Silent Thunder

  • Paul Vroom
  • Jan 13, 2007

"We begin praying for others by first quieting our fleshly activity and listening to the silent thunder of the Lord of hosts." - Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p. 39


As you can well imagine, I am feeling like I live in a pressure cooker. Every day is one day closer to the launch of Missio Dei Church. In passing conversations and emails, I could sense the Launch Team had some of those same feelings of pressure. There was a feeling that the success of Missio Dei Church lies on our shoulders.

After my last Prayer Champions email, I received an email from Jason Zimmer, one of my buddies who has just planted North Point Church in Plainwell, MI. What he had to say was just what I needed. He said:

God continues to bless us with tons of growth and we have outgrown our current facility. As one church planter to another, plan for phase 2 now. What I mean is, start looking at bigger facilities as you plan over the one you have. We are in a little bit of jam. We can't find a building that will house our church population in the area...at least one that is available.

I also want to stress the need for prayer walks. We did 6 weeks of consistent prayer walks through the community and the outskirts of our building. We prayed over Wal-Mart parking lots, each street in the surrounding neighborhood and over most of the houses within a half mile of the church. I know our success is based on prayer and this alone. People ask me, "How do you get all of these unchurched people to come?" The only answer I can think of is, "We prayed for them before they ever showed up."


I knew that! I really did, but with the mounting pressure, I quickly forgot that prayer is not just an add-on. It is the main thing! Richard Foster said in Celebration of Discipline, "It is the Discipline of Prayer that brings us into the deepest and highest work of the human spirit." Prayer is the deepest and highest work of the human spirit. What a phenomenal reminder for me as the Lead Pastor and for you, our greatest supporters. Pray.

As you enter into 2007, I want to really encourage you to be a person of prayer. As you drive, work out, stand in line, eat, work on the computer, I pray that you will be willing to "quiet your fleshly activity" and begin "listening to the silent thunder of the Lord of hosts" as you pray for Missio Dei Church.