Have you ever prayed to God for something?  (Unless you are an atheist…in which case you probably aren’t reading my blog…the answer is most likely yes.)  We have all asked for something.  A new car, a raise, a healthy baby, a safe trip, a heart-attack-causing burger to be miraculously good for you, or to “remember” all the answers to the test you didn’t study for.  What about the more serious stuff?  Courage, strength, patience, etc.  Yeah, you probably have done that too.  Seems like more often than not, when we pray for patience God doesn’t just say, ” OK!  You are now more patient!.  But instead He gives us an opportunity to be patient.  To learn patience.  Instead of God just granting our genie-in-a-bottle wish for strength, He gives us a situation in which we need to rely on Him for strength.  To learn that we have His strength.

I think I am in the middle of one of those times.  Several months back I took my blogging, designing and thinking in a different direction.  I wanted something that would/could be bigger than me (pardon the overuse of the blog title here).  I didn’t want to keep plugging away at something that was based on me and not on Him.  So I began to pray for something bigger than myself.  Funny how it always works one way in our mind but God likes to do something different!  So I redid the website.  I changed my focus.  I aimed for something else.  What I expected or at least was thinking about was that this blog might be something more than just me.  I didn’t expect Him to give me a chance to live a life bigger than me.  My idea was much smaller in the grand scheme of my life.  His has blown me away.

Since I started asking for something bigger than me, we have moved our family from our gorgeous beach home in Southern California to landlocked, weather schizophrenic Oklahoma.  We quit our job as a pastor at a church.  We have been looking for that church/work position for us to call home.  We have (I believe) found our church (large scale) but there still isn’t a job for me.  We have been provided for in ways that I didn’t expect.  But for me, the biggest thing is that I have had to learn to live a life bigger than myself and my ideas.  I am currently unemployed and while still looking for the job, I have assumed the role of the stay at home dad.  My roles have changed around the house.  With my wife preggo with 2.0 and much sicker than she was with our first, she has been out of commission (throwing up lots) on a few occasions.  I am getting first hand experience at what it takes to take care of the house, make dinner for picky kids, play with a kid all day, and try to keep my sanity.

Don’t hear me wrong.  There is nothing wrong with this changing of my role.  It’s just not the life I expected or asked for.  It is definitely different than what I had planned out.  But between the times that I am down on myself for not making something else happen, I know that God has given me an opportunity to live out the dream of “bigger than me”.  He just had it look different than I did.

What are you wishing/dreaming/hoping for?  If it is patience, keep your eyes open for the next time you are stuck in traffic.  If it is courage, maybe it’s time to stand up to your boss.  If it is strength, look for someone that needs you to help them be strong.  If it is to live “bigger than me”, watch out!  You might be a stay at home dad before you know it!

As the year winds down I’m sitting here thinking about all the things that God has done for us and gotten us through.  But fortunately (as far as I know) it’s not over at the end of 2010.  (That happens in 2012, right?)  So as we are finishing up one year and looking forward to the next, what are you praying through?  What can we all pray with you?

My family is praying about a job, church, home, adoption, potential pregnancy…sanity…  All of that.  But we don’t want to only pray about ourselves.  How can we pray with you?

Wow.  It has been a crazy couple weeks!  We left the beach and moved 1400 miles east back to the heartland.  The boxes have all been moved in and most of them are opened or packed away.  There is floor space in the living room, bedroom and closet!  The dog and baby are adjusting very well and having a blast.  I had a huge opportunity to lead at the biggest campus of LifeChurch.tv and had an amazing weekend.  And to top it off, I get to lead for LifeChurch.tv for the next two weekends as well!

I have come to realize that it is quite difficult to blog while moving.  So I know it has been a while, but God is up to some amazing things!  If you don’t mind saying a prayer for our family we would really appreciate it!  More to come soon and I will get back to the normal blogging very soon!

If you are anything like me when election season comes around you try to hid.  I like the discussions.  I like the debates, but they are just so negative.  It kills me.  But, for some reason that’s the current system.  Does it not bother anyone else that we are always talking about the new guy and the change we need or can believe it?  Just by saying that all the time we are affirming the fact that we are consistently electing people that are NOT that change.

But like it or not, if you live in the United States, this is our system.  And as long as you are 21 and a citizen you get to participate in this fun never-ending carousel!  One problem is that a lot of us don’t take advantage of that right.  But then this morning it occurred to me that we have a bigger problem.  We as Christians have a much bigger and much more powerful instrument that we neglect all the time!

1 Timothy 2 says to pray.  Pray for the rulers and governors.  Pray for those we elect.  Pray for those we voted for.  Pray for those we didn’t vote for.  And if you are like me, you do pray for them…every couple of years.  Maybe every time there’s an election.  Maybe less than that.

When God commands us to pray “for kings and those in authority” there is implied power to influence the course of men and events.  If not, why pray?

from Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders

We have a God that hears every single little prayer.  He listens.  He answers.  He has the power to influence anything.  How many times do you pray the our elected officials?  My answer to that question is not a good one.  Not a very big number.  And yet I feel like I have the grounds to complain about how we constantly need change.  I have no right to whine about something that I have not supported and lifted up in prayer to the most powerful source.

Maybe I’m the problem and not the politicians.

I’m not a rich guy (compared to others in the US).  I can’t do everything for everyone, but today, I ask you.

What do you need?

How can I pray for you?

I have been writing here for a couple years now and I have asked you to comment and pray for me or friends.  Well, today I wanna switch that.  I wanna pray for you.  Individually and specifically.  Feel free to leave a comment if you would like to have everyone here and not just me pray, but if you would prefer, you can always email me.

So, how I can I pray for you?

Plans are in the works for a major renovation here at brookjames.com.  I have been thinking and praying about this for a while now and I’m tired of just not doing it.  So over the next couple months (hopefully not longer than that) I will be working on a brand new look to this site.  I hope and pray that it will be something that God will use in all kinds of ways.  I don’t know what the finished product is yet, but I have some pretty good ideas of what I’m shooting for and I am very excited about it all!

So, here is where you come in.  I have come up with some plans and concepts, but the domain name that I want to get to add to it has been taken.  It was claimed back in 2008 and has not been used.  Unfortunately the owner has it until 2012.  Boo.  While there are other options, this one is my absolute favorite so far.  So if you would join in with me in praying that this lady in New York doesn’t ignore my emails, has a heart, no plans for it, and is willing to pass it on to me I would really appreciate it!  It won’t stop the plans from moving forward if she says no or ignores me, but it definitely will be a big bummer!

Thank you all for your support, prayers and love.  I seriously can’t thank you all enough!  Stay tuned for some awesome new stuff coming soon!

Every night as I check on my almost 4 month old daughter I take some time and pray for her. I pray for health. I pray for safety. I pray for sleep! I pray for strength and guidance as her daddy to raise her right. I thank God for her. It’s easy. She’s my baby girl! It comes natural. I don’t struggle at all to pray for her.

But as I was praying for her last night I realized that I have not been following Jesus’ words. In Matthew 5 Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for those that hurt you. I’m not doing that. There is a boy (maybe even not born yet) out there that right now is my enemy. As terrible as that is to say, I am NOT ok with the fact that my baby girl is gonna have boyfriends and one day get married. She is my little baby that has mommy and daddy as her whole world! Any boy that wants to mess that up is not a friend of mine…right now. I mean that’s down right persecution if you ask me! Dang boys.

So I realized as painful as it may be, I should be praying for all of her future and that includes boys. I am told to love my future son-in-law and pray for all those boyfriends that are gonna hurt my heart (and possibly earn a plot of land in our backyard). It’s not easy. I don’t wanna go there. I don’t wanna be ok with that. But I have to. Jesus told me to.

It’s time to man up.

What about you? Who are you supposed to be praying for that you are struggling to bring up with God?

One of the coolest things in ministry is seeing the Church work together.  Some churches get together for bigger men’s/women’s ministries.  Others for events or projects or camps.  But until a few years ago, I had never seen anything like this.  Churches from all over the world joining together to pray with one mind and heart, provide resources for each other and help plant churches all over the world!  THAT is something pretty cool.

June is almost here and that means that it is time for One Prayer 2010.  Still with plenty of time left to join up, there are 978 (at the moment) churches signed up and locking arms together for this completely free event.  That’s huge!  The theme this year is Unstoppable.  When the Church unites, it’s unstoppable… unstoppable grace, unstoppable compassion, unstoppable evangelism, unstoppable love, unstoppable generosity, unstoppable truth, unstoppable hope.

Whether your church is a part of One Prayer or not, join with hundreds of thousands of people all across the globe in praying for this event, the churches involved, the impact the Church will have on our communities and the brand new churches that will be planted as a result of One Prayer.  Make sure you check out the One Prayer 2010 Web site, too!

our God is greater, our God is stronger
God, You are higher than any other
our God is Healer, awesome in power
our God, our God

and if our God is for us
then who could ever stop us
and if our God is with us
then what could stand against

Thank you to all of you who have taken a few minutes and prayed for our friends that I told you about earlier in the week.  They are VERY grateful to all of you for it.

In case you missed the post earlier this week, some friends of ours that are basically family went into the hospital after her water broke at 29 weeks.  They have now been in the hospital for four days and could still use your prayers!  She has had contractions off and on throughout the time there but they have been giving her a shot that lessens or makes them go away in an attempt to keep the little guy cooking a bit longer.  She has plenty of fluid still in there to protect the baby for now, and the doctors want to keep him inside for as long as possible (several more weeks).  The longer he is in there the more “well done” he will be.

Thank you again for all the prayers.  They are still needed so don’t stop!  Please continue praying for the safety of that little guy and his momma.  Pray for physical and emotional rest and peace for mom and dad.  Pray for strength for all three of them!  Thanks again.  I keep you updated as we go!

For the sake of this family I am gonna be a little vague here so bear with me.

Last night some friends of ours had to make an emergency trip to the hospital because her water broke. They are only 29 weeks into the pregnancy and the doctors are trying to do everything they can to keep the baby in for a little while longer for lung development. Needless to say their baby boy will be in the NICU for a while and will need to be COVERED in prayers for weeks to come.

So I come to you all. Please pray for this family. They need so much love and prayer right now and I know it will mean the world to them and to us. They are family. Thank you so much!