Don’t Cut Corners on the Process!

Posted January 12, 2016

We can miss out on some amazing growth opportunities when we cut corners on a given process. This is true with art as much as it is with life.
With just over a month left to cover several months of training material, I wanted to cut a few corners in the process of training for our mission trip to Berlin. I even cut a few noncommittal members of our team to help us move forward. But when I suggested to our team that we cut the prayer walk exercise for the sake of time, they insisted we complete the entire training agenda—prayer walk and all.

We agreed that the Santa Ana Art Walk would be our venue for prayer. Upon arriving at the Art Walk, our prayer team split into two groups. I led one group and Julie led the other. Going on the prayer walk taught me some important lessons in spiritual preparedness. Mainly, I discovered that our team was unprepared for the kind of spiritual resistance we would face that night at the Santa Ana Art Walk. Our teams walked around, asking the local merchants at the venue if we could simply pray over their business. While some were receptive, many refused prayer.

I could see Julie in the distance with her group bravely having conversations and praying over people. Her chutzpah and knack for leadership would prove useful on our trip, and eventually in her new job that would be waiting for her after the Berlin trip. These were valuable bonus lessons learned as a result of completing the entire process.

Toward the end of the evening our groups inadvertently converged in the basement of a historical building through the backside. While in the basement, our teams recognized a heavy resistance, in some cases even belligerence from the people there, and we decided to leave. Upon exiting the building, we discovered blatant signs of the occult and various religious markings across the walls. That experience helped us to be better prepared and to be wary of the deep, spiritual craziness that exists even in the developed world. Berlin would be no different.

In response to the lessons we learned that night in Santa Ana, we prepared a prayer calendar and recruited friends and family members to cover our team in prayer for each of the 14 days of our trip. Julie, prepared appropriate morning devotionals for our trip based on Ephesians 6: Putting on the full armor of God. All that preparation contributed to a safe and successful trip, and I’m thankful that our team decided to go through the entire process. It put us on the path to greater spiritual growth –and even miracles – leading up to and during our Berlin trip.