Pursue Prayer: A Midyear Reality Check with God

At the end of 2021, Bob Perry and I had (what we thought was) a fabulous idea for a book of prayer: a collection of prayers for a year. 

We dove in with enthusiasm.

January 2022 was a rousing success. I filed all the requisite topics in their proper places, so neat and orderly.

February was not quite as successful. I suspect I could access all the data if I needed to, but it wasn’t compiled quite as perfectly.

And so it went.

In May, both phone call recorders failed one day, so I completely missed that day’s recording.

And by the end of June, I found myself repeatedly falling multiple days behind, and having to spend the next many days catching up.

Then I looked ahead to July and August: multiple trips loomed. Intermittent recording at best.

Lord, do you have a new strategy for us in this next season?

In this case, yes. We felt like the invitation was to carry on, as best we could, but not try to go back if things fell apart. Grace.

And shortly after that, we set that project aside entirely, and haven’t felt the slightest impetus to pick it back up.

During Bob’s time in the corporate world, he and his team would occasionally take a look at their aspirations and sales goals made at the beginning of the year. Were they on track? What did they need to shift for the months to come? 

Most people lagged behind. Reflection became a reality check. 

Those who took a midyear pause enjoyed a competitive advantage over those who didn’t—one of the benefits of a progress check.

But perhaps the target we liked in January is no longer the ideal target. As with our (not so) fabulous book project, perhaps we can change the target. 

Maybe during a pause the Lord will say, “The plan that looked good in January fit in that season, but now we have a different target. Don’t go on automatic pilot. Stop pursuing the same vision without checking in.”

After living through seven months of the year, and with just over 100 workdays left, we can ask: is the Lord shifting us? Do we still have the same invitation we thought at the start of the year? Or should we move to the next thing?

Whether we need to double down on our original goals, or adjust our goals, or set them aside altogether … in any case, we need to seed the ground with prayer.

This is Bob’s and my invitation to you during the 21 days of intensive prayer in August. 

Morning and evening readings in Pursue, available in print and digital form.

Lord Jesus, I think of how you told the disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait, and how 120 of them were waiting in the upper room when the violent wind came and filled the house where they were sitting. They waited, and you came.

Come again, Lord, for us. Amen.

The king has lavished on us the wealth of his grace,

Amy Joy

P.S. I am not sure I will do anything related to eating—I have felt no direction there.

But I think I will do a soul fast with the Lord, seeking to check in with him every six minutes, for the next assignment.

With soul fasts, we go in expecting not to do very well, but willing to try. 

(If you want to give up negative thoughts: you’re probably going to have a bunch of negative thoughts. If you already knew how to give them up, wouldn’t you have done it already?)

You are invited! Sign up for the Prayer Refresh, an email series with short prayers to pray as you go about your day. The first five readers all wrote me at different times and said, “This is changing my life.”