There Can Be No Revival, No Awakening Without Prayer

"There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer."  A.T. Pierson


The more we pray at Experience Life, the more we realize the necessity of prayer.  As we look at the New Testament and at church history we realize the quote by A.T. Pierson is so true.  Revival or Spiritual Awakening can not come except when it is proceeded by prayer.  In Acts we see the early church consistently in prayer.  The reason signs and wonders happened, the reason the gospel was preached with boldness, the reason the church exploded was that this early church knew the importance of prevailing prayer.


We opened Monday night prayer with thanksgiving.  Each week when we announce how many people have committed their lives to Christ the previous week we are celebrating how God has answered our prayers.


We prayed for a sister church in our city Trinity Church and asked Gods blessing upon a prayer time that they are having on Sunday nights as well as encouragement for their senior pastor Carl Toti and his family.


I told the story of a grandfather and grand daughter who were a reality cop show on t.v.  When a criminal came out of a house with his hands raised, the grand daughter said look grandpa he is worshiping.  The little girl recognized the man was in a posture of submission, I give up, I recognize you are the authority here.  This is how we wanted to enter into a time of worship tonight, surrendering and recognizing Gods as our authority.


We sang four songs finishing with "A beautiful exchange" and "the stand".  After worship Gary Galanos shared a couple of stories from the Hebrides revival that began in 1949.


Then we invited people to come up and pray for revival.  Young and old came up and called out to God to come.  Come in power upon us.  It is powerful to see them come and pray.  I have found that quickly after we pray corporately like this, something begins to happen.  I am excited and look in anticipation at what God is going to do with these prayers.


We prayed for people who sensed a call to be a person who helps pray in this next movement of God in West Texas.  We also prayed for people whose finances were jacked up.  We prayed for those who were dealing with depression.


We are praying that God will show himself great in our day and in our time.  We are praying for revival in West Texas.
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Elements that worked tonight:
Sharing a story of revival (Hebrides revival in 1949) and then inviting people to the mics to pray.
Having two men at both mics to adjust height of mic or to let anyone who went too long know.

Memorable moments & phrases:
Over 100 people stood as we asked for those who sense a call to be part of helping usher in revival through prayer to stand.

There has never been a revival or spiritual awakening throughout history that has happened without people who prayed.

World Changers

Our hearts continue to be pointed towards heaven on Monday nights.  One of the reasons we value having a worship set toward the front end of prayer is that it sets our minds on how big our God is and take our minds off how big our problems feel.  We understand this is the true reality.  God is bigger than any of our struggles and problems.  As we adore Him through singing, our hearts are warmed to this reality.

Our leadership team decided to share our big news this week at the prayer gathering.  So Chris, our lead pastor and Justin, our exec pastor took about 30 minutes sharing on how God had answered prayer about us expanding.  We have purchased the bus station in downtown Lubbock.   We are going to renovate it and it will become our first multisite campus.  Experience Life will have a downtown presence now.  Renovations will begin very soon.  We hope to have this campus up and running sometime in 2011.

God continues to bless what He is doing at Experience Life.

We took time to pray over the bus station.  We prayed for Gods favor in all the logistics, we prayed for all the needed resources to be provided and we prayed that God would bring all those needed to serve this location.

We ended with prayer ministry time.  We prayed for relationships to be reconciled and prayed for people who needed strength to pursue reconciliation.  We also prayed for any ordinary people who were willing to let God use them to be world changers.  I think we probably had about 250 people stand for this time.

Chris Galanos, our lead pastor closed in prayer.  Our prayer teams who are up front at the end of our time seem to be praying for more and more people.

Elements that worked tonight:
Because of time limitations with the big announcement, we started 5 minutes early so we could fit a full worship set in.


The announcement by Chris and Justin about the answer to prayer.

Memorable moments & phrases:
Peoples applause when we announced the bus station.

If your too big to serve, your too small to lead.

Transforming Generations

One thing that has stood out to me lately is the wide range of generations involved in our Monday night prayer gathering.  We have all kids 9 and up in the service.  This makes our age range 9 - 90 with all in between.

It was so encouraging Monday night as we opened the mics for anyone to express a prayer of thanksgiving to God.  We asked that it be brief.  We had about 25 - 30 people respond.  What a joy to see 9, 10, and 11 years olds come up and express prayers of thanks to God.

You can see this picture on the left that during one of the ministry times that we had people stand up and then someone around them pray for a particular need, a young girl prayed for a young boy.  Even though I was on the stage I couldn't help catch this shot with my iphone.  You know God is doing something when even these little ones have a heart for prayer.

Tonight we approached prayer with a heart of Thanksgiving.  We just came from our a weekend where we celebrated our 3rd anniversary.  We had 114 people stand to commit their lives to Christ this weekend which was awesome.  Then 100's more stood to say they would take their next steps with God.  One poignant moment in the service was when a young lady stood to commit her life to Christ, a friend sitting in another section saw her stand and ran over to embrace her friend and celebrate her life decision.

Tonight at prayer, we prayed for those who were experiencing spiritual warfare.  We prayed for those who are unemployed. One young man caught me after the service and told me he stood because he was unemployed and got two job offers before he left prayer.  At the end our prayer teams prayed for 15 minutes after we dismissed.  They told me they had never been the last ones to leave but tonight were.

Elements that worked tonight:
Having the open mics and letting people come up and offer thanks to God.


Spending some time pointing people to our prayer teams at the end of the service.
Memorable moments & phrases:

True obedience many times takes sacrifice.  Sacrifice is a step beyond convenience.

Short Term Trips & Short Leashes

Monday night prayer this past week had a missions focus.  We had a team that had been to Guatemala just a couple of weeks ago.  We used what they learned on the trip to encourage prayer for other countries as well as our heart for the world.

Giving God adoration and praise was first at prayer last Monday.  I love to see how our front rows and sides are filled with the young who aren't afraid to express themselves in worship.

We moved into a brief time of confession next.  I shared a story I had heard from Keith Craft, a pastor in Frisco.  Keith told of a friend who had a dog named Gwhiz.  Gwhiz loved to jump over fences into the neighbors yard.  The owners decided to fix this problem by putting Gwhiz on a leash.  With the length of the leash, Gwhiz could make it over the fence but not make it to the ground in the next yard causing himself major difficulties.  It didn't take long for Gwhiz to learn he had a new boundary and he couldn't just jump into the neighbors back yards.  I also told a story of how it seemed anytime I tried to get away with something in high school like sneaking off campus during lunch I got caught.  I think someones prayers had me on a short leash.

We asked God to put us on his short leash so that our own flesh nature couldn't take us far from Gods best for us.

Our Guatemala team then shared about our trip.  We prayed for our missionaries Mike and Terri McCombs and the 31 Bible extensions they are over.  We printed the names of the extensions on cards and handed them to people at the door.  We also prayed for anyone who had a heart to go on a short terms trip this coming year.

We prayed for people in the education profession during our ministry time.

Postures of the Heart

Prayer began this past week with sharing some answers to prayer that have happened recently.  We then read Isaiah 53, the chapter that describes Jesus.  We went into our worship set.  As people were connecting to God in worship it seemed we should press into God.  I asked everyone to take a posture of consecration.  That could be kneeling where they were at or any other posture that helped them bow their heart to the living God.  We spent time on our knees asking God for more of His presence in our lives and in our times of prayer.

I believe strongly in postures of prayer.  Postures help point our heart.  It is harder to be prideful when you are bowing your knee.  It is a posture that is designed to point your heart to reliance on God.

We continued in our services and had our college director share about what is happening this semester and then we had college students stand and we prayed for them as they begin the semester.  We prayed for all of the prayer requests from the previous weekend.  We prayed for the lost in our city.  Our ministry time at the end was used to pray for those who were experiencing spiritual warfare and were somehow discouraged.  We prayed for people who were dealing with shame from past sins.

I find our hour goes by very fast for corporate prayer.

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Elements that worked tonight:

Reading the whole chapter of Isaiah 53 at the front end.

Asking people to kneel or find a posture of consecration.


Having everyones head bowed when praying for people dealing with Shame.
Memorable moments & phrases:


Telling part of the story of Tomas Guzaro: where at gunpoint and the threat of his life he told his assassins that to live was good and to die and be with Jesus was good also.

Prayer: The Heart of God

Monday nights has been the place where God is meeting people.  Our Monday night prayer gathering has grown tremendously this summer as we are averaging over 500 each Monday night.  People are coming with a sense of expectation in what their God will do in this hour each week.  People from other churches are coming to be a part.  We welcome anybody to come and join in prayer for the city and for our region.

This past Monday night was a little more low key than many Monday nights.  Brandon Gwinn our lead worship leader at Elife did a set that was more calming and intimate than usual.  I had many comments about the peace of God present during worship.  I took some time and communicated some basic vision about Monday night, why we do what we do.

Our goal:  To connect with God, to hear His plans, and to be empowered to carry out those plans.
The key:   Gods presence among us
Our method: Consistant Prayer

The break down of Monday nights is times of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication.  We are also intentionally listening to Gods voice and trying to be directed by that voice.

Monday night we prayed for our team going to Guatemala this coming week, we prayed for our Pack the Pack outreach (giving away school supplies to more needy schools in Lubbock), we prayed for our current series: FAQ, we prayed for the lost to get saved in Lubbock Texas, and we prayed God would raise up prayer gatherings all across our city.

During our prayer ministry time we prayed for anyone about to make a change to a new place (students fit this as they begin the school year), we prayed for our lifehouse leaders and apprentices, and we prayed for those who had really hard things happen to them this year and needed courage to make it through.
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Elements that worked tonight:

The slower pace of worship created a more peaceful time for people.

Having our intercessors pray for our prayer gathering 15 minutes before hand seems to give the gathering much energy.


Having five separate sections of chairs rather than three.

Memorable moments & phrases:


The largest amount of children we have ever had.  We had to recruit staff to help with kids.


Visitors coming up to me at the end and commenting how moved they were by Gods presence.


"You don't have to change your place when going through a hard time, God can change your perspective and awareness"


"Corporate Prayer is on Gods heart for the earth"  Mk 11

Abandonment in All Things

I am so thankful that God has surrounded me with a solid core of lay leaders at our Monday Night Prayer time.  From time to time I ask them to give me some thoughts they have about prayer.  These come from Dina Pender our Greeters team coordinator on Monday nights.


I believe something is “building” at Monday Night Prayer.  I have really been impressed over the last few weeks that as we reach up and out to God – He is responding and encouraging us that not only is He aware of us, but He desperately wants us to know that He loves us just like we are when we come to Him at that exact moment, with everything all out of whack and messed up!  He is delighted in our desire to pull closer to Him and He welcomes us readily and eagerly.  He literally loves that we are willing to come to Him even though we didn’t get-it-together before hand. He is showing His love in this way, it is not what we have or haven’t done that causes Him to love us…He just does because He chooses too.

On a recent Monday, I received a very clear word that God is sovereign and as we deepen our relationship with Him, He is calling us to trust Him in all things with abandonment.  We should not be deceived into believing that by what we “see” He has not answered our prayers or is indifferent in any way to our requests or heart-cries.  He wants us to walk as mature Christians and trusting children that He is in control, even when we don’t receive the answer we were hoping for.

“It’s a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally.  It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet and what is sand.”  Madeleine L’Engle

Radical Generosity

Last night was a powerful time of Gods people seeking God and listening to God to bless others.  I don't know that I can describe the evening well.  So I think I'll let your comments about the night tell the story"

• It was my first Monday night to attend. I was blown away with Gods presence! Amazing!
• I am so grateful for the opportunity to contribute to God's blessing on those people tonight. I love you Jesus and thank you.
• It was amazing, I felt so much joy to be able to help two of them. It was amazing to watch God work. It was amazing to pray over a single father weeping and overwhelmed by the love. Amazing.
• I was there. That was the most incredible thing I was ever able to participate in. Let's change this city for God!!
• that was the most amazing this ive ever seen sooo powerful.
• It was amazing to see their faces when people were handing them money and then praying for them. Thanks for the opportunity to give!!
• I want y'all to know that my mom was one who stood up and y'all blessed hr so much.on Sunday when we got home from churched we walked in our house had been broken into a wii two tvs,two dvd players, and other stuff were stolen from our home..  are behind a few house payments and we were blessed to get a little over half way caught up... thank you elifers for your giving hearts and my God bless you in so many ways...again a million thank yous...
• Well I am not able to attend Monday night prayer because I have class, mon- thur. night, but my son attends and he was truly touched tonight. He comes from a single parent home and he knows the struggles we go through,but he also knows how many times God has blessed us through our Elife family. He was sharing with me about the service, he told me mom I had the $6 in my wallet that you told me to keep, but I gave it to a man that stood up. It made me have chills and tear up.I am so glad he listened to God telling him to give. God is doing amazing things in the lives of the people who attend E-life, and even more so in the lives of our youth!!!
• POWERFUL prayer night! Our GOD is awwwesome... -J
• How incredible it is to see people from all walks of life (esp youth) really "getting it"! Tonight was one of the most overwhelming God moments that I have felt! Brought my friend for the first time and she even though elife is radically diff from what she's used to said that she was moved and felt God's presence.
• Tonight was such an amazing blessing to bless others and then to watch how God didn't do just a little bit. He poured out abundant blessings above all we could imagine on our single parents tonight!!!!! There is something radical happening at E-Life and it excites me to see God work in tangible ways to change our city -- one life at a time.
• I was overwhelmed tonight as I watched our youth stand in line to give and be used by God to bless others tonight! They gave of their own money and also prayed BOLDLY for our single parents. It blessed my heart to see our young people put their faith in action and change the lives of people much older than they are.
• It was so Amazing to be apart of Prayer Service last night. I still get chills thinking about the Experience.
• monday night prayer was BY FAR the coolest prayer meeting yet! giving is ABSOLUTELY better than receiving...
• Monday Night Prayer ALWAYS brings me to my knees and God tells me exactly what I need to hear. Love Elife for having prayer be a priority!
• WOW...tonight was awesome!! It never gets old to see God do such amazing things in the lives of His people!! Love how He continues to go above and beyond even our highest expectations! :)
• The Holy Spirit was in the house tonight. P.S- whoever prayed for me last week, I saw a marked difference in that area. Thank you.
• this was my first Monday Prayer Meeting and i must say i could feel the love in the room. such an amazing feeling
• AWESOME Prayer night this evening! The Lord was very present and man did he show His love to me this evening. Thank you ELife! Praise be to God!

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Elements that worked tonight:

Began the night with centering in on Christ using three verses with three themes: Passion, purity, and perseverance.  We took a moment to read a verse on each topic, share a brief explanation and then have people repent and ask God for help.

Creating some space in the front for people to come and worship or kneel or sit.  Our youth have moved into that area.

Memorable moments:

Having single parents who had a financial need stand.  As we sang another chorus we asked people to give sacrificially to our single parents.  It was an incredibly moving scene to see lines of people waiting to bless each single parent that stood as everyone else worshiped.