07.20.10
Drenched in Prayer
When the alarm went off at 6 AM on Monday, I wasn’t thinking good things about Kyle, my teammate.
Mondays are usually a slower day for me. I don’t have any regular meetings scheduled, and I spend part of my day planning out my week and thinking through conversations that took place on Sunday during our church service. The introvert in me takes some time to recharge on Mondays.
But this week was different. Kyle had the idea to do a Jericho prayer walk. Remember how the Israelites marched around Jericho one time a day for seven days, and on the seventh day they marched seven times? And as they finished the last lap, God miraculously brought the walls of the city down.
Ancona’s physical walls are long gone, but the spiritual walls here seem stronger than ever. The church here is making efforts at knocking them down, but sometimes it seems we have a long way to go.
We met at the monument at 7:00, walking along the Viale until we got to the port, and then we turned around and went back the way we came. It took about an hour every day.
We prayed for anything and everything: our church, the church members, our neighbors, spiritual growth, our leadership, maybe even world peace. We prayed for big things and small things.
That weekend, our church hosted another 24 hour prayer room, and this time the one-hour slots filled up very quickly. It seemed as though many went into the prayer room desperate for some time with their Creator.
Sunday morning, we finished the prayer walk with seven laps, though I couldn’t be there until the very end since Heidi was taking her turn in the prayer room. It was a week completely drenched in prayer.
It was also the hottest week we have had here in Ancona. Many of our activities take place at night when it is cooler, which made for a long day when the prayer walk starts at 7.
But I can’t think of a better reason to be tired. Despite my selfish bad thoughts when the alarm went off, a jump in the amount of time we spend talking to God can only be a good thing.
Because it really is up to Him, isn’t it? We make sure we’re the brightest possible light, and the saltiest Christians we can be.
So now we wait for the walls to come down.
Sue Randolph said,
07.23.10 at 8:20 pm
Great transparency, Brian! Praising God for your large response in prayer room. Marcus said you had to add an hour. Wow! I will pray for your speaking and for additional support. Now, I can’t remember exactly where you are going…will have to check back..I’m not good enough to check in the middle of this! Francesca is so very cute. Good picture of you in classroom, also. I am thankful to know your family.
Loving you in Jesus,
Sue