Yesterday morning I went out into the streets of Dallas as about 350 churches in the greater DFW area participate in Revive Texas for 50 days from Easter to Pentecost. The churches are of many denominations and theological persuasions, but we are united as we follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
My primary gifts and ministry are not evangelistic but equipping in nature. Ask me to teach. Ask me to train leaders. I’m there. Ask me to go out to the streets. Not so fast! Maybe. (And there’s merit in using my time primarily to fulfill the ministry to which I have specifically been called, but that’s another topic for another post.)
With my home church participating, however, I believed that I should show up at least once (as my pastor requested) and see what God would do.
Revive Texas prepares teams of four to go outside the church as God leads them to places and people. Each team breaks into pairs to engage strangers. As the conversation continues, we ask if we can pray for them. In some cases that leads to sharing the gospel while at other times it’s simply a time of prayer for their specific needs.
I went yesterday believing that I should, and yet, I also knew that God would use it in some way. Knowing that each team has a leader, I expected to say very little unless the conversation specifically connected to me, and I was right. I was a very happy follower.
We ended up on a popular running/biking trail in the heart of Dallas where the four of us (plus two others from Revive Texas whom we encountered along the way) engaged in four conversations. All six strangers involved were followers of Jesus, so most of our time was spent listening, encouraging, and praying.
I left with a wonderful reminder of the great ministry of prayer—not individual prayer, but prayer with people. As I thought about the perspective of those for whom we prayed, I realized that I would have been overwhelmed by the greatness of God’s love and concern for me that he would lead people to pray specifically for my needs.
Whether God leads me to go back out with Revive Texas or not, he has used this experience to call me to pray more often with those in my everyday path as they share hard situations, concerns, and dreams.
It’s a great privilege to be part of the great ministry of prayer that God has given to his body, the church
