the prayer room...part 2

Two weeks have gone by since the prayer weekend, it's been interesting. I ended up being asked to help four guys carry the cross through the centre of town during a walk of witness on Good Friday. It was well heavy. One guy had done it every year since I was born. wow. The whole experience was really moving. Spent resurrection morning up may hill; awesome. Great time with family and friends, a week with my head in the clouds and some encouraging feedback of some funding we're going for.

All good.

I'm just off to dismantle the prayer room, which feels really weird...Even today, I was talking to someone who'd been in there and had a 'really special' time just giving some of her troubles over to God, and receiving peace. awesome. also she mentioned of non christians going into the prayer during the next week, loving it, and then having a long talk about God with her.

incredible. ...

Most of the feedback goes along the lines of 'is this happening again', and I think we're feeling more confident about doing 24hrs of prayer once a month. It still seems too short, but starting small seems wise. And already, the ideas and requests that have come my way these past two weeks, are a little overwhelming. This could turn out to be one crazy ride!

Closing thought:

I think it's important to note something that's come out over the past couple of weeks. we've all been wowed by it, but are keen not to idolise the prayer 'room', as if it has some kind of mysterious ability to affect us. The whole debate of 'are buildings good or bad for the church?', or 'church is not the building it's the people', 'but buildings are useful' has been on our minds a bit.

The celtic Christians thought up the idea of 'Thin Places' (often not buildings - hehe) - a place where the divide between the spiritual and the physical realms seemed to be closer, more 'thin'. I like this idea. God is present everywhere. He fills everything everywhere. He is, omnipresent. Our struggle comes when we find that we can sense he's with us better in some places rather than in others. We can make the mistake of thinking that this physical place is more 'sacred'. And this got us thinking - it's not that there's more of God in that place, in a spiritual sense, its just that God's presence in that place affects the physical surroundings more than in other locations. so, we end up 'sensing' (which is a physical feeling) his presence with us more easily.

A Prayer Room, that is devoted to Jesus, can often be this kind of a place.

It's not just that though. At the end of the day, Prayer Rooms provide a practical place to be with God. Outside of our normal surroundings, our normal locations, we enter somewhere and find a place where our normal distractions are not. the distractions, or focal points in this place direct us to God...God can be found anywhere, but He is truly found when we put our minds on him, when we give our attentions to Him in a loving and worshipful and prayerful way. When we draw near to Him, He draws near to us. So, the delibrate decision to go to a different location, just to draw close to God, is certainly seen by God, and He reacts, and we meet with Him there.

The sad thing, is that we even need prayer rooms to get this space. The ideal I guess is to walk in this closeness day in day out, but we just have to be honest with ourselves and realise that we don't. That doesn't mean we shouldn't do anything about it. Which is why 'going' to a prayer room helps. There is definately something special about changing our normal daily routine to get up at 3am to pray!

So, "there's something about these prayer rooms that's so mysterious and awesome" you might say, "I just meet with God". But on the other hand, there's just something about making 'inward' space for God and making a decision to be with Him that is the mysterious and awesome thing. And of course, we end up meeting with God and He changes us.

He looks at our hearts. And if our hearts are open and willing, He will surely be found.

I'd go as far to say that He looks so intently on our hearts, that I wouldn't be surprised if He actually ignores everything else we try and 'do'...

So, prayer rooms are helpful, only in so far as they encourage us to make that space to draw near to God, to be drawn into his likeness, drawn into his way of thinking and the things he cares for. They are mysterious places. But not because of themselves and their location, but what happens there in the hearts of those when they arrive. God impacts the physical location more when prayer happens, when he is worshipped in that place, where those who love Him choose to commune with Him there.

So will we encourage this holy ground in these prayer rooms and host more of them? ... Most definately!