Waiting

What does waiting on the Lord look like? How do we know when we're doing it right?

Last night, several Indianapolis churches came together for an all-night prayer vigil, to ask God for change in our world, our country, our city, and our personal lives. We started at 9pm with about 40-50 people, and spent our time going between worship and prayer times. There were some very good worship groups there - the church team itself, a gospel choir-ish group, a men's acapella quartet, our old worship leader Clint with his guitar, me with my guitar, and a Spanish church team that both sang and did a powerful drama. In between the music, we prayed for missionaries, ministries, nations, Indy-area churches & pastors, and many personal prayer requests that God would put on our hearts as the night went on.

Over time, the number of people in the room dwindled. Some had to be up early, went to other events or had kids that needed sleep. Others were just exhausted. But those that were still expecting God to show up pressed on. It was a hard road, especially around 3am. There were only 12 of us plus our security officer left at that point. No more worship teams were there, so we just sat there and prayed... and prayed. It was very difficult to sit still with everyone so tired. I had to stand up a couple times to stay awake, and I caught everyone yawning at least once. The guy leading the prayer at that time sat on his knees with the mic, begging God to show up and asking Him what else we needed to do. We had spent the night in intercession, but so far there had been no outpouring of the Spirit. We wanted God's presence with us, and we didn't want to give up until He came, but we didn't know what else to do. I wondered if we would make it all the way to 5am like we had planned.

About 4:05 am, the guy leading us stopped praying and quietly began to sing. Apparently thinking we were done for the night, 4-5 people said their goodnights and left. The church staff & police officer remained, as well as myself, Nick, and the guy that was singing. The latter three of us collected at the front of the church by the alter to keep praying. Suddenly, about 4:10, the man's song turned into a cry. The Spirit of God was finally here, and we could feel it. Within moments, the three of us at the front of the church were on our faces in worship, overwhelmed by His holiness. Throughout the room, there were cries and prayers lifted up as people came into contact with the Living God. HE was here. The rest of the hour was a mix of spontaneous prayer, weeping before the Lord, and interceding for people we knew. There was no more exhaustion, no more dryness. We had come before the throne of the King, and He had met with us. When 5am hit, we let out a cheer. We had made it!

I remember this event as being similar to when I went to TheCall in DC. We were there 10 hours, and it was the 9th one that God showed up for me. I'm starting to think that he's trying to stretch me in the area of perseverance. :)

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." - Galations 6:9 (NIV)