"I am there with you"

Where two or three of you come together in my name. I am there with you. Matthew 18:20

Tuesday night church members gathered in homes all over Holden. We came together to pray for our community and the Crusade that will start Thursday.

As for seven students and myself we started out inside the church. We began with Bible devotion from Daniel 6. We looked at how even in the face of trouble Daniel took a bended knee and prayed. That prayer was something daily in his life that he held tight to and that he was willing to pray no matter what. As he found himself in the Lion's Den he trusted that God would rescue him. Wow the prayer life of such a man, he was dedicated to his Lord.

After our devotion we scattered out among the sanctuary to lift up the ones that may be sitting in the pews in the next few days. We prayed over the stage, for Bro. Jack as he delivers the Word of God and also for the worship band. We gathered back up in the youth room to pray for the counselors and the ones they will be counseling with. After that, we walked across the street to pray over the school campus. For these seven students this was one of their biggest battle grounds. We gathered around the flag pole to lift up the SYATP event that will happen Sept 28th. We moved about the elementary area and around the office lifting up the students and administration. We gathered back up to pray in front of the Junior High building and also in front of High School building. I challenged these seven students to lift up those students that God has placed on their hearts. Many names were voiced in prayer along with every student in the junior high and high school halls.

I pray that these seven students have the heart for these lost students that will walk by them everyday. And know that it is up to them to bring the message of a loving Savior and that they will be in constant prayer for their classmates and school.

As we gathered in these circles to pray, I couldn't help but to think about Daniel kneeling in that Lion's Den. Surrounded by lions, His focus was on the Lord. How hard we find it to stay focused on God. We were tested also by a feline. No not a lion, but a small black cat that followed us around the school intertwining itself around our legs as we prayed in our circles. I personally had to think of what Daniel had to do in his situation: Focus on God and pray for these lost people to be rescued.