Ask The Lord

Here in Guatemala, my team and I have Friday mornings set aside for Ask The Lord (ATL) with some of the staff here. This time is about intentionally praying for God to lead you and highlight people for you to talk to. We often start by praying, then go into the town, talk with people, share truth, and pray for them. We have had four weeks of ATL, meaning we have four weeks of lessons God has been teaching us and stories of what he has been doing through us. I wanted to share what God has been doing and what I have been learning during these times.

Releasing Desires to Allow God’s Will

Something my team has been wanting to see is someone healed. Each week, when we went out, we hoped to see someone healed. After a few weeks, we had a conversation about releasing expectations to God and stepping into what he is calling us to instead of what we want to see. After our conversation and praying, we started to walk and look for people to pray for. As we were leaving the park where we meet to begin ATL, a woman was selling fruit called jocote. We stopped to talk with her, hear a bit about her life, and buy jocote. She shared with us that her brother is a pastor and that she is a firm believer. As we talked with her, she told us that she has been having pain in her back, shoulders, and neck from carrying her basket of fruit to sell every day. We kept talking with her, and then we prayed for her. As we were praying, I had my hand on her shoulder, and I felt it start to get hot. After praying for her, we asked her if the pain had improved and how she felt. She informed us that as we were praying, she felt heat in the areas where she was feeling pain and that she felt less pain. God is so good, and he cares for his children. God’s heart is not for his people to be in pain or sick but for their bodies to be healed and restored. 

After we said goodbye to this woman and shared with her that God healed her, we walked and talked about what had happened. One of the staff members who is with us each Friday shared that she has learned that sometimes, when we release our expectations and desires, we see God fulfill what we have been praying for. After experiencing that, I can say that was true for our team. We had to release our desire to see healing to God, and he healed someone that same day. There’s a balance between knowing God can heal and is powerful and expecting that he will do it. I believe that he can heal, but instead of expecting him to heal, I need to release it to him so that he can do his will, not mine. 

A Divine Intervention

When we do ATL, we pray and split into two groups. One day, as my group was standing outside of a tienda, a man came up to us five women and started sharing with us about a men’s alcoholics anonymous group, and gave us a slip of paper with the information for the group. We took the slip he had handed us, folded it, and slipped it into a pocket. We forgot about the slip until we met with the other group at the end of our morning. They shared that they spent most of their morning talking with a man who was a firm believer but struggled with alcoholism. When they shared that, we dug out the paper with the information on it, and they went to give it to him. It seems small, but I can see God’s intentionality in that moment. It didn’t make sense to us why the man had talked to us about the alcoholics anonymous group, but God was at work through that encounter. Each week, that man is in the park, and I am excited to continue to talk with him and hear what God is doing in his life. 

Sweet Conversations That Helped Me Redefine Success

Yesterday, being a Friday, we had ATL in the morning. We split into our groups and did it the way we always do. As we were walking, we ended up in a mall, where we talked to the sweetest woman working at a jewelry kiosk. She shared with us that she loves her job because of the people she is able to talk to and that she was so happy we stopped to talk with her. We talked with her about her family and where she is from, and were able to hear part of her testimony. We asked her how she has seen God work in her life. She shared with us a story of her being healed when she was sick, and the doctors had no answers. It was incredible to hear her story of God’s goodness to her. The more we talked with her, the more evident her joy from the Lord was. It was a blessing to talk with her, minister to her, and be encouraged by her.

After talking with her, we went across the street to a paca, an imported secondhand clothing store. When we went into the paca, we looked around and talked with the owner. The owner of this store was the nicest, most genuine, and most sincere woman who is currently in school. She shared that she has been struggling with her relationship with Jesus because of what she has been walking through. Her father died last year, and she struggled to get through the loss. During that time, she pushed down her emotions and didn’t feel them. She was also unable to leave her house for four months because of the strain the loss put on her. She continued to share her story and her journey of healing. When we were nearing the end of our conversation with her, she told us that she doesn’t usually open up to people but that talking to us made her feel like she was talking to God because of how much she saw God through us. We were able to pray for her and invite her to come to a worship night and women’s Bible study. 

Yesterday, we had two incredible conversations with two remarkable women. I have always been an achiever, and God is growing me in that area of my life and leading me to reevaluate how I define success. A few weeks ago, we went to a village where witchcraft was common, and we talked to only one woman. After that day, I felt discouraged and like we had done nothing to advance the kingdom. As I talked to people about how that day went, I was challenged to think about how I define success. I am still thinking through this, but my perspective has been shifting. I have learned that success is not about what I can do or the number of people I talk to but about the quality of the conversations and what God is doing. Advancing the kingdom isn’t fast but slow and intentional. It doesn’t always look like sharing the whole gospel with someone, but it can be just listening and sharing parts of your story to encourage people. A few weeks ago, I was discouraged and disappointed that we only talked with one woman, but yesterday I was so filled by having two conversations. 

Lessons I Have Been Learning

Friday mornings have stretched me and challenged me, so I wanted to share some lessons that I am learning from this time. As I mentioned, I have been learning to redefine success. I have been working towards identifying how I define success and shifting it to how God defines it. I am still learning this, so stay tuned because I may write a more in-depth post about that, but no promises. 

I have also been learning about how to slow down and pray as you live. Life is ministry, and ministry is life. Ministry doesn’t end when we run errands because we can still slow down, pray as we walk through life, and live in obedience and intentionality. We have Friday morning set aside for ATL, but it doesn’t end there. Each day, we can pray as we live and have deeply intentional conversations with those we engage with. I am still learning to live this out, but Friday mornings have been teaching me a lot about what practically doing so looks like.