Daily Devotional for February 14, 2014

Philippians 3:12-14
I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.
 
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson.  Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO.  All rights reserved.
 
Fifteen minutes.  That doesn’t seem like much time at all…until you commit to something for this duration.  In the Walk to Emmaus community, a 72-hour prayer vigil is held during the specific events, called “walks”.  Members of the group sign up to pray for the “pilgrims” and workers for a period of 30 minutes.  When you are praying for a large number of people, 30 minutes goes by quickly.  But what would happen if you committed to pray for ONE person for FIFTEEN minutes?
 
On this day when we celebrate love, a 24-hour prayer vigil was organized for Adam, a 40+ man who is battling Glioblastoma Multiforme, a.k.a. GBM…a deadly cancerous brain tumor.  Adam has done better than many since his diagnosis…responding well to surgery, chemo and radiation for almost 18 months.  Now “the beast” is raging…and Adam is fighting hard to be well for his wife, four sons (including newborn twin boys), and other family members and friends.  Someone who obviously loves Adam and his family greatly organized this prayer vigil, and we were invited to sign up for 15-minute blocks of time to lift Adam and his family to God and cover them with intercessions.
 
Since I am a “night owl”, I took an early slot – 12:15 a.m.  On the website where people committed to this endeavor, there were scriptures and suggested prayers, as well as ideas on how to prepare for the 15 minutes.  Still, I found myself somewhat out of words by the 12-13 minute mark.  And yet, I felt a tremendous joy and closeness to God as I petitioned Him on Adam’s behalf.  I had also signed up for a 9:00 a.m. slot.  This second time, the 15 minutes went by much more quickly.  I found it easier to call on God for Adam and his family’s needs.  Scriptures came to mind as I considered the myriad of thoughts and emotions that must come into play for them – not to mention the physical challenges.  Before I realized it, more than a quarter of an hour had passed.
Interesting things came out of these two prayer times.

• I felt a tremendous calm and peace afterward.
• I felt a sense of joy – not because of any “wonderful” thing that I had done…but because I had been given the privilege of talking to God about one of His children - and I knew that He had heard me.  I also pictured Adam experiencing a sense of warmth and comfort as each person prayed for him.  After all, this was about Adam - not about me!
• I felt incredibly close to God.  I felt His presence.  Many of the things for which I asked God to send to Adam…peace, courage, healing, calm, joy, hope…I felt being poured out on my own life, also.

Fifteen minutes.  In the scheme of our lives, this is not a lot of time.  It’s half a sit-com…roughly one-eighth of most movies…less than one quarter of a football game in real time.  Many of us spend well more than 15 minutes driving to work or school each day. We think nothing of talking to a friend or family member on the telephone for 15 minutes…much less sitting in front of our computer chatting on social media and/or playing video games!   And so, I began to think…what would happen if we committed 15 minutes each day to pray for one person?  What if we stopped what we were doing and sat quietly with a cup of coffee or a bottle of water and simply talked to God about ONE PERSON.  What if we talked to God about one specific person while we drove to work or school, did our daily walk/run, or took our shower and dried our hair?
 
This would not take the place of our daily prayers.  We would still pray for others.  But each day, we would lift one particular person to God for a quarter of an hour and truly pour out our hearts for him/her.  We would ask God to cover this person with His immeasurable blessings…we would mention specific needs if we knew them…we would call on God to do amazing, incredible, supernatural things in this person’s life.
 
Think about it.  In the course of a year, we could each pray specifically and extensively for 365 people!  Just as Paul says in this passage to the Philippians…I don’t count myself an expert…or even anyone particularly special in God’s eyes.  But I did feel an incredible sense of “connection” as one believer interceding on the behalf of another.  I was running toward God…and I could almost see Him standing before me with His arms open widely. If we all did this, imagine what the exponential effect could be for God’s kingdom and His children!
 
I’ve had a taste of how rewarding this practice can be…and how easily a 15-minute-habit could be developed.  And I’ve decided to go for it!  I can’t wait to see what God does in and through me as I reach out to Him and talk to Him so specifically.  Next Valentine’s Day, I hope to look back at and marvel at how He worked in the lives of so many – including Adam - and how I have grown in my relationship with Him as a result of these daily conversations.
 
Fifteen minutes is really not a lot of time.  But God can accomplish incredible things when we give Him a quarter-hour of our attention and petitions!  Are you ready to see for yourself what He can do?
 
©2014 Debbie Robus