It Takes a Praying Community

Can I share a frightening God-sized dream with you? Something that wasn’t even in my vocabulary a year ago. A dream that others in my community have had and prayed for…yet seemed like such a mystery to me.

Last year God called me to lay down the dream of this God-sized dream website. I didn’t understand it but I knew I was hearing correctly. There was a comfort in that, despite being unsure of the next phase. Even though I trusted God and felt sure it was the right step, I cried waves of tears. I mourned the loss of a dream I never expected to be taken away so soon. And then I cried because I wondered if such a reaction meant I was more in love with the dream than the Dream Giver? {Lord, please forgive me.}

I had a strong leading God was calling me home to something local and I shared that with friends, but there was a little something more.

“Local, but global.”

…is what I walked around saying…and not understanding.

“Local, but global.”

Usually followed by this thought…”That is crazy!”

The stirring to lay the site down began in full force in September 2014 (as my church participated in Mark Batterson’s Draw the Circle 40 day Prayer Challenge). I finally admitted it out loud in October. In November, my city was hit with tragedy. Shootings at Florida State University and days later, a sheriff’s deputy was ambushed and killed. God had already given me a heart for my city and state, but then it simply broke open.

None of this was a surprise to God however. Looking back, it is clear He was gathering the saints to pray. In December 2013, a prayer group led by a woman named Dena, at a nearby church, prayed for revival and that the churches would come together. Weeks later, a man named Bob from the church I attend, began to feel so moved to act on a specific idea the Lord had given him. An idea to bring the churches together for a neighborhood faith festival (he had spent months trying to push it aside, thinking it was too big for him). Pastors began to meet and pray and plan and in June 2014, a festival called Power in the Park happened, bringing together eight churches.

I had some extra time on the morning of the Power in the Park event and went earlier than my assigned shift. I was sent to help in the church info tent, and took a seat next to Dena, the leader from the prayer group that had begun praying in December 2013 that the churches would come together. We talked about God and His Word and prayer, through almost two shifts! I felt like I’d found a long lost friend!

Fast forward to December 2014.  In a meeting over coffee, in a matter of hours, a God-sized dream was born! Dena, Luanne (the Assistant Pastor from the church I attend), and myself were witnesses to the birth of a dream. A God-sized dream for the churches to gather and pray for revival in Tallahassee…in Florida…and the Nation.

God is making a way and the churches have started meeting monthly for worship and prayer. We gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ and we pray for God to pour out His Spirit on our town. We pray for release from darkness for the captives. We stand in the gap for our city…state…nation (as one pastor said it, we allow God to draw the boundary lines). It’s so exciting to see how God is moving!

It takes a praying community to birth a God-sized dream like this! (<=== Tweet this)

 

(While I highlighted only very briefly a small part of the story, there have been many faithful people whose prayers over the years and decades (and beyond!) have brought this story together.)

Shared by: Christine Wright