Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 4

Today there weren't that many people walking around today which I'm thinking may have been due to the chance for scattered showers weather forecast. Needless to say, I was kind of glad there weren't that many people out today because I felt a lot of hostility from people which was a bit discouraging. Now, I know that this is all part of the package of this street prayer ministry and I'm ok with that, but it still doesn't take away the sting. It was like nobody was even slightly interested in even saying hi to me. I was ignored most of the time. I even got some sneers and eyes rolled at me today. One man had to forcibly restrain himself from just going off on me. Thankfully by God's grace, I just smiled and wished him a wonderful day which seemed to really throw him off balance. Proverbs 15:1 comes to mind, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."  

So, I spend much of the day with my head buried in the bible reading through the middle part of Isaiah. It was good because I found refuge and comfort in God's Word that reminded me that God is the Creator of the universe (Isaiah 42:5) and that there is no reason to be afraid because He is with me (Isaiah 43:5; 44:8), He is Savior (Isaiah 43:11) and that no one can snatch anyone out of His hand (Isaiah 43:13). Thank you Lord. I did pray for people today, and what I really felt impressed to pray for the people I saw was for the revelation of Christ. Over and over again, person after person, I was moved to pray for the revelation of Christ to be birthed in people's hearts which may be telling of the people I encountered today maybe even the spiritual condition of the Wicker Park area at large.

I find what happened today interested because I spent the first part of my time today praying for revival. More specifically, I prayed against the principalities of lust, drunkenness, greed, anger and hate. I prayed that God would release hope into the area where there was hopelessness, love where there was hate and peace where there was anger. So, maybe it's no surprise that in engaging with the darkness of over this area of the city, I was confronted with opposition and hostility. Maybe I'm over spiritualizing all of this, but I tell you, when I left the park I literally had my tail between my legs, that's how discouraged I felt. It was like I couldn't get away from that area fast enough. I was even telling myself that I hope it rains tomorrow so that I wouldn't have to come out. But, God's faithful and I believe it is through answering people's prayers that I have been renewed. So, thank you for your prayers. I am feeling much better and yes I will be heading back out tomorrow.

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 3

After yesterday's conversation with God in the importance of praying for the people I see walking by because many of them have never ever been prayed for before, I started the day with a renewed passion for intercessory prayer. But, I was deeply challenged today in this. Let me explain, I love to pray out loud. That's how I typically pray these days. I truly believe there is power in speaking prayers aloud. I mean God Himself spoke the universe into existence (Genesis 1). Also, when we speak our prayers aloud, we are literally engaging in spiritual warfare with the spiritual dark forces in the world. 

But, that's not why I was challenged today. I was challenged today in not wanting to look like a crazy person. Remember the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1? If not, here's a short recap, Hannah goes to the temple to pray that God would bless her with a son. Well, Eli the priest sees her and thinks that she's talking to herself and accuses her of being drunk. Now, imagine you see some "religious" person standing on the corner talking aloud with nobody around (without a bluetooth or headphones). I'm thinking fanatic or crazy may come to mind. So, here I am with this burning desire to pray for people, but having to do it without speaking. Don't get me wrong I do also pray quietly to myself at times, but when it comes to intercession, proclaiming it out loud is what I prefer. Anyways, I am learning. 

For most of the day, I felt like I was walking a tightrope. I felt caught between the tension of wanting to love and pray with people but not wanting to be too pushy about it. Today was a day where I felt in my spirit the push back from people for being out here. What I kept sensing from more than a few people (and I believe I will continue to sense this) is this: "Oh, here's yet another Christian who's trying to force his beliefs on me." I can literally see some of them tense up as they come near me, even before I say anything. It's like their waiting for me to yell at them or something. So, most of the time I've been just smiling and saying hi to people. I mean I do have the sign so they know why I'm there and I am planning on having the Mobile Prayer Station there for the summer, so I feel like I need to focus on building bridges with people. Again, it's gonna be a learning experience in understanding what it means to be the Lord's gospel light of love for this community. 

Now don't get me wrong, I actually really enjoy being out here. I feel like I am offering a vital service to the community. In fact, I got to pray for three people today, Dave, Christy and Jamie. All of whom were at different places in faith and life. Christy and Jamie had a faith, Dave did not. I enjoyed speaking and praying with all three of them. But, I must always be aware of the reality that we are all journeying through life and that people are gonna be at all sorts of different places. What I am realizing is that there are a lot of people who really have no concept of God, let alone prayer or they've been terribly hurt by the church or other Christians. But at the end of the day, I'm convinced that it's not so much about worrying about whether or not I'm offending people, but about having the patience, tenacity and desire to love and continue to love people regardless of how they may treat me. I mean aren't those Jesus' words: "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44 NIV). 

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 2

Today was more about me than others. I was dragging my feet today because it was pretty chilly out. But then I heard the Lord ask me: "Are you a fair-weather Christian?" Now I know this could have had a variety of meanings, for my situation it seemed to touch on both the physical (the weather) and the spiritual (commitment and obedience). You see, when the Lord first gave me the vision for the Mobile Prayer Station, I had a strong impression that it was to be a daily ministry. At the heart of the ministry is to make prayer available to the lost children of God by going into their midst. Prayer has been described many ways, but I believe the best description of prayer is this: spending time with God and allowing Him to lavish His grace and love upon you. From the beginning that has always been my sense of God's heart in all of this. He wants to touch people through me with His love and grace.

To be honest there weren't many people out today because of the weather. But of the few people I saw, I prayed for, not with but for. I need to confess something, I am sometimes afraid of getting prophetic revelations from God because I'm afraid of the responsibility of stewarding these revelations. But the more I thought this through, the more I begin to see the foolishness of my ways. I felt the Holy Spirit lovingly nudge me through this by asking me "Who are you to reject revelation from God?" Let me tell you, in that moment all of my wishy-washiness about receiving prophetic revelation from God dissipated. The Holy Spirit was right (of course), if the God of the universe desires to reveal things to me, I best listen. So after repenting for my fear and foolishness I begin listening and asking God for prophetic revelation about the people walking by. So for the rest of time, God spoke and I prayed.

Furthermore, the Holy Spirit reminded me of something He spoke to me many years ago. Roughly around 8 years ago, I was stopped at a red light while driving my car. Now, as I was watching this lady walk cross the street, the Spirit of God overwhelmed me with an urgency to pray for this woman and I quote the Spirit's voice in verbatim here: "No one has ever prayed for her, neither her name nor her image has ever been brought before the throne of God." When I heard this, my heart broke. Needless to say, I couldn't begin to pray for her fast enough.

Now even though I didn't get to pray with anyone today. I did get to pray for quite a few people and I am betting that for many of them it may have been the very first time their image was ever brought before the throne of God. Think about this reality as you spend your day, of the many people you will see, even talk to today how many of them do you think have never ever been prayed for? How many of them have never had their name or image brought before God's throne of grace? You could be the first. "Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:16 NLT)

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 1

Today marks Day 1 of the Mobile Prayer Station. I ended up setup the prayer sign at the corner of Damen & Wicker Park Avenue right at one of the entrances into Wicker Park. I arrived around 3:30pm and stood nervously wondering what would become of the next few hours. So, I said a quick prayer for the courage to unpack the sign. Immediately, I felt God's peace and slowly setup the sign when two skateboarders came rolling up.  One of them looked at the sign, then at me and said, "I'm encouraged already." I couldn't have asked for a better launch. But, it gets better. 

Right after the kids left, an ice cream vender came by and we started chatting. It wasn't long before he shared that he was just beginning his ice cream business. While we were talking two girls came and bought some ice cream from him. Lao was very friendly and welcoming. After the sale, Lao asked me what the sign was all about and I told him that I was here to pray for people. He asked me how it worked (I could tell he was interested). So, I told him that I could ask God to bless his new business and family which I ended up doing. I could tell he was nervous, but God's presence and grace helped to ease the awkwardness. Afterward, Lao went on his merry way.

Over the next hour, I smiled and said hi to people. I really don't think people knew how to react. They'd read the sign, looked at me and then back to the sign. I got all kinds of reactions from smiles to confused looks to stonefaced stares. Mark was this 10 year old boy who was riding his Razor scooter round and round the park. He must have pasted me a half dozen times. Each time saying hi. Finally, he stopped and all he said was "hope?" I told I could pray for hope for him and he said "ok" so I did. He bowed his head with me and everything and then he was off again. 

Next, a homeless woman named Denise came and we sat on the near by bench for awhile and talked about her family. She shared her heart with me and I prayed for her. If you're reading this please remember the Weeks family in your prayers. They truly need God to come and rescue them from addiction. I have a feeling that I will be seeing lots of Denise over the next few weeks. Later on, one of her friends Maurice came rolling over in his wheelchair and stopped right in front of my sign and asked me to pray a blessing for Osama Bin Laden. I told him sure, but  that I'd rather pray a blessing over him. He then proceeded to press me on why I didn't want to pray for Osama which I replied I'll pray for both of you. So, I prayed a blessing over Osama Bin Laden's family and asked God to bring healing and redemption to them and then prayed a blessing over Maurice. He thanked me and rolled off. 

The last woman I had the privilege to pray for was Suzanne. She came beelining for me from across the street. She stood right in front of me and said, "I could so use some encouragement right now" so we talked for a little. I asked her how I could pray and she shared her day with me. I prayed for her and then we talked some more. And I prayed for her again. She cried and then she smiled. God showed up. We ended up talking for at least 20 minutes until she had to leave to got pick up her two kids from daycare.

I ended up leaving around 6:40pm. I was planning on staying until 7:00pm, but the wind kicked up something fierce and it got extremely chilly. I am looking forward to returning to the same spot tomorrow. I think people just need to get used to me being there. I was blessed by God today to be able to pray with 5 people, but really was given the opportunity to pray for dozens upon dozens of people as they walked by. What the Holy Spirit impressed upon me most was to pray for the Father's love to be released into people's lives and for the healing of their  wounded, broken and beat-up hearts. "Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sin" (1 Peter 4:8 NLT).