Soaring Above the Storm
The news hit the room like the crash of a thunderstorm. With no warning and no time to prepare, war had broken out across the Arab Gulf.
Hundreds had gathered together from across the Earth for a conference of Christian leaders in the region. The original plan had been to close the conference the next day with an in-person prayer gathering. That plan was no longer possible. Travel was uncertain, gathering in numbers suddenly carried real risk, and the closing service that had been on the schedule for months had to be canceled.
Some of the leaders asked a simple question: why don’t we pray together anyway, just online? Brad, the leader of the MAPS Global Arab Gulf Missions Base, worked to coordinate with other ministry leaders to host an online prayer call. Brad would end up leading the time of prayer as God gathered people in a way that no one had expected.
This prayer meeting in the midst of war and uncertainty didn’t stop the storm - it created an updraft, a kind of quickly rising current of air that allows birds to save energy and travel farther than they could on their own strength. In the same way, the updraft of God’s presence poured out through prayer and intercession was about to do the same for everyone on that call.
The call started, and people joined. And people kept joining — not just the ones who'd been at the conference, but others logging in from wherever they were, many in the middle of the same crisis. Not just hundreds, but thousands joined: over 1,000 different devices, totaling over 3,000 people praying together during this call.
The updraft of God’s presence began to lift up people who chose to bring a sudden, frightening reality to God instead of carrying it alone. They prayed for neighbors and strangers alike. They prayed for leaders making decisions in real time. As prayer brought them into a new perspective, many of those who prayed together were strengthened by the same conviction: God is sovereign and above any storm. Not just the storms that we can plan for.
The power of the presence of God through prayer and worship was an updraft that brought thousands of people soaring above the storm, and is supernaturally sustaining them through the journey ahead.