Let Loose in Your Prayer Time

Prayer Team,

It’s been so much fun having all the kids spending the first portion of service with us in the Great Room, I love the family time all together before the younger ones split off for their classes. What a gift for them to not only watch as their parents and extended community raise their hands and pour out their hearts in song, but also to have the opportunity to participate in these holy moments as well. 

My homeschool girls are reading the book, The Secret Life of Bees. Three adult sisters have their own version of a house church and the main character (a 14 year old girl) attends for the first time, becoming witness to their celebration. Our group highlighted the paragraph describing the event and talked about things that motivate our bodies to participation. 

The author writes, “I thought this was the grand finale, but no, June switched over to the piano and banged out a jazzed-up version of “Go Tell it on the Mountain.” That’s when August started a conga line, She danced over to Lunelle, who latched on to August’s waist. Cressie hooked on to Lunelle, followed by Mabelee, and off they went around the room.”

The girls giggled at the imagery of this event, which had followed a very somber and deep version of Amazing Grace on the cello. The thought of it seemed silly until we read the verses in Acts about the coming of Holy Spirit and how people were so moved by him that observers accused them of being drunk. We read about David dancing in the street as a king and people thought he had gone mad! 

Varied expressions of worship express a multifaceted relationship with God. That’s as true for singing and dancing as it is for prayer. 

When I pray, either by myself or with others, I often begin with a heavy sigh or a few moments of quiet. I love purposeful words and poetic forms of reading and writing. Liturgies can bring me to a deep place of contemplation, confession, and truth. Those are all beautiful and necessary.

In addition, the discussion with my homeschool girls reminded me of singing the song “Father Abraham.” My middle school friends and I would stand and shout out the lyrics, “Father Abraham, had many sons, and many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them. And so are you. So let’s just praise the Lord!” Then we did some version of the Hokey Pokey with moving arms and legs and repeating the same words over and over. I think the main purpose was to get our wiggles out, but looking back I feel like the words declare, “We are all part of the family of God and that’s something to celebrate!” 

Resilient Communities support each other in times of need. They see the best when circumstances are difficult. And they have a really good time together! Oswald Chambers says, “There is a real danger of worshipping prayer instead of praying because we worship.”

This week, I encourage you to let loose in your prayer time! Pray for our church finances and leadership, with shouts of joy and praise! My cousin and I pray together regularly and more often than not we end our prayer time with this chant, “Go God, Go God, Go, Go, Go God,” that often turns into a bit of a song and is accompanied by dance moves that would make my teenagers proud to call me, “Mom.” 

If you’d like some conga line music to get you in the mood…this isn’t Father Abraham, but it is an oldie worth bringing back!