Pause for Prayer

Thursday, June 7, 2001 - WCRF-FM, Cleveland, Ohio

by Kinney Cathcart 

About four weeks ago, I asked for prayer for a booth our church was manning at a local carnival. Because our task at "Pause for Prayer" is to bring the body of Christ together in concerted prayer for what we prayerfully discern is on God’s heart,  I was hoping that those of you who heard that broadcast would find application in your own lives, and I pray that is so.

What I have as my task now is trying to find a way to give a bottom line about the miraculous things that happened the four days we sat in a booth with a banner that simply read “How can we pray for you?”

What happened was amazing, and I want to thank all those of you who prayed for this event. We not only had the visitors to the booth write down what their requests were, which we collected in a large hard-bound book, but also the booth volunteers took the opportunity to record what we called "stories from the booth," which were interesting God sightings that they experienced on their watches.

We learned many things and we hope to tweak this concept for next year, but the main thing we realized is that because we were offering a "service" and a free book to all who came by, that that encouraged people to stop in. They were very open to share their burdens, because they had made the choice to stop by. We were not approaching them, which we found out, many people are uncomfortable with, but rather, the visitors to the booth were the initiators, and we were responding to them, to their need.

All I know is that I have never felt so prayed for in my life. You know how you can tell when people are praying for you, and when God is doing something amazing? That’s what we experienced at our booth. The first person to write a request was the mayor of the town, followed by several policemen and the men who had run the carnival, which encouraged us.

We not only received prayer requests about serious illnesses and broken relationships, but also about folks praying that loved ones would come closer to Christ.

We prayed for several pastors and even some African missionaries who stopped by our booth. Many carnival workers who live a nomadic lifestyle took comfort in the fact that someone would pray for them and their needs. Thank you for joining in such a special event, which I hope will have ripples going out for years to come. Please pray with me:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for meeting us last weekend, as many people let their requests be made known to You at our booth. May they see Your love for them as Your answers unfold. Please find the booth workers faithful to follow-up with those whose phone numbers we have, as well as by praying faithfully according to the requests we received.

Please draw many closer to You through the 500+ books we gave away, called The Case for Faith, by Lee Strobel. May others catch this vision. In Jesus’ Name, Amen 

Also see:

Kinney Cathcart is actively involved in the Fellowship Bible Church, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and in prayer ministries throughout northeast Ohio.  She is also one of the prayer leaders on daily radio program, "Pause for Prayer," on WCRF-FM in Cleveland.

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