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                  This month, I wanted to pass along a few other ideas to consider as you pursue growth in your prayer life.  If you're like me, you have at times struggled with focus, especially during prolonged times of prayer.  Personally, I have an internal longing to be a man of prayer and to experience prolonged times of uninterrupted intimacy with the LORD through prayer on a regular basis.  However, I must confess that this does not come easy to me, and I am all too often battling my flesh in executing this desire.  That said, over the years I have learned a few things that have helped me.  I'll pass on a few of them below in the hopes that they help you.  None of them is a magic cure to a busy schedule and a distracted mind, but they have been helpful when exercised.

• Schedule Prayer: It's tragic to admit, but if I don't schedule prayer, it won't happen, at least to the depth that I desire.  Prolonged, intimate, focused prayer, especially where I get quiet enough to hear the LORD, does not come easy to me and won't happen instinctively or accidentally.  There are simply too many other desires and responsibilities vying for my time.  Thus, like other important priorities, if I want to be sure it gets done, I have to schedule it.   
• Time It:  This may sound crazy and perhaps legalistic to some, but this actually helps me.  In some instances, this may prevent me from rushing and cheating this important time.  However, more recently I have found that this frees me rather than setting some arbitrary goal that I am forcing myself to obtain.  As an example, if I know I am going to spend 20 minutes in prayer, then hitting the timer actually eases my mind.  I don't have to worry about time.  I can simply pray, knowing that the timer will "protect" me from "under or over praying".  I've also been surprised how often as I set the timer, wondering how I will pray for "such a long time," the beep comes so much faster than I was ready for.  Of course, you don't have to stop with the timer, and you may find that experimenting with this idea gets to rolling to longer and longer intimate times with the LORD.
• Choose the Right Setting:  I am distractible.  Noises and movement and interesting things to look at and activities draw my mind from the LORD.  They just do, and I know this about myself.  Thus for most of my intimate times of prayer, if I'm going to focus on the Lord and be quiet enough internally to hear, I must intentionally remove myself from distractions.  Frankly, it's hard enough to discipline my mind without added opportunities to drift, so why set myself up for added struggle?  For me to most often be successful, I intentionally find a quiet room or place where I know I won't be interrupted.  This is not to say I am not blessed by praying in nature, etc. (where there is also inspiration!), but I've got to be careful that I'm not in the middle of a prayer, and then... "Squirrel!"
• Choose the Right Posture:  The Bible certainly gives examples of people praying in different postures, and I use a few of them (more on this next month).  However, for a while my go to has been kneeling, at least for my prolonged, scheduled appointments with God.  On the one hand, this helps with the above in terms of distractions.  More importantly however is what happens to my heart and mind when I kneel with my body.  As I begin to pray, I often reflect on what happened when men of the Bible met God.  Their response was always a humble and often fearful reverence as they were in the presence of such an awesome God!  I try to imagine what my posture would be like in such a situation.  How do I approach the King of all Kings?  Kneeling helps me not only honor the LORD, even as His adopted son, but also prepares me to dialogue with my Creator and Savior with the correct understanding of who He is and who I am. 

                  I encourage each of you to think, pray, look for Biblical examples, and spend some time experimenting with various schedules, times, settings, and postures.  Determine which ones are helpful and which ones distract, and then implement those as you grow in your life of prayer.  I hope that what I've learned through my own experiences may bless you, but ultimately I desire for you to grow in your prayer life through your own experiences.  More tips will be coming next month, and I hope to hear from some of you regarding what has been helpful in your intimate times with the LORD. 

                 This month we would also like to highlight the amazing work God is doing through the SWVA Huddle! They are moving at full-speed this year with many events in the works. In early April, they hosted a FCA Endurance fellowship meeting as a great opportunity for teammates to meet and encourage one another, and on May 24th, they will be hosting the 23rd Annual Wilderness Road Ride through southwest Virginia's beautiful New River Valley. This event is a fundraiser for FCAE SW-VA with the proceeds going to ministries and missions.  Be a part of God's Kingdom work by promoting it, riding in the event, or volunteering. We are so thankful for Huddle leader Mark Long and all of the SWVA teammates' zeal to serve the Lord! (Thanks to contributor: MN Teammate Amy Will)

                   We also acknowledge a number of ministry opportunities at the New Orleans 70.3.  The weekend was off to a tragic start with an accident involving two competitors. The triathletes were riding the race course on Friday and were hit by a car. Sgt. Frank Guinn was killed in the accident and his brother-in-law was in critical condition.   Even in this time of great sadness, this was a key opportunity to share the love of Jesus. The Iron Prayer event was held the next day and included a time of worship, fellowship, the testimony of professional triathlete Mike Hermanson, encouragement from local Pastor Michael Green, small group prayer, and closing worship. The participants of Iron Prayer also prayed for the family of triathlete Sgt. Frank Guinn.

                  Race morning began with a ceremony for the victims of the accident and their families. New Orleans Huddle Leader Barry Edwards opened in prayer (see photo above), and a brief speech was given by Sgt. Guinn's wife, his firefighter Captain, and the race director, followed by a moment of silence.  Praise God for the awesome Iron Prayer ministry and all that were involved! May God be glorified by bringing good out of even the most tragic of situations. Please keep Sgt. Frank Guinn's family in your prayers.  (Thanks to contributor: MN Teammate Amy Will)

                   We also want to celebrate a unique opportunity from this past Easter weekend.  This year, Patriot's Day fell on the Monday after Easter, and thus the Boston Marathon was held the day after Easter.  Combining this with the extra emotion resulting from last year's bombings made this a special year, and FCA Endurance was right in the middle of it.  We had 15+ Teammates plus their families from around the country join us for ministry and racing.

                  We partnered with New England FCA staff to host a booth at the expo for the three days leading up to the event.  Here we had a number of encouraging conversations and distributed FCA and ministry resources, including nearly 1,200 bracelets linked to our online Gospel tract (WhyDoYouRace.com).  We also coordinated with two local churches, inviting our team and those we spoke with at the expo to attend an Easter service with a local congregation.  What a blessed opportunity!  We also set up our ministry tent at mile 20 on race day, both to encourage and pray for athletes as they entered this portion of their race.  Lastly, we had a number of Teammates racing boldly for Jesus Christ, many of which had some blessed opportunities on the course!  Please be praying for seeds planted and watered during this time, and thanks again to the Teammates who partnered with us in the Lord's work through this fantastic opportunity!    

Before we close, I wanted to celebrate a few new Huddles and Huddle Leaders!

• Fargo, ND - this is our second ND Huddle in as many months!  Thanks to Huddle Leader Donovan Larson for his faithfulness in launching this Huddle.  We look forward to seeing what the Lord will do in ND this season!
• Minneapolis has a new trio of Leadership!  With HL Doug Barkema transferring to the Denver Huddle soon, the Lord has delivered a great group of men to serve and lead in his place:  Ryan Collins, Aaron Eicher, and Jeff Engel.  What a great team!
• Frederick, MD:  FCA staff member Frankie Hourigan has stepped in to provide leadership and service to this area.  We are so grateful for his partnership in the Lord's work!
• Lagrange, GA:  We are excited to add another GA Huddle, this one under the leadership of Chris Bryant.  Chris, welcome to a great team of Huddle Leaders in the state of Georgia!

As we close, I'll pass on a few additional updates:

• Needed:  Prayer Team Leader - Do you have a heart for prayer?  Are you a "Prayer Warrior?"  Are you called/willing to help serve, organize, and encourage our Teammates and Prayer Team members in growing as men and women of prayer, all while bringing FCA Endurance regularly before the Lord?  If so, we need you!  Please contact Chris Anderson to explore this opportunity.
• Ironman/70.3 Racers:  Please be sure you're registered as racing for FCA Endurance.  This increases awareness for our ministry, and prayerfully will result in increased ministry opportunities and impact.  It's quick and easy to make sure you're tied in.  Click Here 
• Events Calendar:  Don't forget to post your events and RSVP to events through our ministry team events calendar.  This gives us the best opportunity to connect with one another and partner in the Lord's work at events.  View the Calendar 

God bless you as you make disciples in 2014!

For God's Glory!