Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The last couple months

So, I have been far from consistent in my posting over the last couple months. Something that I have really been making a priority is emphasis on prayer and reading. I am still not sure what God is trying to do through all the opportunities that I have had especially in the area of prayer, but He is faithful and will make it known eventually. Let me just start from the beginning.

A few weeks ago one of the young woman here approached me about being part of a group of people to pray and fast for one day every two weeks. The purpose was to try and keep in communion with the Spirit and keep the student body expecting the moves of God. I didn't really have to think about it before I said that I would. A few days after that, said woman of God came to me and asked me if I would be willing to kind of head up the group. Again, it didn't take too much thought for me to agree to it. I had already been thinking of ways to make it more corporate than individual and that kind of opened the door for me to go in the direction that I was thinking about. So over the last couple of weeks I have been taking more time to pray for the students of the school and just spending time with Jesus.
Also, during our ministry half week, I decided to be the intercessor of the group. A couple others joined me for some of the time, but during all our chapels I was in prayer chapel just seeking God on behalf of the group and residents. It was definitely a spiritually wearying experience, but that has actually pushed me to want to pray more and longer.
It has also been shown to me just how much power is available to us through faith-filled prayers. The truth of the authority that comes through being a Christian has become much more clear to me, though I struggle mightily in walking out that authority. 
Now I am a couple days from Spring Break and am looking at doing two more fasts to break down more of the idols that are in my heart. I will be capping break with a couple of days at IHOP in Kansas City. 
If you read this blog and aren't aware of it by now, well I am a firm believer that things don't have by accident - no coincidences. I have no idea why all these prayer related things are coming at me these days but I know it is for a higher purpose and for His glory alone. 

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Ministry Week

So my group was assigned to the New Hope center. It's a men's drug and alcohol rehab center located in south Minneapolis. I really didn't know what to look forward to, or worry about or really what to think at all, but I was excited to actually do something for a few days.
We arrived at the center shortly before 2 on Monday afternoon. We got introduced to a couple of the head men in the ministry. After some introductory information we started talking about work assignments. Well the first one on the list was cooking duty. The guy we were meeting with asked us which guys liked cooking, myself and one other guy raised our hands. Then he asked who was good at it, one of the other guys said that I was so I got that assignment. I was told it would be a lot of work but that is something I enjoy now so that was no problem. I had to start work at 3:30 so not a whole lot of time to get settled into the place but again, no big deal for me.
I showed up at 3:30 to the kitchen. It was pretty much sweet honestly! I learned how to make homemade tortilla chips and yeah I still really haven't gotten over it...kinda lame but I like food! haha Yeah I just helped out however I could and then enjoyed the food.
That night we all went to the group chapel. So I don't know how it usually is, but one of the coordinators had a younger friend of his come in and do some rapping/preaching. It was fun, kinda hard to really get into it because I didn't know his songs but still yeah, good times. I was told that I was supposed to be at breakfast prep at 5:30 so I didn't stay up too much after the chapel.
I set my alarm for 4:45 and after a couple times hitting the snooze I got up to go to work. Well once I got down there, roughly 5:25, the guy said he didn't need me. Well I took that pretty well considering the hour of the day and my enjoyment of sleep. But I went back upstairs for a while to just lay down and wait till breakfast at 6:30. After breakfast I took a 2 hour nap and would have slept longer but we were doing the chapel at 9. I considered helping with the music/speaking parts of the chapel but had a stronger desire to work on a different area of my faith - prayer.
Lately, God has really been putting a strong, like crazy strong passion for prayer with in me. So I took the opportunity to be the designated intercessor during the chapel times. Two other guys split time with me in the prayer room, but I was in there for the duration of the chapel times. The chapels were at 9 and 1:30 and each lasted between an hour and an hour and a half so it was a lot of time to pray. Add that to the 4 - 5 hours of time spent working in the kitchen and I am really exhausted right now.
The level of tiredness in my spirit last night especially was kind of shocking to me. Like sure I've never spent that kind of time in dedicated prayer but I wasn't expecting to be so wiped out. But it really only revealed once again my stubbornness. I didn't have the greatest desire to intercede today, but I knew that it was beneficial - for both the chapel and for my spirit's endurance.
In last night's evening chapel there was a speak who definitely seemed like he was a regular around the center. Well I have no doubt that he had a message already prepared for the time but once he heard that the nine of us were there he went in a completely different direction. He had each of us come up front and share our testimonies and just talk to the group - answering their questions for us. It was pretty sweet to see a guy that was so flexible to an expected happening.
I shared my testimony about as clearly as I have, maybe ever and yeah I definitely give the credit for that to God. I didn't think I had anything too inspiring but God works with the average very well.
This morning during lunch prep the guy I was working with said he really appreciated what I said. Specifically about the vision that I have right now, he said it really resonated with him and yeah it was a blessing for me to hear it. Like I spent into the back room for a second to keep from breaking down in the middle of the kitchen.
After lunch and chapel we talked for a bit about how we would run the evening. Some wanted to stay a little longer, some didn't. Well most of us ended up rolling out at about 6:30.
So highlights
-Hearing from a guy with a passion similar to mine
-overhearing different people express their appreciation for us being there to each other
-learning how to make some basic (sorta) food from scratch
-being able to do work again, instead of just more class