So this past week in Kairos has been utterly exhausting but really great at the same time. God's been doing a lot of cool stuff this week.
On Monday, we had a day off of class and had a Not-Sunday Funday instead. So in the morning, we went to International House of Prayer and had some sweet God time. I really like it there. I mean, it's just a building and there's nothing really special about it but I just love how you can go in this room and pray with hundreds of other believers. I don't know, it's just powerful I guess. So I really enjoyed that, especially when we got into some intercession because that is something I'm beginning to love. Anyways, after IHOP, we had a scavenger hunt which was tons of fun and it was a great way to kind of ease back into things after being on break for Thanksgiving.
Tuesday really wasn't all that exciting but we had small groups and talked about a lot of really interesting stuff. I've been thinking a lot lately about my motives for things. Why do I want to be a Christian? Why do I want the Holy Spirit? etc. Anyways, I was able to talk through some of that stuff and just process it a bit. To end small group, we prayed and one of the things we prayed for was for me to experience joy.
Ok, now here comes the cool part. Ready? Wednesday. I woke up and I decided to wear my new rainboots and I got to class and I was just smiley and happy and I wanted to skip. So I did. Now at first, I was just blaming the rainboots because how could you not want to skip in those but seriously, this wasn't just normal happiness, this was joy. Answer to prayer? I think yes.
Wednesday was off to a good start. Now, every Wednesday, we have a time of intercession. As I've gotten better at it, I've learned to love it and appreciate it more. I mean, it fascinates and amazes me to think that I can pray and make a difference in random people's lives. That means there are probably other random people out there making a difference in my life. Whoa! Cool, right? But back to the story. So we had intercession and God was just speaking to me. This has never really happened. Every once in a while I might get a little idea or something that I think might be God but this wasn't like that. I didn't hear an audible voice or anything, it was all still in my mind, but it was definitely God. The first thing that came to my mind was Pakistani children. Random. But then the verse Matthew 19:14 popped in my head. I had absolutely no clue what this verse said but I looked it up and it was Jesus saying "Let the little children come to me. . ." Whoa. Then we started sharing in our group and before I said anything Taylor starts talking about how the song Jesus loves the little children was stuck in her head. Double whoa. So we prayed over all of that and a lot of other stuff. I had this very clear vision, I guess you'd call it, of a girl that needed prayer. There's more to it then that but I'm going to leave out the details. It was so incredible to take some of my new found joy and be able to pray it out onto other people. Does that make sense? I hope so.
In the midst of all this praying, Tony makes a comment about how his brother had prayed for him for two years before Tony had ever become a believer. His brother never shared the gospel with him, I'm guessing because Tony already "knew" it, but he never gave up praying. Now, Tony is an amazing man of God and a man of prayer. So this got me thinking. I have several people in my life who I had kind of given up on. I mean, they know the gospel in their heads but they're hardened against it so if I were to try to share it with them, it would most likely just harden them more and make the situation worse. I always thought there was nothing more I could really do. But, I can pray. As of now, I have 4 specific people who I am constantly praying for and I'm not going to let up until they come to Christ. I'm not going to list names up here but if you guys could join me in praying for J, G, S, and H that would be greatly appreciated. Pray that God would reveal to them His value and that He would make the things of this world that they are pursuing seem worthless (because they are). Pray that God would hit them over the head, if necessary, and just show them His love, His worth, His greatness, and His reality. This whole concept that I can actually make a difference in their lives and affect their destiny leaves me feeling empowered. This is why I am starting to love intercession.
Thursday, the joy and the prayer continued. Nothing else super exciting.
Friday, I went out to lunch with Megan and Kevin to talk about how the concepts in Romans 6 and Romans 7 fit together. It was a really good talk and it brought up a lot of new perspectives and ideas and applications to my own life that I had never considered before. After that, we (all of Kairos) had to go and help out for the Desperation Conference at Life Church on Fri. and Sat. Desperation is from New Life Church in Colorado Springs. They have a sweet band that we worshipped with and then the pastor came in and spoke in a few different sessions on worship and prayer and stuff. That's what I did all day today too. It was great, especially the music, but man, I am exhausted! Seriously, I'm just done. Hopefully tomorrow will be restful because I definitely need some rest before more class on Monday.
This week was more than just good. I am so thankful for that. Please pray that the joy and everything continues on because I like it a lot! Anyways though, there's more I could say but I'll say it another time because as I said, I'm exhausted. So good-bye.
