Every morning, I wake up and lift my heart to God in prayer.

I praise Him for His glory and goodness.

I surrender my agenda and expectations to His greater kingdom purposes.

I yield my desires to do His will.

And, then I ask for Him to move a mountain.

I cry out to Him for that mountain to crumble.

I believe that God is bigger than any obstacle or stronghold.

Yet, my mountain remains — immovable and unyielding.

Do you have a mountain?   I bet you do.

Like me, you may be discouraged by the darkness that looms large in your view.

You aren’t alone.

If we sat down today in my kitchen and shared our stories, I bet we would see similarities.

That’s exactly what happened to my husband and I just a few weeks ago.  Our friend Mikey and his bride Sherree invited themselves over and stepped into our valley.  They sat down and listened to the nitty-gritty, and they didn’t try to fix us.  They didn’t pretend that they had it all together, either.  They shared their own messy mountain tale, and then we decided to invite someone else into the conversation.

Four hearts bowed together in front of an altar aflame.

Together, we asked God to move two mountains.

With worshipful hearts, we cried out to Him for those mountains to crumble.

We prayed big.

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In the Old Testament when David faced defeat and discouragement, he continually lifted up empty hands to heaven and cried out for mercy.

Why do we think that we can’t do the same?  God delights when we confess our need for Him.   He sees your trembling heart full of love that is holding fast to His promises.

He sees you.

Your prayers are a sweet aroma of sacrifice that rises straight to the heart of the King of Kings.

One glorious day, He will thunder down and crumble your mountain.

Join me as we #PrayBig for the next 31 days.

May my prayer be set before You like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.  Psalms 141:2

 

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Day One:  Keep Fighting the Good Fight

Photo Credit

 

The left lane was blocked off due to construction.

Time was ticking away, and all I could see in front of me was congestion.  I needed to move faster.

Lord, it’s Monday, and I am late.  Could you please make this a little easier.  

I decided to take another route — in hopes of making up time.

Two turns later, I smacked right into a snarl-up.  Obviously, my plans for the day had just gone up in smoke.

The vehicle inched along at an infuriatingly slow pace.  Move forward two feet.  Stop.  Crawl ahead a pace.  Slow down.  Push ahead a piece.  Slam on the brakes.

At the light, I reached for my phone to make the me culpa “I am going to be late” call and realized my fancy dancy cell phone had  lunged forward off the passenger’s seat and landed on the farthest corner of the floor mat.

I unhooked my seat belt and extended my body across the length of the car.  No matter how much a strained ahead, my fingertips could not reach that phone.

Oh well, I’ll grab it when I get there.  

I drove on disconnected and discontent.

I flipped on the radio, and soon the terrible traffic lulled me into a stupor.    I am not sure how long I drove on lost in my thoughts until it hit.

A loud wailing sound emanated from the floor.

Waank.  Waank.  Waank.  Waank.

My cell phone alarm was mocking me.  The noise was loud enough to wake the dead.

Waank.  Waank.

I drove on in desperation.  Lord, make the blaring buzz stop.  

Waank.  Waank.

Should I turn off the radio?   I left it on to help take the edge off the pain.

The next song started, and I heard a familiar melody that made me smile.

I know I’m not strong enough to be
Everything that I’m supposed to be.
I give up.
I’m not strong enough.
Hands of mercy won’t you cover me.
Lord, right now I’m asking you to be
Strong enough,
Strong enough
For the both of us.

Ain’t that the truth? I thought.  I am not strong enough to do Mondays without God.  I am not strong enough to face these mountains without His hands of mercy covering me.

Right there in my car with the iphone alarm waanking away, I surrendered my Mondays and my mountains to my God.

That’s when the radio DJ decided to play the next song.

Even in the road blocks,
Even through the rough spots,
When you’re feeling you’ve given all that you’ve got,
I’m with you in the next step
Giving you in the next breath.
I’ll be the voice saying: “You’re gonna make it.”
When you’re out there on your own,
You are never alone.

Keep fighting the good fight.
Keep letting your light shine
‘Cause I’m never gonna leave you,
Always gonna see you through to the other side.
Keep fighting the good fight.

I started singing along.  My soul woke up, and I remembered the One who fights my battles for me.

You see, the enemy of my soul is sounding a loud alarm that says I am defeated.  He seeks to discourage me and deplete me of faith.  He wails and waanks and makes plenty of noise.  He throws roadblocks in my plans and strives to disconnect me from my supernatural Source of strength.

To pray big, I must let go of my time-table and my well-laid plans.   I must surrender the steering wheel to the Omnipotent One.   I must inch forward joyfully through the congestion and believe that despite all the noise in my life He is going to make a way.  He must lead, and I must continue to fight the good fight even if the way seems unclear.  My job is to stay faithful to the course.

Lord, help me to keep fighting the good fight.

Something to think about…

 

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This year, my desire is to lift up holy hands and “Pray Big.”   Want to join me?  I’ve created a private “Pray Big” Facebook group for like-minded sisters to share their stories and surrender each one to our mountain-moving God in prayer.  Let’s cry out to God together.