My Season of Prayer Entry 1

Hey there everyone. I'm starting the year in a 40 day season of prayer and meditation as has been my custom for about 7 years now. I'll try to enter my prayers, reflections, revelations and progress as much as I can.

So far it's been a good start. I am already more focussed and energized. I'm feeling relief from the strain and fatique of the prolonged holiday season. I have found enough energy to get some direction from God in regard to the first half of this year's sermon preparation. I feel strongly directed to teach about God's ideas on wealth, things that keep Christ followers locked away from the significant lif God has for us, things that are assumed to be Christian beliefs but are not, and encouragement from an Old Testament prophet named Habbakuk. This is great to have in front of me. It provides a great deal of relief and a good dose of inspiration to know what I am called to in advance.

As for my prayers, I'm beginning by asking God to relieve me of my failures from 2008. I'm one of those people who wear defeat like a mill stone and take all the blame on myself. So, I'm asking God to take my sense guilt away without me replacing that guilt with blame (that is sometimes a convenient option to guilt...). I want to be able to face this year's objectives without any discouraging glances in the rear-view mirror.

I'm seeking to become a more attentive husband. I need God to help me. I'm a task person and marriage is a much more grand endeavor than a task. I need to not be distacted by tasks... (Please Lord help... I already have a list of tasks unfinished.)

I'm also focussing on asking God to grant me more patience and understanding as a dad. To teach me how to guide with nudges and wait for long term results intead of instant responses.

I'm asking God to grant me more passion for everything in life. My passion was lost in the Fall of '08... sucked away for everything. And the stress, over-work, and emotional requirement of the holiday season was hard to endure without it.

That's where I'm starting. Thanks for reading.