Last week we had a 24-7 prayer week (although it was only 5 days) on the local University Campus. We put up a tent opposite the library, by a busy intersection and our main prayer for the week was that God's Kingdom would break onto the Campus. A simple prayer, but also a massive one!
The rota filled up slowly at first, but as the week went on, more and more people signed up. Then the stories started coming out. People were wandering in on their way to lectures, coming back from the pub or just lost. It was a place to ask questions, ask for prayer or for some, it was a space just to chill out amongst the busyness of freshers week.
Below are a couple of stories from a friend after his time in the tent:
"A group of us were praying for freshers who might be feeling lost or out
of place. 10 minutes after saying that prayer in wondered a guy who turned
out to be a Christian. At the end he said 'I felt so lost as it's only my
first day, I was just wondering round feeling lost and saw this tent'!"
"Earlier today a couple of us were praying and were reminded of the
parable of the prodigal son. So we began to pray for prodigals on the
campus to come home. Then in walks a guy who's just started 2nd year. He
started talking about his struggles and regrets in not living for Jesus. A
prodigal starting to come home? God answers our prayers!"
There were loads more like this!
For me personally, I ended up doing the 2am to 4am slots for two nights running (I'd love to say these were my favourite slots, but I was mainly doing them because nobody else would). The first night I had the chance to talk to about 20 people about faith, Jesus, religion, science. I was getting all of the students who were on their way home from the student union, which kicked everyone out at 2am. Some were just coming in to get out of the cold, but others had burning questions.
Why does God allow pain? Where does science fit in? What about other religions?
I had suddenly become an expert in Apologetics! The best thing I could do most of the time was just listen. For many, they just wanted someone to talk to, to vent at or just to ask those questions that they've always wanted to but couldn't. I found it challenging (especially at 3 in the morning), but enjoyable.
The next night was different.
For a start it was colder. This meant I had less people just stopping in as they were keen to get home to their warm beds, which was something I was thinking about until a loud scream caught my attention.
A couple of hundred yards away a fight had started between a couple of guys and although I couldn't really see it, I could hear it. It was a combination of the thudding of knuckle against cheekbone and the piercing screams of a girlfriend. I started praying, 'God, bring your peace. Bring a person of peace into the situation'. As I stood there in the tent, feeling helpless, the fighting stopped and it seemed to settle down. Everyone except the girlfriend. For the next 20 minutes (although it felt like hours) she continued to wail and sob as she screamed at her attackers and what felt like the world. This girl was in deep distress. Again, this helpless feeling came over me. I kept praying, but only one word was coming out 'Jesus'.
As I looked around the prayer room in this time, I grew frustrated and angry. I looked around at the nice pictures and bible verses that were hung up on the wall. One was of a boat on a lake, which said 'Jesus the boat of life'. There was something about this picture that particularly disturbed me.
It all just seemed a bit too nice.
The boat was on a calm body of water, tied to the safety of the dock. I'm sure for the person who drew the picture (it was well drawn) the picture meant something, but in the midst of the screams of this young lady outside the tent, the boat of life seemed to be in the wrong place. Surely it should be in the rough seas where people are drowning? Where their screams seemingly couldn't be heard? This is where the boat would have been surely?
This led me to think about myself. Am I where people need me to be? As a church, are we amongst the hurting and dieing of this world? Are we following Jesus to these places or are we asking him to join us in our activities? Jesus came for those who need a doctor and that is who the church is meant to be for too.
This experience highlighted to me once again the importance of our prayers not just staying in prayer rooms or in the comfort of our safe lives and routines. They must lead somewhere. How can we not be moved into action from the place of prayer? Can we meet with God and not be changed in some way? I definitely felt that God was beginning (and continuing) to break my heart for the people and situations that break his.
Later in the night, I spent an hour or so talking to a young Hindu guy about Jesus and faith. He knew so much, yet knew so little. I could understand why Jesus used to say to people 'the Kingdom of God is near'. So many people are so close without knowing it.
Who will tell them?
There is a lot more I could write, but the main thing to say is that this prayer week has shown me again that we have to take the Good News of Jesus to people and that although we may face questions and ridicule, there is 'good soil' out there and Jesus has promised us that the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say in tough situations. We just need to be available and obedient.
What are we waiting for?
