Prayer Meeting

Last night I attended a prayer meeting with my Mom. As it turned out, the meeting was only supposed to be for us two, since nobody else showed up.

Our church building was smelling like LP gas for some reason, so Mom and I sat outside on the church steps. It was a nice evening, warm, fairly quiet. Birds were chirping, I could smell the sweet freshness of the country. My eyes wandered across the green of the tree leaves and the grass blades, across the parking lot.

We began the meeting with silence, just being quiet. At first I focused on just being, not thinking in words. After a few minutes of this, I started thinking about our church property. I began looking for where God was, and where He was working.

My mind was drawn to our sanctuary, empty at the moment. I mentioned once before that I've been reading in Leviticus and now Deuteronomy, two books of Law. And I pictured our sanctuary continually filled with the sweet incense of praise and worship. Just as the tabernacle and temple would have been filled night and day with the burnt offerings going up before God.

"Yes," I thought, "that is the center. Our praise and worship of God, our seeking Him, is the center and beginning of all that we should try to do." This meeting was to pray for our leaders, elders and the like, as they lead our church through some decisions. And worship and praise, they should be the center.

Mom and I sang "I See The Lord" together, praying that our leaders can be committed to seeing the Lord above all things. And that the focus can be on Him.

As we finished singing, a father and son rode their bikes by on the road. They are neighbors from down the road, and we waved at each other. Just then the boy called ahead to his father, in a young, vulnerable voice, "Where are we going now?"

The father, a muscular man in a yellow shirt, paused in his pedaling. Looking back over his shoulder, he called out, "Just ride. Come on!"


Mom and I waited as they passed by, and then with tears in our eyes shared an incredulous laugh. Us, the young children had been sitting there calling out, "Where are we going now?" Our strong father had seen fit to answer us.

I tried to get past that, to keep praying. But I couldn't. It just kept leaping back into my mind. "Just ride. Come on!"

I've been given my orders!