Awake my nation.

The past few months for me have been unarguably quick. All at the same time I've been neglecting my personal time with the Lord. My quiet times have dwindled down to a breath of prayer in the morning while I get ready for camp, quick prayers during camp asking for guidance, maybe a scripture for Camp devotion and a prayer before my head hits the pillow. But real face time immersed in God's thick, comforting and fulfilling? It's been a moment or two.

Tonight, in the midst of my busy evening, I decided to stargaze on my way home from work. So I lay in the grass, closed my eyes and listened. Wind- calming, yet restless. Perhaps the result of a butterfly beating its wings thousands of miles away. Always moving and moving quickly to its next destination. The clouds progressed. The creatures of the earth creeped. The grass rustled lightly. The earth beneath me was moving, and so was the sky above me. My heart was beating.

Every living thing moves, changes and shifts. Nothing is still. Nothing takes a break. Nothing is silent.

I'm writing this post because I have been shaken over the past couple of days to pray and fast for our nations and for my friends. There was an "Urgent call to prayer" message released in the Christian media within the past couple of weeks, and I've been researching it lately and listening to different ministers share their personal prayer time experiences and their knowledge about it. (For more info go to http://www.christiantoday.com/article/billy.grahams.daughter.says.the.end.is.near.calls.for.a.week.of.prayer/38524.htm )

Why pray for our nation, you may ask. Why take time to pray for our friends, coworkers, family. Why now when it seems that things couldn't get any better? Why even pray at all? 

I can't say that I'm a professional on knowing exactly how prayer works. I can't watch my prayer float to heaven and watch God hold it or make it work. But I personally picture prayer as just a simple conversation with God, as if you were talking to your father, asking your father questions or letting your father know what you want. "Dad, show me how to throw a football." "Dad, read me a bedtime story." A dad can't ignore that look in his child's eyes. 

"God, help my friend. She's hurting on the inside and she needs you to heal her." 

God doesn't ignore us. He doesn't ignore pain. He doesn't ignore suffering. He listens to every word you speak. He wants to know your heart and He wants you to search his endless love so you can find the real you- the one who was created for a greater destiny than you can fathom. He has a nature that so many of us don't know about. And his nature is nothing less than love.

I'm personally disturbed, friends. I'm disquieted and disgruntled in my soul. Can I be honest? I see so many people everyday. There are People I talk to and who I am friends with. People who I simply see passing by me at the bus stop. People walking around the store. And I'm disturbed because people that I sit with now might not join me in heaven later. Some people in this world are going straight to hell if they died now. And I'm not okay with that. I'm not calm about it. I can't shrug my shoulders and say "oh well." Those people have hearts and destinies that are yet to be discovered. It truly breaks me on the inside. It makes me lay awake at night. It makes tears well up in my eyes. It makes me want to hit my knees and talk to God about it. "Help my friends find love. Help my nation find you."
 I don't have to beg God for him to hear what I say. I didn't have to beg God 6 years ago when I ran outside in the middle of the night having a panic attack, and cried out "Where are you and why aren't you helping me? Help me find my purpose." I asked Him to rescue me because I felt useless, sick and alone, and I didn't have to beg. He rescued me. And if anything in life is a testimony to God hearing us, it's that. He rescued me when I was in a dark, dark place. No one else could help me escape but Him. 

So here's my anthem this week. Let prayer work, and Let hope in.

Love you all. Have a good week. :)