School of prayer

From before her first beach mission, Abby’s SU journey has been marked by prayer. Her final season as director for Queenscliff Theos has taught her the power of specific prayers as she witnessed something truly amazing.

Queenscliff Theos (a beach mission aimed at late teens and young adults) has been serving the Bellarine Peninsula in VIC for over 30 years. This year in answer to the long-term prayers of many, they were joined by a newly formed Scripture Union Family Mission (SUFM) team and the two served alongside each other at the local footy oval.

One night during the Theos’ usual ‘hot seat’ segment, one of the leaders shared on the topic ‘Is God really real?’ It seemed to strike a chord with everyone present.

After the sharing, Abby remembers being in awe of what happened next:

“Every single leader was engaged in a faith conversation with a teenager who had either struck up a conversation or was willfully engaging in a spiritual conversation. [Normally we] average maybe two or three after each segment, but for everyone to be engaged was amazing.

“We gave out more Bibles than we took down. We had to call in Bible reinforcements!”

Abby describes that evening as “the best night of ministry” she’s ever experienced.

But little did she know that someone else had also had a full night of ministry. A full night of prayer.

Just five minutes away from the oval, the SUFM team were back at their accommodation. They had established a room here as a permanent prayer space.

The SUFM team were praying for the Theos team during the segment. After they finished their time of prayer, one person stayed.

“She spent hours in the prayer room that night, praying for each of the team specifically.

“We have to give credit to God for what happened that night, not just for what he did on the oval, but how he drew people to pray for that to happen,” Abby concludes.

Abby has always relied on prayer but this experience has grown her understanding of how she can pray.

“This mission has been a school of prayer, because we’ve learned how to pray specifically, tangibly and even measurably.

“And that has been so formative because when you pray specific prayers, you get to see specific answers.”

Thank you for praying for and supporting SU ministries like Queenscliff Theos and SUFM. Click here to read more about how prayer enabled the SUFM to return to Queenscliff after the long-term prayers of many.

To continue praying for the specific needs of SU Australia, sign up to receive our quarterly prayer guide at su.org.au/prayer.