. Our goals are also shifting from what we want to what we believe God is calling us to do. Last year, we spent three months declaring the promises of God over our families, our finances, our businesses and our minds. And while I believe in the principles that led us to make our requests known to God, this year as I prayed for direction. God implored me to try something different. Last year, during the challenge I learned that God's plans trump all. You would think that as a Christian blogger and prayer warrior I would have known that by now. But, I set forth plan after plan with the expectation that because I trusted God that those plans would be followed. |
About the ChallengeThe 100 Days of Excellence challenge is a 100 day journey to completely rearrange the course of your life. It is about seeking the thrown of God to hear what his plan is for our lives. It is a commitment to carry out every action in your future in the spirit of excellence. Archives
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