Last night’s prayer time was just the coolest thing I’ve seen since we launched Simplicity on South Staples.   I forgot to get my keys from Carol before I left (it was her turn to watch the kiddos) and Mike didn’t have his with him either.   So Mike, Kim, Patsy and I sat out on the sidewalk in front of the building and had our Tuesday night prayer time.

While we were prayer we watched a man, woman and young girl walk by on the other side of the street.   The woman glanced over, but they kept walking.   A little while later this same group came back by, none of them looking our way.   All of the sudden the woman turned back towards us and began crossing the street.   As she started towards us the man began to berate her that she didn’t need to….and then he could not finish his sentence.   So he tried again, this time in Spanish and wouldn’t you know it…he couldn’t finish his sentence.   This woman, never even looked back at him, she just kept coming across.   She asked if she had missed the prayer time and we told her no.  She asked if she could go in and we told her we were locked out, but to feel free to join us.  I asked how we could pray for her and she said that she just wanted to sit and pray.   Over the next 15 minutes she sat and wept and prayed.   When she was done, I asked if I could pray for her.  The Lord prompted me to pray for peace in her life.   As she left, we thanked God for silencing the enemies voice in her life and asked to see more of that in the days to come.

Over the past few weeks, we have seen a local bar close down and a tarot card reader move out of the neighborhood; however, last night I finally connected why the spiritual battle seems so intense where we are.   Across the street from the church is a large structure that looks like a house with the letters “HD” on the building.   Last night, I realized that this was a bar that another pastor had told me about a year ago or so.  This bar is not just any bar, but one of the central meeting places for men looking for other men in the area.

On the job and income front, I have a 3rd interview with a local company next week, but God has been directing Carol and I to pray over our businesses as “loaves and fishes” in Jesus hand.  He has firmly focused us on the meager resources that were used to feed multitudes of 4000 and 5000