One week later...

Just a quick note... after one week, here's what I've found. The weird thing is that Sunday was the one day I missed the reading and praying for the world!!! I had to catch up on Monday morning but that worked out fine. Just a reminder that to stay on track is important because I know that when I fall behind I start to think, "I won't catch up at this point" and then I'll quit. One other note real quick, Operation World tends to send out their daily prayer emails later in the morning around 9 am. What that's meant for me is that I end up praying for that country the next morning instead of that day.

I also have to remember that this is a heart exercise. I know I can get into the "checklist" mentality. That's why it's been important for me to come to God asking that He speak though the passages and that my prayer time be focused and centered on Christ. It's amazing how quickly my mind can wander to everything else other than what's at hand.

I've also concluded that whatever expectations I have that this will be a long time spent with God each morning and that He grace me with feeling His presence I must hang on to loosely. The point of these disciplines is simply to open my heart to God by stating the purpose each morning... "where else will I go to get the words of eternal life?" (John 6:68). More on the heart later...