Quite A Challenge

Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2

It started with a story that just took root in my heart.  It was a story about a criminal who admittedly deserved his life sentence.  His heart was hard but after decades in prison and the unrivaled power and mercy of Jesus, he changed.  In his 70’s after over fifty years behind bars, he met a man who had something he had never seen and desperately wanted for himself.  The younger man was unjustly sent to prison for financial crimes.  He was a fall guy and certainly no danger to society but he chose to embrace the sentence as an opportunity to examine his life, his gifts and his service to the Lord.  He spent hundreds and hundreds of hours in the prison chapel adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and it transformed him to a man of joy, gratitude, contentment and humility.  The older prisoner recognized the young man was different and he wanted what he had.  The younger man told him he needed to spend 1 hour a day in Adoration for 30 straight days.  He was to take no bible, rosary, prayer book or music.  It was to simply be a time of emptying and listening.  On the 30th day he experienced a transformation that was dramatic and complete.  The priest who shared the story then challenged everyone listening to commit to 30 minutes a day for 30 days.

The whole story just sat there for nearly six weeks before I finally decided to accept the challenge.  I decided to wait for the New Year but then I got busy and by the time I finally got myself to the church to do the first day it was already January the 6th.  I started my time feeling bad about taking so long to get started but then I realized that it was the feast of the Epiphany which means “a sudden striking revelation.”  Knowing God’s timing is always perfect I began to realize the next 30 days were going to be anything but ordinary.  The act of walking into church for 30 minutes without anything to pray with or guide my thoughts was pretty strange at first but has become a source of peace and freedom. I love that there is nothing expected or required or prescribed.  I just show up to listen and be His.

There is a prayer I began to pray in October and to be honest it was just 4 thoughts that came from different places that landed in one prayer.  It actually took weeks to say those four lines and really mean them.  They were a little terrifying at first but now they are as automatic as drawing breath and they are the lines I repeat several times as I quiet myself each time I sit before Jesus.  The lines are “Wreck me. Break me. Change me. Draw me tight.”  I don’t know where the Lord will lead me as I finish out my 30 days but he is moving and working in my heart in powerful ways.  Next week I’ll share a little more about those 4 lines but this week I just wanted to encourage all of you to consider this challenge too.
​
We spend so much time planning what we will do, how we’ll act, what we’ll change and add but the power of the transformation of the two prisoners in the story was not “doing” but rather “letting” Jesus do the work.  I heard Catholic speaker Mark Hart once say that prayer doesn’t change our relationship with Jesus, prayer IS our relationship with Jesus. I’m finding that listening, emptying and offering for 30 minutes is very powerful prayer. Maybe you’ll be like me and take a while to think it over and let it sit on your heart but if you really want to be His, this seems like a pretty great place to start.

A Seed To Plant:  Prayerfully ponder this challenge.  Do you want to be transformed?

Blessings on your day!