During the two weeks we were in Turkey, God definitely taught me a lot about prayer. One day sticks out in particular when I think about Turkey and would like to share it with you. One morning in Istanbul our squad felt it would be beneficial to start the day off in prayer. My team ended up going to the Blue Mosque, one of the most visited mosques in Istanbul. We had hoped to go into the mosque and pray inside but it was closed for visitors at the time we went. We ended up just sitting outside in the courtyard and praying right there. I have never before felt so compelled to pray before- I wanted to pray for the Muslim people, for the country, for the people visiting the mosque that day. I just didn’t want to stop praying. After breaking for lunch we went back out to the mosque and this time we were able to go inside! I can’t describe the feeling I had when we walked inside. Much like earlier that day I couldn’t stop praying. After praying for awhile we left the mosque and headed to the University.
This was the other part of ministry that we did while in Istanbul- visited the local university campus and just talked to the different students we met. Apparently you need a student ID in order to enter the campus but this first day we went there we just walked right in through security with no problems. When we got back from the university the first day I remember being frustrated. This was because each person that I had gone to the university had ended up having an amazing conversation with someone, except for me. I had spent the afternoon at the university praying on the campus as others engaged in conversations. I was annoyed- I wanted to have a conversation with someone! I wanted to tell a Muslim university student about Jesus and why I believe in Him! But, God kept telling me to sit back and pray. Later that night I realized that God was calling me to pray all day because He was trying to teach me the importance of prayer. I realized that I didn’t really view prayer to be that important. In my mind it meant more and was doing more for God if you were out there having conversations, holding a child, doing construction- doing these more tangible things. But, that is so far from the truth! Prayer is so important and vital to any ministry, to your relationship with God! And I didn’t even know that was my attitude about prayer until that day. I also see that pride was also involved in my attitude that day. I wanted to be the one with a cool story to share, I wanted to be the one who was bold, I wanted to be the one in the center of things. I was afraid people would judge me because I “only prayed.” Isn’t that crazy?? I know that God is teaching me even more about prayer and I love it. I used to not be a big fan of praying. I didn’t think I was good at it, I didn’t think my words had any power, and I didn’t think it really mattered all that much. But, God has just turned all of those thoughts upside down. I am finding myself praying more and enjoying it more. And I have been finding myself praying for others. I hate to admit this but I used to be so focused on myself that all I did was pray for myself. It rarely crossed my mind to pray anyone else. But, now I see God growing me in that area. I am excited to see where this new found prayer life takes me!
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