Prayer is not for chickens, it's for people.

The following is a evening devotional from Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon. As I mentioned to my 7th grade girls on the DNOW that I just staffed (they actually called it Freedom Weekend, which is one of the those themes that constantly keeps popping up in my life right now), prayer is a powerful tool, and we often underestimate the power of prayer. But God calls us to pray BIG, and pray BIG in His name, and He wants to do big things in each of our lives. He wants to surprise us with amazing things beyond our understanding- so it's like in the movie Polar Express, you just have to BELIEVE! Prayer is not for chickens, it's for the bold, it's for the world changers, it's for the weak and humble, prayer is for everyone, a dialogue of conversation between us and God. So, after you read this devotional, maybe go spend some time in prayer, time entering into the throne room of heaven. Begin your prayer with Adoration of our living God, and then maybe move on into a time of thanksgiving before you begin to truly pour out everything that is on your heart. And then do simply that. Pour everything out from deep within you and lay it simply at the feet of Jesus, the great King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Everlasting, the Alpha and Omega, but most of all, our Savior and Lover.  Love all y'all (but let's be honest, God loves you a whole lot more :) )

"But I give myself unto prayer."

Psalm 109:4

Lying tongues were busy against the reputation of David, but he did not defend himself; he moved the case into a higher court, and pleaded before the great King himself. Prayer is the safest method of replying to words of hatred. The Psalmist prayed in no cold-hearted manner, he gave himself to the exercise--threw his whole soul and heart into it--straining every sinew and muscle, as Jacob did when wrestling with the angel. Thus, and thus only, shall any of us speed at the throne of grace. As a shadow has no power because there is no substance in it, even so that supplication, in which a man's proper self is not thoroughly present in agonizing earnestness and vehement desire, is utterly ineffectual, for it lacks that which would give it force. "Fervent prayer," says an old divine, "like a cannon planted at the gates of heaven, makes them fly open." The common fault with the most of us is our readiness to yield to distractions. Our thoughts go roving hither and thither, and we make little progress towards our desired end. Like quicksilver our mind will not hold together, but rolls off this way and that. How great an evil this is! It injures us, and what is worse, it insults our God. What should we think of a petitioner, if, while having an audience with a prince, he should be playing with a feather or catching a fly?

Continuance and perseverance are intended in the expression of our text. David did not cry once, and then relapse into silence; his holy clamour was continued till it brought down the blessing. Prayer must not be our chance work, but our daily business, our habit and vocation. As artists give themselves to their models, and poets to their classical pursuits, so must we addict ourselves to prayer. We must be immersed in prayer as in our element, and so pray without ceasing. Lord, teach us so to pray that we may be more and more prevalent in supplication.

A Little Black Dot Among a Whole Bunch of White Ones

I'm hoping to find the words for this post as I type it because I am still speechless, but probably not for the reason that you think. I went to Passion 2012 this week, and it was amazing! 44,000 people coming together to praise the name of Jesus Christ- that is amazing, incredible, inspiring. To hear all of the voice singing praise to King of Kings, there is nothing like it. I got a lot out of the conference, learned a lot, sang a lot (my voice still isn't completely back yet haha), had a lot of time with the group I was with, talked a lot, drank a lot of coffee, etc. But much like the last time I went somewhere for a conference, I've been able to feel God more now that I'm back home- and it's weird because for most people, it's the other way around (but when am I known to do normal things the normal way around? haha). And I think one of the points God has made to me both this time and the last time I was at a conference, is that I don't need a conference for a spiritual high, I don't need a conference for Him to consume me with all that He is. If I allow Him to come and do His work, then He will. Last night though, for me, was absolutely incredible, and it was spent just me and God.
I was laying in my bed watching NCIS (haha what else would I be watching :P), and right as the episode I was watching started, I could feel God calling. "Morgan, turn off the TV and come to me." I had planned on doing some Jesus time when the episode ended, so I didn't rush to jump in. I laid there a little bit longer, and could still feel his calling. I decided that the episode wasn't in fact one of my favorites, so I turned the tv off, and basically for 10-15min I did everything to avoid God, and I really don't know why. I got on facebook, I got here on my blog, I read another friend's blog post from a few days earlier, I checked my email. And finally, I gave in, and spent some time with God. I opened my Bible a read a little, and I had Awakening and Like an Avalanche playing in the background, and suddenly, I found myself soooooooo consumed with God. Consumed with His Love like I've never been before. I found myself sitting on bed with no words. There are no words to tell God how amazing and incredible He is because even those words can't portray it all. And tears began to stream down my face. I wasn't sad, I wasn't angry, I was simply so joyful to sit in His presence and be Consumed with Him. I spent more time in the Word, and in speechless prayer. And what I found God saying was "I Love You." "I Chose You."
I found myself spot of realizing that nothing compares to God's love. Yeah, I knew that, but to truly experience it, was incredible. The picture God gave me was this, if I were to take pen, and in the air of my room place a dot anywhere, just one single dot, that would represent the love anyone on this planet will ever have for me. And then, if I completely filled the rest of the room with white dots, that is a representation of how much bigger God's love for me is that anyone's love here. God's love is all of the white dots, His Love is HUGE! and everyone's liking of me is that one little black one. In a conversation back in October, I was talking to someone about relationships and such, and I said that one of the reasons I wasn't in a relationship was because I knew that there were things in my life that needed to be fixed before I could take that next step. And I realized last night that this was one of those things. I have never felt and been consumed with God's love, and thus, if I had already been dating someone, I could very easily make them more of a priority than God because their love would be more tangible. God's love is tangible in a way, especially when you are so consumed with it's beauty that nothing else exists.
God's love is like an avalanche, it's like a massive fire, it's indescribable.