The following post is a recap of An Evening of Prayer, an event held on May 25, 2017 with our ministry partners, IF:Dayton.

Prayer is not secondary. It is not optional.  It is not dessert!

Prayer is primary. It is essential. It is the main course!

God has been teaching our ministry and me personally that prayer is not "extra credit" in the Christian life, but rather a defining characteristic of people who love and follow Jesus. When we pray to the one true God, we enter into a relationship with Him. We are listening and talking, getting to know Him, learning how to be like Him. We are no longer looking at the distractions of this world or to ourselves. No, we are looking to God, focusing our eyes, hearts, lives totally around Him. Ah! What relief! There you are, Lord! What a joy when we seek Him and find Him! When He shows us Himself through prayer! When He cups our chin and takes our hand and leads us in the way everlasting!

When we pray to our Father, we are right where we were always supposed to be.

I once heard John Piper share that as he was studying the Word one day, he shut his Bible abruptly. He realized he had not yet prayed over his study. This great modern theologian chuckled at himself, thinking it was truly comical to believe he could understand anything about God's Word without inviting God's Holy Spirit into the process.

It is also true with us, sisters. DWITW's entire ministry is dedicated to understanding God's Word; yes. However, only through God can we accomplish this. We desperately need God to help us understand His Word, to make our hearts ripe for the conviction it brings, and to change us. Without prayer, we have no true relationship with the Lord. Without prayer, we are merely making ourselves acquainted with facts and history and numbers. Without prayer, God's Word is just another book.

With prayer, however, the Holy Spirit uses the Word to change everything. Our ministry will do nothing in the hearts of the women of our city unless faithful prayer is our foundation.

Last week, we led one another to follow this conviction to our knees. DWITW had the privilege of partnering with IF: Gathering Dayton in an evening of prayer held at Good Samaritan Hospital's chapel. As the sunset streamed through the stained glass, we held one another's hands in deep intercessory prayer.

“Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen”

— Matthew 6:9-13, KJV

The night began as Breanna McGowen opened our time of prayer with her gift for Spoken Word. Following that, we heard the Lord's Prayer in three different languages. As I listened, I thought once again that heaven must sound a little like this, all tribes and tongues communing with God. Emily and Nehemiah Park, worship leaders at Christian Life Center, then led us in a time of singing.

Throughout the evening, ministry leaders serving all over the Dayton region led us in four separate calls to prayer. These prayer calls were modeled after Jesus' High Priestly Prayer in John 17. Together, we answered the call to offer our gratitude; to pray for God's people, the church; to pray for the world;  and to pray for unity and love. We responded by praying corporately, individually and in small groups. As time allowed, we prayed over the suggested additional Scriptures that went with each call to prayer. 

“O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

— John 17:25-26, ESV

IF:Dayton provided a prayer journal modeled after Jesus' prayer that served as the framework of the evening. If you did not get to attend the evening of prayer, you can download the PDF of the prayer journal here. 

Jesus modeled for us how to pray in John 17. As we practiced this discipline together, we were reminded that the call to prayer did not end when we said 'Amen.' The call to prayer is ever present for the Christian and essential in our daily lives. Will you join our ministries in this call to pray? Will you allow your knees to hit the floor, even now, and join us in prayers of gratitude, for God's church, the world, and for unity and love? Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. 

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Jillian Vincent loves Jesus. She's a wife, mother of two boys and a Dayton enthusiast. Jillian currently is a stay at home mama and spends nap times writing and discipling other women. She would (almost) die for an avocado, a cup of coffee made by her husband, a novel that makes her cry, and a bouquet of sunflowers. 

Our team journal today is written by Mindy Braun, DWITW's Administrator and Tech and Design Coordinator. 

Pruning: trimming by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to increase fruitfulness and growth. It’s cutting away the branches that aren’t falling off on their own. In order to get the dead, unwanted branches, a sharp tool is used. The branches are forced off the plant because they won’t go away on their own; without pruning, they will remain there and keep the plant from flourishing. 

This past year has been a year of pruning in my life. The Lord removed a church that I held so dearly, He cleared away the overgrown sins in my marriage, and He revealed to me many fruitless branches in my life.  And even though 2017 just started, there have been numerous times this year when I have asked the Lord, “Why? Why are you taking this from me?” It’s been really hard. There have been a lot of hurts, and there sure have been tears. Like puddles everywhere. 

Last Sunday at my current church, we were led through a time of lamenting through prayer. We shared our hearts with God. We grieved the injustices of our city, we cried out for God to heal the hearts of the oppressed and we pleaded for racial reconciliation. In those few moments, I was reminded that we can bring our hurts to God and He cares to hear them. He is a safe place where I can be vulnerable. He knows the inwards parts of my heart and he delights when I choose to come to him.

“Hear my cry, O God,
listen to my prayer;
from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I,
for you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.
Let me dwell in your tent forever!
Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! ”

— Psalm 61:1-4

The Lord has to prune us. He has to force us to release the dead things in our lives, so that we can flourish. He wants us to live lives full of eternal fruit and growth. It’s not usually an easy process and it can be very painful. There are a lot of questions and tears shed along the way. I know that in the end there is fruit; good, sweet fruit, but I have also learned that throughout the process it is okay to for us to cry out to God, to share our pains with him, to share the sorrows we are feeling. He is with us through that process every step of the way. Find comfort in that. Just the other day, I was sitting in my kitchen, praying through my tears. “Lord, I am just so sad!” It felt like I was sitting in the lap of my heavenly Father. I was able to simply rest in His arms, be comforted by His love and pour out my sadness. Though we are hurt and hearts are crushed, though we may even use sharp words towards our Lord, He still draws us near.  (Psalm 34:17-18)

Even though limbs are being cut away and even though it’s not an easy process, we can look to our Jesus to carry us through that heartache and suffering, and He will give us rest (Matthew 11:28). We still remain in the Vine. He is our source of life. (John 15:5) And remember, God's hand is never closer to you than when you are being pruned. I don't know about you, but that truth right there gives me such peace. 

Ladies, I share this with you so we can be reminded of the promises in His Word and His steadfast love. He is ever so faithful and we can take him at His Word. The work he is doing in us, the pruning that is happening in our lives, the heartache we feel, no matter how hard or how messy it may seem, it is all done in perfect love to make us strong, beautiful, bearers of fruit, to bring true joy into our lives, and to bring our Father glory. (James 1:2-4, 2 Cor. 12:9-10, John 15: 11, Romans 5:3-5) 

“This [pruning] of you will be the making of you. A new you. A stronger you. Strengthened not with the pride of perfection, but with the sweet grace of one who knows an intimate closeness with her Lord.”

— Lysa TerKeurst

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Mindy Braun is an Ohio-born-and-raised, small town girl who has grown to love the city of Dayton. While she's not being mama to her two kids, she and her husband run a photography business out of their home in East Dayton. Mindy has a love for deep friendships, fried chicken, sleeping in, the outdoors, serving the Church, and Oreos after bedtime.