National School of
Prayer Report: A Time of Crying Out!
Click
here
to see video from two sessions.
I've heard the sound of
children in travail and it gives me goose bumps every
time. I stayed covered from head to toe in goose bumps
during the evening services for kids at the National
School of Prayer sponsored by the World Network of
Prayer in St. Louis, Missouri. Here is an overview of
the events and some comments that have come in. We had
an incredible time of Crying Out to God - the planners
knew it would happen, but weren't certain how until
Jesus showed up and led the children deeper into His
love and purpose.
There were four
sessions total with a focus on spiritual training and
dynamic ministry by children. Over 100 kids gathered to
learn about such staple prayer topics as: kingdom
praying, prayer for healing, and intercession (praying
in the spirit). They also experienced deeper levels of
prayer in sessions that were designed to train them in
"binding and loosing," praying in a prayer language
(being full of the Holy Spirit), and soaking, or
pickling, in God's presence (commonly called
"listening").
Most of the training
occurred in the day sessions while most of the dynamic
ministry occurred in the evening sessions. The first
night several kids were filled with the Holy Spirit for
the very first time as they experienced some of the
"fire" of the initial outpouring of Pentecost. (See
photos below)
During the second
evening service, the kids were asked to join the adults
for a time of ministry, blessing and prayer. A local
kids ministry team, GLOW, did a song called Breathe
Prophesy which was a prophetic anthem of movement and
artistic expression, calling the generations to be
mobilized as an army of modern day prophets and
warriors. The adults were visibly moved by their
ministry and it set the stage for what was to come next,
a time of ministry by children to the adults.
I don't think anyone
expected God to do what He did to confirm His Word, and
that's what made it so cool. Nearly a dozen kids who
felt that God would use them specifically and had come
early to their meeting place for prayer; at this point
they came to the platform, then the entire assembly
spent sixty seconds in complete, dead silence...waiting
for God to speak to the children. The first child who
"heard" something said she heard from Jesus before the
sixty seconds was even up. What she declared was an
encapsulation of the sermon from the previous night -
she had no idea what had been preached. Other children
spoke, confirming the first speaker. Then while the
amazement was still registering on faces in the crowd,
children began to minister to adults who came to them
for specific prayer. To call it anything other than
beautiful would be missing the mark.
After their time of
ministry, the kids went back to their meeting area for a
dose of the Holy Spirit like many told us they had never
experienced before. After a short time of instruction
and inspirational speaking, they banded together,
literally joining arms, and cried out to God. In less
than two minutes they were in a deep place in the Holy
Spirit. Well, you'll just have to see this for yourself
in the photos and video below. I've heard reports in the
past three weeks that kids are still nursing this
experience or as some would say, milking it for all its
worth.
During the "Key
Ceremony" on Saturday where leadership at the meeting
passed their anointings to the kids, they children
received what was given to them, then turned around and
ministered in very personal ways to the leaders. The
leaders left feeling a little tired from all the
activity, but spiritually and emotionally refreshed as
the little hands touched them in reverent, respectful
prayer for strength.
This was one of the
most energizing kids prayer events I've been to in a
long time. Who knows how many "Annas"
were birthed, how many Josiahs, Mariams, or Samuels will
soon emerge on the scene to impact this generation? All
I know is these hundred kids went home changed, and so
did I.
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In
Progress: photos and video clips coming soon.
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