The day was beautiful. After last week's heat wave and crazy thunderstorms, today was almost perfect in comparison. Now before I get into sharing about the events of the day, I I decided to test my theory about the slowness of last week by intentionally spending some time before getting out on the corner in prayer with God, in order to get my heart and mind focused on Him just to see if that quickened the encounters of the day. Now, I'm not trying to find a formula in all this because God cannot be put into a box nor can He be controlled by an A + B = C mentality. I'm simply trying to keep in step with the Holy Spirit by learning and responding to the revelation He brought last week about staying focused on God, rather than on what happened yesterday or my future plans, even on the task at hand.
Well, I couldn't have been out more than 30 minutes when Dan came strolling by ready to talk about faith and life. I've talked with Dan a couple times before and each time I've had the opportunity to pray with him about the pressing things in his life. Almost immediately after Dan left (after we talked for close to 30 minutes) Herman came riding by on his bike. What made today stand out more so than others is that I was able to share a prophetic word God gave me for him almost a year ago when I first met him in which God reminded me of again a couple weeks ago. This time I felt released by God to tell him. It was a special moment. We talked for a solid 30 minutes about faith and life. Though I've talked with Herman here and there, today was the first time I got to pray with him. It was funny when I asked Herman if I could pray with him, he said "I knew you were going to eventually ask me that." What can I say I love praying with people. Now you have to imagine this picture, here I am this 5'8, 130 pound Asian man praying with this (roughly) 6'4, 350+ pound African American man. It must have been a neat sight to see.
Throughout the rest of the day I chatted with a few more people, but nothing very deep until Rahelle came bounding up. I met her once before gosh must have been a month ago. So, we have a little history which means she knows just how much I love praying with people because after some small talk she simply stated that she needed some prayer. I love it when I have some familiarity with people because it means we can be more relaxed with one another. She actually shared how she was planning on travelling overseas to China in 2013 in order to teach English. So, she was seeking some prayer in asking God to guide her, open doors for her in terms of getting her TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) certification and some more sensitive things in which I felt very honored to have her trust me with praying for her on. Imagine that, here I am about to spend 1 year over in Taiwan while Rahelle is just beginning her journey. Needless to say, we had a lot to talk about and I was really able to encourage her on many things. Please, remember Rahelle in your prayers.
So, what did I learned today from my little experiment? I learned that it's always better when I have my heart and mind in the right place, focused on God, when I'm serving Him. The day just flows smoother. I am less distracted and I'm freed up to be fully present both with God and with people. Does this mean God brings more people for me to encounter when I do this? I'm gonna have to say maybe. God has a plan for me and everyone else that I see when I'm on the street. So, at the end of the day, as the proverb says, "Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails" (Proverbs 19:21 NIV). Now, if I could make some sort of conclusion it would be this, serving God is an honor and a privilege in which He will supply both the words to speak and the strength the serve (1 Peter 4:10-11). When our focus in on God we will embrace more fully this truth and not worry so much about what we are going to say or in having the strength to serve. God will provide, but our focus needs to be on Him in order to receive this grace from Him. When it is everyone is blessed.
Throughout the rest of the day I chatted with a few more people, but nothing very deep until Rahelle came bounding up. I met her once before gosh must have been a month ago. So, we have a little history which means she knows just how much I love praying with people because after some small talk she simply stated that she needed some prayer. I love it when I have some familiarity with people because it means we can be more relaxed with one another. She actually shared how she was planning on travelling overseas to China in 2013 in order to teach English. So, she was seeking some prayer in asking God to guide her, open doors for her in terms of getting her TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) certification and some more sensitive things in which I felt very honored to have her trust me with praying for her on. Imagine that, here I am about to spend 1 year over in Taiwan while Rahelle is just beginning her journey. Needless to say, we had a lot to talk about and I was really able to encourage her on many things. Please, remember Rahelle in your prayers.
So, what did I learned today from my little experiment? I learned that it's always better when I have my heart and mind in the right place, focused on God, when I'm serving Him. The day just flows smoother. I am less distracted and I'm freed up to be fully present both with God and with people. Does this mean God brings more people for me to encounter when I do this? I'm gonna have to say maybe. God has a plan for me and everyone else that I see when I'm on the street. So, at the end of the day, as the proverb says, "Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails" (Proverbs 19:21 NIV). Now, if I could make some sort of conclusion it would be this, serving God is an honor and a privilege in which He will supply both the words to speak and the strength the serve (1 Peter 4:10-11). When our focus in on God we will embrace more fully this truth and not worry so much about what we are going to say or in having the strength to serve. God will provide, but our focus needs to be on Him in order to receive this grace from Him. When it is everyone is blessed.
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