This potentially gruesome statue has become one of my favorite places in DC.  If you’ve ever been to National Harbor in Maryland, you’ve no doubt seen this piece of art rising up out of the sand.  To be honest, it used to creep me out.  But that all changed when I learned the name of the piece: awakening.  Now I can’t look at it without thinking about the gospel and my prayers for DC.

Pray For Awakening In Our City

I love this town.  There’s no other place I would rather live and no other place Laura and I would rather raise our children.  But there’s so much death and despair here.  Earlier this week, it was reported that we now stand at 78 homicides YTD in the District alone.  That’s a 20% increase over last year.  Synthetic drugs are robbing young people of their hopes, futures and lives.  Families struggle to put food on the table.  Churches keep closing their doors.

I want my life to be about awakening in this city.  An awakening to the truth, hope and life found in Jesus.

Pray For Awakening In Our Souls

But that awakening will only come to a city when it first comes to our souls.  Our Christian lives look a lot like the awakening statue – parts of us have burst out of the ground to new life.  God is changing, molding and strengthening.  But there’s so much of us that remains buried under the sands of sin and shame.  So many places where we long to be new but detect the old.  So many places where we know but don’t believe the gospel.

How I long for a life fully awake to the glory of God.  He’s more majestic, powerful, just and merciful than we can imagine.  We need Him to open our eyes that we would fully taste and see His goodness.

Power For Awakening

There is hope for awakening.  For me, for you, for our city.  It’s the hope that comes from knowing there was once a man who really did rise up out of the ground.  The tomb of death couldn’t contain Jesus.  He came back to life that we would do the same.  He defeated death that we could be alive, awake and available for His mission.

The incredible thing is that God intends to accomplish this awakening through His church.  You may be more focused on the parts of you still buried but God is more focused on how to use the restored parts of you for His glory.  Don’t hold back because there’s still work to do in you.  Press forward into the hope of the gospel and the mission of bringing awakening to a city.  It’s why we’re here.