Some members of our church had the awesome experience of attending a community prayer meeting at one of our local churches in our town. This week it was held at an African American church down the road. Sophie and I joined the group today for the first time and I can’t tell you what a true blessing it was. I have never experienced anything like it in my life. It was like attending a family reunion but with people I had never met before because I felt like I knew them well. I felt like we were connected somehow. The pastor read two verses and then opened it up for prayer. And this is what happened next:
One lady started praying and then broke out into a song. We all joined in. Beautiful. The prayer meeting started to get very loud. Not chaotic. Just loud. One person prayed at a time but many were voicing their agreement to God while that person was praying. As you prayed it was like you had a cheering squad with you, encouraging you and supporting what you were saying to God. It was unlike anything I’ve ever attended. I will be honest and tell you I was afraid to pray. I was afraid I would get distracted or afraid I might say something stupid. I felt like I stood in the midst of spiritual giants and they prayed differently than me. I cried through half the prayer time. Randy prayed to the Lord saying, “It’s not enough for us to talk about our community needs…we need to do something. It’s not enough to just sit back and discuss what to do..” And then you would hear in the middle of his prayer a woman saying, “Not enough, Lord, not enough!” I was taking it all in and loving every second of praying with my new friends in Christ. But I was also wondering how Sophie was responding to this. She is three and has been in plenty of prayer times but I assure you this one was different than all others. She was sitting next to Randy so I couldn’t tell how she was doing. I assumed she was doing fine because I didn’t hear her at all, but then…would I really be able to hear her if she did start talking or cutting up? I’m serious, this was the loudest prayer meeting I’ve ever been a part of. A lady had just finished praying/singing/groaning out to the Lord and all of a sudden you hear this tiny little voice say, “Dear God, thank you for my Mamma and Daddy. Thank you for Grandmother and for Brady (the dog)…….” It was quiet for the first few seconds and then you heard “amens, thank you Jesus, Yes, Lord” and Sophie never skipped a beat in her prayer. Her Mamma, who she has just prayed about, was too afraid to pray and here she was boldly approaching Jesus in the midst of loud and rowdy adult prayer warriors. Maybe this is why Jesus says, “Let the children come to me!” A few more people prayed and then someone started singing “Jesus Loves Me”. We closed our time joining hands and saying The Lord’s Prayer together. I have tears in my eyes now as I record the events of this amazing prayer experience. Oh Lord, teach me to pray.
I’m still processing the events of the prayer time. I loved it and want to go back. I don’t want to think that because I pray differently that I don’t know how to pray or that God doesn’t hear me. I don’t think there are “good” prayers or “bad” prayers. Prayer is talking with and listening to God. But there was something beautiful about today. And I want to experience more of that. And maybe, just maybe, this uptight white girl will cut loose in her prayers one day. Or maybe she’s just meant to pray the way she does already. In all these scattered thoughts, I come away with an appreciation for direct access to God through the Holy Spirit. No matter the level of eloquence or excitement….I can go directly to him and so can the sister next to me, who prays in a totally different way. Oh, how I love the diversity in the Body of Christ! I LOVE being a Christian.
Leave a Reply