Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 23

I was a little slow in getting out of the street today after being away for almost 10 days visiting family in Minnesota. But, the day couldn't have started better. My friend Jeff (who lives in the building right across from where I am) came by and said that he was happy to see me. I told him "I spent a week in Minneapolis with family" and he said "That's what I figured, since last time you were away for about a week you were visiting family in Texas." He even mentioned that a couple people in his building were asking about me. Wow, I am just blown away that there were people I never met before wondering were I was. So, I told him to tell them to come by and say hi to me one of these days. 

Honestly, after Day 22, I needed some heavy duty encouraging and I'm thankful that God knew it and timed it so Jeff would cross my path when he did.  His words were like a ray of light to my overcast spirit. It truly warmed my heart to know that people are beginning to expect me to be out there. So, amazing the favor God is giving me on this small corner in the Wicker Park community of Chicago. Sometimes I wonder just how many people I've impacted by being out here. Regardless of the number, I'm looking forward to the day when I finally get to see Jesus face to face and hearing about how He used this little Mobile Prayer Station for His Kingdom. I'm also looking forward to meeting in Heaven all the people who were impacted through this prayer ministry. Very exciting. 


Today, there was a broad spectrum of people with whom I was blessed to pray with. I'll mention a couple. The first is Dan who must have been in his 50s and as we talked he shared his desire to work for a non-profit organization. He said he's been looking around but to no avail. From my sense of him, I'd say he wasn't a Christian but more of a good moral person searching for significance. So, I prayed for divine guidance, revelation of purpose and direction for him. It's cool when I'm prophetically praying the desires of a person's heart because there's this excitement mixed with tenderness that happens. It was very neat to see Dan's heart and spirit light up during the prayer time. I'm having faith for Dan that God will pave the way before him to not only find satisfaction in this world, but also eternal satisfaction within his soul. 


Next, Che kind of surprised me as I must have been in deep thought about something or just looking off into the distance because next thing you know I have this 6 foot  plus African American man looming in front of me. And the very first words out of his mouth was, "Can you pray that I would win the lottery?" At first I thought he was kidding, but he wasn't. I find this interesting because just the other day I was challenged to not judge or critique people's prayers. But, to be honest I have a bias about the lottery because I believe they prey on the poor by giving them false hopes and teaching them to put their trust in the quick fix, rather then teaching them to work hard and to spend their money on necessities. I especially saw this in the Dominican Republic where people living well below the poverty level were spending half their income on lottery tickets when they hardly had enough money for food and clothing. 


Anyways, I shared my thoughts with him and though he said I had a point, he countered that "If, someone is to win the lottery it's better to pray that that person be someone who would do a lot of good with the money, like me or you (I was flattered but little does he know of my secret desire to live on my own private island - yes I'm kidding), rather than someone else who would just blow the money or use it selfishly." I'd have to say Che had a point and I was humbled. I apologized for being critical of his prayer request which he graciously accepted. It was another neat prayer time. If there was one thing that stuck out to me about Che was that he was full of life and this really came out as I prayed that God breath even more life into him, that He would give Che favor in people's lives to encourage and impact them for good and that he would win the lottery. He asked, so I prayed. No judgement.


Today, was an all around good day. Afterwards, I went to Wicker Mic which is an outdoor open mic happening in WIcker Park. So after finishing with the Mobile Prayer Station I walked over and signed up to read a section of my poetry from a work titled "A Seeker's Return." I only read a portion of the work which gave a snapshot of the internal struggle and cosmic battle for my soul as Jesus' Kingdom of light broke into the darkness surrounding my life both internal and external. I've only read my work publicly say 5 times. So, I was a bit nervous because of this but also because I write very personally and honestly which maybe people don't want such a deep glimpse into my heart and soul. But, today they did if they wanted to or not. Overall, I felt the hand of God upon me and His compassion both for me and those I was blessed to talk and prayer with. God truly loves His creation and desires goodness and blessing for us. 


Thank you for praying for me. And please let me know how I can be praying for you! 

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 22

In reflecting back on this day, it was filled with a day of conversations with the various people of the community that I have started to build relationships with. Though I didn't get to pray with anyone, I was praying for them in my heart as we talked. Honestly, over the past weeks, I've been feeling in greater measure the weight of this prayer ministry. It's difficult to put yourself out there for people day after day, week after week. Each day has been a day of stepping out of my comfort zone and stepping into the unknown with God. And though I would love to say that I got this down, I don't. Everyday has been a bit of struggle for me because only God knows what's going to happen each day which means I need to trust and have faith in Him.

Standing on the corner offering prayer for people has meant opening myself up to the good, the bad and the ugly. Today was filled with more of the bad and ugly than good which is always disheartening. But, as the Psalmist proclaims, "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him" (Psalm 91:1-2 NLT). I am continually learning to allow the LORD to be my refuge. I am learning that it's not so much about hardening my heart towards people, but about enduring through their anger, pain and hurt by leaning into God's love for them. This has meant coming to terms with the shallowness of my own love and accepting that on my own I am unable to love people with the kind of love they need, even deserve. But, God has poured His love into me through the Holy Spirit and I need to trust in His love and Spirit living within me. I believe when I do this, I am seeking the refuge of the LORD in the moment. I am understanding more and more that the refuge of the LORD isn't so much about escaping, but about persevering through whatever the day may bring while still remaining faithful, kind, loving and good from moment to moment. 

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 21

My friend Steffan, who is currently a student at the International House of Prayer University in Kansas City (you may be more familiar with their Prayer Room), came into town to visit. So, we ended up spending most of the day together which meant spending some time on the street with the Mobile Prayer Station. It felt good to be ministering side-by-side together on the street. Normally, I'm not out on Saturdays unless I feel prompted by the Lord, which I did. I felt the Holy Spirit say to me "this is a discipleship moment." So, after talking at my house for a while we headed out. 


I'm not sure what you're expecting to hear right now, but in the hour and a half that we were out the only person that we ended up praying with was my friend Jeff. Jeff always brightens my day, so it truly was a joy to be able to pray with him. Oh yeah, my friend also prayed for healing for my ongoing back pain which felt immediately better after he prayed. This was great! (I was trying to down playing it on purpose for effect, but I'm not sure how effective this was written rather than spoken). Percentage wise I'd say my back felt 20% better. The prayer was simple, Steffan just asked God to heal my back in Jesus name. Though my back wasn't completely healed in that moment, some restoration did happen. Sometimes, I feel like unless we see an instantaneous miracle we failed to recognize that God did bring some healing. Sure, I wish my back was 100% healed, but regardless I am thankful for the 20%. 


Discipleship, the word has all sorts of meanings. Today, it meant being obedient to the voice of God in my life and taking Steffan with me on the street with the Mobile Prayer Station. I had no clue what would happen. Honestly, I thought that some amazing things would happen as we prayed with the people of the community. But, I guess God had other plans in bringing more restoration into my own life. Today was a good reminder that following Jesus means walking by faith in obedience to what He is calling us to do each and every day. Regardless of what I thought would happen, I need to remember to just come with an expectant heart while believing that God will move in amazing ways. The results are always up to God because He is the One who answers the prayers. Our job is to only ask them. 

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 20

Today I met a man named Wolfgang, who approached me because he thought that he could have a pleasantly civil conversation with me. So, he put his belongings on the ground and we talked about faith and life. Between sips from his homemade concoction of milk and liquor Wolfgang shared with me that he has traveled to over 40 countries and has his sights set on the North Pole and Antarctica next. He immigrated over to the States from Germany over 45+ years ago. But, according to Wolfgang he is not German, only Human. 


During our conversation I couldn't help but to see glimmers of light and lucidity come through Wolfgang's dim and hazy alcohol influenced stream of consciousness. There were moments in which his whole face would light up and he would say, seemingly out of nowhere, some very profoundly encouraging words to me. But, it was painfully obvious that Wolfgang is firmly in denial about where his alcoholism has taken him. As our conversation turned toward faith, he cordially listened to my stories of love and transformation, but I could tell that my words of God's Kingdom fell on the hard packed soil of his heart where as Jesus says, "when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them" (Mark 4:15b HCSB). 


Our hearts should breaks for Wolfgang because "Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT). I can remember standing right where Wolfgang is standing in denial about my drug addiction and blinded by satan. But, I can also remember God's Kingdom of light breaking through the darkness that enshrouded my life and coming to faith in Jesus where He has delivered me from my addictions and continues to heal me of the many wounds of my heart that first drove me to escape life. So please join with me in praying for Wolfgang and the many others like him who are blinded not only by devil, but also by their own addictions: www.420prayer.com. 

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 19

Wow, was it hot out, so today I camped out in the shade. I was still on the same corner, but off a little to the side under a tree. Now, a question that I've been reflecting on since DAY 1 has been: What does it mean to offer a service of prayer to the community?  I am continually revisiting this question as I stand on the street. If, my focus is truly for the people of the community, than I need to be continually positioning my heart towards them in humility. Again, I'm not out here to accomplish some sort of agenda, but solely out here to bless the people of the community with prayer: to go before our Father in Heaven on their behalf with the burdens and desires of their hearts. 

Over the years, the LORD has taken me on a journey of prayer. I can still remember the first years of my salvation and my fear (almost immobilizing at times) of praying aloud in front of people. You see, I was also deathly afraid of public speaking and praying aloud meant doing both. During this season, most of my fears centered on the style and elegance of my prayers. I was so afraid of stumbling over my words or worse yet I'd forget what exactly I was praying, lose my train of thought and then there'd be this long awkward silence. So, oftentimes I would practice what I was going to say in my head a few times before I prayed just to make sure I had it down. Sound familiar? I hope so because I'd hate think I'm no only one, but I have a feeling this is a pretty common. I was stuck projecting an image to God of how I thought I needed to be, rather than simply pursuing intimacy with God  and being real with Him. But, prayer during this season was more about me praying than about connecting with God. 


Fast forward a few years and now I'm in Seminary studying to be a pastor/missionary and I remember being even more terrified of public prayer. You see, going to a Christian university means praying before class. Usually the professor prays but there are those who will choose students to pray instead. Let me tell you, boy did I get nervous in those first few moments before class when I would see the professor surveying the students. But, this time most of my fear came from not wanting to say the "wrong" thing meaning I was afraid that my fellow students were going to critique my prayers to make sure they were theologically sound which was actually a pretty common fear among the students that I actually talked with about this. Needless to say, I've always felt so much pressure when it comes to prayer. Now here I am praying on a street corner for strangers. Who'd a guessed? Only God. 

Sure, there's a lot more to this journey of prayer that the LORD has taken me on, but at the heart of it has always been the reality that God loves talking with me (and you) and shame on those who would critique and judge our prayers because there really is no wrong way to pray. Now for those of you who would say otherwise, I encourage you to read through Psalm 88 and get back to me. You see, I believe God's heart is bigger than anything that we can throw at Him. When I look back on my prayer life, I see a journey of grace, love and transformation. Living this side of Heaven means that we will go through different seasons of faith and life, but we should never feel like we can't go to our Father in Heaven with the hurts and burdens of our hearts. No matter how angry, hurt, bitter, jealous, even volatile we may feel and be at the time, we need to trust that God is bigger and can handle it. God would much rather that we be real with Him and pursue intimacy with Him, than be shallow and superficial with Him by projecting some image to Him of how we think we should be.


The devil would also love to stop us from praying to God, even discourage us by getting us believing that there is a set way or form when it comes to prayer, which indirectly implies that there is a wrong way to pray. The devil knows that if he can drive a wedge between us and God, then he can rob us from experiencing God's love, protection, favor, blessing and provisions. So, I'll put the question out there again: Is there a wrong way to pray? I'm hoping you're catching my heart on this. God meets us right where we're at and He loves us unconditionally. Just recently, I was asked a question from a fellow believer who put her faith on hold for awhile. She asked me, "Gerry, do you think that God's mad at me for not praying and talking to Him for so long?" I told her, "No, God never holds any resentment towards us, He loves us unconditionally and is simply delighted and overjoyed every time that we choose to pray and talk with Him." God loves being in relationship with us and waits patiently for us to begin pursuing Him just as passionately as He is continually pursuing us. 


So, back to the question: What does it mean to offer a service of prayer to the community?  I believe it means praying for people's spoken and unspoken needs. I fully understand that stepping out in prayer can be scary at times and I'm not here to judge or critique their prayer requests, I'm only here to stand with them in order to ask our Father in Heaven to draw near to them (sometimes for the very first time) through prayer. Today, I was honored to be able to do that for Paloma, Jim and Kiomi. I know from personal experience that God is able and the longer I lean into Jesus for strength and security, the more confident I've become in prayer. And I pray that God would impart to every person I am privileged to pray with the grace, confidence and understanding that He has given me to them when it comes to prayer. So this is my prayer: Faither God, pour out your grace on people and empower them to draw near to you. Set them free from fear, shame and guilt and release more love, life and redemption into their lives. In Jesus Name, Amen. 

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 18

"It's not about me." That's what I had to tell myself repeatedly today. Since DAY 1, God has taken me on a journey. This journey has not only taken me deeper into the Father's heart, but it has also take me deeper into my own heart. On this journey, I've come to greater revelation of God's heart towards His children both lost and found, but I've also gained greater insight into my own heart. Everyday I need to remind myself that I'm not out here to promote or sell anything, but only to make myself available to those in the community that desire prayer.


Each day I need to catch myself from seeking validation from the number of people I pray with each day because again, "it's not about me." But, isn't this the world that we live in, where success is measured by numbers, rather than obedience? I believe that God desires that I be on the street and my satisfaction should come solely from my obedience to Him. It's when my self-worth gets caught up in seeking validation in the number of people I pray with that I can lose my way and start being more heat than light with people where I'll tend to be overly pushy with people about praying with them. And to be honest, I'd be more of a nuisance to people than anything else.


What I feel God has been teaching me (besides humility) is that He is in control and that He will draw people to me to pray with, but my focus needs to be on the Father's heart. I shouldn't worry about whether or not I'm going to get to pray with anyone each day because God is in control and I need to trust in Him. Sure I could strive in my flesh to try and promote what I'm doing out here and get people to pray with me. But then I'd lose sight of not only the Father's heart, but also of the person's heart that I'm praying with because it starts being all about me again. When clearly the Lord's been showing me that, "it's not about me," but about His heart towards people which is far bigger than mine and I need to be caught up into His heart if I'm truly going to love people like I know He wants me to.


Every single person that comes by the Mobile Prayer Station is a gift and precious to God and though I did get to pray with a few people today (Dan, Casey & her kids and a girl and her family), wouldn't you know that God opened up a way after I repented for making it all about me. It's been freeing to let go of a little more of my validation seeking self that loves to strive in my own strength (flesh) in order to feel good about myself and just simply embracing more of the Father's love and grace for me. I don't make the way, God does. My only task is to follow Him and be obedient to what He is calling me to, leaving all the results up to God as He leads me through this life. Even if I get mocked and persecuted while on the street with the Mobile Prayer Station, I need to trust that God is still in control and that my satisfaction comes from knowing that I've been obedient to Him. 

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 17

Today I spent most of the day just saying hi to people. I saw a lot of people I've talked and prayed with before and they all waved hi to me while some stopped to chat for a minute or two. Even more, there was an usual amount of people today who initiated greetings with me by waving and/or saying hi to me that I never met before. All in all, today was a day of rest for the most part. I got to see my friend Jeff today which I was happy about. Jeff has been having some health issues as of late and I usually see him at least once a week while I'm out on the street but I hadn't seen him for a couple weeks, so I was very happy to see and talk with him. 

Another highlight of the day was seeing Bridget and Stephanie, a couple girls I met and prayed with when my friend Tyler joined me on DAY 10. They are art students who would consider themselves "spiritual" but not religious in anyway. We talked at length about faith and life and I shared my story with them and the many spiritually supernatural experiences of God's Kingdom of light breaking into the darkness of my life. I really enjoyed talking with them because they were honest and genuine. They believe people are spiritual beings and they pray to the universe and believe that a higher power may exist, but wouldn't call this higher power God. I shared with them my heart of wanting to be more light than heat with the Mobile Prayer Station and they said that that's why they came back to talk to me. They appreciated that I listened to them and wasn't trying to force them to believe in Jesus, but was still willing to talk about spiritual things with them. I did ask them if I could pray that "If God is real that He would personally reveal Himself to them" and I was thrilled when they agreed. 

We had some good laughs together about the fear of being converted by Christians. This may sting a little, but honestly, I share some of their fears.  You see, I have quite a few tattoos and when I'm wearing a t-shirt sometimes I get nervous when I visit a church I've never been to before or am hanging out at Starbucks or some other place that I know Christians hang out because I'm afraid that I'll be a victim of "drive-by evangelism," where someone comes by and shares the Gospel with me without any real interest in cultivating any sort of relationship with me. They drive-by hurl bible verses at me and then drive away leaving me feeling like I just got mowed down with a bunch of information that virtually makes no sense to me. Now hear me on this, I love sharing the Gospel with people and especially enjoy talking about Jesus, even jump at every opportunity that someone allows me to do this. But, from my experience and what I've heard from far too many people is that rather than feeling like they've been heard and really engaged with, people say that they mostly feel talked at by Christians who come off having an "I'm right and you're wrong" attitude.

I don't know about you, but when I read through the Gospels about the way Jesus lived life, I see Him sharing Himself with people. He opened His life up to people. He took the time to cultivate deeper relationships with people who were interested. Sure He shared hard truths with people, but He was also willing to relationally engage with them. Even reading through the book of Acts, the disciples were also willing to open up their lives to the people in their community. I believe this is what's been missing from the church, the willingness of believers to open up their hearts and lives to the lost children of God. Sure, we all say that we love our neighbor as long as that neighbor is another Christian. I believe we all need (and I include myself here) to ask God to both enlarge our hearts to love and to reprioritize them because many of the found children of God have entitlement issues and messed up priorities within our hearts. What we need to do is to ask God to come and turn our worlds right side up and establish within our hearts and lives greater Kingdom of God values and passions.

But, the sad reality of this is that we may all say yes and amen to this, but when God actually starts doing this and He begins smashing the idols of our hearts, we scream bloody murder. Being refined to do great things for the Kingdom of God takes sacrifice. It means accepting that Jesus is worth sacrificing for, even suffering for. I mean isn't He? Please, if none of this applies to you, than just let it fly. But, if it does, hear my heart on this. I'm not here to lay a bunch of guilt on you. That is definitely not my intent. My intent is to spur you on to be honest with yourself and to get real with God. It's time to stop brushing God off as He taps us on the shoulder. It's time to ask God for the grace to stop being complacent, the grace to want to change even if that means making us uncomfortable and the grace to love more fully. It also means admitting that we do have messed up priorities and idols within our hearts. It means admitting that our love is shallow, even selfish at times and admitting that we desperately need Jesus to de-compartmentalize our lives and transform us into fully integrated followers who's faith permeates every aspect of our lives. 

Ok, I'm done preaching and I hope that I haven't offended you too terribly. But, I don't know, maybe it's not so much about trying to not offend people because honestly, I don't think this can be totally avoided no matter how hard we try. I believe it's more about being in relationship with people, leaning into more of God's love and being willing to open up our hearts and lives, so that we can by God's grace work through these offenses with a humble spirit, a listening ear and an open heart. It's about loving people unconditionally all the time and withholding our judgments of them all the time, especially when we disagree. Because not only does Jesus command us to not judge others (John 7:1), but our love should never be based on whether we agree or disagree. It should be based on who we are as people made in the image of God and who are precious to Him and never on what we do, think or say. 

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 16

Today had a pretty good flow to it. God opened up the opportunity to for me to pray with 8 people. Also, my friend Victoria came out to see me and got to pray and prophesy over Kelly who came by with her friend Christina. Maybe it was the crystal that Kelly wore around her neck or the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit (probably both), but while talking with them I felt that I needed to tell them that we were Christians and that we prayed in Jesus name. They said that was ok and off we went before the throne of God. One thing I will mention about this prayer time was that I felt moved to pray for Jesus' kingdom of light to break through the darkness around Christina's life.

Before giving you the very highlight of the day, let me tell you about the most discouraging part. It came with three people (Eric, Katie and Alejandro) who came bounding up to me and well to put it bluntly were pretty combative. They were sarcastic and a bit mocking with their prayer requests. I did end up praying with them mostly for revelation of God and His heart towards them. The sad part of all of this was that after the prayer they claimed to be Christians and wanted to proved it by singing a Christian rap song they wrote which I'm not too sure really glorified God. Later on I got to ask one of them which church they went to and Katie replied that she doesn't go to church. Nonetheless, I'm glad I got to pray with them. I'm not out here to judge, but to love and serve. It just amazes me that of all the people I've interacted with, the most discouraging moment has come from those who claim to be Christian.

Now to the very highlight of my day which happened early on when Jessy started hovering around the Mobile Prayer Station corner. I sensed in my spirit that she was interested but was a bit unsure. So, I immediately started interceding for her. She ended up sitting a little ways away in the grass in the park and whenever I glanced over to her she was staring my way. This went on for about a half hour until my friend Denise came by and was screaming about something. Denise struggles with alcoholism and hangs out with the homeless in the park. She came up to me and asked if I could pray for her, her son and her sister because they were fighting. So, I did. I guess that was all Jessy needed to see because it wasn't more than 5 minutes later that she came strolling by really slow and asked what I was doing. 

I shared with Jessy my heart for prayer and began listing off things I could pray for her on; she zeroed in on emotional healing. Sensing her nervousness and tenderness, I suggested we step off the busy sidewalk to stand in the shade of a nearby tree. I prayed with her, asking God to come near to her and begin healing her heart. I asked our Father in heaven to release love, forgiveness and the power to let go both in Jessy and in the hearts of the other people involved. I prayed that God would reveal His heart towards Jessy and His deep love for her and His desire to see her made whole. It got a bit emotional and I'm believing that was because God was working. Afterwards, she thanked me and gave me a hug and I couldn't help but see a little spring in her step to match the smile on her face as her walked off. God is so awesome!

At the end of the day, what I've come to realize is that making myself available to God and to the community with this Mobile Prayer Station means that I'm all in. No matter what the day brings, I'm in. Whether it's precious moments like with Jessy or combative and discouraging ones like with the dynamic rapping trio of Eric, Katie and Alejandro; I'm in and I must have faith that God will give me strength and carry me through which He did (thank you for your prayers). What I learned today is that God's heart is bigger and His zeal (passion) to heal, save, redeem and restore people is greater than we could ever imagine. Being out here has really helped open up my eyes (and heart) to the reality that for us to really know and experience fully God's heart and passion for us, we will need all of eternity. That's how deep, wide and great His heart truly is for us.

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 15

I was only out for a little over an hour today. It rained on and off during the day, but then the sun came out around 5:30pm, so I headed out. I was having some coffee with a friend in the area, just in case. I guess I could've skipped today, but today was more about obedience and commitment. I know God wants me out on the street everyday (weather permitting) and so even though I was only out for a short while I knew I needed to be out in keeping in obedience to God. I've also committed to making myself available to the community for prayer for the summer. 

Honestly, I've come to enjoy being on the street. I've come to enjoy talking to the people who pass on by. I especially enjoy getting to know the people I get to see on a more regular basis. It truly is a blessing to be with the Mobile Prayer Station, both for me and the community. It is a win win situation. Sure each day is unique and stretching at times, but at the end of each day I can't ever remember saying to myself, "well that was a waste of time." On the contrary, at the end of each day I'm always praising and thanking God for my time on the street because everyday God happens and His heart towards people is revealed!

Today, I got to meet and pray with Dan, who grew up in the Lutheran faith and who's dad is a both a well known Lutheran pastor and prolific author. I prayed for guidance and direction for him and his family as they are in the process of moving out of the area and that God would also guide them to the right church. He said he's been seeing me out more and more and decided to stop and say hi. It just goes to show you that commitment pays off. What I've also noticed is that the more people see me talking and interacting with people on the street, the less crazy and intimidating I become. They get to see my heart and more importantly God's heart. Keep praying! Together by God's grace we can!

Mobile Prayer Station: MEMORIAL DAY 14

To be honest I was dragging my feet a little to get on the street. I couldn't really put my finger on why, but I actually spent quite a bit of time praying and asking God to motivate me and give me the strength to go. I thought I had a pretty good excuse. "Well Lord, it's a holiday and none of the buses are running so I'll have to carry the sign all the way to the train and my back's been really acting up. I mean most everyone will probably be barbecuing or at the lake front anyways." But, then the Lord reminded of the 88 Higgins bus which I normally wouldn't take, but could catch about 2 blocks away which I took as confirmation that He wanted me out on the street. 

Today was a hot one and I think everyone was out and about which kind of gave the day a bit of a different feel. Normally, people are on errands or getting off work or taking their kids to the park or going out for dinner, etc. But, today everyone was off work and ready to relax and blow off some stream. Lots of people were drinking at the outdoor restaurant on the corner, even on the street corner. People seemed overdue for a hot day after the many cold and rainy ones which seemed to put many people in a good mood. I spent most of the day saying hi to people while quietly praying for revival for the area and asking God to spark Divine curiosity in people. 

I am always encouraged when I see people I've prayed for before and today Ryle came back around and asked me to pray for encouragement for him as he was going to spend the day reading in the park. I did and also included a prayer about enjoying and being amazed at God's creation. That's typically how I pray for people, I pray for their requests but also pray for the things that the Lord places on my heart to pray for. Later on, Sara and Jordy came up to me and said, "So, we decided to come back and ask you about what you're doing." This has been happening more and more often, people will walk by and then circle back around. For Sara and Jordy, I had the honor of praying for God's peace for them as well as for a balancing of their lives. 

Now for most of the day I was engaged in conversation with an interesting gentlemen who I first met on DAY 3 and have been seeing on and off since. Dave and I talked on three separate occasions today about religion. He was on his bike, so what would happen is that we would talk for about 15 minutes or so and then he would ride off. After a little while he would ride on back and we would talk some more. Let me just this about Dave, he has been through quite a lot and well is a very vocal and opinionated man. Long story short, he says he is very political and has numerous complaints against various law enforcement officers which he says don't take too kindly of him. He actually told me that if the police see him talking to me may begin to harass me. What Dave doesn't realize is that my God is greater than him and the police combined. 

After listening to him share about how against he was of organized religion, I had the opportunity to talk about Jesus, rather than church. I think there are so many people who have been hurt or burned by the church that to convince them that the church is anything but evil would be near impossible. Or people see the many abuses within the church by preachers and pastors particularly it terms of money (which was Dave's complaint) that again in their minds they're like "Religion, what a joke." And whose to blame them. That's why instead of talking about church, I talk about Jesus and what He says it means to follow Him and be His disciple: loving and worshiping God genuinely and honestly, loving people unconditionally and not judging them and helping people and serving the world. 

While talking with Dave, God showed me a picture of dark and looming clouds hovering over him. God further revealed to me that this deep darkness has been over his life for a very long time and I began to sense various curses over his life. So, I asked Dave, "If he believed in a spiritual realm?" He didn't because he said it wasn't quantifiable. So, I shared my story with him which seemed to take him back a bit. I could see that it sparked something, so I pressed him further and asked him I could pray for healing for his carpal tunnel and the pains of his heart. Surprisingly, he said yes but asked if I could not be too flashy about it. So, I prayed on the down low with him. I prayed for healing for his carpal tunnel, healing for the pains of his heart and then I broke off the dark cloud that's been overshadowing his life, in Jesus Name. 

All I have to say is that something happened. Dave's demeanor changed. He became very excited. It was almost like there was a surge of energy flowing through him which I'm believing was the Holy Spirit doing some work. He kept thanking me which was bit odd and then with a quick see you later, sped off on his bike. I mean Dave is a bit ADD to put it mildly, just from talking with him I can tell his mind races at a high velocity. Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing him again and getting an update about what's going on with him, how his wrist is doing and to also discern for myself if there's some change with him. So, remember Dave in your prayers. Pray that God's kingdom of light would continue to take more ground in Dave's life and that God would bring greater revelation of Jesus to him. Thanks.