10-9-12
It took almost a month and a half before The World Race (or at least my version of it) go christened by WAGON WHEEL (Old Crow Medicine Show.) 17 women piled into one Tap-Tap (an attempt at a public transportation bus) and headed off on “Prayer Tour 2012.” En route to one of the several ministries we visited, “road trip” music was a must-have; cue and iPod and one rad set of portable speakers – INSTANT JAM FEST! God love Becky (she clearly knows me all-too-well); she told me I’d appreciate her selection and pushed play. From the first chord, I was ELATED, and for the next five or so minutes the van delighted in AIR FIDDLE solos, belted twang at the top of our lungs and flooded the streets of Haiti with good music mojo! You gotta love WAGON WHEEL!
Music is proving to play a huge role in The World Race. Lately, whenever a group I am with is asked to pray, God almost instantly gives me a song. Whether I’m holding kids, blessing a ministry, asking for peace and protection or even during prophetic prayer, I seem to see lyrics, hear tunes and feel compelled to sing.
My team and squad-mates generally get an education, since most of what I belt out are songs I grew up singing with Bellview’s choir; AKA, they are pretty old school songs, and I LOVE THEM! God is even bringing back some goodies from The Gospel Gals playlist; as much as we all hated singing, “Built on the Rock,” that is the song God brought to mind yesterday as we prayed over a church being rebuilt after the earthquake, so I sang it word for word. (I KNOW that was God’s doing, because I haven’t sung or thought of that song in YEARS!)
I’ve never really thought of praying to God through song, so when I began feeling compelled to do so, I went digging for some Biblical advice. Acts 16:25 says, “About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening to them.”
Back story: these guys were in jail, bound and shackled after having been beaten, and STILL they managed to muster the strength to PRAY and SING. A) These dudes were hardcore and I want to be more like them! B) Did you notice that I said they were SINGING? God went on to send an earthquake so intense that it freed Paul and Silas (and all the others) and they went on to lead their prison guard to Christ! Sounds like a ROCKING GOOD TIME to me!
Bottom line: God just wants us to talk to Him, however that looks. If you want to be formal, go for it; if your prayer is more conversational, jump right in. If you need to yell or be totally silent, do it in another language or write it down, by all means, just TALK TO GOD! You aren’t praying to or for anyone else, and God will never laugh at your approach; after all, He designed you!
In that case… Maestro, CRANK IT UP! 🙂
Be Blessed,
Ashlee
