folded or lifted slightly above their upturned faces. Others just
sat in their chairs or on the sofas, while a few actually found
spaces throughout the room where they could lie prostrate on
the floor. For a solid hour these people did nothing but pray—
passionate, personal prayer like I’d rarely experienced in my
life. No one looked bored or hurried, as if wanting to move on
to something else, to something more important or structured.
Because this—this praying—is what they’d come for.And as I soon discovered, once I became acclimated to
what was going on, this praying was what I’d unknowingly
come for as well. After about twenty minutes of sitting there,
surrounded by this deep crescendo of worship—totally
peaceful and yet totally electric, all at the same time—tears
began trailing down my face. Waves of new freedom and
confident faith surged through my spirit at the power of God’s
presence. I then understood what accounted for the beautiful
difference I’d detected when I first entered the room.
These people were committed—fervently—to prayer.The reason I share this story—two reasons, really. The first
is how contagious a commitment to serious prayer becomes