Me: Have you finished praying?
Prodigal: Yes, I have.
Me: I will share about prayer.
I always give all the glory to God, but I do not forget that He gave me the privilege of ministering from the first to a praying people. We had prayer meetings that moved our very souls, each one appeared determined to storm the Celestial City by the might of intercession.–Charles Spurgeon.
I can remember a prayer meeting that happened in our church that I probably will not forget or maybe not for a very long time. Once a month I attend the prayer meeting and had been going for years at this point. Something was different about this meeting though and I was interested in how it was going to turn out.
We had just hired a new pastor in the church named Jeff Doyle and he was leading the prayer part of the night. I was a little curious of what he was going to do. So I was taking notice of all that was taking place. The whole time was devoted to praying scripture. Jeff had picked out the scripture to pray. We started out as all of us praying the same scripture chapter and calling on God to hear us and be guide us in our directions and lives. It was comforting to hear us all pray together. Some voices were loud an manly and others were feminine and almost a whisper.
We then broke into little groups of 4-5 people and we were again asked to pray another passage. It was even more intimate to prayer the scripture together in small groups. I was near the back of the sanctuary with the 4-5 people in my group. My head was bowed and my eyes closed as I listen to the scripture being prayed. We were taking turns and it happened not to be my turn so, I was listening to those sweet words of God.
SCREECH..Then it happened the lights went out and a loud screeching noise happen. In that split of a second I thought Jesus had shown up and I let out a little scream. My heart was racing and I opened my eyes to look around. I quickly heard everyone was quiet and I saw how others were also looking around. This is something that had really got the attention of EVERYONE for a least a short time.
It seems something had happened with the sound system and Jesus had not shown up. Or did He? See I can’t tell you what happened with that sound and where it came from that night. I just know that nobody was hurt and nothing burned down.
But I know for me that praying the scripture with brothers and sisters in Christ and the living Word being spoken with humble hearts of love toward our creator meant that He was there. My spirit new it and that is the type of Lord that we serve. He is in prayer meetings, in living rooms, in offices and with us in our cars. He was in that prayer meeting and He will be with you in the future.
Jeff thank you for your service and for the time your family was with us. May God bless you and your family in the next journey of your life.
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
—Zephaniah 3:17
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
