Sometimes the eyes get blurry, a little weary even, trying to see up ahead to get to the place God is leading us. We let this happen, with what we do and don’t do, and sometimes others cause this to happen, with the junk they do; we focus on them and get our eyes twisted and they blur and weary and we struggle to see. This happened to me this weekend at one of the greatest events of my life: The EACH (Everyone A Chance to Hear) Prayer Walk, a gathering of more than 20,000 Christians to pray for revival in Detroit and its surrounding region. Together were black and white, young and old, suburban and urban, tearing down divisive walls of race and space to be unified in Christ, recognizing He is the only one who can breathe life into our dead spaces. And it was amazing to see so many brothers and sisters singing and praising God for who He is and for bringing us into unchartered territory. He even vigorously cleared the clouds across the grey sky to show us a blue sunny heaven, evidenced to us that He was with us.

We got happy.

So some of us walked and talked, and walked and joked, and walked and ate, and walked and sang or prayed really, really loudly. I understand why this happened: We were excited, overjoyed, to be a part of history, of something so magnanimous, so impactful, so powerful, something that has never happened with Christians in this region. We got distracted by newness and eagerness to begin our journey down the famed Woodward Avenue. Some of us probably started walking before completely hearing the instructions on how to pray. The time was also like a family reunion, with all sorts of cousins over the generations and experiences and levels of Christian maturity. With this family mix, missed instructions and magnitude of the moment, it was natural that some fellowship, food, fun and even fame could slip into the movement.

Fellowship
This is a hallmark of the Christian faith, but when we focus on talking to each other, especially when it’s not about Jesus when we have a work to do, then fellowship can get us off focus (Acts 2:41-42). I worked hard to ignore non-prayerful greetings.

Food
There was a group that provides food for the homeless every weekend along our walk route. Some of the walkers left the Prayer Walk to get snacks and eat them as they walked (John 4:34).

Fun
Cracking jokes always seem to lighten uncomfortable moments, like walking among folks you don’t know and who may pray and worship God in very different ways. This may have been the case with the ones I heard.

Fame
The Scriptures clearly tell us to make a joyful noise to the Lord and it also says to make music in our hearts (Psalm 98:4; Ephesians 5:19). Both are okay. So as my husband led my children, another sister who approached us, and me in a quiet heart prayer, a group of praying folks shouted praise to God right into my ear, not once as if they just happened to get happy right next to me but three times as if they were trying to prompt us to get louder, to be heard. As you probably guessed, I opened my eyes to grimace these distracters. I grieved, knowing that I as much as some others had grieved the Holy Spirit.

So today I’m thankful for such a mighty move of God with the EACH Prayer Walk, an unmatched effort filled with love, unity and glorifying Jesus Christ. I’m also thankful He showed me how even seemingly good intentions can distract us from the good He intends for us. As God seeks to revive our hearts to ripen us to revive our nations, let us be mindful of the fellowship, food, fun and fame along our routes that can easily rock us off course.

What are some things that have distracted you from revival?

My One Thousand Gifts list:

#11-20
My cell phone
My iPad
The book “Faithful”
The book “One Thousand Gifts”
My husband giving me vitamins
My husband giving me almonds
My husband washing clothes
A deep freezer full of food
House shoes
Watching my 1 year old eat fresh apple pieces

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith