At the White House

Saturday afternoon after two-and-a-half hours in the car, we made our way down Constitution Ave, past street vendors selling various Obama 2012 tee-shirts and trendy moms pushing equally trendy babies in trendy strollers. A prime parking spot had opened up almost immediately after we'd prayed for one. We were on the White House Ellipse - and we were worshiping!

A friend of a friend told me about David's Tent DC, and that is how I came to discover that a group from Texas had a vision to worship for 40 days and 40 nights in the nation's capital - worship without ceasing in the manner of David bringing back the Ark of the Covenant - leading up to the election. It was only after they resolved to do this that they found out that the first day of worship coincided with Yom Kippur.

As they began to put the details of doing this into place, they pondered "How cool would it be to get the White House Ellipse as a venue for worship?" But, being a Christian organization they figured they'd likely be regulated to somewhere outside the District of Columbia. When Parks and Recreation issued them their permit, without even being asked, it was for the White House Ellipse!

The band was phenomenal but the number of worshipers was sparse compared to what I'd expected for a beautiful Saturday. Probably only about a hundred people sat in and around the tents, although new ones kept coming in while others left. It struck me that the multitudes were thronging the fence in the distance, snapping shots of the White House, while we were thronging the White Throne. And while our numbers were significantly smaller, the passage from 2 Kings sprang to mind, when Elisha prayed over his servant, "O LORD, open his eyes that he may see!" and suddenly the servant saw that the place was full of horses and chariots of fire all around him. I was very conscious of Heaven taking note of our sacrifice, and of the angels and saints in chorus with us.

With the stark sense of our forefathers all around, it was very special to be there - offering up praise to the Holy One of Israel, with a direct view (if we opened our eyes) to the Executive Mansion. Worship is warfare. I'm inspired to continue it now that I'm back at home, day and night!