While shopping at Best Buy, I had a sense that if I were to offer to pray for a salesperson standing by me that God would give me his prayer.
Don’t you know that it is one thing to pray and another to pray effectively?
When God provides a prayer, count on it — it’s going to be effective.
The guy said he didn’t mind me praying for him on the spot since I promised it’d be just a ten-second prayer. As I opened my mouth to pray, I saw a picture of him at a desk in a classroom at the University of Cincinnati Medical School. This prayer came to me, “On his first day of medical school I pray he would see that it wasn’t his efforts to got them here, but his grandmother’s prayers.” The prayer was closer to a five-second one. His eyes were dripping with tears. Even his nose was running. He looked up and said, “Who are you anyway? How did you know that I am trying to get into med school? How did you know so much about my family – and particularly about my grandmother?” He went on to ask how he could follow up on us – the church that I was leading at the time.
Have you ever had an “invitation” like this from God? You may scratch your head and conclude you haven’t or you’d remember. I believe you have had plenty of God invitations – perhaps even this week.
Pray a slightly risky prayer: “God speak to me and lead me where you’d have me today.”
Open your eyes: Seriously, open your eyes – your inner eyes pick up on the specifics from God that your outer eyes can physically see.
Anticipate: He is going to show you some things today.
To begin with, I recommend you just pray from a distance for those you “Notice” by the unction of God’s Spirit. Think of it as “Empowered noticing.”
Pray that prayer then step into the day. Focus on today. This doesn’t mean you need to make a complete flip of your life. That thought might seem overwhelming. Make it your one thing today – that you will look for, and anticipate God to communicate with you. We’ll build from there later.
