I attended my first Lydia gathering in Arrowhead Springs, California when I was 25 years old. My beautiful mother-in-law Virginia brought me along, my four-month old son Brendan in tow. I was hooked from the beginning. My next participation was at an international conference in Scotland some two years later. It was attended by 500 women from around the world. I remember standing in the midst of worship that first day and knowing in my very depths I was at home.
Throughout the days of that Scotland gathering, I was impacted by how personal and deep each woman’s relationship with God was. Yes, they had gathered to pray for nations – but it was not just a prayer task. It was obvious to me that they knew Him intimately – more than I did. It was expressed in the way they worshipped, in how they expectantly listened for His voice during meditation in scripture, in the prayers of great faith that arose out of the insights they received waiting on the Lord.
That gathering was 34 years ago and I have remained a part ever since, first with Lydia Fellowship and now with ASK Network. It has been one of my unshakeable priorities, no matter what life has brought. I am still part of a faithful group of ASKers who have gathered once a month from across Washington State (USA) and British Columbia (Canada) for many years. We have prayed for the generations, prayed and traveled on assignment to dozens of nations, prayed and worked in the streets of our own cities, on Native American reservations and so many unexpected places, ASKing for God’s goodness and promises to materialize for others.
To this day, every time we gather to be still, worship, meditate in His word and respond (ASK!) I am reminded how incredibly intentional God is toward us. We come because we have been drawn to this work of intercession, but as we settle into worship and the Word, He never fails to make a revelatory connection with us on an individual, very personal level. We desire to be good and faithful servants, and all the while God is making us known—as He knows us—to ourselves. He calls us back to who He created us to be, just as we call out for others in intercession. We cannot be in His Word, listening for His voice and not be personally revived, remade – made NEW!
I realize now, looking back, that I have been experiencing this great exchange for decades.
I read in a recent blog by Maria Shriver, “At the end of the day, I believe that the greatest gift we can give someone we love is to see them, hold them, nurture them, and know them for who they really are.” I want to affirm this is the great reality we experience in the place of ASKing intercession. He is a faithful, intentional Father to us. Loving us back to Himself all the while revealing the truth of who we really are.
I’m so grateful to be on this journey of fruitfulness and discovery with you. Your lives continue to enrich mine – both in the obedience of intercession and the pursuit of individual wholeness.
Lisa Otis
Snohomish, Washington USA
ASKing since 1983