Dave Jones’s Reviews > Draw the Circle: The 40 Day Prayer Challenge > Status Update

Day 40: Prayer Alphabet; Luke 11:1 If we change the way we pray everything changes. Prayer changes everything from the inside out. Don't condemn yourself re: your prayer life. Ask Jesus to help you. Use your own words vs slogans. God can speak through the Bible. Verses may jump off the page. Then, read & stop & pray when prompted. Keep going. Prayer is the difference between the best we can do & the best God can do.

Day 39: Holy Ground Ex 3:5; You never know when or where or how God will invade the routine of your life. God is here, there, & everywhere. He can meet you anywhere. Moses wasn't asked to take off his sandals in the promised land. It was where he was standing. Don't wait till you're at the Promised Land to worship God. You've got to worship Him along the way. This is holy ground & a holy moment. Receive God's orders.

Day 38 Climb the Watchtower; Zech. 2:1 Intercessors are watchmen. From their watchtower of prayer, they see sooner and farther into the spiritual realm. Geography & spiritualality are not unrelated. In scripture, memorials were often built in places of spiritual significance. Returning to such places should be part of our natural rhythm. We need to pray in places that are distraction-free and maximize our focus.

Day 37 Prayer Contacts; Matt 18:18 The goal of prayer is not to get what we want but to discern what God wants. We tend to view the goal as the goal but the process is the goal. It's not about what we're doing but who we're becoming in the process. There is power when we agree in prayer. Faith is multiplied - not added. It's like getting our prayer contracts notarized. We are one with God and chained to His promises.

Day 36 Senior Partner; Matt 6:20 One of the mistakes we make in reading history is thinking that those who lived before us are different than us. If God did it for them, He can do it for us. God wants to renew His deeds in our day. The Bible is not a book to be explained but, rather, to be believed (and obeyed). Every prayer, gift, sacrifice we do is an inheritance for the next generation. We can't outgive God.

Day 35 The Longest Lever; Zech. 4:10 Do not despise small beginnings. Like parents that rejoice in a child's first steps, our heavenly Father rejoices when we start taking steps in the right direction. Those small steps become giant leaps in God's Kingdom. 'Give me a place to kneel on and I will move Earth.' If we kneel in humble prayer, God will extend His mighty hand on our behalf. Inbred in us is Godly potential.

Day 33: Prayer Covering; Ex. 17:12 If we are going to intercede for others, we should make sure others are interceding for us. When we pray, we pick a fight with the enemy; and he will fight back. Intercession is spiritual warfare. It is hard & not for the faint or feeble. There may be labor pains because the Holy Spirit is birthing something new in us. That's when we stand firm and pray through. Pray & Praise!

Day 32: Get a Testimony; Rev. 12:11 When God answers a prayer, we need to share it. It's a matter of stewardship. If we don't turn the answer into praise, it may turn into pride. Others need to hear so that they may know God is working. A 1st-person testimony holds more weight than 2nd person (hearsay). Personal testimonies are powerful because we cannot argue with it. They are irrefutable. Testimonies > education.

Day 31: Spell It Out; Matt. 20:32, If Jesus asks "What do you want me to do for you?", would we be able to spell out those things he's placed in our ❤️? Most of us don't get what we want because we don't know what we want. "God does not answer vague prayers." Don't let lack of faith stop you from going out on a limb and laying your true request on the line. More faith -> greater specificity in prayer -> God's glory.