Prayer Conference 2012

So here's my story of what happened at the prayer conference we attended this fall.  Its nothing short of amazing!
The fact that we got there without having to put forth a dime of our own money was the first miracle we saw happen.  God provided everything from beginning to end.  He knew we needed to be there, and once we got there, WE knew why!
The very first night we entered Crossroads church we were immediately struck with the fervency with which the people in that room were praying!  People were crying out to God and they werent whispering cries that come from the soul that only the Lord can hear, they were literally CRYING out!!  Many were at the alter on their knees and some were even lower than that. Some laying almost flat on the ground.   I sat and watched for a bit as this was kind of new to my senses!  Then I closed my eyes and just sat.  I tried to listen for Gods voice and feel His presence.  It didnt take very long before I realized I was in a completely different place than I had been an hour earlier.  I don't mean  a different building....I mean a different place.  A place where Gods manifest presence was dwelling.  By manifest I mean, literally, His PERSONAL presence was there. 
Nothing about the service seemed planned to me.  I believe almost 100% of it was completely led by the Holy Spirit! WOW! Please dont misunderstand me...I understand that we need some structure to our services, but why is it that we feel like we have to put so MUCH into planning the songs and order of the service, and our Pastors (some of them...not all...Our own Pastor has been VERY sensitive this year to the Spirits leading) spend so much time and hard work preparing a sermon that pales in comparison to what will happen in our services when the ALMIGHTY shows up!  What FAITH it takes, to just step aside and allow God Himself to completely take over!
Like I said, this was completely new to my senses.  I heard cries that can only come from deep within someones spirit taking a voice of their own and being expressed with such freedom it was overwhelming! At one point, I recall Pastor Cindi saying " I bet this is what it sounded like when Jesus was at the Marketplace."  Yep, I bet when Jesus was healing and casting demons out, people werent holding back for fear of what others would think.  Pretty sure people just cried out in praise!  We are told of Jesus' triumphal entry in Mattew 21:9 that "The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed SHOUTED "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"  What would happen if we SHOUTED when we were in Gods Holy presence?  Doesnt He deserve so much more than that even?  And how are we even content to just sit in church service after church service never having been stirred by the Holy Spirit? 
The problem is that we have just become "used to" church.  Its something we do on Sundays.  Sure, our motives may be pure.  We say we are going to church to worship.  But what exactly does worship look like?
In Texas, worship that week was like everything else in Texas....BIG!!  MAN.....they did not hold back ANYTHING!  But I believe with everything in me that worship is not truly happening today in many churches in America.  Sadly, I believe there are even big churches...with big attendence who are just plain dead. 
When I think of worship, I picture, of all people, the Muslims!  The way they get on the ground and bow completely down!  Or I think of churches so on fire that people start shouting out loud in the middle of a song or prayer or sermon! I think we hold back WAY to much in our worship!  And Gods word says if we keep quiet, the stones will cry out! (Luke 19:40) We cannot let that happen!  We were made to worship HIM!!! When we begin to worship like that, I believe God opens Heaven and POURS down His Spirit on us!
There was one morning at prayer conference when I felt like God opened Heaven and it literally touched Earth in that room!  We were singing Holy, Holy, Holy, if I remember correctly, and everytime I closed my eyes, I truly believe I could see the shadow of the Holy Spirit passing in front of my eyes.  I began weeping, because the presence of God was almost tangible.  I could barely stand up under it. 
This is just how it is when we get so desperate for Gods manifest presence to show up that we literally beg for it! We have to hunger for it.  Thirst deeply for it.  And never stop asking for it!  And when He shows up?.....well our lives will never be the same.  We will never want to miss church again!