Dreaming of Prayer
Each week, at the end of service, we hear our ministers say, "To the right of the stage, there will be volunteers that would love to pray with you...", and if you’ve ever lingered in the sanctuary after service, you’ve seen our Prayer Team in action. These are volunteers who faithfully show up and step into the stories of our congregation, meeting them where they are, ready to intercede.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. This team is actually part of a growing community and a beautiful expression of Summit led by a wonderful volunteer leader, Sandra Graham, and I wish everyone knew her journey.
See? A year ago, our staff made the organizational decision to switch the Prayer Team from a Hospitality initiative to a Worship initiative to put everything in the sanctuary under one umbrella. The challenge for me, as a part of the Worship Department, would be incorporating this new group into our larger Sunday Worship Team of techs, musicians, and ministers. These are all roles that spend a lot of time either on stage or back in the tech booth throughout the morning, so geographically, it would be hard to build chemistry. If I didn’t get creative, we might lose momentum with these great volunteers.
There was something I didn’t know yet, though. I didn’t know how God had been moving in Sandra’s life. She was ready to step up.
She took her role on the Prayer Team seriously. She understood the need and the care it takes to stand in prayer with people in vulnerable circumstances. This level of care was plain to see in both our email correspondence and every Sunday we served together. This meant a lot to me because this was part of a bigger story.
Go back in time with me for a second because back at the Waterford Campus, years before meeting Sandra, God put a dream in my heart. Seeing the heartbreak in our congregation resulting from the pandemic, racial tensions, mass shootings, and other national and global events, I wanted to help people begin to put words to these hard feelings so we could then express them to God instead of becoming angry, bitter, or, worse yet–hopeless.
Our staff started meeting over Zoom periodically with anyone willing to jump online to pray together. I also worked on incorporating longer prayer times into services, and soon I’d somehow become the “go-to guy” for in-service prayers when we planned worship services. It was never something I set out to do, but it’s where God was leading.
At the same time, Grace Veronica joined Summit Orlando through our partnership with Nairobi Chapel, and soon after, God put a similar dream in her heart. She began a monthly Prayer Night at Summit Orlando, which has since expanded to Lake Mary. She had a vision for how a community of prayer could propel Summit to new heights. Like me, she too would say prayer wasn’t something that was a particular passion, but for some reason, it was something God placed on our hearts for this season.
The merging of our two campuses is what led Grace and me to discover the crossover of these two dreams. We were elated to find someone else working toward the same end. We saw potential in combining focused in-service prayer, the existing Prayer Team, and Prayer Night into one larger initiative. Connecting those dots would be difficult, but throughout these discussions, one name kept popping up, and that name was “Sandra.” She’d been a part of it all. She was the bridge! We decided we had to invite her into a leadership role if this community was to flourish as we originally envisioned.
Well, we did that. We all went to lunch. Sandra came ready with ideas, notes, and even a possible itinerary. We couldn’t have been more excited–something was happening here. Sandra even said that during those years leading up, God had been preparing her as well.
She felt led to go to seminary and had just finished, but was depending on God for the next step. Our invitation was timely. It confirmed a part of her story. She had been praying for a while now about how best to serve the Church. Eventually, God led her to see how she could bring life to Summit through the Prayer Team and Grace’s monthly Prayer Night. This was where God was leading Sandra too. Like us, she didn’t see herself as an expert in prayer, but strongly felt God was leading her in this direction.
Today, Sandra’s become a support to our staff. She’s helping to coordinate the dispersal and follow-up on prayer requests that come in through the bulletin each week, as well as reaching out to our ministry leaders to intercede on their behalf. She’s upfront at every 9 a.m. service at Summit Orlando and helps to provide leadership at our monthly Prayer Nights. She’s recruiting and coordinating too!
Our Prayer Team is small but mighty! At Prayer Night, there’s a growing community locking arms, going before the Lord on behalf of Summit and each other. Those who have been a part of building this know how important and transformational these prayerful moments can be. This is just the beginning of a bigger dream God has for us, and we can’t wait to see more dreams converge.
This is a blog to celebrate my friend Sandra Graham, but more importantly, it’s a story of how God moves. God plants dreams in our hearts and guides us toward completing those “good deeds” he’s prepared for us (Eph 2:10). Sometimes, they come easy. Sometimes they’re something we never expected to be doing. Sometimes, it can feel like you’re all alone in it, and then God places a Grace or a Sandra in your life. The truth is, with God, we’re never alone, and he always has a plan!
It's also a picture of how the Church has to work. We are meant to be a part of one another's stories. Needs as big as prayer can’t be left to a few staff members. Church takes all of us! It can be nice to have some specialized staff to lean on for teaching, organization, music, etc. Still, God has gifted us all in so many wonderful ways, and a few workers will never do as much as the entire body working together.
If you’re waiting on the sidelines, let this be an invitation to step out and be a part of someone’s story. We need you! The church needs you. If you’re in a season where you need prayer, let this be an invitation to attend our monthly Prayer Night. Grace, Sandra, and I would love to see you! God can do so much with just one step of faith.