40 Days

Three years ago this month, Todd and I had been to a conference where God used Steven Curtis Chapman as a seed that would ultimately change our lives. He challenged us with the call on Christian families to adopt the orphans, and care for the ones who long for a family and a home to call their own. I know we cannot rise to every worthy cause, but this was one that stirred Todd's heart and mine. We weren't willing to jump into something so quickly, however. We had given away the baby clothes, thought our family was growing up, and big already on its own. We had a list of fears and concerns that was longer than that nice idea of bringing an orphan into our home.

We asked a few close friends to pray with us for forty days to discern God's will for this huge decision. God intended for His people to be a body, connected and supporting each other. The community of faith is lived out best in community. The Message says, "keep... in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing…. Instruct and direct one another…." Colossians 3:15-17

As we prayed, our list of fears and concerns were yielded and surrendered to God. Our love grew. Our faith was greatly challenged, but hope entered in. The things that worried us carried little weight in light of the love and desire God gave us for the orphan who needed a family and a home. At the end of the forty days, we knew what God had called us to. We stepped forward in faith, and in God's perfect timing, Madison was born. He had prepared her family to embrace her, and brought forth this child of promise to begin her journey home.

There were all kinds of bumps and hurdles along the way. There was a mountain of errands, phone calls, papers, and delays. Little did we know that some of the trials would involve the big-guns of the enemy, seeking to destroy. It was then that we knew we had to rely on what God had spoken, not on our circumstances or our feelings.

Forty days. God brought the rain for forty days that would cleanse the earth of its filth. Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai in the presence of the Lord, and was given specific instruction for the Tabernacle and the Ten Commandments. God commanded Moses to send twelve men (one for each tribe) to inspect, explore, and research the Promised Land for forty days. Elijah was completely spent and ready to die when the angel touched him and told him to eat enough for the forty day journey ahead, to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. It was there that God gave him new vision and restored his heart. Jesus was tested for forty days in the wilderness, and ministered to by the angels. And for forty days after His death and resurrection, our Risen Lord appeared to His disciples and five hundred more, to assure them beyond doubt that what He said, and Who He was, is absolute truth.

Forty days. Not magical like a formula when you are desperate for something to work. But God ordained to be sacred. Significant. Purposeful. Through those forty days in Scripture, God brought cleansing, instruction, exploration, restoration, care, and assurance. They were days filled with His power, His presence, and His glory. They were places where His people were brought to the end of themselves, only to be filled up with more of Him -- to be sent back out, and used by God for a greater work. Essential. Preparation.

Todd and I are prompted by God to enter into another forty days of prayer. This time in the spirit of advent: the longing for the coming of the promised One. Again we have asked the body of Christ to pray with us -- ultimately for God's will to be done in our lives, for His direction and clarity, for strength and grace as we wait on Him. For as significant as it was when Madison was added to our family, this too has incredible significance. It is our hearts crying out to live for Him in what we were created for, yielding our own ideas and wanting to embrace His.

"Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up." Persistently, a widow kept coming with her plea. "Will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?" Luke 18:1,7-8

Forty days of prayer. Focused commitment. Persistence.

"Lord, teach us to pray...'And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to him who knocks, the door will be opened.'" Luke 11:1,9-10 NLT and NIV