Sounds the call to come together, and united we shall stand.
It is not every day that I get to experience larger-than-life movements or moments. I remember 2 weeks ago when Dawid made the announcement at our weekly celebration meeting: "the community will embark on a 10 day Daniel fast, in preparation to one of the biggest gatherings in our country. Join us if you wish. And also, we are praying for peace, unity and salvation for our land".
I looked around as the girls who were clearly thinking the same thing... fooood!? Whyyyyy!? Noooooo!!!!
So we started day 1 of the Daniel fast, sticking to a fruit and vegetable diet, with the occasional bean or lentil treat. The first 5 days were a struggle for me. The headaches didn't seem to want to leave and having a lack of energy wasn't something I was used to.
But we pressed on in prayer. Daily gathering to pray that God will have mercy on our people and on our land. We were privileged to see 4 days of continuous rain and the tangible feeling of God's presence in and around us.
Most days, I felt like God dropped a specific theme in my spirit that I was to meditate on. For example:
Day 1: Walking in the spirit... as a lifestyle. Not just when I am fasting and being aware of my flesh dying, but having more of a constant awareness of what God is doing in the spirit... and following it. The flesh is strong! It dictates and governs so much of my thoughts and actions! (By flesh I also mean my own will, mind and motivation).
Day 2: I started a new process where I trust the Lord with a "fresh word" directly after I wake up in the morning. I also became increasingly aware of the amount of times that the Lord speaks about the power of the gospel... power... the power. The gospel has power! I want to be a part of this kingdom that operates in the power of the gospel.
Day 4: Setting my mind on things above and an increase of faith.
Day 6: seeking the Lord. He wants to be found. In this, I've learned to wholeheartedly submit my plans to Him and seek His plans. Though not to replace the plans of the Lord with the person of God. I remember the teaching of knowing my purpose here on earth: to know God. Therefore knowing him and seeking him is key to growing in intimacy with him.
Day 10: Loving and adoring Jesus. Oh He is so marvelously beautiful!!!!
We finished an in depth study of the the book of Galatians. This was one of my favorite things this year, but it's a blog for another time...
After this, we joined the community as well as a million South Africans in intentionally tracking across the country to Bloemfontein to pray. This road trip in itself turned out to be a fun-filled, joyous event where we stopped every 3 hours or so to pray for the towns on the way.
In short:
- It was a historical event. There are few words to describe it...
- The battle we fight is on our knees
- It was the start (the birth) of our nation. We continually pray, and repent, and invest in time with the Lord.
- We are expectant to see what the Lord will do next.
- It's an individual responsibility
My favorite time was when we sang our national anthem together...
"Sounds the call to come together and united we shall stand...
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