DAY 6: 10-Day Prayer Challenge

There is a significant difference between going out for a run and going out for a walk.  To step outside for a walk or a run entitles a brand new set of preparation and a completely different experience, sometimes even different attire.  With a run, I may go farther but the sight I see won’t be as in depth as a slow-paced walk.

A walk entails an element of leisure and soft breaths where I can take in all that is around me, all that I miss when I zoom by in a run.  Even my focus and determination is different between the two, with a run I am focused on finishing and looking for the end to come as fast as I can get it too.  But with a walk, I am focused on my thoughts without much specific determination.

When we pray to God, we can notice our bodies going through the same difference as with the physical exertion of stepping outside.  Both a walk and a run are good for your body but each come with a different set of benefits.  The same thing takes place when we talk to God, we can go for Prayer Walk or a Prayer Run.

Have you ever thought about the difference?  I am sure you’ve gone for a Prayer Run before…you know the prayers where you are more excited about the hot meal in front of you than the prayer, that’s a Prayer Run.  Fast and Focused on Finishing.

A Prayer Walk, however, that’s when we take our time, we look around a bit and we pause and soak in our surroundings.  This is the time when we pray and take notice of the things we often miss when we are Pray Running too fast to hear our own thoughts or to give God a chance to even speak back.

Today, we are on Day 6 of the Prayer Challenge, and maybe the past 5 days you have been running.  This may be the longest prayer you have ever said or read, so you fly through it quick to get to the next activity on your schedule for the day.

Today…could you find some time to stop running.  To read the same prayer you have read the past 5 days (or maybe today is your first day) and instead walk through this one.  Say it with pauses, with reflections, and noticing which part you are lifting up the most in your heart.  See what God has to say; maybe say a couple lines more than once emphasizing its meaning with each redundancy.  See if there is a difference today with taking a Prayer Walk on our Challenge instead of just a brisk Run.

Lord Jesus, 

You are Lord of all the earth and yet you know my name.  You are great, you are grand, you are glorious, and yet you sit by my side and care for my heart.  I am thankful for you God.  Not just for what you have done or what I know you will do, I praise you for being the God that you are, and the God I never want to stop drawing closer to.  Bring me in closer today as I renew my heart to form it more like yours. 

Infect me.  May I feel your Spirit dwell in my veins.  Become a part of my being.  Help all that I am morph into all that you are.  

Cleanse me Lord from the world that has snared me.  Release me from this poison mixed in with my blood from this earthly flesh.  Help me to feel the blood of Jesus cleansing the parts of my soul that are broken. 

Renew me.  Refresh my heart, restart my mind, and recharge my body that it be fueled with the fire of your spirit.  Take reign in this place, take reign over the crevices of dirt and dust hidden in the corners of my inner being.  Heal me Lord, in the way only you can.  

Make me new.  Make me like you.  You bring life Lord, live in me!

Deliver me, every part of me.  I belong to you.  Rid me of all things that don’t belong here in your child.  Break the bonds of forces connected to me that are not connected to you.  Release me from the spirits that have no home here in your vessel.  

You are my home.  The authority of Jesus on the Cross and overcoming the face of death and the grave is my victory, my hope, and my proclamation today.  Let the truth of who you are, and the alive presence that you have within me consume me today so that nothing can thwart what you are doing in and through me.  

I am yours Lord, and I am unworthy.  Consume me to be used by you, to be intimate with your love so that I don’t chase it anywhere else.  I invite you into my heart, into my mind, and part of my body Lord.  

You are my King.  Let me feel the authority and title of what it means to be your child.  To be known by you, protected by you, cared for by you, loved by you and the Daughter/Son of a King.  

Remind me of who you are, I praise you for who you are.  Help me to live today remembering that who you are is developing me to be who I am transforming to be.  Guide my decisions today Lord that they walk in line with your truth. Let your light shine through me for the world to see more of you and less of me. 

I believe in your power Lord, and I believe you are alive in me.  Restore me Lord that I may reflect the image that you have created within me.  

AMEN

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