This past week I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a life changing experience through my young adult church group. For the very first time we had a “prayer week.” From Friday to Thursday we designated the whole entire week to prayer, every waking hour a group of young adults was praying. Time was split between thirty-five small groups and each group had two designated time slots of two hours. If you add all this up, there’s a total of 168 consecutive hours of prayer… how amazing! Two hours of prayer may seem like a long time, but once you’re in the moment, time flies. These 120 minutes were so life changing and so full of God’s love. Prayer was hosted in a teepee created by the wonderful interns in the church.
I attended our first prayer time not knowing what to expect, questioning what I could possibly pray about for thirty minutes, let alone two hours. Once I stepped into the teepee though, everything changed; I wanted to pray over every single thing in the world. Anywhere from family and friends to complete strangers I’ve passed once in my life. I have never been the person who is comfortable praying aloud, so this was uncharted territory for me. All the worries I had before entering the teepee completely slipped my mind and they were nowhere near anymore.
My prayers started small and simple, eyes closed and head bowed; praying about how thankful I am for this life. By the end of my two hours I was shaking and swaying; completely rejoicing in God and what he has given me to live for every day. I got the wonderful opportunity to pray over my small group leader, who also happens to be one of my best friends of nine years. She has been an amazing role model and I have looked up to her and how much she absolutely adores God. She has helped bring me closer to The Lord every day by just showing her heart. Being nervous was an understatement, but once I closed my eyes, God completely took over. The fear vanished and The Lord used me and spoke through me, just as he does in my day to day life.
These two hours of prayer truly opened my eyes to what prayer really is. It does not matter how short or long your prayer is, if you’re praying to yourself or aloud, or if you’re just saying “Yes God!” repeatedly. What truly matters is the fact that you’re having an intimate conversation with God. He listens to the things we say, no matter how desperate, he always answers. He is mighty and he is powerful; these two hours really showed me that. We sometimes get so caught up in the fact that prayer is intimate that we often times forget that it is perfectly normal to praise God aloud. The power of prayer is unlike any other, being able to talk with The Lord one on one is so refreshing and powerful, it truly is life changing.
In summary:
35 Small Groups
2 Hour Time Slots
Friday – Thursday
24 Hours a Day
168 Total Hours of Prayer
What an awesome and sweet time with Jesus as you spent that time in prayer! Love this so much! Thanks for sharing this experience! Also what a great challenge to spend more time in prayer! Such an amazing privilege we have to go before the throne of the Creator of the universe to find grace and help in time if need and to pray about everything! Love you, Tanner!
Love this!
So proud of you!!!!
You inspire me! So incredibly proud of you!!
Tanner, This gave me chills as I read your experience in dialog and communion with the Lord in the teepee! (And what an awesome, set-apart place for intentional prayer! I hope they leave it up!) It is amazing how the Lord fills us up when we set aside intentional time and space to just be with Him. I’m praising Him along with you for this wonderful opportunity you had. Yes, Lord! More of this!
(Katherine Chandler’s Mama)
GOOD JOB!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
Love you!!!!,
BJ