The Prayer Hood
October 1, 2001
For the last fifteen years, our church has regularly opened its doors and sent 150 to 200 prayer warriors onto the streets. Our mission: to call on the power of God and to bring hope to a discouraged community. Interactive prayers
Our method involves groups of three people praying spontaneously and conversationally on a subject. There are no amens and no prolonged speeches. I tell my people, "Look, I'm not spiritual enough to concentrate while the guy next to me goes on for ten minutes. And I know you're not, so let's not pretend we are." So each person keeps his prayers short. Just like a conversation, there's back-and-forth but the subject stays focused. When we're out on the street, we pray for what we see as we walk: "Lord, we pray for that school. Help those kids, Lord." "Bring the kids to you, Jesus. Tear down the walls in their hearts, and bring them to you." "And the teachers, Lord. Give them patience. Give them wisdom. Help them love the kids." "Keep them safe, Jesus." Or it might focus on the people we interact with: "Father, we lift up Mo, here, in Jesus' name. Fill his life with you." "Give him peace, O God. Take away that fear, and let him know you're with him." Levels of prayer
On a typical night of prayer meeting, we take prayer to the street in one of three ways. Each involves progressively more vulnerability. 1. Prayer en masse. The safest and least intimidating type of prayer we do is the mass march. We group together in threes so we can walk together along the sidewalk, and all of us head out in one long line, walking and praying. For the most part, urban people are used to seeing strange things, so there isn't much reaction. Sometimes someone will call out, "Hey, who are you guys?" and a triplet or two will peel off ...
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