Lean on Me (and Everyone Else)
It was the end of a long, unproductive day. I had tried to pray, but there were so many interruptions and things to do that I never really connected. I arrived at the church and set up the room for our unofficial youth guys’ prayer meeting. As one of the primary proponents of these meetings, it fell to me to lead out and pray loud – but that night I had nothing.
What do you do when it’s time to pray and you don’t have anything to pray for? If you don’t have any emotion left to give? If you’re just plain worn out? Well, you just pray anyway. Or that’s what I did. After a few introductory comments, our group began with praise and worship. Like a sprinter who has just run for miles to reach the actual event, I felt as though I lacked everything necessary for true prayer. I hobbled on as best I could, trying to figure out what to do next.
Prayer – even standing in an atmosphere of prayer – can change your situation. As my fellow prayer warriors began to lift up Jesus’ name, the atmosphere of the room changed. I stopped struggling to find words and started to let them bubble up from my heart instead. When I felt God responding to their prayers and ministering to them, I gained hope and faith that He would still respond to my prayers.
Since our meetings began, this situation has been repeated often. It’s not an overstatement to say that none of the young men who agreed to hold weekly prayer meetings truly understood how it would change our lives. We may arrive with no direction, no faith, and no emotion, but we rarely leave without new inspiration, devotion, and purpose.
There is much to be said for becoming part of a group of people with whom you can worship God. When an atmosphere of encouragement and edification is encouraged, fellow believers can do much to strengthen your walk with God simply by continuing their own walk with Him – and you can strengthen theirs. Whether it’s a young men’s prayer meeting, a prayer group, a church, or a Bible study, I encourage you to seek out the people of God and provide Him with one more way to enrich your life.
Have others encouraged you in a group setting? Do you want to help fellow Christians by organizing a prayer meeting or Bible study group? Would you like to find a group like that in your area? Drop us a line in the comments!
That is 1.000% true. The bible talks about the power of a couple honest hunger people binding together in His name. And I’ve wittnessed it time and time again! God is drawing us, pushing us, pulling us trying to get people involved in the mighty work His is preforming. I just want to be somewhere in the middle of it!
It has been awesome to watch God develop the young people who have committed themselves to prayer. When young people go beyond what others are expecting of them and seek God for themselves, they move into a whole new dimension.
It has been my observation that young people who leave the church looking for excitement, or liberty, or whatever…. keep coming up empty handed. There is nothing as meaningful and powerful as the real thing. There is nothing that will mature you and prepare you for life like getting together with other young people and praying.