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The Prayer Zone Week
“If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
You know that when different people get the same urgent idea or desire to do something for the Kingdom, at the same time and completely separately, that this is probably God speaking. I have had the Chronicles’ scripture above really going deep into me for some time now – with a passion and urgency I couldn’t explain. I’d also been affected by Jesus’ letter to the Church at Sardis, in Revelation. This church was basically the only one Jesus had nothing good to say about – He said that it had a reputation for being alive, but that it was dead…so to WAKE UP, and strengthen what remained and was about to die. The two scriptures kept ‘worrying’ me, as I honestly thought through my interpretation of how this may be applied to us here and now.
The Friday planning team had earmarked Friday 18th February as one of the ‘Friday night@ St Bart’s’ worship times as a ‘prayer zone’. We had organised a planning meeting to pull together the practical arrangements, ready to hold the session the following week. The morning of the meeting, I received an amazing e-mail from Claire, suggesting that we open a ‘prayer room’ in the Church during all the coming week, as it was building up to the World Vision 24-hr famine fund-raising event, and was half term and seemed good timing. She asked anyone available to help. I was stunned! When God speaks and we hear Him, it’s so exciting, isn’t it! I left a message telling Claire what we’d been planning, and that afternoon, Claire turned up bubbling with enthusiasm, and loaded with all sorts of resources she’d been buying for the prayer time. We pooled everything, put it to God, and decided to use the whole of St Bart’s, instead of just one space. So that was how God did it – He gave us the vision; the timing; the resources; the space and the urgency in our spirits that this was of Him and for Him. Praise you, Jesus.
We all know how fundamental prayer is to our relationship with our Father God. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to pray continually, without loss of focus, so we wanted to make the ‘prayer zone’ interactive, to allow a creative action to help access, or trigger the flow of communication with God. The ‘prayer zone’ was deliberately to be made accessible to all, regardless of age, faith or culture. We wanted it to be a sanctuary of intimacy and intercession for anyone in need – to be a healing place where folk weren’t constrained by a building or a tradition.
Claire’s e-mail and our meeting happened on Thursday. We needed the prayer week to start the following Monday morning, so setting aside everything else, a small team of people set-to, clearing out the mucky corners in the church, buying and preparing all the resources we needed, and setting everything up. We just about made it, working late into the nights, and by Monday morning everything was ready and prayed-in. The ‘prayer zone ‘was to be open from 9am to 9pm Monday toThursday, and 9.am to midnight (or longer) on Friday.
The church was set out with the Creation elements of water, air, fire and earth, with the Cross at the centre. Each area suggested different ways of interacting in prayer.
Water represented the River of life. People were invited to ‘Drink the water – remember Jesus’ words (“Whoever drinks the water I give them shall never thirst”); Wash hands for cleansing and life (using the old font); place pebbles in a river of blue satin, for folk to get deeper into God’s river.
The ‘Air’ section was where we could breath in the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. We set up a prayer-tabernacle, filled with duvets with Father’s Love scripture written all over them. People rested in God’s presence and read and were wrapped in His love letter to us, in His Word and promises.
The chancel was the refining ‘Fire’ area – the awesome power of God’s cleansing, empowering fire. Piles of bean bags, duvets and sleeping bags were set out, for more comfortable ‘soaking’, meditation and prayer.
An alphabet of ‘God is…’ was also set up, so people could express how we see God. We projected moving, burning fire onto the chancel walls, and covered the altar and walls with ‘fire’.
A huge illuminated mesh cross was hung over the chancel, with a mat beneath, for anyone to sit or lie quietly at the foot of the cross – where grace and mercy meet. A table was set up with bread and grape juice, for personal commune with God.
The remaining half of the church was set up as the ‘earth’ area, to pray for the world; Britain; our own town, and our friends and families. There was a wall for personal prayers and cries, and an area for stick-it lips for God to bless named folk. Creativity burst out of this area – paintings; drawings; paper-chains; all a response to prayer to God. Everyone was involved – one dear lady took off her shoes and danced with painted feet onto the paper, showing Jesus as ‘Lord of the Dance’ ; other beautiful expressions of what God’s family is like were seen when Mums and Dads sat on the floor, painting God’s pictures with their children. The exuberant teenagers (‘da yoof’) did an amazing job, engaging both in prayer and fasting, and being really creative in their prayer and worship expressions.
There was gentle worship/‘soaking’ music interspersed with recorded meditation talks and scripture readings. To give solid foundations to the themes, large written scriptures were displayed in each relevant ‘element’ area. Pencils and paper were set out for people’s personal use, and food and drink was available all week.
The response was awesome. I cannot describe the atmosphere to those who did not come – it had to be experienced. The awareness of entering into a sacred temple of God’s presence was tangible, and was experienced by all who chose to go in. Shoes were removed in this Holy Place. People came in who’d never been there before – desperate and heart-rending situations were prayed about. Nearly 400 night lights were used throughout the week – all symbols of prayer needs and dedications. The walls and all the ledges and surfaces were covered in numerous paper notes, with precious prayers written from deep places. Children’s prayer books and bibles were found next to duvets; piles of bibles and removed shoes were found next to rugs and sleeping bags. People sat; fell on the floor; laid facedown and flat on their backs; laughed; wept; were silent; danced and spoke with, and heard from, God all week. There was nothing ‘religious’ or constrained there – every single person who came lost track of time, so intense was the atmosphere. It was a place of healing and life. I think it truly must have been a glimpse of the weight of God’s Glory – a glimpse of heaven. Kingdom come.
I believe, if we are a praying people, this could be beginning in our lives of taking God at His word: “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways…..” Now we need to pray that God saw and heard our prayers, and that He will come as forgiver and healer and that we will not be found dead underneath, like the church in Sardis.
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