nazarene GS and wife lead creative prayer

i had the opportunity to engage dr jerry porter and his wife toni, one of the general superintendents, in the church of the nazarene. he was in virginia and speaking at the virginia district minister and mates retreat. i always enjoy connecting with my friends from across the state during this annual event. however, the services can sometimes... um...well...let's just say they aren't always the style or content of a service i would be excited to participate in.

having just discovered that the church of the nazarene had recently (feb 15) clarified its mission, and being a minister in the church of the nazarene, i was excited to hear first hand a general superintendent put some meat on 'these bones' in regards to said clarification. interestingly, dr porter didn't speak in general terms about what it looks like to make 'christlike disciples'. instead, he spoke specifically about what it looks like to be a 'christlike disciple' of prayer. dr porter asked some great questions. "why is prayer so important? Is god asleep? Does he need us to awaken him?" and then followed by exploring how..."God respects our freedom and is looking for partners, searching constantly, so that prayer is partnering with God as he works in the lives of those around us and creation." he then asked another question and followed with some more thought...

"Are we discipling? Jesus said 'I’ll build the church and you go and make disciples.' We haven’t been doing this. We’ve been building the church. Getting people ‘saved’. Baptizing them. Making them members. But we have not been making disciples."

what a refreshing confession to hear from the highest office of the denomination in which i serve. to hear what many of us have been thinking. it was humbling and it was like a cool drink of water on a muggy va day. i felt transformed just to partake in this confession. however, the best was yet to come. we broke up into small groups to discuss the definition of disiciple and then discuss what a ‘christlike disciple’ looks like. we then spent some time pouring through the scriptures in while taking a look at prayer in the life of Christ (Mark 1:35, Luke 4:42, Luke 5:16 sample)

toni, dr porter's wife, then took over the speaking and turned the service into a prayer lab. it was a great time of worship through prayer. everyone prayed together by lifting our hands. then we followed by laying face down, prostrate on the floor (2 chron 20:16-19). we did silent prayer and then we all literally fell down together, in a symbolic gesture, at the feet of jesus. we prayed on our knees, shouting and magnifying the name of the Lord. we walked around the room as prayer stations had been posted on the wall. we prayed for the local church, VA, schools, government, peace and justice in the world, marriage, family, children, hurting friends and family, finances, and health. eventually we formed lines and marched around the room in prayer...everyone, together, outloud, praying in their native language. we ended by laying hands on the four walls of the room, north, south, east, west, and praying for all the nations of the world.

dr porter closed with another confession. "i don't pray the way i want to". i could relate.

i wanted to hear our mission clarified. the porters wanted us to live the mission immediately. the entire service was a dance of prayer. some were lamenting, some were celebrating, and some were silent. it all was BEAUTIFUL.