For a few months now it seems that one of the major things that tugs on my heart in my quiet moments with the Lord is Prayer. Pray without ceasing Jenny. Pray for your dreams Jenny. Ask Jenny.
I must share a brief story about this very subject. I believe this is where this story must begin:
In the summer of 2003 the marriage of my mom and dad fell apart after 26 years. Their divorce was final in January of 2004. I would turn 21 in a few short weeks. I was angry, frustrated, confused, devastated, sad, depressed, and down right wallowing in my new reality. Two homes. Two places to choose from on holidays. No home. Confused.
I went to speak with the counseling center at my then church in New Braunfels, TX called Oakwood Baptist Church where a lady named Deva "Diva" prescribed me the medicine that would begin my very lengthy healing process. I was to join the prayer ministry. I was to commit to said prayer ministry for one hour a week for a WHOLE year. Sounds simple enough. I met with the nice lady who ran the prayer ministry there the very next day and learned an amazingly powerful thing about Oakwood Baptist Church. Someone from the church is praying over the prayer requests of its people every single hour of every single day. WOW. That'll make you pause and feel peace! "Really?", I asked. "Yes" said the sweet soft spoken prayer ministry leader and she continued to tell me of the protocol. I committed to Tuesday afternoons from 2-3 and could not wait for my time in that prayer room.
Upon arrival I was to first get my heart right with the Lord. I was told that if it took the whole hour for my heart to get right before I prayed over the requests of our community, so be it. It is important to be without distraction.
Next, I was to stand in from of the "answered prayer" bulletin board and praise the Lord for all He has done.
After these two steps I was to grab the binder(s) full of the requests and begin praying over each request. If I felt lead by the spirit to pray for only one request for the remainder of the hour I must. If not I could pray over as many as I felt led to. Only stipulation was that I was to leave the marker that read "start praying here" on the page where I had stopped for the next prayer warrior. This insured that each prayer request was lifted up within a day. Every. Single. Day. The reality of this stunned me. Changed me as I began to forget about the pains of my heart and my losses. I prayed over requests of those who had lost children to death, drugs, prisons, prostitution. I prayed for people who were yearning for their bedridden mothers and friends. I can't even describe to you how this healed me. Forced me to step aside and intercede for others like He does for us.
I'm praying for a prayer ministry like this one for Manchaca Baptist Church and for all of your churches. I'm praying for a healing in this land like none before and that we will throw off the sins of this world and move forward into His light! I'm praying for healing in the hearts of those around me and those that I do not even know. I've come before the Lord and I am ready to rise. He calls us to that ya know?? We have every opportunity to approach His throne but some of us have no idea where to start (me). I'm praying for my church. I'm asking the Lord to search my heart. I pray that you would begin seeking the Lord on where you should serve and where you can "rise".
I have a meeting at 9:30AM with some very dear people at my church to share this story.
