On
Tuesday morning the leaders of Kristent Fellesskap in Bergen area come
together to seek the Lord and to enjoy fellowship as we have breakfast
together. Solveig rises early morning at 0500 to prepare the breakfast
for the brothers and friends praying together. We have a wonderful time
praying together, but the time of fellowship as we enjoy the delicious
breakfast only Solveig can make, is even more precious to us. The
brothers always give praise to God for Solveig, they really appreciate
her – and her breakfast!

Tuesday
and Wednesday mornings are times of prayer and fellowship. This week I will only be able to enjoy one of them as I will be teaching at the Bible School on Wednesday. I really enjoy coming together
with brother and friends for prayer. I will try to explain why it is
such a wonderful time for me when I am able to be part of these two
special prayer meetings!

This
combination of praying and eating together is a powerful experience for
all of us. Normally we are ten to fourteen people that meet at 0600
in the morning. We give shorts reports from our work and ouir walk with
the Lord, we share some "hot" Scriptures, and then we enter the courts
of heaven with praise and thanksgiving. Sometimes we are totally lost
in the presence of God and we just love him. Sometimes the Spirit leads
us in deep intercession. Sometimes the Spirit direct us to pray for
specific situations or people. Sometimes we just give thanks for family
and friends and the network of covenant communities we are part of.
Sometimes we pray for the city, the political leaders and those in the
market place. Sometimes we pray for the churches and sometimes we
mainly pray for world mission. Irrespectively of how the Spirit directs
us in prayer, it is always good to pray together.

When
we share the meal together we joke and laugh and have a lot of fun.
Sometimes we can have a hot discussion. Sometimes we have a deep
theological dialog. Sometime we ask for advice, sometimes we give
advice. Sometimes we just chat and enjoy one another's company – with
the food. Always there is a lot of joy at the table! Always we eat in
the presence of God. Always the meal lasts a long time! Only as the
duties are calling us to work we leave.

The
Wednesday morning prayer meeting is a gathering of about ten to
fifteen pastors and Christian leaders from many different congregations
in the city coming together to seek the welfare of the city through
praying and blessing the entire city. Some of us try to come early and
leave late to be able to have some fellowship as well in addition to
praying together. Since we have been praying regularly together this
way for several years, many of us have developed a close friendship as
well. Actually we don't meet as pastors or colleagues any more, we come
together to pray as friends!

I
always enjoy praying together with my friends. There is something
special in entering the presence of God together with your friends. It
helps me to forget about myself and the work I am doing. It helps me to
appreciate that the Church of God is bigger than the congregation I
meet with on a Sunday morning. It helps me to understand that what we
normally call a local church, acctually is not a local church in the
real Biblical sense, but only a modern time congregation that is having
a meeting, – a service. Even the leaders I meet with do not represent
the local church of Bergen, – only a part of it.

So I realize that our special prayer meetings actually are more than prayer meetings. That is why I value them so highly!