Mark Sorensen 
Prayer can be explosive or extensive. Explosive in the sense that it can serve as just a short burst of a prayer asking for God to calm your heart, bring peace, or give you guidance in your day. Yet, it can also be extensive. You can sit in sweet moments of prayer and take your time. It’s funny, as I type these two definitions out, I have leaned in on our own Harvest prayer team to bring both aspects into my life. There are times that I will send a quick word to the prayer team to ask for a quick prayer before I go into a meeting. At other times, I sit with the team and we enjoy moments of settling in to prayer with no rush to go anywhere else. I love this team and their hearts.
One of the members of our Harvest prayer team is Leigh Ann Schweser. Leigh Ann is one of those people that is not afraid to pray on the spot for you or sit and be still with you in extended prayer. Knowing this, I asked Leigh Ann earlier this week to share what prayer means to her and what she has seen prayer do in and among the Harvest worshipping community.
Here’s her heart:
“PRAYER CHANGES EVERYTHING, and it certainly did for me. For many years I had a one sided relationship with God – mostly when things weren’t going my way. I’d talk and he’d listen, and that was about it. I “loved” him, or the idea of Him, but I didn’t really know him. That changed about 6 years ago when my heart was broken into a million pieces, and I was a mess. I knew that only one person could restore me (Psalm 23:3) and give me hope, and that was Jesus. I spent every minute I could studying the Word, praying and worshipping God alone in my room. God showed me that prayer is more than asking for healing, its about a relationship with Him. It’s a way to communicate with Him and share my deepest fears and pains and “the desires of our hearts” (He delights in that – Psalm 37:4). He cares so much for us and loves us so!
When I say prayer changes everything, I can’t say it loud enough! The time I time spent abiding in Christ completely transformed my life and gave me such compassion for other hurting people. He revealed things to me, strengthened me and filled me with joy despite my terrible situation. I began to understand my purpose and discovered my true identity. My one sided relationship became intimate and real. I was talking to my Father, and He was talking to me and showing me incredible things. If you make Him a priority in your life and spend time daily in prayer, I promise you, it will transform your heart, mind and soul in Christ Jesus.
After Jesus brought such healing to my life I wanted to pray for others. The Lord filled me with compassion for hurting people. My passion for praying for others led me and some dear friends to pray that our church would become a house of prayer. We would gather in the small chapel regularly and pray for a move of the Holy Spirit and for our church to be a place where praying is the norm and the altar is always full; a place where the people in the pews would know that someone cares about their brokenness and their victories . We prayed for a prayer team, and God answered. When we pray in His will, He answers – Eph 6:18: With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition for all God’s people. AMEN!
God assembled our team, and now we are praying for more people with a heart for prayer to join us. Our team has such love for their Harvest family and believes that God is still a God of miracles. We don’t just pray on Sundays, we also pray over all the written requests, for our Pastors and the Worship team, their families and marriages, and we pray over the Harvest space and all who enter there each week. We love prayer, and it has changed our lives, and it can change yours too. I can’t express passionately enough that spending time in prayer, alone and with others, will absolutely change your life. You were created to worship and communicate with your Father, so come to the altar (pray anywhere)– Jesus is calling- don’t wait (lyrics from Come to the Altar by Elevation Worship-awesome song!! Click Here to Watch!).
Heavenly Father, You are our redeemer. You restore all that has been taken, destroyed, devoured or lost in our lives (Psalm 23:3). You are our deliverer and You set us free from anything that keeps us from the life you have planned for us (Psalm 34:17-19). You are our redeemer and our strength and when we feel weak you are strongest in us (Isa 12:2). Thank you Lord that You are our guide and direct our paths (proverbs 3:6) and may we never go to the left or to the right but straight into the plans that you have already set before us. Thank you Jesus that you are our counselor who helps us to do what is right and true. Lord you fill us with the gifts of your spirit when we spend time in your presence (Gal 5:22). If we live in the Spirit we can also walk in it. Fill us Holy Spirit with more of you and less of us Lord (John 3:30) so we can be more like you. And let us always remember that greater is YOU who lives in US then he who lives in the world (1 John 4:4)! We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:37).
In Jesus name I pray, with a grateful heart, for our Harvest family, Pastors and Church”
-Leign Ann
