“It’s like a little oasis for us in the midst of our busy, busy lifestyle where we can reconnect with God and also with the other people there,” said Mary Kirk. Mary and her husband were two of the many people who attended the Oregon Prayer Conference Twin Rocks near Rockaway Beach, Oregon in late March. The Oregon Prayer Conference is an annual 3-day event focused on developing a faithful prayer life, studying prayer more deeply, and coming together to pray for the vast range of circumstances brought by each person there. The event is organized by the Oregon Conference Prayer Ministries team, whose purpose and mission is to provide an atmosphere for people to learn and experience the importance of personal and intercessory prayer. Through their ministry they emphasize God’s eagerness to answer our prayers, educate people on the role of the Holy Spirit and angels in our prayers, and explore the conditions of answered prayer. The prayer ministries team helps develop each of these both in local churches and through events like the Oregon Prayer Conference retreat and the “Garden of Prayer” you may have seen in Gladstone Park during camp meeting.
Along with community and individual prayer, Pastor Ron Clouzet guided those in attendance through several ways to develop their faith and strengthen their prayer lives. Mary shared how meaningful it was for her when, after submitting a personal prayer request, she heard another woman she hadn’t met praying earnestly over it. She also shared that she is part of a local prayer ministry at her home church in Brookings, Oregon. “One thing that has really helped me is to pray Scripture,” she said, “to pray it and to memorize it. That has helped me a lot - to personalize Scripture and to pray it. God is so good. He has given me prayers out of Scripture to pray for my family and my friends. It’s just helped me a lot. His word prayed back to Him is so powerful, and I’ve seen a lot of answered prayers through that.”
To those looking forward to next year, Mary shared this, “Everybody is broken and everybody has needs. If you have those requests, those things that are not going right in your life, you really need to come.”
The Oregon Prayer Conference creates an opportunity to spend time together, to listen to each other’s struggles and joys, and to intercede on each other’s behalf. “I love how we pray together - and how we get to sit together and eat together,” Mary shared with me, “I met some new friends there and I’m so excited to keep in contact with them. These are forever friends. They will be your friends for eternity. So it was a wonderful privilege to go to the prayer conference.”
