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24-7
Unbroken Prayer
in the NW Region
Author
Encourages New Christian
During the
University of Idaho's month of 24-7 prayer Carla took her sorority
sister, Tiffany, to the prayer room. Carla was worried that
Tiffany, a new Christian, would feel uncomfortable in such a
setting, but it turned out she loved it! Tiffany wrote in her blog
about the experience: "When I first walked into the prayer room, I
noticed how serene and peaceful it was. I don't think I've ever felt
so comfortable in a space so quickly. I was immediately intrigued by
the books in the corner, but we stopped to pray together at the
beginning of our time. I started by praying and realized there was a
lot I had been avoiding talking to God about."
One of the
books in the corner was God's Blogs by Lanny Donoho, and
Tiffany read it cover to cover during her two hours in the
prayer room. Tiffany wrote in her blog how much she enjoyed the
book, including God speaking to her through the name of the
publishing company, which was the name of the street on which
she just had a significant conversation. Later Tiffany received
a comment on her blog, from Lanny Donoho himself! He wrote: "hi
tiff, i was searching to see what people might be saying. thanks
for your kind words about the book. when i see people or hear
about folks who's soul was touched by the words in the book, it
continues to encourage me that God was giving me the stuff to
say in the book. hope it snows for you today. - lanny."
Carla and Tiffany were so excited! They both loved the book,
and jumped up and down when they read Donoho's post. Carla
feels this is God's way of encouraging Tiffany as a new
Christian, and telling both of them to keep pursuing Him!
Is
It Really Time?
Today is
March 31, the last day of our month of prayer. I'll admit,
March 1, I had some doubts that we would make it. I mean, we have
done a week before and it is always an uphill climb. But it was
different this time. Jesus clearly moved at jesustherevolution and
fanned the flame of prayer in our hearts like never before. And
instead of just letting that die or having one "spiritual" week
following our conference high, we dove headlong into the craziness
of the Spirit.
We invited others in, and Chi Alpha, InterVarsity, CCF, Campus
Crusade, Moscow First Presbyterian Church and other groups and
individuals answered the call. They have stood watch of the wall and
waited, listened and called out to the eternal God.
We prayed through Spring Break. We prayed through a campus wide
outreach event.
Freshman prayed.
Seniors prayed.
Grown up church people prayed.
We cried, laughed, dozed off, sang and lived more abundantly than
imaginable.
Some of us rediscovered a passion for prayer; a precious gift that
we had lost in the business of life. Some of us have newly
discovered that we can pray; a new gift that has opened up new
possibilities and intimacy in our lives.
God made us more pure and refined out the hidden shame of our
hearts. God showed us grace that shocked us into knowing Him again.
We prayed through Lent. We allowed our sinful natures to be nailed
to the cross.
Then, we were transformed by Easter. We allowed ourselves to receive
the gift of resurrection.
We brought friends into the presence of God and watched them be
surprised by His love. We ran to this place in times of despair,
knowing someone would be here to pray for us.
Thank you friends. Thank you for faithful, creative, loud,
reflective, intimate, intercessory, Spirit-led, contemplative
prayers.
We will figure out a way to open this space again, but the same
Spirit that rose Christ Jesus from the grave goes with us from this
place.
I love you all,
Jeremiah
Praising God Day & Night
at Evergreen
As the twenty-six hour prayer time at Evergreen State
College began, the staff were concerned the shifts wouldn't be
filled. With only ten students who come on
a regular basis, staff
workers expected to find themselves praying alone for much of the
time. But something amazing happened! By the halfway point fifteen
students
had already gathered in the
prayer room. Even at midnight, there were seven people huddled in
the room praying for campus. A majority of students signed up for
three hours or more, and almost everyone stayed longer than they
intended. One student came and stayed for 9 hours!
Also, several people not involved with the Evergreen fellowship came
and spent time in the prayer room. One curious student found her
way to the prayer room and kept saying how "peaceful" it felt. She
stayed for awhile and had a conversation with others about faith and
being "faithful" at Evergreen.
The staff are filled with joy and amazement that at Evergreen,
people have been in a room, singing, praising and praying to Jesus
throughout the day and night.
Prayer Tent Welcomes Seeker
When Jessica Close began her shift in the 24/7 prayer tent set up on
the University of Washington's main lawn, she was expecting to
journal and pray. As she prayed for God to show up during the week
of prayer and move on campus, a man came timidly into the tent. He
asked Jessica point-blank: "How can I know more about God?"
Jessica was nervous answering this large question, but felt God
giving her words to speak.
The man introduced himself as Robert and said he felt there was
something missing in his life: a hole in his heart he could not
fill. Jessica shared that she felt the same way before entering
into a real relationship with Jesus. Robert then asked who Jesus is
and what he did on Earth. Jessica explained, and included Jesus'
death and resurrection--the real reason we celebrate Easter. Robert
was astounded by all of this; he kept saying "wow" and his face
brightened into a smile. At the end of their conversation Robert
looked incredibly happy and said, "I want to love Jesus too." Then
he asked Jessica if they could pray together. Jessica prayed,
thanking God for Robert's boldness and asking Jesus to fill him.
Jessica says: "My GOD, my GOD , it was so powerful. Robert began
shaking, and as I finished praying for him, right there in the
middle of the lawn, he tearfully looked up and thanked me."
Robert continued to seek after Jesus and wrestled with these
questions; he said he might visit the prayer tent again.
During Jessica's second 8:30 shift in the prayer tent, Robert came
back. He and Jessica were both surprised to encounter each other
again. This time they prayed together for over an hour; Robert
prayed to Jesus for the first time! He asked Jessica to teach him
how to pray and was amazed that he could pray ANYTHING.
Robert was very drawn to one of the verses on the wall: "Come to me,
all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,"
(Matt. 11:28). He was especially excited when Jessica told him
Jesus said these words and wants us to give our troubles to Him.
After praying Matt. 11:28 over and over, Robert looked up at
Jessica, radiant and beaming, and said, "I need Jesus!" He was SO
excited and happy to be proclaiming these powerful words--he
couldn't stop saying them. The Holy Spirit was at work! Robert
said he felt close to accepting Jesus and Jessica believes he is on
his way to a personal relationship with the Savior.
Making a Way to Pray on Campus
Staff and
students at the University of Oregon felt God leading them to set up
a prayer room on campus, but were stymied by the lack of facilities
open 24 hours a day. Sunday night at a conference launching
InterVarsity Northwest's month of 24/7 prayer, a UO student dreamed
she was going into a prayer room on campus. Upon waking, she felt
God telling her He already had a room reserved and not to worry.
However, as the time came to begin praying, there was still no
space available. The Dean of Students' secretary
talked to every department on campus, and staff talked to the head
of campus scheduling,
 submitted proposals, gained the full support
of the head of Public Safety, and talked to the Residence Halls.
All of this turned up nothing. The back-up location for the prayer
room required a complicated system of carpooling to get students
there in the middle of the night, but students decided they were
willing to make the sacrifice. Then, three minutes before the
students began signing up for prayer shifts, a grad student said, "I
just remembered-- there is a room in my building that we could
probably use for our prayer room." She ran off and emailed her
department, and by the time of the first shift, they had their
prayer room on campus.
For the next four days, students from UO enjoyed the room God
had reserved for them: in the middle of campus, and easily
accessible! Almost all the prayer shifts were signed up for
immediately; the InterVarsity staff report: "Our students can't
stop praying."
Praying for conversations is the New Normal
During Portland Community College's shift of 24/7 prayer,
students met as usual for their weekly Bible Study. The application
at the end of the scripture study was to brea k into pairs and pray.
Attending the study that week was Brian, a non-believer, who asked
his partner T.J., "How do you pray?" T.J. told him her perspective
on prayer, then she felt prompted to ask, "Have you ever accepted an
invitation to follow Jesus?" He said, "No." "Do you want to?" T.J.
asked. For half an hour the two discussed Brian's questions, after
which he asked if they could go out in the hallway. There Brian
prayed his first prayer ever, asking Jesus to be Lord of his life.
T.J.'s boldness is part of of the "new normal" at Portland Community
College, where students are praying for their non-Christians friends
and take every opportunity to ask them, "Do you want to become a
follower of Jesus?" Brian is the fourth person to accept Jesus
since January!
God's
Healing Travels Cross Country
Just before beginning a prayer
room shift at PSU, Robin Gerig talked on the phone to a friend in
Philadelphia. This friend reported feeling sick the last four days
and said she was seeing a doctor in the morning because she wasn't
getting better. Robin asked to pray for her, and at first she
refused, but finally accepted. Robin prayed for God's healing, hung
up the phone, and went into the prayer room. As she began to pray,
deep emotion welled up in her heart. Soon she was sobbing as she
felt the Spirit strongly in the room. She understood how helpless
her friend felt in life, and at the same time how much God loved her
and wanted to show His love to her. Robin prayed that God would
heal her friend and that she would know Him better as a result. The
next morning she called her friend, to hear she was completely
healed! Robin rejoiced: "Praise God that distance does not
matter! God is such a powerful God who is doing such powerful
things. Praise be to God!!"
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