Yesterday our church took our turn at covering the county in prayer for 24 hours.
When my time slot rolled around, I nestled into the couch with my coffee in one hand and the prayer guide in the other. As I started to pray down the list I was surprised when I looked up and the 30 minutes were almost gone. The Lord brought to mind individuals in different spheres of influence to pray for. I kept a pad of paper nearby so I could jot down any ideas that came to mind during the time so I could stay focused. That proved to be a very good idea.
As I walked across the parking lot after lunch I felt like I was floating and like something was carrying me toward my car. I felt lighter and encouraged. Then I remembered that the first prayer request on the list was to pray for your pastor – and I realized that the prayers of our church family were being tangibly felt by me! That was so encouraging!
I spoke with a few other people who said that as they went to pray through the list, the Lord interrupted them to point out things in their individual life; they were so excited about the fact that Jesus showed them things when they weren’t even praying for their own needs!
This feels a little bit like the mile relay that I ran at times in my senior year of high school. This relay is where the first runner runs a ¼ mile as fast as possible and hands off the baton to the next runner. I always thought the relays were the most exciting because the team is counting on each individual to do their part. While we aren’t trying to be legalistic about this process, it was so exciting to watch the clock spin around to my time and run my leg of the 24 hour race.
As a church we have also committed to praying on the 31st of the month (when a month has 31 days). That means that if you missed out on signing up for the second Wednesday of each month (yesterday), you can get on the schedule for the 31st! This month needs some extra prayer since it is Halloween, and we want to see great peace in our city.
If you want to be a 31st prayer warrior, you can sign up here!
If you missed our regular day and you want to join next month on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, we would love to have you get your name on the list. Email info@ncchico.org or sign up in the lobby after church.
I’m really excited to see what God does as the churches of Chico come together praying 24/7 for our County.
