So, what’s your spiritual vision? You don’t have one yet? Keep seeking God and He will guide you to it:

“Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalm 37:4 (NKJV)

For me, it is that God has given me the skills to be a software architect and also a heart to help other churches tackle their information technology (”IT”) issues. He has been growing me over these last few years by teaching me what is absolutely necessary for churches to manage themselves using a combination of process, technology, and simplicity. I pray that, as this new adventure begins, that I may lean heavily on Him for my strength, direction, and guidance.

So, as I close out this topic prior to the end of the year, I’ll be sharing more about what the Lord lays on my heart, and how He’s guiding me to this new vision that He has been growing in my heart over the last few years. Here is a preview of what will be coming in the next few months:

• An indepth study of Psalm 25
• Startup Adventures
• Ministry Anti-Patterns
• Continued technology posts on Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Java, and Service Oriented Architectures

Stay tuned, it will be an exciting journey and I want to bring you along!

Mark 1:40-42 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are
willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him,
“I am willing; be cleansed.” As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed

When we last looked examined the convergence of prayer and purpose, we discovered that Jesus knew it was time to move on to the next town to continue in His purpose. Now we see in verses 40-42 that Jesus has been guided to His new task: healing a leper. During the time Jesus walked on earth, lepers were required to announce themselves, and to walk as far from others as possible. Jesus, however, allowed the leper to move near Him, and even touched the leper’s hand to heal him!

Jesus had a passion to not sit idle in one town, but to visit many towns. He had a passion to touch the untouchable, to heal the previously unhealable. His purpose was so clear and His passion so strong, that He could discern when to say ‘no’ and when to say ‘go’; when to put aside exciting opportunities, even though they may seem like the “Christian thing to do”, but would steer Him away from His purpose and passion. Jesus had His eye on running the race and knew how to realize His purpose without getting distracted.

Is God asking you to make your purpose your passion? Then I encourage you to take that step as I have! God has placed a desire on my heart for over 5 years now, but it has been only recently that I have experienced the convergence of life with prayer, prayer with purpose, and purpose with passion!

Do you have a passion for what you do as you serve the Lord? If not, you may need to revisit your purpose by spending time seeking the Lord in prayer. It is there where your life will begin to take full shape, as He injects your life with purpose and directs your purpose to passion! And if you have a passion but are getting distracted, spend some time locating your purpose and allow your time of prayer to bring forth the God-given passion to make it happen!

So, tell me: What’s your passion and how are you turning your life upside-down to make it happen?

Mark 1:37-38: They said, “Everyone is asking for you.” But he replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too, because that is why I came.”

Notice how Jesus says, “that is why I came.” Jesus had a purpose and He knew what it was. How did He know what His purpose was? Let’s review verse 35 again

Mark 1:35 The next morning Jesus awoke long before daybreak and went out alone into the wilderness to pray.

His purpose came from His time of prayer, early in the morning, when the world is still. That is the time when family, friends, and work is not demanding of your time and you can be still before God and listen. Do you see what happened to Jesus when His prayer converged with the Father’s purpose? He knew when it was time to move on, not getting bogged down in work that was no longer God’s direction. I’m sure our Lord Jesus could have spent weeks, even months, serving the needs in that area alone! Does “getting bogged down” sound familiar? How about being overwhelmed? Are you serving in so many ways that your service is ineffective? Even Jesus knew that He had limits during His time on earth. Only by prayer could be be sure of what was next – He had many more lives to touch before giving His life at Calvary for all.

So, I challenge you: what is your God-given purpose? Are you spending your life in prayer, and your prayer time for purpose?

I’m really excited to hear about what your purpose is, or how this simple discussion may have impacted your life. Drop me a comment. And stay tuned – God has been doing some amazing things in my life that I hope to reveal when His time is right!

Mark 1:35: The next morning Jesus awoke long before daybreak and went out alone into the wilderness to pray.

So, how’s your prayer life? Been spending time alone early in the morning? Until a couple of months ago, I had been neglecting this particular part of my faith. What happened during those neglected times? Wake up. Shower. Eat. Leave. Work. Home. Sleep. Repeat. Sound familiar? If not, give yourself a pat on the back! Most of us, though, can’t seem to do it – too many distractions.

What’s the benefit? Let’s examine the immediate need that arose right after Jesus had His time of prayer:

Mark 1:36-39 Later Simon and the others went out to find him. They said, “Everyone is asking for you.” But he replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too, because that is why I came.” So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and expelling demons from many people.

Jesus, after having time in prayer, recognized that he had way too much work to do and not enough time to do it. He was being asked to return to Capernaum to help even more people in need. Yet, His prayer time focused Him on exactly what He needed to be doing – visit other towns.

Sound familiar? Overwhelmed? Too much to do – not enough time to do it? Spend time before the sun rises in prayer. Seek the Lord’s guidance and focus. Seek Him during the day, multiple times if necessary, to ensure that you are following His guidance, not yours. He will guide your day, focus your work, and in the process grow your walk with Him.

This is what God has been doing in my life – how about yours?