40 Days...Again

Yesterday we completed our 40 Days of Scripture and Prayer. I didn’t write as much about it as I had originally intended – but not because it wasn’t powerful. Quite the opposite, actually.

During the past 40 days (excluding Sundays), we read through Isaiah, Hosea, Micah, Haggai, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Ephesians. I am always amazed how God’s word speaks right to your heart, no matter where you are reading, no matter what season of life you are in. But this one, this one was different. It was the first time I had really taken on something like this in the midst of community. The added element of talking with others nearly daily about what we were reading was powerful.

I was amazed at how the same Scriptures really stood out to, in particular, both Bret and me as well as Chris and Heidi. And when the same things didn’t stand out, the combination of the different things we had seen really said something, too. This process really brought us as a leadership team – and friends – to a different level.

I didn’t write much about it here though. And I feel a little bad about not sharing more of it. But honestly, a lot of what I was hearing just did not have a place here in the very public blog-o-sphere. It’s changed me, it’s changed Christ Journey, and I pray that the fruit of that transformation will be evident as we move forward.

Christ Journey has been going through some pretty major transitions since last fall. Several different things came to a head at the same time, and not everyone was ready for, understood, and/or agreed with the way things were handled, decisions that were made, or the directions to which we have returned. God’s Word has spoken directly to us and confirmed many of the things that we have been thinking and feeling in all of this, and it has been so wonderfully refreshing.

Also as a part of this, we’ve been praying Luke 10:2 everyday. “2He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” As harvesters, we’re praying to be in contact with the harvest, and for them in turn to become harvesters, too.

During this time, we’ve all (Bret, Chris, Heidi, and me) had some unmistakable answers to this prayer. Old relationships have “randomly” been renewed, opportunities have fallen into our laps, and hearts that were once thought to be hopelessly calloused have begun to soften. We have had conversations and experiences that we had begun to let ourselves think only happened to others in books. Any one of these might could be explained as “coincidence,” but when the literally over a dozen specific individuals who have risen up as a part of this harvest are combined, the role of the Spirit is undeniable.

So we’re doing it again! This time we’re reading a little of Psalms, a Proverb, and few chapters from one of the gospels each day. I can’t wait to see what’s in store this time around…