God works in mysterious ways, and what happened a few days ago is another one of those moments that makes you stop and wonder whether He is trying to get your attention. Stay with me, because what started as a random interruption during a podcast recording led me to a daily prayer practice inspired by Luke 11:2 that has the potential to connect believers around the world every single day.
A few days ago I was recording a podcast. As anyone who creates content knows, there is always a little bit of stress involved. You are thinking about cameras, audio, timing, guests, lighting, and a hundred other details that nobody watching will ever notice. Before we started recording, everyone did the usual thing and silenced their phones. The room became quiet, focused, and ready.
One of the guests joining us was Edwin Lugo, a genuinely kind man whose story is remarkable in its own right. Over more than two decades, he built a career in residential management, steadily working his way through challenges, responsibilities, promotions, and leadership roles. His journey eventually led him to become a Vice President and today he serves as a Chief Operating Officer. It is the kind of story that reminds you how much perseverance matters and how success is often built one faithful day at a time.
In the middle of our recording, a phone alarm suddenly went off. The timing caught everyone by surprise because all the phones were supposed to be silent. Edwin immediately apologized and explained what it was. I vaguely remember hearing his explanation, but if I am being honest, I was distracted and focused on everything else happening around me. We finished the recording and moved on with our day.
Later that evening, something kept nudging me about that moment. It is difficult to explain, but I have learned that some of the most meaningful moments in life arrive disguised as interruptions. A conversation that lingers in your mind. A sentence you cannot stop thinking about. A coincidence that feels a little too intentional.
So I sent Edwin a message asking what the alarm had been about.
His response stopped me in my tracks.
He explained that every day, at exactly 11:02 a.m., he has an alarm set on his phone. The alarm is tied to Luke 11:2. Even though his phone had been silenced and placed on Do Not Disturb that morning, the alarm somehow came through anyway.
His words stayed with me.
“I believe God pushed it through at the right time.”
Then he shared the story behind it.
Before I go any further, I want to give credit to the person who originally inspired this movement.
The 11:02 Initiative was started by @wisefoolchannel on TikTok, whose video you can watch here:
What I love about the idea is its simplicity. There is no membership. No organization. No complicated process. Just an invitation for ordinary people to pause at 11:02 each day and turn their attention toward God.
In a world that constantly competes for our attention, there is something powerful about reclaiming sixty seconds and giving them back to the One who gave us everything. What begins as a personal habit can become something much larger. If enough people participate, then somewhere in the world, every hour of every day, someone will be praying the words Jesus taught us. The thought of believers, strangers, families, and communities all lifting their hearts toward God throughout the day is incredibly moving.
Perhaps that is why this resonated with me so deeply. It is not about building a platform. It is about building a practice. It is not about being seen. It is about remembering God in the middle of ordinary life.
As soon as Edwin mentioned Luke 11:2, I immediately knew the passage. Like many Christians, I’ve prayed the Lord’s Prayer countless times throughout my life. Yet if I’m being honest, I don’t often think about where it actually begins in Luke’s Gospel. His message didn’t introduce me to something new. It reminded me of something familiar that had quietly drifted into the background of everyday life.
When I opened my Bible later that evening, I found myself reading the passage again with fresh eyes. Luke 11 begins with Jesus praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of His disciples approached Him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
There is something beautiful about that request. The disciples had witnessed miracles, healings, and extraordinary moments, yet what moved them enough to ask a question was watching Jesus pray. They recognized that prayer wasn’t simply another spiritual discipline. It was the foundation beneath everything else.
Then comes Luke 11:2, the verse that inspired this entire initiative.
“He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.’”
The prayer continues through verses 3 and 4 with requests for daily bread, forgiveness, and protection from temptation. In other words, the 11:02 Initiative isn’t built around a random verse. It’s built around the opening words of the prayer Jesus Himself taught His followers to pray.
What happens next is just as fascinating. Jesus does not simply teach the prayer and move on. Immediately afterward, in Luke 11:5 through 13, He teaches about persistence in prayer and follows it with one of the most encouraging promises in Scripture: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” After teaching His disciples what to pray, Jesus teaches them how to pray, with confidence, persistence, and trust.
Reading those words again reminded me how much wisdom is packed into a remarkably short prayer. Jesus begins with relationship by teaching us to address God as Father. He then shifts our attention toward God’s holiness and His kingdom before ever mentioning our own needs. That order is easy to overlook, but it is powerful. Before asking for provision, guidance, forgiveness, or help, Jesus teaches us to remember who God is. In a world that constantly encourages us to focus on ourselves, the Lord’s Prayer gently redirects our attention toward something bigger. It reminds us that prayer is not only about bringing our requests to God. It is also about aligning our hearts with Him.
The rest of the prayer asks for daily provision, forgiveness, and protection. Together, these few verses create a framework that is surprisingly practical. They remind us that life is not meant to be carried alone. God cares about our spiritual needs, our emotional needs, our relationships, our struggles, and even our daily provisions.
The older I get, the more I appreciate that prayer is not really about informing God of things He already knows. Prayer changes us. It slows us down when life is moving too fast. It recenters us when our attention has been scattered in a hundred different directions. It reminds us that we are more than our schedules, our responsibilities, our deadlines, and our worries.
That may be why the 11:02 Initiative feels so meaningful to me. Most of us live in a state of constant distraction. Our phones buzz. News headlines compete for our attention. Work follows us home. Our minds jump ahead to tomorrow before we have fully lived today. Yet this simple practice invites us to stop, even briefly, and remember that God is present in the middle of all of it.
When that alarm goes off at 11:02, the goal is not perfection. It is presence. It is a reminder that no matter what kind of day we are having, we can pause for a moment and reconnect with God. Some days that may mean praying the Lord’s Prayer. Other days it may mean expressing gratitude, asking for wisdom, lifting up a loved one, or simply sitting quietly and acknowledging His presence.
There is another part of this story that I didn’t expect. Every day now, when 11:02 arrives, I know that somewhere Edwin’s alarm is going off too. A simple conversation that started during a podcast recording has created a new connection in my life. In a small but meaningful way, I gained a new brother in Christ. We are now part of the same daily rhythm, pausing at the same time, reading the same words, and directing our attention toward the same God. That realization captures the beauty of this initiative better than anything else. Prayer is deeply personal, but it was never meant to be solitary. Even when we pray alone, we are joining something much bigger than ourselves.
As I thought about Edwin’s alarm later that evening, I could not shake the feeling that there was a reason it interrupted our recording. Maybe it was simply a coincidence. Or maybe it was one of those moments when God gently taps us on the shoulder through something ordinary and reminds us to pay attention. What I know for certain is that a random interruption became a meaningful conversation, that conversation became a new daily habit, and that habit has now become something I hope to share with others.
So today I want to invite you to join us. Set an alarm for 11:02. Let it become a small sacred interruption in your day. Take sixty seconds to step away from the noise, open your heart to God, and remember the prayer Jesus taught His disciples. If enough people embrace this simple practice, then every hour somewhere in the world someone will be praying those same words. In a time when so much pulls us apart, there is something beautiful about the possibility of millions of people turning toward Heaven together, one minute at a time.
A Simple Challenge
Set an alarm for 11:02 a.m. today.
When it rings, pause and pray the words of Luke 11:2 through Luke 11:4. Then invite one other person to join you.
If enough people answer that invitation, then somewhere in the world, every hour of every day, someone will be lifting their eyes toward Heaven and praying the words Jesus taught us. In a culture that often feels divided, distracted, and disconnected, there is something profoundly beautiful about the thought of believers across different cities, countries, languages, and backgrounds pausing together for a single purpose.
Perhaps the alarm that interrupted a podcast was never really an interruption at all. Perhaps it was an invitation. And perhaps God wanted you to hear it too.
Thanks, Edwin. Thanks friends. And remember,
Stay Awesome.
