This is Sweeney.

This is my friend, Mike Sweeney. This is how he looks in my head - all the time. Sweeney is by all accounts one of the greatest guys you'll ever meet. He's also battling it out with cancer right now. (Feel free to follow the "Pray for Sweeney" link to the right to catch-up on his story - and to marvel at his lovely wife, Cabell.)

This is what my friend, Jonesie, emailed out:

"I was reading this morning in a book that our small group has been using. It is about the Holy Spirit. The chapter we're reading now talks about living our lives in such a way that there would be no denying the Holy Spirit's presence and work. Said another way, the things that happen in our life would be impossible were it not for the Spirit, thus the glory is obviously God's. Specifically, it asked the question, are we praying for big, audacious things that only God could do, to give Him the opportunity to really show up? It is a risk to do this, because He might not (at least in the way we ask.)

This is a risk that I have been mostly unwilling to take as far as Sweeney is concerned. I didn't want to REALLY pray for healing, because I didn't want to be hurt if God said no. But something has changed in me and I don't really know why. I was reminded (again, by the book) of the account of Gideon who started with an army of 32,000 and God deliberately dwindled it to 300 so that it would be evident that He alone had achieved victory.

The odds are clearly stacked against healing, and I am tempted to pull back the reigns on my prayers for him even more, because I don't want to look foolish by still being hopeful. Yet, all of a sudden, I feel the Spirit prompting me to be hopeful, and to pray for something audacious. Who could deny that God alone had the victory in Sweeney's life if He healed him now? So I have begun to pray for healing again, really praying. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said, even if God does not do this thing I will still worship Him, and that frees me up to really ask Him to do it.

Our staff in Columbus have begun praying for Mike at 10:11 each morning (no significance), and I will invite you to join us. You can set your watch, or your phone since few people even know what a watch is anymore. I will use the time to pray for complete healing and would invite you to do the same. Feel free to invite others to also pray at this time as well. If you choose not to, or want to do it at a different time, that is okay too. I'm not trying to start a movement or anything. I just want to obey the Spirit, and the Spirit is telling me to pray for something foolish."

Well said, Jonesie. So...Won't you join the Harwell family in praying for Sweeney? I've set my alarm for 10:11am.