When Heaven Comes Down

We know God is with us when we pray.  He says when two or three are gathered in my name there I am among them.  But there are times when Gods presence is magnified.  There is an awareness in us that is heightened.  It's like being the only one at work and the internet is much, much faster.  Your connectedness isn't competing with many other people.

Last night was one of those times for us at Monday Night Prayer.  It was a night Heaven came down and God was all around.  I could sense it before prayer began.  As our intercessory people prayed over me for the service prior to 7:15 I could sense the presence and power of God in a heightened way.  People were responding strongly to God in worship as some kneeled, others cried, some shouted.  The longing in peoples souls for God was evident all around.

I could hear God clearly as He was advising me how to do the ministry time after our worship.  I heard clearly as God gave me a passage from His word to share with our youth.  It was Isaiah 61:1-3.  I heard the thoughts in my mind and heart very clearly, tell them "they are chosen ones".  Tell them they have the capacity to lead.  Tell them I will use them to bring revival.

Last night was also a night where our youth came to prayer as a group.  We had over 100 jr high and high schoolers joining us at prayer.  They aren't bored with prayer, that are excited about God and what He's doing.  We also prayed for upcoming events at Experience Life.  We are praying for our summer baptism celebration that will take place at the swimming pool at the Sportsplex.  Last year we had 100 baptized at this event.  We are praying for double or triple that this year.  We prayed for our next series "No Perfect People Allowed" and that God would bring people who don't know Him.  We prayed for our missions team that is headed to Chiapas Mexico next week.

We closed our time of prayer in worship.  It seemed no one wanted to leave.  All sensed the presence of God and even after we officially closed the service there were pockets of people continuing to pray for one another.  There is something about a place when God is showing up, people don't want to leave.  They like lingering in that place.

It seems obvious God is pleased with our seeking Him on Monday nights and we love it when heaven comes down.

Our hearts cry is:  Let it come, Let your kingdom come and let your will be done in us God !  More God, more of you !
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Elements that worked:

Going into a prayer ministry time right after worship worked last night.  We prayed for youth who wanted to be sold out to God, then we let youth pray for adults who wanted "more" in their lives.

Having our lead pastor Chris Galanos close with a blessing over people in prayer was powerful.

Being willing to change the format because of the Holy Spirits leading worked well last night.  We did have to postpone a student who was going to share about what God had been doing in her.

Our intercessors who prayed for me before the service actually gave me some insight into what God wanted for our time.  As they prayed I picked up two key ideas that influenced how I changed the format for the night.

Our worship leader and his sensitivity to what God was doing.  Reading from Gods word as part of worship.

Closing with a song of commitment to God.