I know I’m a little behind on blogging, but better late than never right?? I’ve had a lot of people ask me what all I learned while in India. I can honestly say that I feel like I grew the most while I was there. I went into the month coming from Ireland, a place where I felt like I was trained again in prayer and the authority given to me from Christ. I wasn’t sure what ministry would look like when I came in. But I quickly learned that ministry would be draining.
That’s exactly what it ended up being, but in a good way. We were based in a small village 9 hours (in Indian travel…) away from Hyderabad. From there we left every afternoon around 3:30 to travel to smaller outside villages. We would make several house visits around the villages just praying for people and inviting them to our meetings. We would pray for financial issues, health, healing, family problems, etc. At the meetings we would lead in worship, share a testimony, and preach a message. This was followed by MORE prayer. People would line up and sometimes push and shove just to get to us for individual prayer. I can’t tell you how many women I had come to me and fall on their knees without me even knowing what to pray for. At first, I’ll be honest, all of this confused me. I didn’t understand why these people were so desperate for me or for any of us specifically to pray for them. My first thoughts were. . .God here’s their prayers just like He hears mine. Why can’t they pray themselves or why can’t they pray like this for each other? I’m no one special. I learned that it had nothing to do with me at all. I realized, after hearing so many heart breaking stories, that I’m positive that these people DID pray for themselves, and for each other. They just wanted MORE. They wanted more brothers and sisters in Christ to take a moment to intercede on their behalf. They were so desperate for prayer and their devotion to the Lord astounded me. It was like they couldn’t get enough.
One example is the pastor that we lived with. We lived inside of the church last month, so on Sundays we had to get up at 3:45 AM . . . YES. . .AM . . .as in the morning. . . and clear out ALL of our stuff so that the pastor could come in to start praying before his 9 am service. That’s SO crazy to me!!!! I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have never woken up at 4 am on purpose to pray. How incredible is that kind of dedication??
I think my favorite memory from last month was one night, I really don’t remember where we were, but it was just like every other night. It came time for prayer at the end of the service. This night was particularly crowded and packed with people. This older woman just came and stood in front of me, covered and bowed her head, and folded her hands. Usually I would have been able to ask our translator what she was in need of, but because it was so crowded he was preoccupied. So I just decided I would pray for her regardless of knowing anything about her. I just started to ask God to show up and tell her that He loves her and that He would bless her, and as I continued she started to cry. I knew that there was no way she understood anything about what I was saying. She knew no English and I certainly didn’t know any Telegu. I knew God was moving in her heart and that she was experiencing his presence. I started to tear up and I just put my head to hers and continued to pray. I’ve never experienced a feeling like that before and I felt so blessed to be able to be a part of that!!!
I learned a lot about prayer last month, but here are 2 main things.
1. Prayer is a LIFESTYLE. Before last month, I prayed, yeah. I mean I’m a CHRISTIAN of course I pray!!! But I had yet to make it a lifestyle. It was something that I did before I ate, or when I had my quiet time, or when I had questions/doubts. That pastor and those people made prayer a priority in their everyday lives. They lived by it! From those people I gained the desire to be in constant communication with the Lord, going to him with EVERYTHING all the time, not just in specific moments. I wanted to desire prayer and intimacy with the Lord like they did!!
2. There IS power in prayer. It wasn’t the type of power I thought I might experience. What I mean by this is that I really didn’t see any crazy miracles happen because of prayer or anything like that. At the beginning of the month I had one goal. I knew that this type of ministry would be tiring and draining. So, I wanted to make sure that every morning before ministry I was filling myself up somehow in quiet time or reading my Bible. At the end of the day, after ministry I felt empty. I knew that I had poured out everything I could to the people in prayer or in my messages. I realized that there must be power in prayer because that’s what allowed me to feel FULL at the beginning of the day and then EMPTY by the end. To go from full to empty means that something is leaving me. That was so encouraging to feel, even when I felt weak and finished.
I love that God is linking all my months and lessons together. Now I’m in Nepal and it’s my NEW team’s Ask The Lord month. He spent India teaching me all about prayer, and now I’m in a new month where what I do and where I go all depends on praying to Him and seeking direction. It’s been one of the most amazing experiences so far. He has showed up BIG time it’s almost overwhelming!! I love it! I’m eager to keep learning and growing! I’ll update soon about the things He has led us to. Pray we continue to hear and follow His voice!!
