Perry-May Britton shares the unexpected birth of a spiritual movement that began with six women committing to a 90-day journey of prayer, Scripture, and simplicity.
In September last year my husband joined a group of men doing a 90-day challenge in spiritual formation that involved time with the Lord daily, meeting once a week and giving up a lot of things like TV, puddings, alcohol and more. He was going to fast two days a week and I couldn’t quite work out how our home life might work for those three months unless I joined him.
So, I found five spontaneous female friends, and we made up our own version. We got a very old Beth Moore Bible study, and each created a personal ‘Rule of Life’ to live by for the duration, meeting on zoom once a week. I did not have any great expectation, but I enjoyed having a framework for my spiritual life again and some accountability, both of which I needed.
One morning I listening to music as I walked and couldn’t help myself, I started dancing on the road as the sun rose.
I was however, wonderfully surprised by the transformation that occurred both in me and in my life through it. Part of my ‘Rule of Life’ was to get up and go outside very early and walk with the Lord. One morning I listening to music as I walked and couldn’t help myself, I started dancing on the road as the sun rose. It was a profoundly joyful and private experience. I came alive and felt deeply connected to the Lord, my thinking became clear, and my body felt great too. I began to hear the Lord speak while I danced, and it quickly became a part of my quirky, daily routine with him. I was dealing with some significant challenges at the time but if I danced for 15 minutes each morning, learning to ‘pray with my body’, I not only coped better but learned to ‘laugh at the days ahead’ despite the circumstances. It was truly transformative.
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There were many other good things that happened during those 90 days, all six of us developed a new love for Scripture, prayer and learned to sit with the Lord, just being in his presence without asking for anything. None of us wanted it to end, although I was looking forward to some chocolate, a nice glass of wine and Netfix! Towards the end I flippantly thought, why don’t I write a new one? So suggested we restart in January and invite one or two others to join us. I imagined we might have two groups of five or six and I could just write something simple to do together. To my overwhelming surprise however, the day before we started in mid-January, we had 38 women around the world eager to participate! It was a job I was not expecting.
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We ended up with six groups. I had only written the first 30 days, a Bible study in Mark’s Gospel, when we started, the rest I wrote as we journeyed together. I got inspiration from the Lord most mornings and the writing was influenced by the generous feedback of the women. It was a little like discovering I was having a baby at 56! A big beautiful baby with a life and character of its own, that I was suddenly responsible for. But I loved it, and it gave me riches I could not have imagined.
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Of course there is nothing new in what we did: spending time with the Lord in prayer and Bible reading combined with some ancient spiritual practices held together in small, committed communities: But these principles hold great power for transformation. It is not easy to do a 90-day structured season, in fact it is difficult and involves commitment and sacrifice, but it is ultimately joyful and life giving.
What has come out of it is a pretty, journal style, women’s Bible study called HOPE 90: Dance in the Desert. An invitation to journey into the wilderness, leaving behind the trappings of our modern lives, to meet with the Lord. It is written by women for women, and it is full of hope in the dryest and darkest places. I believe it to be a quiet holiness movement that started with five friends and a Bible. I hope that it is contagious and a great blessing for others too.
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