My church is on a journey called Prayer41. Forty-one days of prayer. One commitment of Prayer41 is attend one prayer gathering a week.
Last night’s prayer meeting was different from the usual format. There were six stations. The Lost. Transformation. Passion. Boldness. Faith. Halifax.
The station that most impacted me the most was Faith. God’s character gives us faith that we can trust him. As I wrote down the words that came to mind, some clusters directly from scripture, other from song. Wonderful. Counsellor. Peace. Rock. Shield. Strength. Strong Tower. Alpha. Omega.
Just the simple act of pausing to contemplate who God is gave me such a peace, a sense of security. I realized that I was not in control, and was okay with that. The sense of freedom that comes from knowing it is not I who has to have it all together, that I can just rest in who He is, is such a beautiful thing.
And speaking of control, I leave you with a quote that was included in one of the Prayer41 emails this week and head off to church to hear AJ talk about being Out of Control when it comes to money and literal stuff.
To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life. So is to trust that something will happen to us that is far beyond our imaginings. So, too, is giving up control over our future and letting God define our life, trusting that God moulds us according to God’s love and not according to our fear. The spiritual life is a life in which we wait, actively present to the moment, trusting that new things will happen to us, new things that are far beyond our own imagination, fantasy, or prediction. That, indeed, is a very radical stance toward life in a world preoccupied with control.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen
