Sometimes
7:03 a.m. comes early. It’s Saturday or Sunday morning, and by the grace of
God, my kids are still asleep.
Weekdays, 7:03 is chaotic. I’m packing lunches and pouring cereal, busy getting little ones to school.
7:03 in the morning just isn’t a convenient time for me to stop what I’m doing and focus on something else. There is important work to be done. Or so I thought…
In my last blog, I talked about Ann Voskamp’s prayer of 1 Samuel 7:3.
At IF: Austin, Ann encouraged us to all pray that verse at 7:03 a.m. during her message on Friday night (A Call For the People of the Cross), and again during the closing prayer on Saturday afternoon (The Courageous Prayer or 7:03 Prayer).
At first, I thought “Well, 7:03 isn’t super practical for me. I’m still getting the kids ready for school. I’ll figure out a different time.” I had already started with excuses, and I hadn’t even tried once. Anything to make my life easier… except faith isn’t supposed to be easy. And it certainly isn’t supposed to be convenient.
After getting over the fact that my convenience isn’t super important to God, I realized another thing. Over 60,000 people saw the IF: Gathering between February 6th and 7th. More have heard and will hear Ann’s 7:03 prayer now that IF can be purchased for download, and she has released it on her website. You can also listen to them here. Her message will have reached countless people, and of those, many will choose to pray at 7:03.
Being an Army wife, I started to put things together. When soldiers go into battle, they don’t go one-by-one based on each soldier’s personal preference. They make a plan of attack, and they go in together. They know that if they form a strong front line, they can’t be defeated. The enemy simply can’t win against them if they combine forces and face the fight as one.
As soon as I realized this, I discovered Ann’s reason for petitioning us to all pray at once. If we’re all doing spiritual battle together, there is no way evil can win. Zero.
When I think of 7:03, I get a beautiful picture of my IF: Sisters knelt down beside me, shoulder-to-shoulder, defending the world from evil one word at a time. Prayer is action. Prayer is battle.
So, each morning at 7:02, I finish up what I’m doing, and I go somewhere quiet to pray at 7:03. I can’t tell you how awesome it is to pray with so many other people. I know God is working through those prayers. I know people are being saved, emboldened, encouraged.
For me, the 7:03 prayer has awakened my heart to finding God’s purpose for me. I don’t know exactly what it is yet, but I have an idea, and am in the process of getting direction from Him.
If you pray, I would like to invite you to join me at 7:03 each morning. You can find a printable copy of Ann's Courageous Prayer here at the bottom of her page. Or, you can discover what 1 Samuel 7:3 means to you, and pray your own way. I do both.
I’m so thankful for my 7:03 prayer time. A lot of days I feel sort of alone. But at 7:03, I know I’m standing with many others who have the same prayer as me. Who all want to live out the purpose God has for them. We’d love to have you with us.
Weekdays, 7:03 is chaotic. I’m packing lunches and pouring cereal, busy getting little ones to school.
7:03 in the morning just isn’t a convenient time for me to stop what I’m doing and focus on something else. There is important work to be done. Or so I thought…
In my last blog, I talked about Ann Voskamp’s prayer of 1 Samuel 7:3.
At IF: Austin, Ann encouraged us to all pray that verse at 7:03 a.m. during her message on Friday night (A Call For the People of the Cross), and again during the closing prayer on Saturday afternoon (The Courageous Prayer or 7:03 Prayer).
At first, I thought “Well, 7:03 isn’t super practical for me. I’m still getting the kids ready for school. I’ll figure out a different time.” I had already started with excuses, and I hadn’t even tried once. Anything to make my life easier… except faith isn’t supposed to be easy. And it certainly isn’t supposed to be convenient.
After getting over the fact that my convenience isn’t super important to God, I realized another thing. Over 60,000 people saw the IF: Gathering between February 6th and 7th. More have heard and will hear Ann’s 7:03 prayer now that IF can be purchased for download, and she has released it on her website. You can also listen to them here. Her message will have reached countless people, and of those, many will choose to pray at 7:03.
Being an Army wife, I started to put things together. When soldiers go into battle, they don’t go one-by-one based on each soldier’s personal preference. They make a plan of attack, and they go in together. They know that if they form a strong front line, they can’t be defeated. The enemy simply can’t win against them if they combine forces and face the fight as one.
As soon as I realized this, I discovered Ann’s reason for petitioning us to all pray at once. If we’re all doing spiritual battle together, there is no way evil can win. Zero.
When I think of 7:03, I get a beautiful picture of my IF: Sisters knelt down beside me, shoulder-to-shoulder, defending the world from evil one word at a time. Prayer is action. Prayer is battle.
So, each morning at 7:02, I finish up what I’m doing, and I go somewhere quiet to pray at 7:03. I can’t tell you how awesome it is to pray with so many other people. I know God is working through those prayers. I know people are being saved, emboldened, encouraged.
For me, the 7:03 prayer has awakened my heart to finding God’s purpose for me. I don’t know exactly what it is yet, but I have an idea, and am in the process of getting direction from Him.
If you pray, I would like to invite you to join me at 7:03 each morning. You can find a printable copy of Ann's Courageous Prayer here at the bottom of her page. Or, you can discover what 1 Samuel 7:3 means to you, and pray your own way. I do both.
I’m so thankful for my 7:03 prayer time. A lot of days I feel sort of alone. But at 7:03, I know I’m standing with many others who have the same prayer as me. Who all want to live out the purpose God has for them. We’d love to have you with us.
***For
another perspective on The Courageous Prayer at 7:03, check out my friend,
Natasha here! She is doing a seven day break down of 7:03 on her
blog/vlog, Beautiful Hot Mess Who Loves Jesus.
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