"Quietly" because we didn't plan it too far in advance, so we just made the announcement, sent out the email, and signed folks up.
Which is OK. Prayer is one of those things that you don't really want to "sell."
You make the invitation, and see how folks respond. You encourage people, but you really can't twist their arm.
So last week I started praying at 6:33am each morning.
But I did one other thing- I went to the theatre to pray.
To my surprise I found out they opened the mall at 6:30am for walkers.
So there I was in the mornings, prayer-walking with the regulars at the Masonville Mall.
I brought down the average age by at least 30 years.
It was wonderful and awful...
Wonderful to march around the mall, feeling like mighty Joshua, praying the walls of separation fall down. I prayed that the masses would come to our service, meet Jesus, and experience changed lives in 2008.
But it was awfully hard. Is it OK to tell you that my mind tends to drift when I walk by lingerie shops, even when I'm praying? Or even more distracting for me, walking by the sports shop and seeing all the ski and snowboards on sale- very tempting. So tempting I did in fact buy new skis :)
If it's hard to pray in the mall when you go to the mall to pray, before the mall is open, how much harder to speak and listen to God when you go to shop, to eat, to see a movie? The environment of the mall is not designed for reflection and communion with God. It's set up for consumerism, and they do a fine job of it.
We've chosen a community hub to hold our worship service. If we can get them there on a Sunday, into the theatre, I know we can give them something the world can't- meaning, purpose, salvation, life, Jesus. The thing is going to be getting them past the distractions. This will only happen in the other 167 hours of the week.
_____
*We based our week of prayer on Matthew 6:33...
"Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
The things we are asking to be given in 2008...
- Growth- Fill the theatre 2x's over (that will require about 600 people)
- Volunteers- over 100 in rotation on our teams
- Connections Groups- a formal launch with over 200 participants in the Fall
- Commitments- 52 commitments to Christ, one for every week of the year
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