Prayer was perhaps the most important aspect of the
work of the crossBeaTs. Our
prayer partners were crucial but, quite naturally,
before every meeting we would come together as a band for a very short time of
prayer. This took place after all the equipment had been lugged in and
set up, and we had (maybe) had a bit of a sound check. Evidence of this
can be seen in the write-up of a meeting at
Trafalgar Square (when we went back to the van to pray).
Prayer of this
sort can become 'automatic' and seem to be done out of habit, but we were
convinced that it was right to bring what we were about to do before God in
prayer. Understandably, we never wanted to do this in front of other
people (lest we be thought to be pharisaical ...!), so we tended to try to find
a side room or other quiet place.
Often, this meant going into the
gents' toilet (restroom) - as it was the only isolated room available. At
first, this was made fun of, but eventually, it became the most natural thing
in the world. I would estimate that of the (upwards of) ~1000 bookings
undertaken by the crossBeaTs, over ~400 were
preceded by a 'toilet prayer time'. |
