A Call to Prayer

Prayer has been one of the most important parts of my life. My relationship with God would not be where it is today, nor would I be where I am today if not for prayer. I have studied it, practiced it, modeled it, taught on it and relied on it. As we start a new year I have felt called to pray in a new way in the hopes of bringing about significant change. I feel called to pray for and mobilize others to pray for Chicago. Five years ago today I was on a plane heading to Australia for a six month adventure. Leaving Chicago and heading to Perth felt like a huge step of faith. I was not sure what God had in store for me during the sixth month Discipleship Training School but even bigger than that was not being sure of what would come after. I imagined that my time in Chicago was probably finished. I left committing that wherever God wanted me I was open to go. While I was in Perth, however, God spoke to me about the city of Chicago like never before. I felt like he was strengthening my heart for the city instead of helping me move on. I also had a chance to work with Perth's ministry called MegaCities. I know that it was not a coincidence that I would work with Megacities. Megacities showed me a way of looking at a city and understanding how to reach out to it, mobilizing the believers already there. With Megacities I did an outreach to Mexico City. The first week we were there all we did was read the bible over the city and pray for it. We prayed a lot and we saw miraculous things happen in our time there. It's when I think about that trip that I get excited for all God could have in store for Chicago. I feel called to pray for the city like never before. I am committing to pray intentionally for the 77 different communities in the city of Chicago throughout 2015. Would you join me? I will be blogging throughout the year about each of the different communities and I would love it if you would join me in lifting up the unique and incredible neighborhoods in this beautiful city. Please feel free to comment on my posts and add any thoughts you might have about the different communities that I am writing about. I would also love to hear about any ways you see God moving in the city. I am expecting God to do great things through our prayers this year. Let's do this!!