Day #3//what JOY

What joy for those whose hope is in the name of the Lord.

Today was seriously one of the best days--by far the best day of this week of fasting. It didn't exactly start out that way. I was kind of tired when I got up, my mind wasn't completely focused on the Lord when I was at prayer this morning. I wanted it to be, but I was letting distractions cloud my view of Gods face. I was not super thrilled about my 8 o clock class that I had this morning AND I was starting to feel the hunger pains. Here's the thing about the pains though. I wasn't even really hungry as much as I just missed eating. It was the weirdest thing! It really made me wonder if I eat because I was hungry or because I just like to eat...food for thought :)

I was kind of pondering whether I would go to afternoon prayer at the church today since I was planning on going in the evening. I decided to go but I decided that I wasn't going to hike up the hill this time, I was just going to stay in the prayer chapel. It was so awesome because I saw my friend Gail who I hadn't seen in forever and we ended up being able to pray together. The Lord has really been putting a desire to be able to pray and it has been cool how he has been using these prayer meetings to grow me and stretch me in the area of praying in groups. I am one of those people who struggles from fear of man and so I am always worried about what other people are thinking when I pray with other people. But I just remember feeling a sweet comfort when I was praying with Gail(even though it was such a teeny group) and just feeling the Spirit doing a work of teaching me to pray in the Spirit...it was incredible.

Tonight, I was torn between going to prayer at Calvary or going to Real Life...in the end I chose to go to Real Life and it ended up being such a God thing that I went! First of all, as soon as I got there I saw an old friend of mine who I haven't seen in a couple of years and that I didn't even know was in town from SoCal! We sat together, worshiped together, and got to pray together at the end of the night and it was sweet to see her so filled with God's joy. This night was just marked with Gods joy. I loved being able to talk to people about the teaching, and just about how good God is and how mighty he is to save people.

It was ironic because, as I mentioned above, God has been teaching me a lot about prayer especially this week because guess what tonights teaching was about? THE LORDS PRAYER. Coincidence? I think definitely not. I took so many notes and there were so many things that stood out to me.

~When we pray, we should remember that we are petitioning our Daddy in heaven and speak to him as such

~Where Gods kingdom is, his will is being done.

~Prayer changes reality

~We are to pray earnestly, passionately, with anguish

~God forgives us in proportion to how we forgive others (sobering!)

~God encourages us to pray preemptive prayers rather than reactive prayers

There is so much to learn about prayer but I am so excited to be taught.

God has really been burdening me for joy--a joy that transcends circumstances. Honestly, tonight, I felt so so SO joyful. As I was reveling in that feeling, I thought: "why can't I always feel this way" and then I thought...I can! I am called to rejoice in the Lord always! How is this even possible? Because joy come from the Lord and so there is always a cause to be joyful because God's spirit is always in us, beckoning us to choose joy. I found this awesome song that really embodies the truths that the Lord has been teaching me about joy.

What joy, what joy for those whose trust is in the name of the Lord

What peace, what peace for those whose confidence is HIM alone.