Through the doors of the ER

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” Isaiah 43:19

We are in the wilderness. We are living in the midst of a pandemic and there are so many unknowns. Fear, anxiety, isolation, and panic are widespread. The world is battling this disease and its having huge ramifications on our daily lives. It can feel like a spiritual desert.

I walked into a spiritual desert the moment I opened the doors to the Emergency Room in downtown LA. “Are you the Bryant family? We need to talk to you.” Everything changed and I felt my body almost melt into the floor. They brought us into a small waiting room and I knew it was bad. The doctor came in and told us my mom had a heart attack and had gone without oxygen. They didn’t have a lot of answers and were very vague. This was just the beginning of lots of waiting, praying, crying, yelling, and more waiting. We spent days, weeks, and months waiting. It was excruciatingly painful and in the midst of a life crisis I had to just sit and wait. 

When crisis hits it makes us assess our lives. When we are forced to stay home, slow down, and not attend work, school, and all other social events we take a hard look at our lives. Where do we find our identity? What consumes us? What defines us? What matters most? 

Wherever you are on your faith journey I want to encourage you to use this time to take a good hard look at yourself. 

In a crisis people assess their lives, take a look within, and seek answers to BIG questions. Crisis reminds us how temporal this life on earth really is. There has to be more. And there is more. For those that follow Jesus we get the incredible opportunity to start living an eternal life now. 

I pray you are not paralyzed with fear, but moved to draw nearer to the maker of heaven and earth. I pray you seek him now more than ever and that you share that love with others. 

Church- let’s be the body of Christ. Let us stay connected to one another and love our neighbor like never before. 

Church- let’s press into him, open up our Bibles, pray, and fast. 

Church- by leaning on Jesus and others we can have peace, joy, and love, and bring God’s glory in the midst of the wilderness!

Jesus is the way through the wilderness.

See you online tomorrow at greatneighbors.net,

Mindi

Extraction Prayer

What types of prayers do you pray? My prayers range from a shopping list to complete surrender. One type of prayer I have lacked in is what I like to call, “Extraction Prayer.” It requires letting go and sometimes being prepared to get out of the way.

Psalms 139 talks about a prayer that asks God to search us and remove anything that is getting in the way.

23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24, NIV

Last year I prayed a prayer similar to the extraction prayer. I prayed that God would remove anything that would get in the way of the vision of Cross Culture Church. Be careful. What would take place the following week was a whirlwind and refining for me. Yet the fruit, like the Psalmist says, has been nothing but the power of eternity/kingdom coming into Cross Culture Church. God removed people, processes and parts of me which were painful but it was worth it.

Good times to pray the extraction prayer would be if you feel stuck, sense sin in your life, are in a complicated situation, or feel led to refine something to become better for the sake of the Kingdom. If your marriage isnt working, don’t pray God remove your husband, pray that God remove anything that is getting in the way of the growth of your marriage. If you are stuck in a career, pray that God remove anything getting in the way of your career. If your child isnt growing or walking in the Lord, pray that God will remove anything getting in the way. WARNING! It’s likely that God will remove things in you or maybe remove you from a situation that you are getting in the way of eternity in your life or a situation. Remember, no matter how hard or painful the extraction, the power of eternity is around the corner.

Join me in praying the, “Extraction Prayer,” once a month. The beautiful thing about the prayer is it leads to as the inspired authors of the bible say, “Silver and Gold.”

See you Sunday,

Michael