By Thomas Bush | Photos Courtesy of Geoff Hsu

At the end of February, 50 San Diego pastors journeyed to Julian, Ca., to spend an extended time with the Lord and each other at the San Diego Pastors Prayer Retreat. The Lord placed it on the hearts of the associational leadership team to organize and host this first of its kind prayer event, opening the retreat to all San Diego evangelical pastors.

Pastors from across the county were invited to spend time praying with and for each other, with the belief that God would meet them as they humbled themselves before Him. During the retreat, pastors were challenged to take the next step in their personal intimacy with God, leading the church in prayer, and praying for the community.

The first session focused on each leader’s personal relationship with God, based on John 17:3 and Philippians 3:10. The pastors spent time reflecting on the scripture, then met in small groups to share how the Lord was speaking to them and to pray for each other. Friday’s session concluded with pastors praying for and communicating with each other about how they were reminded that intimacy with God is the foundation for all that they do in ministry.

The theme of “intimacy” became key to the rest of the weekend, and for Pastor Yucan Chiu, the theme continued to resonate personally in the weeks to follow.

“The most powerful thing was how the retreat forced us to think about our intimacy with our life, church, and Savior, and ultimately answer the question of what gets priority.”

Saturday continued with meaningful times of prayer and worship. The focus of the prayer times moved to praying about the pastor’s role in prayer for his church. The pastors spent time corporately giving praise to God for His plan for the church. One local church pastor shared his testimony about how the Lord gave him a revelation about prayer as he cried out to the Him on the verge of burnout. In response to this testimony, the pastors prayed that they would submit to God’s leadership of the church and do their part in leading out in prayer. 

At the end of the retreat, Mike Carlisle of Vision San Diego provided the final prayer focus as the pastors prepared to pray for their community. Mike shared his sense of how intimacy with God and with others ties into the oneness that the Lord wants to express in our communities, as pastors and churches submit to God’s design for working together. The pastors prayed together that the church would take its rightful place in our communities and that the Lord would show the leaders how to work together for God’s purposes.

You too can be a part of praying for San Diego. Visit our web site and click on prayer to sign up for prayer request updates and specific ways you can pray for San Diego.