Steadfast

Today we heard JR teach on the last chapter of Colossians. I rarely get many of those final chapters in the new testament- where the writer is thanking people, and mentioning all these seemingly random folks... and JR preached a whole sermon on it! It ended up being a great lesson though, and one particular challenge he gave to us is to be in "steadfast prayer." That really resonated with me, especially over these past couple of weeks with the onslaught of the school madness (side track- see below), as I've been very lax in my prayer life.

(School by the way, is off to quite a bang but going well, although this week will be the real test as lessons will be starting! All in all though, the train ride's not that bad cause I can *hopefully* be very efficient and get stuff done, and in the end, I think I'm gonna come out of this phase having learned an awful lot. It's been quite an overwhelming roller coaster ride as I try to "foresee" how crazy my life is going to become and attempt to plan everything detail by detail, but it's also been a good test in faith and trusting!!! Again, I'm sure more on this will come...)

But, back to steadfast. According to the trusty dictionary.reference.com site that I was directed to when doing a Google search, steadfast means:

1. fixed in direction; steadily directed: a steadfast gaze.
2. firm in purpose, resolution, faith, attachment, etc., as a person: a steadfast friend.
3. unwavering, as resolution, faith, adherence, etc.
4. firmly established, as an institution or a state of affairs.
5. firmly fixed in place or position.

Whoa. This word is loaded! The adjectives- firm, steady, resolute, established, unwavering- really stand out to me, and really convict me in how un-steadfastly my prayer time has become. My time with Him has been irregular, unfocused, random, drifting, etc, so now, the challenge is on.

Originally, I set out to:

"Spend my walks to/from work in prayer for an entire week"

Now that I'm only working at Lincoln Center three evenings each week (wordy side note- tonight is one such evening and is s-l-o-w, hence giving me the time to finally update the blog personally! Although, my husband did a great job with his post last week- I'm sure he'd love to hear from you and what you thought of this new found interest of his. Leave a comment and let him know!), I won't be walking through the dark and mysterious park when leaving at 9pm, so No. 18 on the list has to be a bit modified.

Since I have quite the commute to take the place of these walks, I'm determined to make this the week where I have very intentional and steadfast prayer, totalling at least an hour of my day (the time it would usually take to walk to work round trip), on the LIRR train or the 6-E trains, and hopefully kick start the beginning of a new phase of my prayer life.

Our church also holds communal prayer times at the church office called "Upper Room" and in private homes, but they both take place on Thursday evenings- one of the three evenings I'll be working at LC- so I'm hoping our community group can become more focused and intentional in our group prayer time, and Steve and I want to make an effort to spend more time in prayer as a couple together, as well.

There is so much to pray for - our world, our country, our city, our spouses, our families, our church, our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, ourselves (!)- the list goes on. Hopefully I will really focus on each this week and not quickly pass by the many issues that need my prayerful, steadfast attention because my mind has become overrun by the many other thoughts that occupy my brain. I'll let you know how it goes and would appreciate your prayers on this one. :)