How hurdles accelerated me to a new season

Blog and Prayer Journal Review: 2021

Have you ever wondered about the hurdles in your life race, sometimes suddenly appearing out of nowhere?

I was taught so many valuable lessons, in a year I was introduced to hurdles. As I was going back on my journey, I realized how the spiritual hurdles were crucial and that God is indeed a rewarder for those who diligently seek Him.

When I read about hurdling I concluded that it is a sprint race, eyes on the above the hurdles, with hours of practice and training. Of course, you need a good coach! I trusted and followed the instructions of my strict, but patient coach, and I grew in confidence.

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In this post, I will be talking about the obstacles I struggled with that caused me to accelerate to a new level of prayer. Although it was not easy, I submit myself before God every morning.

Practice and Training

During my morning prayer and especially in praying in the biblical watches, I sat down with my journal, praying on the armor of God, investigating and declaring the word of God. During these early mornings or late nights, I practice hurdling without an audience and gain prayer – and warfare confidence.

I kept in mind the following requirements:

Scripture drills

Followers of Christ have always been compared to athletes or being in a race. My prayer journaling theme for last year was Press on and it also indicates being in a race as we all are, but it all depends on which road we take.

All roads have a destination! Sometimes we reach a crossroad where we need to choose a turn, a direction, or many stays in the valley of decision. So many are being misguided with false beliefs and strange doctrine, but it is only the piercing light of God’s word that can separate darkness and light and be a lamp unto our feet.

Scripture drills aim to let the light of God into the deepest parts of our spirit and soul and fill us with hope and strength to enable us to become more like Him and to prepare us for exercising kingdom authority.

It is also a good exercise to memorize scripture and to meditate upon God’s word filling our mind, heart, and spirit. This kind of meditation does not empty our mind but rather allows the light of God’s word in replacing fear with faith, weakness with courage, insecurity with goodness, etc.

Philippians 3:14

” I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

The Holy Spirit scheduled early morning and evening drills for me and on weekends I reviewed my progress to prepare for new ones.

I call this exercise scripture drills and it formed the basis of my training.

Psalm 18:19

“For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.“

Ecclesiastes 9:11

“lets us know that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to the one who holds out. “

Luke 6:23

“Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy,”

Habakkuk 3:19

“The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me walk upon mine high places.”

Hebrew 12:1

“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,”

2 Timothy 4:7

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Isaiah 40:31

“but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

1 Corinthians 9:24-25

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. “

Armor drill

The armor drill refers to putting on the armor of God each morning. A follower of Christ MUST do this every single day! Why?

Ephesians 6:11
“Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”

What makes putting on the armor of God so effective is the fact that we do this prayerfully.

Ephesians 6:17-18

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit

Power and locking drill

The power- and locking drill refers to gaining power through prayer and His word, exercising our kingdom authority, and possessing the gates of our days, months, and year.

Shifting drill

During the shifting drill, Holy Spirit trained me how to pray in the biblical watches. This caused me to jump over the hurdle of laziness, ignorance, routine and advanced me to a higher level of prayer.

This Drill was the change of atmosphere and my prayer landscapes! It took me up in my watchtower and gave me a spotters view.

I’ve never mentioned it before, but I had to choose either to ignore the facts and accept failure or to start praying for a change in my own life, my families, our community, and our congregation.

What hurdles I struggled with and still are

The next hurdles are only a few, to begin with, but I still struggle with them mainly because they ought to be practiced in a group .

• Finding a group of intercessors in our region! I had to do it with my family( husband, daughter 22, two sons – 9 and 17) as my support structure.

• The ignorance about warfare in our church and region. One can only step up into warfare prayer if you’ve attained the basics of prayer, spending time in His Word, and practicing discipline!

• People who are satisfied with the “begging at the door ” attitude of prayer, afraid to step up.

• One of my most challenging hurdles, and still is, are church leaders ignoring the warning signs of satanic attacks.
• Spiritual blindness
• Prayerlessness in our congregation

Hurdles I overcame through grace and personal discipline and responsibility.

• My inconsistent prayer life
• Laziness
• A Little more sleep
• Beating my alarm clock by entering the Holy Spirits’ invitation in the darkest time of night and early morning.
• Lack of Mindfulness
• Ignorance

Conclusion

Mission 007

As I was being trained in secret 
I am quite sure 
the angels were there,
ready to carry me 
so I'd not hurt my feet,
Cheering for me
As I achieved success,
Even the smallest victory counts.

Every morning as I woke
They awaited me
As I settle my feet
In my prayer boots
Pulling my robe of prayer along
While everyone's asleep.
Depositing in my ear
The divine secrets,
Incentives of hope. 

           Challenger❤

This is almost the last reflection on my 2021 Review. I’ve never before experienced intimacy with God like this! As Apostle Paul said:

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended it, but this one thing I do: forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, …”

I still press on! Cutting ties with past seasons and moving on to gaining strategy to break new ground.

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How am I doing with my hurdle practice? Do I give up after the first few attempts? Do I listen carefully to the instructions of my coach or mentor?

Asking ourselves questions helps us to gain an overview and serve as a self-evaluation.

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