of a prayer space

Last Sunday morning I heard the people of Georgetown CRC reflect on their first ever week of 24-7 prayer.

As individuals spoke about their respective slots in the prayer space, I heard them speak of the prayer room as a place of peace and comfort. I heard them describe a closeness to the Father. Some even wondering if the feeling they felt in the prayer room must be similar to what the priests must have felt in the Holy of Holies, standing in the presence of the Living God.

I heard people marvel at how quickly an hour of prayer could pass. I heard them describe discovering new and intriguing ways to pray. Some so encouraged by this space for prayer that they just had to sign up for another slot.

I heard them speak of how this prayer space fostered a sense of community among them. How the prayers and scriptures written on the walls represented encouragement given and received. And heart cries seen, heard and prayed for and with. A family drawn together in a space to edify and intercede for one another.

Best of all, I heard some recognize that they are a part of a prayer movement around the globe that believes that what happens in a prayer room can change the heart of the one praying, can change a church, can change a community, can change a city, can change the world. 

An encounter with a Living God is nothing short of miraculous. How beautiful that he would meet us in these prayer spaces. How beautiful that he would be about the work of redemption. And how beautiful is it that he, the Creator of all, would welcome us to be a part of his redeeming work in the world. 

How beautiful that as we open our hearts to him in a prayer space, he would surprise us! And in turn fill our hearts and our mouths with stories of his goodness. And gift us with the faith that, yes, something as "simple" as a prayer could change the world. 

Casey

Georgetown CRC hosts 24-7 prayer

This Sunday we passed the baton of citywide 24-7 prayer to our friends at Georgetown CRC in Hudsonville. Their week of prayer began this Sunday and will continue until Sunday, October 13th. 

Sign up for a prayer slot here.  Do it soon, they are filling up fast! :)

 Casey  

Generations: 30 days toward mentoring for the Westside | YouCaring.com

We just launched a campaign to raise $10,000 in 30 days to fund the after-school mentoring programs we're launching early in 2014. 

These are big kingdom dreams, and we'd love for you to join us. 

(Click on the title of this blog post to get the full scoop) 

a carried and spoken word

I made a quick stop at the Prayer Studio the other day, just to see what the space looked like. 

In this particular prayer space, there is a box that sits on a table next to the door. There is a prompt on the box that encourages the one praying to open the box and pull a piece of paper out that contains a scripture verse. The person praying is then encouraged to take this scripture and use it to pray for the city of Grand Rapids or to take it out to the streets and use it to pray for a friend or stranger. 

When I opened the box today, there were no scriptures to be found. The box was empty.

And that made me smile.

It made me smile, because I love the thought of praying people walking the streets of our city during ArtPrize, carrying some of those scriptures. I love the thought of them praying words that were inspired by the Creator Himself over their city, friends and neighbors.

These prayers are powerful because the One who is found in these scriptures, the One who inspires, inhabits and brings life to our prayers, He is the very Word himself. His Word, His very breath created the heavens.

So you who pray, as you walk the streets and observe the creativity around you during this season, speak the Word. Carry it in your heart. And know that the Word will do His creative work to change, heal, encourage and call the hearts of men and women of our city.

Casey 

Citywide Prayer Studio

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The open, praying hands welcome passersby into the downtown prayer studio. 

It's official! On the first day of Art Prize, a group of us woke up in the morning and loaded up the sprinter van full of decorations and aesthetics from the prayer garage. Our intentions were to spice up the Life International courtyard into a creativity-inspiring, and welcoming prayer space that emphasizes the artful expression of prayer. 

When we arrived, however, we were so pleased to find that the courtyard was already such a pleasant space surrounded in natural beauty that we decided to use that calm, natural atmosphere to our advantage and work with it instead of covering it up with unnecessary decorations.  

Fortunately, we had the expertise of Charis Cooper with us who surprisingly got the day off work and could come help us! -- Coincidence?....perhaps... ;) --

As we observed our already incredibly beautiful space -- many thanks to Life International -- Charis wisely said, "I think our goal should be to minimize, and utilize and the necessities."

It was so great to watch her quietly take in the space and begin to brainstorm what would work best and where.

Gradually we all worked together, bouncing ideas off each other, and through a process of much trial and error, we finished the space a couple hours later. As we all stepped back, analyzing our work, and adding finishing touches, we all smiled. The hours of prayer, planning, and decorating had paid off! The prayer space was ready! It was beautiful. 

There is a small trickling fountain against one wall, supplying a sweet natural ambiance in the background. There is a tent with draping fabric sweeping across the ceiling, covering a small table and chair. That little table and chair is covered with paper, pastels, crayons, pens, and pencils; ready to be used at the will of our passing, Art-Prize explorers and prayer-seekers desiring to express their prayers in other ways than verbally. -- And of course the whole space is available for verbal prayers! :) There is so much more that that little prayer studio holds, but you are SO welcome to visit to find out! :D

Now here comes the BEST PART! After all those hours of brainstorming and hard work, as we all climbed into Tony's car and buckled ourselves in, we watched the door to the courtyard prayer space. A woman walking down the sidewalk with her small child in her stroller stopped at the entrance as she saw the chalk hands on the cement and the "city-wide prayer studio" sign. We all excitedly watched as she stood at the entrance reading the sign. -- Blessing enough to have observed someone notice it! Then, we all watched as she backed up her stroller and walked right into the studio!! What an incredible blessing to have gotten to see the first person use God's little downtown prayer studio! We couldn't believe we got to witness that just as we were leaving. We all drove away with smiles on our faces.

Such a great day working together to dedicate that little courtyard to creative expression of prayer to our Father! We pray that as people wander around downtown, awed by the beauty of people's handiwork, they stop in that little courtyard and take some time to be awed by God's handiwork! :)

-- Michelle, Vision Course Intern --