Be Still. Be Filled.

People - Carter, GaryGary Carter, co-host of Fellowship Radio (www.fellowship.ca), shares the awe he experienced at the Fellowship 48 Prayer Vigil.

 

 

Wednesday November 10, 2010

It is 4 a.m.

I walked into the Birch Room at the Banff Park Lodge a few minutes ago. Seven men and women have come to pray. They are scattered around the room in silence. Nobody cajoled them into such an act. I don’t know how long they have been here. I don’t know all of them by name.

The room is appropriately set up with subdued lights and pillows for the floor for some who prefer not to sit on a straight backed chair or couch. One person is kneeling. Newsprint lines the walls with a written suggestion to take a marker and write a prayer. In large letters over the top of the newsprint are the words, “Be Still and Know that I Am God.” Some re-pray the prayers written on the walls.

One person utters a vocal prayer. Then another. Like one grabbing a camera to capture a moment, I open my computer. I am compelled to make a faltering attempt to capture in words these sacred moments.

I hear many profound sincere prayers. I hear sniffles and broken voices. I hear quiet whispers. I hear pleading hearts—pleading hearts for more leaders to start more churches, yearning hearts for lost people in local neighbourhoods. I hear people crying out for cities, towns and villages by name. I hear prayers for religious groups that have swelled in our land. I notice the deep concern for our collective skill and passion to reach them with the gospel. I hear silence that is deafening with the rising prayer from individual hearts.

I hear prayers for our Fellowship Regions by name. I hear friends with French accents pray for Regions populated mostly by anglophones. I hear English prayers for great cities and small communities in Quebec. I hear prayers in French. I don’t understand all the words, but I get it.

I hear numbers. One. Dozens. Hundreds. Not just people but communities and churches and communities without churches. Stir our weak churches. Multiply our reach. Strengthen our churches. Start new churches. This is more than fellowship; this is family. I hear chapters and verses quoted as assigned by the Holy Spirit.

I hear specific dates attached to exact prayers. I hear prayers for personally known needs in marriages and families. I hear prayers for release from squabbles. Some with broken voices pray. Some with boldness pray out. Prayers for repentance. Prayers for humility. Prayers for unity. Prayers for new vision. Prayers to fulfill our call to others centredness. Prayers for the lost youth engulfed in self-centred pursuits. Prayers for hardened, lost seniors.

Quiet whispers. Quiet amens of agreement. Prayers of thanksgiving for enabling grace. Prayers for strength, vision, listening hearts, moving of the Spirit, national repentance, healing of the land. Prayers for release from discouragement to fresh faith. On and on and on.

All night. Never a break for mindless chatter about the weather or other concerns. Never a prayer for self consumption. Only prayers for richer, deeper flowing lives to penetrate the lostness of a needy world. Only empty, broken vessels scattered over the floor and chairs.

I hear voices halting to find the best words. But I hear loud and clear a solemn vision for abundantly more than we could ask or think.

As I reflect and quietly type in the middle of the meeting, I recognize this as a concert of prayer. Waves of words mixed with quietness in perfect cadence, flowing from one movement to the next as themes rise and fall.

People had been asked to pick an hour, come for an hour on the hour. The 4 a.m. hour has come and gone. Some quietly enter and without instruction take off their shoes; they know this is holy ground. Others move on, but they sense mixed emotions. They know they will miss the richness.

Most lose all track of time. It is now after 5:30 am. I am the only one in the room who notices, and I don’t really care. I am not going anywhere soon.


As I glance at the people coming in, there is a look of gratification on each face to see others gathered as one. Seamlessly many more come. Some slip away. But the number swells. All the chairs are taken but mostly people sit on the floor lining the walls of the Birch Room. I won’t bother counting; it isn’t about reporting the number anyway. But it is getting crowded in here.

The voice is one but it bounces from mouth to mouth back and forth across the room. We know how to do this. It didn’t take a dress rehearsal. It is a beautiful and moving drama. It is remarkable. No not remarkable. Wonderful! Comforting! Challenging! Filling!

It is breakfast time. I don’t need any; I am full.


Gary V. Carter is a church specialist who has been in various Fellowship churches from its inception. He has had a strong hand in starting several Fellowship churches, pastoring other churches and working in various ministry oriented pursuits. He serves as co-host of the Fellowship Radio program.