soaking prayer

The city of Richmond has this very cool place called, Richmond Hill. Richmond Hill currently functions as a retreat center, a residential living community and as a place to come and pray for the city of Richmond. The buildings sit on a hill over looking downtown Richmond so there are some pretty cool sights to see from the old windows. It was originally built as a convent for cloistered nuns after the war (this means the nuns did not interact much, if at all, with the outside city). It was built so that they could pray for the city of Richmond and is currently continuing the work that they started. I have heard that Richmond Hill is a place where the "air is thin" in that the space between earth and God is very thin in its walls. 

On Thursday one of my classes was scheduled to meet in the Chapel at Richmond Hill. We were scheduled to attend a Soaking Prayer service. When I arrived I wasn't really sure what it was that we were getting into. I was feeling very overwhelmed and was not in the mood to sit in silence for a long period of time. We arrived to the old chapel and found silence. There were three ministers of healing who greeted us for the service. At the beginning of the service we were given notecards to write our prayer requests on. We were invited, after a short homily, to find a space on the floor to lay down and rest as the ministers came by to pray for us. We were encouraged to let them do the work of prayer. 

It seemed to be just what I needed that day. I lay on the floor letting my mind wander with thoughts of all that I had to do, all of the things I was thankful for, and all of the distractions I could not let go of. When the first minister came to sit beside me I could feel her presence moving around me. She gently touched me on the head and began to stroke my hair, just like my mom used to do when I was little, and I had this strange comfort about me. My eyes began to well with tears as I was aware that someone who did not even know my name was praying for me and the small list of requests I had on my notecard. It is amazing to feel completely soaked in prayer. This was not the first time I have felt the Spirit surrounding me with the prayers of another, but it was certainly a new way to feel soaked in the love of God. 

It was a simple way to have a service of prayer for the children of God.