When you are asked if you would like to come along to a Willow Grace Prayer Retreat, those two words can create different responses; excitement at the thought of spending time with God, being in His presence, putting time aside to dedicate entirely to Him, sojourning with other believers. Or the complete opposite; fear at not measuring up, the feeling of not being devoted enough to spend extended time with Him, feeling intimidated by other believers and the thinking that they are more “holy” than you.
I think I’ve experienced every emotion that I’ve mentioned above. I’ve come to realise what’s important and should outweigh every emotion is your intimacy with Him. Do you want to be closer to Him? Most believers would say yes (they should say yes!). Put negative responses aside and realise what is important to your walk. This should be at the forefront off your mind. Take the focus off you and put it on Him, he is longing for you to take time with Him.
Usually, the first question I am asked when I invite someone to the Willow Grace Prayer Retreat is “who is the guest speaker?”. We invite the same guest speaker every retreat, we love his teaching, He is someone who speaks truth that can at times be confronting, He never tires of endless questions and He is open to question and answer time, He will teach you something new every retreat and beyond, He will say something so insightful that you will carry it with you for the rest of your life. He is the Holy Spirit, and we welcome Him with open arms, eagerly waiting on Him to reveal Himself in His word, in our personal retreating quiet times, in group discussions and of course in our fellowship and mealtimes. We don’t normally have any other guest speakers come. We do watch different teachings that are relevant to retreating and growing in God.
We previously had the privilege of having a worship team come to minister to us, but recently we have had worship with us and God with some background music. As much as I love a good worship band and the depth they bring to a meeting, worshiping when it is raw and spontaneous is an amazing experience. It feels so much more real, not relying on the worship team to lead but every woman lifting up their voice to the Holy One in their own worship to Him. This is in no way intimidating as everyone worships from the heart and every woman is experiencing their own worship with the Lord.
I think things are shifting with the children of God, the need to experience God in a real and meaningful way is becoming urgent, without the glitz and glamour, the perfect worship team or the immaculately dressed speaker (although our guest speaker is perfect in every way). Knowing the times we are living in and the fact we know the world is only going to get darker, we need to be devoted to our faith and our God.
This is what you will find at Willow Grace Prayer Retreats, no matter where you are in your walk with God you will be welcomed by genuine, caring women who want to see you step out and grow in your love for the Lord. Women who will then go and impact their sphere of influence. Women who will not be intimidated by others to express their love of the Lord. This retreat is a safe and non-judgmental space for women at all stages of their faith. It’s up to you to step out and step in.
