Grappling with the call January 15, 2008

This is unlikely to be an especially coherent entry. My mind is full of jumbling thoughts and ideas, underpinned by the Still Small Voice whispering that things are not as they seem.

Back at my desk, back in my office, the temptation is to call up as many people as possible and ask them to get involved in 24-7 weeks. I’m pretty certain I could find 52 churches who would do that… it wouldn’t be too much of a task.

This would be the easy route, however, I am painfully aware that this is not what God is asking of us, of me.

We had a word emailed into the office this morning about this journey back into 24-7 prayer. I was especially struck by the following lines:

“I believe God is calling us to wait, be silent and still. In fact as I type I think that if there is to be a launch of 24-7 again there may need to be some changes. Due to the Army’s ‘practical and doing’ character, many 24-7 weeks have become programmes where people ‘do’ a slot and do lots of creative things, especially the youth. I believe there should be an emphasis on stillness, meditation, silence, listening.”

The more I think about it, the more I am hit by the uncomfortable truth that making another year of prayer happen by doing everything we did last time, is simply not what God is saying to us. This time is different, we are a new generation, the land that God is calling us to possess is not the same as it was seven years ago. We are not called to take the wide, familiar path but the one that is narrow, uncertain, the road less travelled.

Filling slots would be easy. As my friend says in the words above, we are well practiced in ‘doing’ prayer. The bit of me that longs for an easy life wishes we could go about it the simple way.

The 2001-2 year of prayer opened amazing doors for us as a denomination. We have seen God do amazing and incredible things as a result of it. My heart swells with excitement as I consider what God could and will do through us this time.

My questions remain though:

• How do we stop this becoming tokenistic? – it’s not just about ‘doing’ 24-7.
• We heard a very definate call about the need for a return to the ancient disciplines – things like silence, solitude, fasting, meditation. How can we ensure that these are woven into the very fabric of 24-7/SA, rather than the active, programmy 24-7 we have become quite used to.
• What are the defining characteristics that God is bringing out of this new push in 24-7 prayer? Are we brave enough to walk into the dark and take the narrow path God is nudging us towards?
• How do continue to walk in partnership with all that has gone before – the older generations, the established prayer centres and leaders that have sprung up since the first year. At the same time, how do we make sure that those who God is calling to carry this thing forward are released and equipped.
• This can’t be just another Salvation Army fad or phase. How do we protect ourselves from publicising this in a way that makes it seem like that.

So that’s a lot of questions, and my sense about the way forward is that God is not going to give us a neat list of hows and whens and actions to take. This thing isn’t about playing 24-7.

I think the weeks ahead will involve a lot of listening to God. A call to sacrifice our ‘good ideas’, in the light of His, which may look pointless or foolish and yet will turn out to be exactly the right way forward. If you have any senses, hunches or revelations about what some of these will be, please feel free to share them with us!

Returning to my picture of the suspension bridge – this renewed call to 24-7 is not about crafting something which looks the part, but it’s about taking a leap into the ravine, into the unknown.