Meeting God in the Desert

My squad just returned from a week spent in the Kyrgyz desert, or wilderness, that we called the Burn. This was something new God brought to our mentor. The vision was to pray and worship God 24 hours a day for 7 days. So we packed up our packs and ended up at a yurt camp out in the middle of nowhere. It was like God was waiting to meet with us out in the desert away from all distractions. 

Our first day was a day of silence. We didn’t talk to each other at all, but spent the day focusing on God alone. We also started our prayer slots. We divided the days up into hour slots and assigned someone to be praying at all times. They would go into our designated prayer yurt to spend time glorifying God through prayer, scripture, song, stillness, or whatever God asked of them. These slots went all through the night, too, so we had what we liked to call our night watch. We didn’t have service so we didn’t use our phones, which meant we had to wake up the next person for their time with the Lord.

The difference between this week of ministering to God and a normal sabbath/ministry week was that we didn’t come to God with our questions, concerns, or agendas. The goal was to bring honor and glory to God. It was a new concept for me since I usually had things in mind when I would sit down to pray, I would have plans for my sabbaths, or I would spend my days ministering to other people. This was totally focused on God and what it meant to serve and minister to Him.

Our days were filled with ministering to God through teachings/studying the Word together, hours of squad worship, meals together (feasting!), and time to wander through nature basking in His creation. We were right by a beautiful lake with snow capped mountains in the distance, and a dried up river bed nearby. The stars were breathtaking, and it was peacefully silent with only the sound of the waves or the wind rustling the coverings on our yurts. Being out in the middle of nowhere meant it was just us and the camp staff around, so no other people for miles.

God spoke to me out there in the desert, and He revealed some new things to me. Here are a few of my take-aways from this week:

• I don’t need to show up in God’s presence with songs on a queue or verses ready to read. God wants me to find joy and peace simply sitting and resting in His presence. He would even bring certain Psalms or songs to mind while I was there. In Him, I find full joy and contentment!

• I am able to do far more than I expected. At first an hour spent alone ministering to God felt long and awkward, but by the end of the week an hour wasn’t long enough! And one day we spent a full hour praying out loud for our families, churches, friends, the body of Christ, God’s glory, etc., and I could have kept going longer than that! 24/7 prayer felt like a big undertaking, but we were all left wanting more.

• It is good to lament. We had a lesson on lamenting and I was struck by how cavalier I have been about the sin in my life. Our sin grieves the Lord, and I should take seriously what Jesus died to forgive. I am no longer bound to sin because I have been set free! If I am still living in sin now, it’s because I want to sin, because it’s a choice. Ouch. Lamenting shows up many times in the Bible, and my sin, the state of the Church, and the unsaved who haven’t heard the gospel are things that should cause us to lament. 

• Along with lamenting, it’s important to remember that our God made a way for salvation and the forgiveness of sins. There is HOPE! We are called to go make disciples, bringing the hope of the true gospel to everyone we know, and even those we don’t. God is gracious and forgiving.

• To be a disciple of Jesus means that my life is changed, I am FULLY surrendered to him, and I am becoming more holy like Jesus. I can be blameless and clean before God in this life. If my life is the same as it was before following Jesus, am I really a disciple? (Psalm 119:1-3, Matt 22:37-40, 1 John 2:1)

• I have been given authority through Christ – Matt 28:18-20. I have authority to bind and loose things in heaven and on earth – Matt 18:18. And if you haven’t read Mark 16:15-18 or Luke 10: 17-20, do it. We have authority over demonic powers in the spiritual realm. And the best part? Our names are written in heaven! If we are disciples of Jesus we aren’t left to wait until Jesus returns, we have work to do! And God has equipped us to do it. I’m done being passive in my faith.

• Holy Spirit is working! I’m realizing that God is all, literally ALL, I need. No books, music, or media is worth space in my life if it is keeping me from being 100% sold out to God. I guess that makes me a Jesus freak in some people’s eyes. Well, honestly, it’s about time I got to that point. It’s so freeing!

I believe that this was hands down the most important and impactful week of the Race for me and my whole squad. This has set the tone for how we will minister to and serve God for the rest of our lives. 

If you’ve never done something like this before, I highly recommend it. Maybe start small, like spending an hour a day in prayer and worshiping God. Dig into the Word everyday, building up the habit. It’s crazy the things I’m reading now that I am taking the time to study it daily. Do your own version of the Burn where you are now. Get alone with God, minister to Him, and see what happens. And please feel free to reach out and ask me about this. I’d love to share more details or answer any questions. 

I’m praying for you, dear reader. And please continue to pray for me and my squad. We have two months left of our Race, which means re-entry is around the corner. Pray we stay focused and finish well, and that we allow God to continue the good work He has begun in us.