Years ago, I read a book by that title. While it was helpful, I think the most helpful thing (i.e. the thing that has stayed with me over the years, and thus the only thing to really STICK after reading the book) was to just get on and do it. Don't stand around doing nothing. Just pray.
Needless to say, I don't do that. Yup, confession time. I hardly pray. There are lots of reasons for that, and I won't bore you with the details - mostly because I want to get on with the point of this post.
Today, at church, I felt God challenge me on this (yet again... He's been challenging me on this a lot over the last while). We watched a clip of Bill Hybels (@BillHybels) of Willow Creek in Chicago. I was fortunate enough to have been to see him in person at a Willow Creek conference in Chicago several years ago when I was on the staff at The Ascension, Balham Hill. You can say what you like about him - he's typically brash and American - but you can't avoid the fact that Bill speaks truth to the heart. He has a passion for God and God's church that outstrips anything I've seen in the vast majority of Christians. (He's the guy who coined the phrase "The local church is the hope of the world".)
Anyway, sidetracking. Back to prayer. As Bill was speaking, I felt God nudge me again, with the title of that book. I want to see things change in this world. Heck - I'd love to see things change in my life, in my marriage, in my family, in my work! I felt God ask me (not in audible words; just as an inner voice, or an impression) how things were ever going to change if I did nothing differently.
You see, I've been on at my remedial class at school about exactly this topic. They're not stupid, they just either don't like the subject, don't have a work ethic, don't know how to study, or don't listen in class. So I've been on at them about how they need to DO something DIFFERENTLY if they want to see different results at the end of the year.
And God challenged me with exactly that same message.
If I want to see change, then I'm going to have to do something differently. I can't just stand around hoping it will change, or waiting for someone else to make it change. I have to get stuck in and be the change I want to see. The only way to do that is to pray.
So... in addition to my new attempt to get fit by running regularly, I have now diarised 3 prayer sessions a week - one for my work-related stuff, one for my local community, and one for the cell group that I lead. I have no idea whether I will be able to keep any of them (we all know how the devil likes to try to mess up our lives and distract us from the job at hand), but rather than fail to start because I'm worried about failing, I've decided to start and see what happens.
Maybe God will surprise me. In fact, I hope he does.
I'm ready to be surprised. I'm ready to have my life turned upside down again by the sheer generosity and grace of God towards all people.
Time to stop wading on the fringes of the waves and dive back in to the depths of the water.
To say I'm a bit nervous is probably about right. The age-old questions have already started to rear their ugly heads. What if God doesn't show up? What if my prayers just keep bouncing off the ceiling? What if it takes a lot of effort on my part before I see any results? What if I never see results? What if my loved ones think I've gone super-religious on them? What if I get hurt and more disillusioned?
Thing is, I've let those fears control me for far too long now. So I'm simply going to ignore them and carry on. I'll let you know how it goes, but in case I don't, feel free to ask. Better yet, why not join me? Let's make this experiment a shared journey. I dare you.
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