WHY ARE WE DOING WHAT WE DO?

A friend of mine called to ask for prayer as she prepared for a workshop she would be leading in February.  It caused me to remember when I was a part of a Lay Witness Team back in the 70’s.  Months before the event weekend a group of us would gather together to plan and to pray for weekend activities.  Then the week before the event we would ask the church to set up a twenty-four hour prayer circle.  When we did this at my church I took some of my MYF kids down to the church for the 4am-6am slot.  It was exciting for me and for the kids to be a part of that kind of commitment.  It laid a good foundation for the weekend, that turned out to be and amazing time.  Everyone acknowledged the Presence of God during the weekend and lives were changed as folks committed and recommitted themselves to their relationship with God.  It was a powerful time and the affects lasted a long time after the weekend was over.

I was a part of several more of these events in various churches and the results were the same.  The people were different, the activities were different, but the one thing that was the same was the amount of time spent in prayer before, during, and after the event.  I believe that is what changed everything.  This was the work of the Holy Spirit and that was what provided the transformational power.

It’s been a long time since I have experienced that foundation of prayer in the programs and events I attend now.  I believe the difference is in the preparation and the follow through.  My experience now as a facilitator and attendee of these events is the practical things of the event are being taken care of by the Event Coordinator or committee, including the put up and take down of things.  The program happens, people attend; it is exciting, entertaining, and informative, but then it’s over, everyone goes home and it’s back to life as normal until the next event.   This sounds like a typical church service as well.

This comes close to gathering together to just have ears tickled, but not producing any change in people.  So, what is the point?  I remember several times wanting to follow through with what was taught but found no one wanting to continue the conversation.  I found it disappointing and concerning, especially because of my experience with the Lay Witness Mission experience earlier in my life.  So, I guess I am left with the query;

Why are we doing what we do?