Click here for the video version of this interview. Also, we mention several things in this podcast. You can find links to those things at the bottom of this page.

I’ve been back from the prayer gathering in Rotterdam for just over a week, and already the train of life feels fast on a track that tries to distance me from all that God revealed and did there.

But I don’t want to forget. I don’t want to let the enemy steal even a speck of it. My friend River wrote recently about how God showed her that the enemy of our souls is a pickpocket. He seeks relentlessly to distract us so he can rob us of anything the Lord has deposited. He knows (and fears) that if we let it go deep, it will bear much fruit.

I know that as we seek the Lord, He won’t let that happen. But Jesus also said, “Be on guard, so your hearts are not weighed down by dissipation and the cares of life” (Luke 21:34). So I try to push against that constant current of dissipation by writing. Processing with my loved ones. Sharing with you all here, even as our fast-paced social media world would scream that something from a few weeks ago is no longer relevant. But I determined in my heart long ago that I would seek to testify of His works among the congregation, because He has delivered me from so many pits. He has situated my feet. He has put a song in my mouth. So I will sing… (Psalm 40).

Sharing just a tidbit with you on this platform is my attempt at this. And it truly is a tidbit. There were so. many. things God did and spoke on this trip. Both for just my own heart and things I believe I’m meant to share with my community. This is a start.

Here are a few pictures from the commissioning service that Lauren references in the podcast, when I came into this beautiful prayer movement officially.

Show notes:

Buy Lauren Paden’s children’s book Awake here.

Check out the Charlotte Prayer Room here.

Find out more about the global 24-7 Prayer movement here.

Get connected with York County Prayer (a 24-7 Prayer local expression) here.

For the audio/podcast version of this interview, click here. Also, we mention several things in this podcast. You can find links to those things at the bottom of this page.

I’ve been back from the prayer gathering in Rotterdam for just over a week, and already the train of life feels fast on a track that tries to distance me from all that God revealed and did there.

But I don’t want to forget. I don’t want to let the enemy steal even a speck of it. My friend River wrote recently about how God showed her that the enemy of our souls is a pickpocket. He seeks relentlessly to distract us so he can rob us of anything the Lord has deposited. He knows (and fears) that if we let it go deep, it will bear much fruit.

I know that as we seek the Lord, He won’t let that happen. But Jesus also said, “Be on guard, so your hearts are not weighed down by dissipation and the cares of life” (Luke 21:34). So I try to push against that constant current of dissipation by writing. Processing with my loved ones. Sharing with you all here, even as our fast-paced social media world would scream that something from a few weeks ago is no longer relevant. But I determined in my heart long ago that I would seek to testify of His works among the congregation, because He has delivered me from so many pits. He has situated my feet. He has put a song in my mouth. So I will sing… (Psalm 40).

Sharing just a tidbit with you on this platform is my attempt at this. And it truly is a tidbit. There were so. many. things God did and spoke on this trip. Both for just my own heart and things I believe I’m meant to share with my community. This is a start.

Here are a few pictures from the commissioning service that Lauren references in the podcast, when I came into this beautiful prayer movement officially.

Show notes:

Buy Lauren Paden’s children’s book Awake here.

Check out the Charlotte Prayer Room here.

Find out more about the global 24-7 Prayer movement here.

Get connected with York County Prayer (a 24-7 Prayer local expression) here.

The best ideas often come to me in prayer (and more specifically, on prayer walks). Ideas may come bounding to us all throughout our days, but when they happen during prayer there’s a zooming in—a focusing effect—that is very clarifying. There’s also the deeper conviction that they are not random and do not originate in self. They are a gift. Something given by the Creator God who loves to birth things through His children, if we will only make the space for Him with our time and intimacy.

My artist friend (and fellow York Country Prayer team member), Lauren, always wanted to illustrate a children’s book, but she wasn’t sure if she could write one. So I love that one morning when we were spending time with Jesus in a prayer room, God downloaded the words of this book to her pen.

What He gave her is lovely and whimsical and perfect for a children’s book, but what He would later reveal to Lauren about the story’s application to her (and to all of His children) is even more compelling.

Listen here for the full video interview where Lauren shares the stories on:

* How the book was conceived in a prayer room (1:00)

* What God spoke to her about the story and His heart for us today (5:26)

* How God delights in our creativity (15:02)

* …and many more tidbits throughout (including

revelations in the shower, Chariots of Fire, the weighty Tim Mackie message “Paradise Now” from 2022, The Table, chasing sunrises)

“There is a life so much bigger than the darkened coziness of our little worlds.” - Lauren Paden

God is calling us all to a deeper awakened state. If you’ve ever felt like there is so much stirring inside of you, or that there are things you are meant to birth, listen in at the end where Lauren prays a blessing for all the creatives (17:12).

May we all make room for God to plant His seeds of Life within us, and give Him our “yeses” no matter how uncertain or uncomfortable we feel. Surely He is leading us deeper into a place of awakened wonder.

The best ideas often come to me in prayer (and more specifically, on prayer walks). Ideas may come bounding to us all throughout our days, but when they happen during prayer there’s a zooming in—a focusing effect—that is very clarifying. There’s also the deeper conviction that they are not random and do not originate in self. They are a gift. Something given by the Creator God who loves to birth things through His children, if we will only make the space for Him with our time and intimacy.

My artist friend (and fellow York Country Prayer team member), Lauren, always wanted to illustrate a children’s book, but she wasn’t sure if she could write one. So I love that one morning when we were spending time with Jesus in a prayer room, God downloaded the words of this book to her pen.

What He gave her is lovely and whimsical and perfect for a children’s book, but what He would later reveal to Lauren about the story’s application to her (and to all of His children) is even more compelling.

Listen here for the full video interview where Lauren shares the stories on:

* How the book was conceived in a prayer room (1:00)

* What God spoke to her about the story and His heart for us today (5:26)

* How God delights in our creativity (15:02)

* …and many more tidbits throughout (including

revelations in the shower, Chariots of Fire, the weighty Tim Mackie message “Paradise Now” from 2022, The Table, chasing sunrises)

“There is a life so much bigger than the darkened coziness of our little worlds.” - Lauren Paden

God is calling us all to a deeper awakened state. If you’ve ever felt like there is so much stirring inside of you, or that there are things you are meant to birth, listen in at the end where Lauren prays a blessing for all the creatives (17:12).

May we all make room for God to plant His seeds of Life within us, and give Him our “yeses” no matter how uncertain or uncomfortable we feel. Surely He is leading us deeper into a place of awakened wonder.