This past Sunday, my church had an extended time of prayer and worship. Prior to yesterday's service, CC reached out to a few members of the congregation asking if we could lead the congregation by praying over various topics. When he sent the email out outlining the schedule and assigned prayer topics, I saw that he had me down to pray for Chicago, and for the youth and violence in the city. I prepared accordingly, and wrote down a prayer that I planned to read when it was my turn to go up.
To be honest, I was and wasn't expecting to interact with God - I knew to expect him, but perhaps my expectations mirrored past experiences. The thing is, the Lord did indeed meet me. But the thing is, he met me in a way totally washed of expected encounters. I don't doubt that this is fairly common among believers. We plan accordingly, we anticipate accordingly, but somehow in a moment of grace and astonishment, God infuses our anticipated plans with his presence. And the moment shifts, and becomes sacred. And once again, we are reminded that God is unfathomable, and that to walk with him is to experience new depths of his presence.
Anyways, you're probably wondering what actually happened during the prayer and worship service. When it was my turn to lead the congregation in prayer, I walked up to the front, and shared a bit of my own story of moving and living in North Lawndale back in 2015 and the word God gave me so clearly then: that the street I was walking on was sacred, and that God loved this neighborhood. I then asked people to return to their groups of 3-4 and spend a few minutes praying over the city, over different neighborhoods and over the youth and violence that is so rampant in Chicago. After people spent some time praying in their respective groups, I started reading the prayer I had jotted down the day before. As I was praying, I experienced a shift in the air, and was cognizant of the Holy Spirit's presence. Indeed, the intercessory prayer shifted, along with the state of my heart. As I was praying, I started to weep over the violence in the city and over the youth and basically, the prayer that I had written down evolved into a spontaneous prayer that beseeched the Holy Spirit to wake us up and help us to not grow numb to the violence in the city. To wake us up so that we would be the hands and feet in a city that so needs the love of Christ. And so forth and so on.
I ended that time of prayer startled and amazed at how the Lord showed up and was reminded that it is the Lord's delight to leave us marveling and in awe of who he is. As we come before him with palms wide open, he gives us the gift of his presence and allows us to see glimpses of his heart. It's in moments like these that remind me of my heart for intercession and the joy that comes with a heart that is aligned with his heart. My prayer is that these moments would continue to shift my heart to see people and the spaces that they inhabit as sacred and that I would be able to engage both in a way that reflects the Lord's deep, restorative, overwhelming love.
