Prayer Room

Something new has begun in Grande Prairie.

It is located at the Mission Thrift Store, it is called the Prayer Room.

It is not actually a room, rather a small space right out in the open by the front of the store, with a small wall divider blocking off one side of it for privacy.

It all began a year ago with a dream that God gave me about a Prayer Room. I was not sure what to do about the dream.

When Brian and I went to the states in December, we visited a little prayer room and we both felt called to start one in Grande Prairie. I was working full time and was not sure how on earth to fit this into my schedule.

I remember telling God in January that He would have to adjust my schedule if He wanted it to start. Don’t you know He did just that! I am not working at all right now.

I went into the Mission Thrift Store a month ago to talk to the manager, she was not in. While I “happened” to be there a staff member tapped me on the shoulder and told me that a man had come into the store to request prayer. Would I be willing to pray for him? He had stage 4 cancer and had collapsed at the front counter, he had not eaten in 9 days.

All I could think was, God was already sending them in.

One-night God woke me up at 4:30am. He started to download His ideas for the Prayer Room, three hours later we finished up. He even gave me a logo. I could not figure out why for the little prayer room, we would ever need a logo, but I think God’s idea is bigger than mine, He is not finished yet.

You see, God gave the nation of Israel marching orders to go take the land. I believe God is giving us the same orders. God never works on just one level, He is multi dimensional. When we pray things change physically and spiritually. The Prayer Room is changing things multi dimensionally here in the Peace Country.

Last Tuesday afternoon was the first day of the Prayer Room, I was there from 1:00-4:30, nine different people came over for prayer. I was amazed! God knew what He was doing about the prayer room.

One of the people who came in was that man from 4 weeks ago. What a blessing! God is working!

We have not advertised, relatively few people know about it, people are finding the Prayer Room on their own. The next day we had 4 prayer requests and 4 different people stopped to say what an amazing idea it was to have a prayer room.

The concept of the Prayer Room is this:

Praying for others is a privilege. We are God’s ambassador, we represent the church, it is a serious undertaking. People are not flocking to churches for answers. They are wandering and lost. God has asked us to take the church to the people – this is where the saying “the church has left the building” comes in. I actually have a sign that says this on my mantel.

We are the church and as we venture into the community bringing the essence of God with us, pointing people to the only source who can help, God, we bring His light to the world.

Mission Thrift Store has become known as a place where God is talked about. The Prayer Room is a separate entity from the Thrift Store, however we work in partnership together to enhance the Gospel of Jesus. Gideon’s have partnered with us by giving us Bible’s to hand out to people who may not have one. We all work together.

The Prayer Room is non-denominational. It is a God initiative. It will be manned by volunteers from various churches in town.

If volunteers are not on site, there is a mailbox on the wall and Prayer Request forms where people can write out a prayer need and place it into a locked box. It will be picked up and prayed for.

I cannot express how to tell you what it feels like praying for others, hearing their stories, sharing in their lives, such an amazing experience.

My oldest son Glen came in one day to give me a break. I do not think he was all that sure about the Prayer Room. Within 20 minutes of my leaving, he texted me; he had just prayed for a person. He was so excited. When I got back he was finishing up with person number 2. He is now a believer in the Prayer Room. I have had 2 people come back and tell me they got answered prayer.

The rule in the Prayer Room – NO gossip, No Advice, No Counselling – simply Prayer. We lift the requests up to the only one who can do anything about them – God.

Intrigued? Maybe you want to start a Prayer Room near you and hold some ground? I can assist you with that.

If you wish to volunteer to take a shift here in Grande Prairie, you may contact Jane Wheeler or come in and see us at the Prayer Room, Monday-Friday 1:00-4:00pm.

If you decide to undertake this challenge and begin to pray for people, your life will never be the same.