Forty Days of Lent - 9 days in

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One of the things I love about participating in a church-wide fast is that a large proportion of people are on the same journey.  We choose different things from which to abstain.  We are not legalistic, because life must be lived.  But the unity that comes in assuming (mostly correctly) that everyone is fasting something offers a huge sense of camaraderie.  On days when it just feels too hard that camaraderie is gold.

In our church, we are constantly reminded that we are denying ourselves of something natural so that we become hungry for the supernatural.  We are leaning in and challenging the things that weigh heavy on our hearts, in the supernatural, to see breakthrough; to see God's goodness in the land of the living (Ps 27:13).  We have personal stuff and we have corporate stuff.  And we are pausing; waiting for God to move as we sit and breathe in the stillness and quiet.

As I have been working on doing better with sustained, focused prayer I have been finding the following things helpful.

• Ann Voscamp's Lent devotional 'Trail to the Tree' reminds me to stop and linger in the Word. 
• Discovery Church's leaderhip blog helps me to take a fresh perspective on long familiar stories of the Bible and grows my understanding of God.

I'm learning to be still.  To push through the distractions in my own mind.  To claim the power I have because Jesus shed his blood for me to be able to do that.  To pray with authority and wisdom.  I am learning to wait and inhale and trust.  We are still busy with life but this season feels set aside.  Holy.