While expressing gratitude to God for His blessings honors the Lord, it also encourages our heart. During last night’s PRAYER GATHERING people wrote some of their blessings on sticky notes and stuck them on a “Wall of Praise” (photograph below). Some of the blessings listed were “children who are saved, safe travels for family, my marriage, parents who recently celebrated 61 years of marriage, family vacation, God’s protection for my military son”… they were thankful for family and loved ones. People also listed “my church, friends I can call on in any situation, a Bible preaching pastor”… they were thankful for First Baptist Church. People also listed “God’s constant presence, grace, God’s work in leading a nephew with a brain tumor to a relationship with Him, salvation, forgiveness, God’s provision, mercy, God’s patience”… they were very thankful for God being Who He is and doing what He does.

This prayer gathering was different than past prayer events. Eight rooms were set up as prayer stations, each with a different focus and instructions clearly displayed. Members moved from room to room at their own pace and silently prayed in each room as long as they wanted. In one room, they held a salt shaker in their hand while praying about being salt in this world and praying for various evangelistic efforts. In another room they listed any sins for which the Holy Spirit was convicting them on a piece of paper and after repenting of those sins, they shredded the paper in a paper shredder. On and on it went.

Instead of listening to others pray, each person spent the hour seeking God on their own. Instead of praying out loud in front of others, each person prayed in their heart to God.

What did I see? I saw tears. I saw couples who came to the gathering together that started by praying in same room gradually separate as one spent more time in a certain room while their spouse spent more time in a different room. I saw people who never pray out loud spend 30 minutes to one hour praying.

What did I hear? These are some of the comments I received: “it helped me look inside myself, it opened up so many areas of my spiritual life to pray about, an excellent program, a very positive experience, loved the scripture verses to meditate on because they helped me focus, it was non-threatening, it was personal, there was so much to take in, it made me think about a lot of things, I loved it.”

What do I think? It was a GREAT EXPEREINCE for those who participated. They encountered God. I only wish more people had taken advantage of this incredible opportunity.

What do I hope? Next time we do something like this, I hope YOU will participate. You WILL BE GLAD you did. Like I said last Sunday: “This will be a prayer event unlike any you’ve been a part of in the past.” Based on what people told me last night, that is exactly what it was.

Pastor Steve Hogg