You will show me the path of life;
in Your presence is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand are pleasures
forevermore.
Psalm 16:11 NKJV
This morning, as is my custom every Sunday, I headed to the chapel area shortly after the completion of the breakfast meal around 8:15...
in Your presence is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand are pleasures
forevermore.
Psalm 16:11 NKJV
This morning, as is my custom every Sunday, I headed to the chapel area shortly after the completion of the breakfast meal around 8:15...
Ten inmates, including myself, have permission to go to the chapel area about 90 minutes before the start of the actual worship service, which normally begins at 10 A.M. As the "set-up crew" we go ahead of the others in order to set up all the equipment as well as to have a time of preparatory prayer to help set our hearts aright before the Lord.
For our equipment we put into place everything from the choir's instruments and sound system, to hanging our colorful Scripture banners on the walls. We also place Gideon's pew-style Bibles on the chairs for the men to use, as well as prayer request forms, each man is free to fill out one or more request forms which are then placed into our community prayer box. The elders of our congregation pray over these requests on a regular basis.
My congregation asked for prayers for the salvation of their loved ones, to protection for their wives and children. Some request divine help for their appeals that are before the courts. They may also ask for prayers for those who are sick. While others seek help from God because they're lonely and depressed. Their needs are not much different from that of Christians on the outside.
Today was also Communion, which, under our chaplain's direction, we have once per month. My responsibility is to set up the various items that are needed for this. I have to lay out and fill the drinking cups with grape juice (no real wine here!). I likewise take the slices of matzoh* and break the matzoh into smaller bite-size pieces. All of this has to be laid out on a clean white tablecloth before the service starts.
But beyond all these activities, the power and presence of God was here. Of course the Lord's presence is always here; He is everywhere! But today was special. It was as if the Lord was touching many hearts in a noticeable way. I myself was weeping during our worship. I often shed tears. But this time there were many tears. And I saw several other men doing the same. For me, it felt as if Jesus Himself was personally refreshing my weary soul. I've been so exhausted. I needed this.
In addition, at the close of the service, because I am still officially the worship leader, I asked one particular man to come to the altar that we might pray for his mother. She was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. Therefore the entire congregation stood to our feet and we simultaneously raised our hands toward heaven as we prayed for her, and for her son. He's considered to be mildly retarded and has a learning disability. He also talks with a pronounced lisp, and with much stuttering. Thus I was brought to tears yet again hearing him as he cried out to God with stammering lips in behalf of his dying Mama. He reminded me of a sad and frightened child as he called upon the Lord.
But this is a part of what the church is for. It's not merely a place for people to socialize in. It's a "Holy Ghost Hospital" where the sick, desperate and brokenhearted can go to find help and healing, and victory from the power of sin. And, today, the prison's chapel was just such a place. It became a hospital for those who've been damaged by their own sin nature, and by a lifetime of Satan's buffetings, and who now need a touch from God.
D.B.
*Matzoh (also Matzo or Matzoth) is a flat, brittle piece of unleavened bread traditionally eaten by Jews during the Passover holiday. Nowadays it is very popular in some parts of the world, and it is eaten by both Jews and Gentiles.
For our equipment we put into place everything from the choir's instruments and sound system, to hanging our colorful Scripture banners on the walls. We also place Gideon's pew-style Bibles on the chairs for the men to use, as well as prayer request forms, each man is free to fill out one or more request forms which are then placed into our community prayer box. The elders of our congregation pray over these requests on a regular basis.
My congregation asked for prayers for the salvation of their loved ones, to protection for their wives and children. Some request divine help for their appeals that are before the courts. They may also ask for prayers for those who are sick. While others seek help from God because they're lonely and depressed. Their needs are not much different from that of Christians on the outside.
Today was also Communion, which, under our chaplain's direction, we have once per month. My responsibility is to set up the various items that are needed for this. I have to lay out and fill the drinking cups with grape juice (no real wine here!). I likewise take the slices of matzoh* and break the matzoh into smaller bite-size pieces. All of this has to be laid out on a clean white tablecloth before the service starts.
But beyond all these activities, the power and presence of God was here. Of course the Lord's presence is always here; He is everywhere! But today was special. It was as if the Lord was touching many hearts in a noticeable way. I myself was weeping during our worship. I often shed tears. But this time there were many tears. And I saw several other men doing the same. For me, it felt as if Jesus Himself was personally refreshing my weary soul. I've been so exhausted. I needed this.
In addition, at the close of the service, because I am still officially the worship leader, I asked one particular man to come to the altar that we might pray for his mother. She was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. Therefore the entire congregation stood to our feet and we simultaneously raised our hands toward heaven as we prayed for her, and for her son. He's considered to be mildly retarded and has a learning disability. He also talks with a pronounced lisp, and with much stuttering. Thus I was brought to tears yet again hearing him as he cried out to God with stammering lips in behalf of his dying Mama. He reminded me of a sad and frightened child as he called upon the Lord.
But this is a part of what the church is for. It's not merely a place for people to socialize in. It's a "Holy Ghost Hospital" where the sick, desperate and brokenhearted can go to find help and healing, and victory from the power of sin. And, today, the prison's chapel was just such a place. It became a hospital for those who've been damaged by their own sin nature, and by a lifetime of Satan's buffetings, and who now need a touch from God.
D.B.
*Matzoh (also Matzo or Matzoth) is a flat, brittle piece of unleavened bread traditionally eaten by Jews during the Passover holiday. Nowadays it is very popular in some parts of the world, and it is eaten by both Jews and Gentiles.
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