After committing to go to Hawaii, I started wondering how one gets prepared for a conference where a team of “pray-ers” are doing their thing? At church one Sunday, Christy Pierce came up to Bill Weir and me and said she was SO happy we were both going. But this got me thinking, what exactly does she want me to do? Her enthusiasm made me think that she had something specific in mind, and from the start I’ve been clear that I don’t want to do the praying, so my questions at that point were still what can I do to support the team and am I really needed if I don’t pray for people who ask for it? In my mind, having run many business conferences in the past, I’m thinking about the kinds of organizational tasks that help support the speakers. I know how to make sure the presentations go well technically and I know there should be enough handouts for the attendees. I’ve run around a room with a microphone, making sure that questions are heard by the whole room. But what kind of support would be needed in something that is not a traditional meeting?
An email from Christy helped actually calm me a bit. She suggested that Cindy Schwaab and I should meet for sit down “training” with Cynthia Bosworth. Now Cindy is just as new to this experience as I am, so Christy knew it would help both of us to hear from an “expert” how the prayer team works and what to expect. I think when Cindy volunteered for Hawaii, she thought she would be doing administrative tasks for the team with me, but somehow, by the time we met for training, Christy had convinced Cindy that she could and should be on the prayer team itself. When I heard about the training, I was just grateful that I would get more understanding. I still didn’t know who these “pray-ers” were nor even why they pray? My only out loud prayers have been for thankfulness at dinner and a few Holy Rosaries as a child!
Cynthia has been the organizational force behind the prayer team for this trip, so I felt that training with her might answer some of my questions. This training is intended for the “pray-ers” to help them understand the experience and give them practical advice of how to do the job of praying for another person. It was quite informative and even came with a reference handout! One of the best parts of this training was Cynthia’s story about how she got involved in prayer ministry in the first place. She told a story about a conference she went to a while back (I’m not sure if it was HIM or a different one). At one point, she notices that random feathers are falling from the ceiling and people are catching them and attaching them to their name badges and keeping them with them as signs that God was at that conference with them. At one point, Cynthia saw a feather come down and she so badly wanted the feather, but for some reason she was too afraid to walk over to the feather and pick it up. She left that conference so sad that she had missed an opportunity to have a small manifestation of God with her! Later that night she prayed to God and told Him she would never again miss an opportunity to meet Him and do His work because of her own fear. She prayed over and over that He would give her another opportunity and send her feathers again!
Although Cynthia told many other reasons why she continues to do this work, I loved the feather story and hope I’ve represented it here accurately. It was so meaningful to me because in some ways it matches my own story of wanting to meet God’s will and show up where He wants me to be. Like Cynthia, I’ve also had to put aside my fears to enter into this journey, but I trust God and believe this is what He wants for me as I learn about community and move toward it.
Another part of the training that was significant to me was the reminder that Jesus is the one doing all the work in prayer ministry. I laughed when I heard Cynthia describe herself as the “dumb pipe” who just acts as a conduit for the Holy Spirit to act through her. Along with an actual quote of a simple prayer that is given in the handout, the “dumb pipe” description makes it seem that anyone can do this work even if you’re brand new to prayer ministry. Although I don’t feel ready to use these tools, I know it was very helpful for Cindy to have these items as part of her “toolkit” to take with her. Cynthia even gave me a prayer that I can use silently at the back of the room while the teams are working at the front. She suggested that I can just invite Him to the room and ask Him to help the people there seeking His healing, just as I invite Him into my life in my normal silent prayers to Him. Thanks, Cynthia, because this type of silent prayer is VERY familiar and I’m happy to do it.
With this training, I was expecting a complicated explanation of what it’s like and what people will ask of you and what you have to be careful of when talking to them. Instead, the knowledge to use in this work is so easy to remember, it seems anyone can be a “dumb pipe.” Even if I’m not ready for “out loud” prayer ministry, it’s nice to know that the tools to do this work are so down-to-earth.