MATTER OF PRAYER

I just want to take a few minutes to record this somewhere. I am bad about following through on prayer, and I am usually so pessimistic I don’t bother asking God for things I don’t see as “sure things”, but I had a vision of something this morning, and I can’t help but blame God for it….

It all started when we were looking at a condo to rent. We have been renting for about 8 years, since we got married, and we are SICK of it. BUT, we’re trying to do the “debt-free” thing and wait until we pay off our debt to buy a home. Problem is, Williamson County, and the whole Nashville area, is so freakin expensive, rent is WAY more than a decent home would be anywhere else, but a decent home we can afford is non-existent around here. So anyway, we’re looking at this condo, and as I am standing on the porch looking at the yard, I notice a NASTY yard across the street. Seriously, the grass is 3 ft high. Looks like no one is home, no one has BEEN home.

My recent financial educational experience tells me it’s abandoned, and may be in foreclosure… INTERESTING. So, I do a little homework, e-mail the deeds office in the county, and find out it has been turned over to a Trustee and may already be in foreclosure. I do a little more homework, find out I need to see what it was purchased for, so I can maybe make an offer if we can get the financing. Hilarious that we saw this place while looking at another, but both of us just got this FEELING about the little house. So now I am waiting for a bunch of things to happen in order, starting with finding out the sale price and then moving through the mortgage approval process. Yikes.

So anyway, I had this thought in my head, about how I put things off or don’t bother to bring things to God that I want or think are too far-fetched to brother asking for. I decided this wasn’t one of those times. It made me think also about how we always live in these little apartments, and we always feel like (and this may be weird), that all the crap and all the drama that goes on in these places over the years leaves a little mojo behind, you know? We always feel like some of the “demons” of the past live in these places, and we always say we need to pray as we move in, invite God in (not that He needs the invite, but you know) and ask for God’s blessing over the people and the interactions within those walls…..we’ve never actually DONE that, but it sounds good.

So anyway, I was thinking how cool it would be to get this house, and invite friends, family, and church family over to pray over this house. Sort of a dedication/house-warming/commissioning/exorcism/reclaiming of the space for Jesus. How cool would that be? (SO I’ve been reading Shane Claiborne’s Irresistable Revolution, and I think some of his crazy vision is rubbing off!). I don’t even know what we would be reclaiming the space for, other than for living, but it seems to me that “if you build it, they will come” might be the vibe I’m getting- “Follow through, get your home, and I’ll show you what I can do with it”.

So pray, if you read this. Pray that we find a place to live that allows us to get out of debt, and doesn’t break the bank. Pray that we can finally feel at home, like we belong somewhere, that our kids will have a home they can grow up in. I pray God will honor this effort- I’m trying to listen, pray that I hear clearly.