Concert of Prayer

On Thursday, January 29th members of Calvin gathered together in the fellowship hall for a Concert of Prayer. Driven by a desire to be more united as prayer groups, by Council's desire to take time this year to seek God's leading for Calvin, and by some to honor that with a prayer concert, the evening became a reality. Different members of the prayer groups led different sections. Sheila Balmer's praise team lead us in songs of praise and worship to start the evening out. Bea VanderMeer shared with us the reasons why we were present and James Hall shared some Biblical texts related to prayer. Jodi Hall called on God to bless the evening and called on the Holy Spirit to be present amongst us. After a quiet hymn, Cathy VanArragon led us through a time of prayer using different topics. We prayed in clusters of 2 or 3, and as entire tables. We covered such things as Personal Prayer issues, Prayer for our church leadership, Prayers for our involvement in Calvin church, Outreach in our lives and in the lives of others. We ended with a time where we all prayed out loud, together, at the same time. After this wonderful time of praying together we ended with the Lord's Prayer and another song. Annette Brinkman then spent some time teaching us about soaking prayer with a brief practical application. She continued with teachings on hearing God's voice, the Prophetic, and Treasure Hunting (ask her about that sometime). It was a great time to hear Annette's heart and learn new things about the different gifts evident, present, and being practiced within the Calvin community of faith. After James shared his thoughts about the evening we allowed for a brief time of sharing. Our evening ended with a closing song with hands held together in a circle uplifted to our Father in Heaven. This was a wonderful night of prayer and praise. The thing that I really enjoyed was praying together, out loud, at the same time. It really brought home for me the picture of the body of Christ and how we each function simultaneously in that body, and God sees it all at once. Thanks to all who helped out. Thanks to all who came. If you couldn't join us this time, there will be other times in the near future to participate in prayer for Calvin and each other. Stay Tuned !! : )