"Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter..." Isaiah 64:8





Tuesday, June 3, 2014

A Glimpse Back in Time: Part 3

So after Christmas break, where I had an awesome experience at the Passion Conference in Atlanta (see “The Potter at Work,” my blog from March 2012), Chris and I once again discussed the idea of starting a House of Prayer on campus.  We wanted a place where we could meet every day and where anyone would feel welcome, unlike a dorm room, which can honestly be a little bit awkward if you aren't close friends with the people living there.  The most difficult part, though, in starting a House of Prayer was finding a space to meet.  But, as one might expect, we found that the most effective way to start a Prayer Room was with prayer.  We told God that we would gladly hold the prayer meetings if He would provide the space.

Yet we looked all over campus and couldn’t find a room that would be available every night of the week. After mentioning the idea to one of my Young Life friends, she suggested asking R.E. Lee Episcopal Church, which is literally right on campus, if they would be willing to let us use a space.  That week, Chris and I met with the pastor/priest/rector (I’m still unfamiliar with Episcopalian terminology).  Meeting with him was a bit intimidating, but he was perfectly friendly and showed us some potential spaces for prayer meetings.  We ended up deciding that the basement looked like the best option, and after talking to some other church leaders, he gave us permission to use the space daily. I still recognize was pretty much a miracle and am very grateful.  This man allowed us, two W&L students that he didn’t know, to use the basement of his church EVERY SINGLE NIGHT for free.  

Anyway…somewhere between October and February, Chris and I lost the 26 people that had prayed with us that first Tuesday morning in the library and even the others who’d prayed with us daily.  By the time we actually started the Prayer Room on February 7th, 2012, it was just the two of us.  But we kept believing that, if we asked Him, God would transform W&L.  After all, He promises that, “If my people called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chron 7:14).

So we met every night at 9:30pm for the rest of that year in the church basement.  It was cold and kind of dirty with some creepy high-jumping crickets and few spiders here and there, but it was awesome.  (For me at least. Chris might tell you otherwise.  It’s hard to lead worship for a crowd of one.)  People came in occasionally to pray with us, but even when they didn’t, I loved to go and worship every night.  It was an escape from school and homework and hearing about the crazy social scene, and it was a place where, every day, I could meet with God free from distractions (which is especially key when you have a roommate!).  I began to catch a greater vision for revival at W&L and every night seemed like a thrilling encounter with Jesus.  Or at least that’s how I remember it in retrospect.  Perhaps in the moment it was more mundane in the day to day. 

Over spring break, Chris and I went to a conference put on in WV by the International House of Prayer before going our separate ways for break.  We were both really challenged to pray even harder upon returning to campus, but Chris was especially touched.  I still remember walking into the Prayer Room that first night after break.  The formerly plain, white walls were covered in about 50 sheets of paper.  Each page was full of names, several columns of them, and I realized that every single W&L student’s name was handwritten on the pages.  The staff too.  On the whiteboard, Chris had written his word from the Lord, “Write the names of the ones that I love on these walls.” It was powerful.  Hundreds of names.  Probably over 2200 when you counted the staff.  These were the ones that God loved.  Passionately.  More than I could imagine.  So we stepped up our game.  We prayed hard for salvation and changed hearts.  During those last four weeks of school, more people came to the Prayer Room each day.  Some even started coming regularly, and we saw amazing answers to prayer. 

For example, I still remember praying for opportunities to share Christ with people in the dining hall. Every time I went in for a meal, I’d ask God to show me someone to sit with.  On this particularly occasion, I specifically asked God for someone sitting alone so it’d be easier to have a deeper conversation.  When I didn’t see anyone sitting alone, I was discouraged and gave up.  But when I walked over to sit with Brandon and Daniel, they said, “Hey, we’re about to leave, but you should sit with our friend here.  He just sat down and we don’t want to leave him alone.”  So I sat with their friend.  And he immediately asked me about my experiences in mission work.  What an amazing opportunity.  And things like that happened every day.

But suddenly it was the end of freshmen year.  And I was off to Argentina, which is a whole other story.  You can read all about it and mt second trip to Peru with my sister in my 2012 blogs.  I spent that summer going on crazy adventures and learning to pursue God on my own, without the support of the Prayer Room.  When I returned, I expected our prayer meetings to be like Spring Term of my first year, exciting and well attended.  But unfortunately, that was not the case.

To be continued…

















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