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Jacqueline
P. Thornton is First Lady of Sweet Hope Free Will
Baptist Church in Baltimore,
Maryland.
She is also a Claims Representative for State
Farm Insurance Company.
A few years ago the Women of Wisdom ministry at
our church had a three day retreat. During the planning
of the retreat, along with one of the ministers at our
church, I realized that many of our ladies had never
been on a retreat. Some had never experienced ‘getting
away,’ to allow the Lord to minister to them away from
the sanctuary. As we prepared for the retreat, I
encouraged those who would be attending to be ‘selfish’
and allow God to minister to them individually and get
all that God wanted to give them during the three days.
I urged the women not to allow the adversary to
interrupt what God had planned just for them. I urged
the women not to leave the retreat the same way they
arrived. The women were asked to fast and pray prior to
the retreat in preparation of what God would do.
Upon arrival at the
Black Rock Retreat
Center in Pennsylvania we marveled at the massive
acreage and the calm serenity that surrounded us. We
enjoyed powerful preaching each day. We dined together
for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Throughout the retreat, everyone was encouraged
to find a quiet place on the grounds and be still with
God.
One of the highlights we
experienced was the ‘Prayer Wall.’ The ladies were asked
to write their prayer requests on a large piece of
construction paper. The paper covered an entire wall
from one end to the other. It was an awesome sight to
see the ladies writing their prayer requests on the
wall. Each
woman was designated a time slot to pray at the wall
throughout the three days. Prayers were offered
consistently throughout the retreat. Even when preaching
was going on, someone was always on duty praying at the
wall.
When it was my time to pray, I
started at one end of the wall and made my way to the
end. It took about an hour as I read and prayed for each
prayer concern. Reading the prayers was very moving and
I left the wall flooded with tears.
During times of reflection, we heard stories of
prayers being answered while at the retreat. Yokes were
broken and deliverance came to many in attendance.
Another high moment was the burning
of the prayers. At the end of the retreat, the ‘Prayer
Wall’ was taken down and rolled up. There was also a box
called ‘Hot Prayers’ which was designated for women to
place their anonymous prayers. Once all the prayers were
gathered together, everyone walked to the campfire area
where we lit a fire. We sang, prayed and burned all of
the prayers allowing the
aroma from the fire to ascend up towards heaven as we
asked the Lord to grant answers to all of the prayers.
It was truly a monumental experience for everyone in
attendance.
When we
returned to church that Sunday, the spirit was still
very high for all of us who attended the retreat and we
praised and thanked God for ministering to us.
Pastor Thornton preached a word that sealed all
that God did for us at the retreat.
We were all truly blessed because we took the
time to retreat with God and for that, we are grateful.
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