May 18 2011, 12:36 pm | Danny Jones
The change to prayer meetings EVERY Monday has not hindered the engagement and momentum of the life of pray that God is calling us to. Following an amazing day Sunday that awakened us in an inspiring way to worship and prayer through The Lord’s Prayer and the song Manifesto, our Monday plan was to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in our prayers through The Lord’s Prayer. We began with a time of worship focusing on the holiness (otherness) of God, calling out and praising him for all the aspects in his nature in which he is holy. I had planned to move into “your Kingdom come on earth”, interceding for people and areas where things are not “kingdom”, but before I had the chance to do so, the Holy Spirit used the body to lead us there. The remainder of the night was given to interceding for the redemption of people and situation that have been stolen by the enemy.
It began with the testimony of a hurting wife who has been separated from her abusive husband for 4 years. She begged us to forcefully call out to God for his redemption, and asked for prayer to be able to love him in spite of the abuse. God used this to call us to intensive prayer against the destruction of divorce and those caught in the middle of destructive relationships.
A woman who had asked for prayer weeks ago about infertility stood with her husband to share that they had been asked by a single mother to adopt a baby girl that is to be born soon. The single mother had also come to Monday Prayer with this couple, and in the next moments she was surrounded by a crowd of loving prayers, asking for grace and wisdom for everyone involved in this painfully, beautiful moment of sacrifice and redemption.
A man stood with his fiancé to share a story of a life of spiritual hypocrisy and lies, culminating a few months ago as a missionary in Haiti, but void of spiritual life. His return to the US brought him to The Summit, and God has redeemed his life through a process of confession and repentance, resulting in the greatest freedom he has ever known. His testimony ended with a declaration of surrender to following Jesus Christ and a request for his future father-in-law to come and baptize him. (watch for this video)
God used the baptism and other stories to call another young man to obedience in baptism, having been saved since age 12, but never having publically proclaiming this through baptism. His father had the honor and joy of baptizing his son Monday night.
A couple, victims (participants in the sufferings of Christ) of flooding two weeks ago, stood to share story after story of God’s faithfulness, involving helping to salvage items from their apartment, money to replace lost items, thousands of dollars of repairs on a car, and joyful experiencing of the promise of Isaiah 43:
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (watch for this video)
We had planned to share a number of e-mail requests from around the country for prayer for deliverance and healing from drugs. These request fit right in as God brought to the microphone people sharing requests for friends and family caught in the trap of addiction.
The hours seemed like minutes as we continue to see God changing The Summit into a house of prayer. We were reminding again of the God honoring faith of a few radical friends that tore the roof off of a house in order to get a helpless brother to Jesus. We were tearing the roof off on Monday and lowering many of our friends and family into the presence of the Healer and Redeemer. What a joy and honor this is!