We had a great time at the Bethlehem Live prayer meeting tonight!
Now hands up all those reading this who think, how can you have a great time and be at a prayer meeting? I'm willing to bet that there are a few of you reading this who feel that way if you are being honest?
It was a good meeting firstly because of the lovely mix of people who were at the meeting. It was great to see so many folks there, many of them new to me. People who had come from a variety of churches, but all there with one common intent, to pray and make Bethlehem Live go well.
Secondly it was good because the presence of God was tangible. There is something about churches coming together in unity that brings with it a blessing. Tonight it would have been hard to ignore the fact that God was making Himself present amongst His people.
I used to worry a bit at times, that God's presence was just something that believers created out of a sanctified imagination, but recently I've had that concern pushed firmly back into perspective. A group of us went to form a team at a Mind Body Spirit fair at the G-mex Centre.
We went to pray for people who wanted or needed prayer for healing or any other reason. The vast majority of the people who came onto the stand for prayer were not Christians. They were people who by and large had no model for what happened when Christians pray, other than the model gleaned from "Songs of Praise", or the odd trip to church for a funeral or wedding.
They had no idea what would happen as people prayed for them in a quiet, simple, unemotional way. Yet time after time tears flowed almost from the moment we began to pray. The presence and love of God were powerfully present on the stand, yet we had none of the usual "props" that people might see as triggering an emotional response.
In fact at times the atmosphere was just the opposite, there were times when things were very quiet, at other times, other exhibitors were performing with loud distracting music. Yet the presence of God, as sense of peace, love and intimacy with the almighty remained firmly in place.
If you'd asked those, non-Christians prayed for at G-mex, can you have a good time at a prayer meeting? The majority would have given a very simple, very honest reply - yes you can!
Please pray for Bethlehem Live, that the same presence of God would be tangibly close and felt by all who visit the event.
Now hands up all those reading this who think, how can you have a great time and be at a prayer meeting? I'm willing to bet that there are a few of you reading this who feel that way if you are being honest?
It was a good meeting firstly because of the lovely mix of people who were at the meeting. It was great to see so many folks there, many of them new to me. People who had come from a variety of churches, but all there with one common intent, to pray and make Bethlehem Live go well.
Secondly it was good because the presence of God was tangible. There is something about churches coming together in unity that brings with it a blessing. Tonight it would have been hard to ignore the fact that God was making Himself present amongst His people.
I used to worry a bit at times, that God's presence was just something that believers created out of a sanctified imagination, but recently I've had that concern pushed firmly back into perspective. A group of us went to form a team at a Mind Body Spirit fair at the G-mex Centre.
We went to pray for people who wanted or needed prayer for healing or any other reason. The vast majority of the people who came onto the stand for prayer were not Christians. They were people who by and large had no model for what happened when Christians pray, other than the model gleaned from "Songs of Praise", or the odd trip to church for a funeral or wedding.
They had no idea what would happen as people prayed for them in a quiet, simple, unemotional way. Yet time after time tears flowed almost from the moment we began to pray. The presence and love of God were powerfully present on the stand, yet we had none of the usual "props" that people might see as triggering an emotional response.
In fact at times the atmosphere was just the opposite, there were times when things were very quiet, at other times, other exhibitors were performing with loud distracting music. Yet the presence of God, as sense of peace, love and intimacy with the almighty remained firmly in place.
If you'd asked those, non-Christians prayed for at G-mex, can you have a good time at a prayer meeting? The majority would have given a very simple, very honest reply - yes you can!
Please pray for Bethlehem Live, that the same presence of God would be tangibly close and felt by all who visit the event.
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