Away To Pray: Will You Go?
What if you were flown to a surprise country with no other goal besides prayer?
That’s exactly what GEM UK did in the month of April. Three women from Birmingham, England stepped up to the invitation to spend three days praying for a city somewhere in Europe — on this occasion, it was Rome. Each woman was given a small sum of pocket money, a brief travel packet, and no agenda other than to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance. The name of this venture? Away to Pray.
We caught up with two of the venturers upon their return to hear some of their takeaways from the experience (for the sake of privacy, their names will be initialled).
Why did you first sign up for Away to Pray?
J: I enjoyed the heart behind it. The idea of stepping out on a bit of an adventure with the Lord, as well as seeing the power of prayer. It’s something that the Lord has been growing in me anyway for the last few years. It just seemed to fit together as something that I could do and maybe should do. I have to say, I had a mixture of excitement and nervousness of like, oh, “I wonder what this could be like”.
A: I first heard about the early stages of the idea back in November. It was something that I thought I could totally do. It seems like a fun adventure, and a really great learning experience.
What were you most excited for/concerned about as you were boarding the plane?
J: I think I just felt excited. I just thought, “Well, here we go. We’ll see what the Lord does.” I felt quite prayerful for the time already and found it helpful to think of Scriptures to come back to, like sources to draw upon when praying. At the airport, A and I sat and had a cup of tea and read some Scriptures together. And then we went through Gate 55, and I know not everybody moves through the world taking every number as a meaning, and I don’t necessarily think like this all the time, but… we went through Gate 55, and Isaiah 55 is a chapter of the Bible that has come back to me many times, over the last couple of years, particularly when praying for Birmingham and for my friends who don’t know the Lord. This chapter has come up a lot. So it just felt like a nice prompt to read that chapter again on the plane and know that I could be praying this over Rome. We revisited that passage several times throughout our trip as well as a Psalm that we talked about. So I was just excited.
A: When I was boarding the plane, I felt excited too. It was my first time going to Rome so there was the excitement of going somewhere new. Before leaving for the airport I was reading through Romans 8, because that’s what God had on my heart. And then N had mentioned it would be fun to read all of Romans while in Rome. We got into the Word on the plane and started at the beginning of the book of Romans, and just talked over what stuff stuck out. Paul’s encouragement and teaching is still applicable
specifically to the Romans. That was an exciting thing that started to develop while being on the plane.
What was your first memorable experience after you landed?
A: We landed in Rome pretty late at night. All of the hostels were booked, but it jogged my memory that I had swapped numbers with some missionaries in Italy. I was able to call them up and it turns out that they live in Rome. I asked if we could crash on their couch and they said yes. And so after we got turned around on the bus, we finally got to their place after dinner and got to stay with them. They shared about how their personal ministry is doing. They’d been involved with J and N’s ministry in Birmingham and were really encouraged by the stories of the ups and downs that they got to share. Sometimes we don’t see the success that God brings because we’re in the midst of it. And so that broader outside perspective, I think, was encouraging for all of us.
J: Yes, it definitely felt like that sort of mutual encouragement that Paul talks about in Romans 1. We were really humbled because it was quite late at night by the time we got there and this couple hadn’t been expecting us. It was so kind and it was really humbling and we were so blessed. But also, hopefully, I think there was something that we brought. Like A was saying, we also got to be encouraged by their encouragement and we got to bless them by having no other agenda really than just to pray for them and share. And that was really great. In the morning we all had a cup of tea and listened as they shared about their ministry. We were able to respond to that and listen and then pray for them. So it was nice, that flexibility and freedom of knowing that this is what we’re here to do. We’re here to bring a blessing and to pray. This is where the Lord has led us to. So let’s pray for these folks that have not long been in the city and want to serve it.
Do you have any favourite moments from your trip?
A: At one point, we paused at a park. There was an aqueduct with a little plaque explaining about cypress trees, and how the word for cypress or cedar connects to gopher wood and that was used to build Noah’s Ark. It was so stark to see the plaque speaking about the Bible like it’s a fact, which would never happen in the UK. We sat down in the park and prayed and read through the Psalms and Isaiah passages, and saw really, really clearly how they lined up to each other. It also aligned with our experience and helped gain insight into different things like the imagery of trees and water. And then half an hour later, the heavens opened with pouring rain, and the streets were flooded. And so again, just seeing this power of God. So that was just kind of like an, oh, wow, the Lord had us in these passages. And then He showed different aspects of those passages while we were going about our day. I think it was like a major ‘aha‘ moment.
J: There was another time that we stopped into a church and were given tea by two of the pastors there. There was something really special about stepping into that church. We heard the two men share their heart for the city. It felt to me like a really Holy encounter that we had. Then one of them asked, “Have you been to the Holy Stairs yet?” Scala Sancta is the other name. He shared about how moving it is to see the desperation of some people that go and maybe pursue these places with motives that are deceiving them. Maybe they visit and they think that by doing a certain penance or performing a certain thing, it would change their own spiritual standing, and distracts from the Gospel that sets us free. All that Jesus has already accomplished for us. We thought, ‘Sure, we’ll go, why not?’ It felt like something we were led to do. So we went.
To me, that was another moving moment: seeing these stairs that you can only ascend on your knees. Obviously there’s all different reasons why people might go to those stairs and do that. They’re thought to be the original stairs that Jesus ascended to receive His judgment from Pontius Pilate. I don’t know whether they are or not, and there may well be very good reasons that people come and want to see these stairs out of devotion, just to be near them. And I thought, “I don’t need to do anything for me or anyone else. I don’t need to go up these stairs on my knees.” But then I decided that I wanted to. I wanted to do it prayerfully for anyone else that would go up those stairs. I wanted to bring my prayers into that space very intentionally. It just felt meaningful. Again, I will never know how those prayers fit into the impact of the Kingdom, but it just felt really meaningful to be there.
What did you learn about with regard to praying for a city?
A: I think God can clearly give direction and vision, but having the input of others who are living in it helps better hone in those prayers. And so if I do this again, which I hope to, I look forward to finding those local churches or those local workers and say, “Hey, we’re here and the whole purpose is to bless through prayer. How can we pray for you?” And in that conversation, God is glorified because His story is being told. And we’re able to encourage each other by sharing the story that God is writing in that place. But ultimately blessing through that prayer aspect. Because I’ve gone on prayer walks without that sort of direction of what is actually happening or what’s the cultural temperature, religious temperature of the area. You can pray those big, big prayers or those random really specific ones that the Spirit gives you, but I think there’s an added blessing of knowing more of the specifics.
J: I think I came away with very similar thoughts as well. Just the importance of knowing that wherever we pray, to pray for the believers that are in that space. Even if it’s not cross-cultural but in our own close context. We should still have that humble posture of asking, “What are the people here facing?” God wants to work through His local church. Everyone’s experience will be different, but I definitely came away with a heart for the believers in Rome and with a heart for the city, and the specific challenges that are faced by a lot of Italian culture and evangelical churches. It was good to actually learn the structure and some of the structural challenges that are there. I feel like I can pray more meaningfully now, after having met with some of the believers and hearing their pain as well and their struggles. God does use prayer even when we don’t really see the results. And I think that’s something I’m growing in. If we feel led to go somewhere and to pray, then we should, and we won’t necessarily see some sort of instant change, but there will be change. There is value in it for the Kingdom and in the spiritual realms that we’re not yet seeing.
What might you say to encourage someone to join you on an Away to Pray trip?
A: I’ve been telling people already, and I haven’t really said anything magical. When I share my experience, they say, “I want to do that, too.” People, I think, are hungry for those sorts of experiences. Just invite people to go on an adventure with Jesus. That’s it. So much can be done with faith the size of a mustard seed. So it’s not like you have to have a robust prayer life either.
J: I think maybe I’d encourage people and say that it’s an opportunity to just bring yourself. You’re not going to need to have lots of life skills or qualifications or preparations in some way. Do you know what I mean? You just need to be willing and obedient and trust that the Lord will use you. There’s something quite freeing about coming with those empty hands and just saying, “Here I am, send me.”
How does it feel to leave behind a city you’ve been praying for?
A: Leaving after three days just seemed to make sense. I’m sure we could have extended it and kept going along, but there was such an intensity of it being short term and spending long days. We gained a lot of insight into what’s going on and felt the quick cycle of pouring out and being poured into. It just felt like the right time to go. We take with us the stories that we’ve shared and will share with others. God will continue to use that short stint to challenge others into short term missions. People might think, “Oh, I’ve never thought about doing anything like that, but I could see myself doing that. So let’s go.” And then once they’ve done it for the short term, they might feel challenged to try the long term. It can change how we’re doing life now, too. I can see the potential of Kingdom expansion from just that short amount of time, even if we’re the only team that ever does it. There’s still so much fruit that could be produced from it. And so I just felt at peace with leaving.
J: I really couldn’t believe that it had just been like 48 hours. It just felt like we’d experienced so much. It was very intense, but totally worth it. After reflecting, I thought I could spend 48 hours in my own city and not be as focused or intentional about what I’m doing or what’s going on around me. This trip freed me up to think, “Well, I’m only here to pray and to be receptive to what’s going on around me and be led by the Spirit.” I actually could be way more like this back in Birmingham, where I’m not as bold, I’m not as receptive. So there was something about this trip that made me want to carry this intentionality and boldness back to my own city. This is how I should be moving through the world: looking for opportunities to bless people in a big way or in a small way. So yeah, I just definitely felt like I wanted to carry that back.
If you could go back in time to the trip, what item would you tell yourself to take along?
A: I would have taken a journal. N and J had journals and I realized I missed an opportunity. I process things better while journaling. Why didn’t I think like that? It would’ve helped just being able to process more in the moment because it is just intense, 48 hours, like boom, boom, boom. When I had those quiet moments that did happen it would have been great to write down prayers and remember it all.
J: We brought along some little Scripture cards to leave behind when we had opportunities to. It was quite fun because we did it a couple of times. When we paid for something, we just left one in the bottom of the box, you know, and left one on the table at the airport or something. I just thought that I’d do that again. I’d take those again.