I am not a prayer warrior...though I wish I was. I remember a few years ago when my husband's grandma passed away people kept saying how she was a prayer warrior and that it is a sad day in the world because a great warrior was lost. I remember at the time thinking I wanted to be a prayer warrior but was never intentional about becoming one.
My journey with prayer is almost just beginning. Of course I've been praying for as long as I have remembered but I think God is slowly bringing my out of my 'infancy' of prayer and slowly bringing me to being an 'adult' prayer person. If this makes sense to you. This post is going to be long...bear with me.
When I was in high school or just after I attended a 24/7 prayer room with my friend and her family for an hour and I loved it. I loved the creativity of it and that I could see how other people were praying and growing, it was awesome. I bought a book called "Red Moon Rising" which is about the start of the 24/7 prayer rooms and how God brought them about...very cool...I suggest this book to anybody. Then after years went by, I forgot about the movement.
Then a few months ago I saw that same friend on Facebook was attending another 24/7 prayer room at her new church. I remembered the first room and got excited. I was reasonably new at my church and wasn't sure if they would go for a prayer room idea or not. Once the idea came to my mind, I was SO excited that day. I thought....of course! This is exactly what we need. Who couldn't pray more? Who doesn't want to pray in a creative way? But it seemed like at the time God was saying "Not Yet". WHAT? What do you mean not yet? How is there a certain time for a prayer room? They are a good thing...shouldn't we do it ASAP? Nope...not yet! So I brought the idea up to my lead pastor and he was on board but we knew it wasn't time.
Then December 2011 rolls around and I see that beginning in January we are starting a new series at church on prayer! It was like the green light came on and suddenly it was time to plan the prayer room. I hope and pray as it is going on this week that people's lives will be changed. Ya I like to take the glory for stuff...but I know this isn't right. I need God to work on my heart though...because I am selfish in this way! Anyway the prayer is going on as we speak...I desire for God to touch and move people. I pray people are lead to confession, praise, humbleness, adoration, etc. Hoping this is a time of revival for some people. I certainly am no stranger to a dry relationship with God. We need revival at our church!
So in terms of prayer....a while ago I started listening to a sermon series online about Habakuk. The pastor talked a lot about prayer. I read through Habakuk and realized that he and God have a back and forth conversation. I desired this...so I began to write. I don't know enough to say the 100% what I wrote was a conversation between God and me....or whether I just made it all up....but the conversation was about prayer and how I need to be on my knees praying for non-believers and those who are believers but are spiritually dry. It seemed like it could be from God! So I made a list of all of the non-believers that are in my extended family and divided up the people into 4 groups and so I prayed for 1 group a day and rotated through the 4 days. I did this for awhile and it was work. To prayer warriors it would be nothing...but for me it was very difficult. I didn't necessarily pray for a long time. If I had 5 people on the list I may only pray for 15 minutes total. But it was difficult. Why? Because it felt useless and it felt like I always prayed the same thing for them each time I prayed. It also took time and took concentration...and I'm really not all the disciplined. But I enjoyed praying for those people. Knowing that I was called to do so and knowing that God desired to have them come to know him. Then somewhere along the line I stopped doing it...and I really need to start again.
Other parts of my prayer journey....a few months ago (Oct 2011), I attended a prayer conference in Hamilton. The conference was about 24/7 prayer in Canada. I met some amazing prayer warriors who put me to shame. One lady I met from Welland is awesome. She is a young (mid 30s), single mom. She was going to school but dropped out to pray all day long. God called her to intercession...and so she obeyed. She doesn't have an income and yet somehow God always takes care of her needs. She is encouraging to me and I am proud to know her. I am excited to see how God is using her and how he will use her to bring revival to Welland....it's coming! If I recall correctly, Welland was prophesied over and a revival is coming. I hope it is soon.
Lastly, a while ago I was feeling like God is preparing me to be a prayer warrior. I chuckle at the idea because even 5 minutes of prayer is difficult for me! But I know God can do whatever He pleases and if I need to discipline myself...well I will just have to do it. Anyway I told Nathan my thought but I don't think I told anybody else. Then recently I was prophesied over saying that by the time I am 34 my knees will have scars or something along those lines to show that I was on them a lot praying for others. THEN somebody else came up to me and said they feel God is nudging them to mentor me...but specifically in prayer. How amazing. God has been transitioning me nicely. He didn't just throw me into it, but is taking me there at a pace I am comfortable with. I still wonder specifically what this will look like...but for now this is how it is. I'm nervous for the process, but also excited.
Well that is my prayer journey...perhaps this blog is a little all over the place...oh well. I blame my tiredness :P God is working...we have to let him.
Come Lord Jesus Come. Let it rain....open the floodgates of Heaven and let it rain!
