Day 1

Well, I'm off to a good start I'd say.  I like to spend time in the Word in the morning before I head off to work, which means I have to get up pretty early.  And sometimes I don't quite have all the time I would hope for, but today I was able to start my prayer for the world and begin my trek through the Bible and still make it to work on time and without forgetting anything at home.  I'm really excited to start this process!

Challenge One: pray for the entire world.
But how does one do that?  Platt suggested using a book called Operation World.  He explained it as a resource that gives information about countries throughout the world that you can use to pray with over the course of a year.  This sounded like a good solution to me, so I decided I would get the book.  Little did I know how awesome it would be!

Written by Jason Mandryk, it is subtitled as "The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation."  And it truly is just that.  The 978 pages are filled with alphabetical listings of all the countries and include statistical and background information, followed by answered prayers and ways to currently pray for the country.  When I say currently, I really do mean currently.  The book is in it's 7th edition of printing and was just finished in August of this year.  So when I prayed for Sri Lanka today, I was able to read about the recent end to their civil war and how the country is reeling from it.  I prayed for God to raise up wise and truthful political leaders and for the children of the country who are suffering from malnutrition, abuse, and child prostitution.

It is a humbling experience spending time praying through the pages of this book.  Knowing that I am so small in this vast world.  Realizing that my blessings are far too abundant.

Challenge Two: read through the Bible in a year.
There are several online reading plans, so I have chosen one that gives me a portion of the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs to read each day.  Today I read Genesis 1:1-2:15, Matthew 1:1-2:12, Psalm 1, and Proverbs 1:1-6.  It was great!  Since I wrote so much about prayer today I will save my musings on the Word for another time.

Obviously, all five challenges will not be met immediately, but as I said, I am off to a good start.  :)