Let The Little Children Come

On Sunday, April 28, I was invited to speak at Grace Assembly of God in Catawba, VA.  At the opening of the service, the worship leader was leading the congregation in a couple of selections, and he introduced the second song by saying, "You know one of our challenges is that we struggle for lack." He was encouraging those in the congregation to simply take their lack and lay it at the cross.  He told us to take our lack and to lay it at the feet of Jesus.

I was seated on a pew at the front of the sanctuary.  As he spoke those words, I was unctioned in my spirit to prostrate myself on the floor before the altar.  When I got up out of my seat, I knelt on the floor and stretched out faced down with my head to turned to the side and the right side of my face resting on the carpeted floor of the sanctuary.  With my eyes closed, I began to pray. I began to lay my lack there at the cross.

A lack of love, a lack of faith, a lack of health, a lack of finances, a lack in relationships, whatever the lack was in my life. As I began to pray, that prayer transitioned into interceding on behalf of others. I started praying for my pastor CJ Martin and for his wife Fernanda. I was also led to pray for Mike Price and his wife Stephanie. I felt on my spirit to pray for Marvin Wade and also for my wife who wasn't able to join us at service on that morning.

As I laid there and prayed, my body began to tremble.  It was a very special moment.  As I was lying there praying for my own circumstances, I began to hear voices around me.  No, I was not hearing things.  These voices were very soft and unfamiliar to me.  I was hearing them in my natural ear.  I began to feel the presence of other people around me.  These people had come to pray over me and be present with me as I was in this prayerful state.

I felt a couple of hands on my shoulders, and it was comforting. When I finished praying at the altar, I opened my eyes and began to stand back up. As I looked around me, those voices that I was hearing were the voices of small children. There were around ten children, I would guess between the ages of six to sixteen that had gotten up out of their seats and came to the altar to be present with me in this moment.

It was one of the most beautiful ministry experiences I think I've ever had.  These innocent children were not concerned about what anyone else was thinking.  They were not really concerned about what I was thinking or praying. They simply chosen to be present, sitting with me while I was in prayer.

I wonder how many of the adults in the congregation might have been unctioned in their spirits to do the same thing either to come pray with me or to prostrate themselves before God at the altar.  I wonder how many people were led to do the same thing and chose not to because it's not comfortable to put yourself in a vulnerable position like that.  But it really touched my spirit to have those children make the decision to follow the Spirit that led them to come be present with me in that powerful moment of prayer.

In Mark chapter 10 verse 13-16:

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

This was a very special moment in the work of ministry to which we are called.  The more uncomfortable we are with a situation that God has called us, the more likely it is that God calling us to do it.

It's just kind of one of those memories that I think last with me forever, having those small children come up and pray with me in that moment.