stuff i think

Beyond Belief / part 4

I’m at a place of acting on my belief. The cost to personal security will be great, but not as costly as inaction would have been to my soul. The decision made in the grocery store – that we believe this move to be the right thing for our family – is actually based on a series of beliefs, which, when compounded, compel us to act. About the time you read this, I will be moving my family from the tarmac of the known to the situational equivalent of the playa. We will resign our salary and security in pursuit of what we see as the fullest expression of these beliefs.

We believe in the mandate of prayer.

Our family has always felt strongly about prayer. More than just a precursor to meals, we have made it a habit to set aside specific times for communion with God. Dismissed by some as an impractical, ascetic practice, prayer has proven much more for us as we’ve grown in our relationship as husband and wife as well as parents.

FOTB maintains a 24/7 prayer setting, merging live improvisational music with the spoken Word and prophetic singers in a flowing free form of worship. Since the fall of 1999, the music and prayer has never stopped. They never lock the doors. They never shut off the lights. The meeting knows no end. Spurred on by the words of Count Zinzendorf from the 1700’s – “the fire on the altar must never go out.”

Zinzendorf started a movement much like Friends of the Bridegroom. The prayer meeting he began went on for 125 years. His prayer experiment was based on that of St. Comgall, the Priest of Bangor, Ireland, who started a prayer meeting in 550 AD. The meeting he started extended 24/7 for over 300 years, eventually leading Europe out of the dark ages as the collective Priests of Bangor spread out across the continent to teach literacy, geometry science and theology.

This summer, we will take our place in the line of history as the prophet Ezekial’s watchmen on the walls, giving our lives and futures for the potential of what can happen when people pray. For us, this extravagant pursuit of intimacy with God moves us beyond belief.