Prayer Ministry
“Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; Prayer is the greater work.” Oswald Chambers
Community prayer like other types of prayer, frees God to empower us and build our faith. However, in addition, community prayer strengthens the bonds between us as believers, allows us to see where God is working in bigger ways, builds us up in prayer and makes better prayer warriors. My friend, Steve Hopkins, and I have taken Prayer Boot Camps to many prisons throughout Ohio. One of our goals is to teach the men to pray better. One truth that we always teach is that if you want to learn to pray better get with those who pray better and pray with them. Then, watch and see how God works in you and others. Twenty-five years ago, Marion State Prison was not a prison that you wanted to visit, or certainly did not want to be a prisoner there. It had one of the highest prison murder rates in the state and various rival gangs ruled in the prison. A female warden was hired to try to straighten out the prison and she was a Christian. She began allowing Christian groups to come into the prison and present Christ to the prisoners. There were only a few conversions at first and the number of believers began to grow. The inmates began sharing their faith with each other and more converts were the result. Still only a very small percentage of the prison population had become Christians, but they began to pray that God would begin to reign in the hearts of more prisoners. At first, it was just two or three men praying in their cells, reading the Bible together, discussing what they had read and praying that God would begin to have control in their prison. Then, God did something truly amazing. Jack (not his real name) and his entire gang were arrested, tried, convicted and sent to Marion. Jack's gang was notorious for selling drugs, theft, and suspected of murder. As a leader, Jack was very demanding yet treated his crew with respect and they were extremely loyal. Very quickly, Jack and his gang began taking over large blocks of the prison. One of the Christian groups that the warden allowed to come to the prison arranged to be able to keep the prisoners who wanted to participate from late morning until dinner time without any breaks for counts, searches or interference from the guards. If the inmates agreed to listen to the presentations throughout the day, they would receive a gourmet meal at lunch. Having eaten prison food for a while, Jack was one of the first takers for the free gourmet meal program. Jack had always felt there was a big hole in his life and tried to fill it with drugs, money and sex and still he felt this emptiness that he could just not fill. As I understand it, Jack had many questions the day of the lunch and, as they were answered by the visiting Christian staff, he began to realize that it was a relationship with a loving God who had already paid the price for his sin and risen from the dead to secure his eternal future. Jack asked Christ to forgive him of his sin and be the master of his life. The warden heard of Jack's conversion, and, to her amazement, Jack asked to see her. When she asked him why he wanted to see her, Jack asked if he could have a private meeting with his old gang because he wanted to share Christ with them. This was a highly unusual request, to say the least, and potentially dangerous, if things went sideways. The warden had seen how much change had taken place in Jack's life after he was saved and decided it was a risk worth taking and set up a private room where the 12 young men could meet. On the day of the meeting, Jack explained to his entire crew the giant hole that he had felt in his life and how nothing that he had tried or done even began to fill it until he met the Christ of the Bible. By the time that Jack left the room that day, he had led 10 of his 11 former gang members to the Lord. The hold out, his second in command who had hardened his heart, thought he could be in charge when they got out of prison. (Continued on next page)
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