praying with the man at midnight

Today, I had the joy of visiting Brian Chandler at the Union Gospel Mission in downtown Seattle. Brian is the New Creations Case Manager at 318 2nd Ave., Extension South. I was really impressed with the incredible work the Lord continues to do there.

Brian and I have set in place support of inmates who come from the Regional Justice Center in Kent. Part of the real story is the men we have prepared the way for have not followed through. They want to experience their freedom and often dig deeper holes for themselves.

New Creations is a residential recovery program for men located in the Men's Shelter in downtown Seattle. The program is designed to help men pursuing a path of recovery and growing in their faith, by working to heal the internal issues driving self-destructive choices.

New Creations is approximately nine months long, offering:
Quality one-on-one counseling from the New Creations ministry team A successful relapse-prevention curriculum
Daily responsibilities within the Mission to help men develop life-skills and successful work habits
Inclusive opportunites to grow in faith and in knowlege of the Bible
Special retreats and recreational activities
The Martin Career Education Center, a specialized mini-school, offering men the chance to improve their language and math skills and earn their GED or high school diploma.
Gradute programs to help men transition into independent living and into work, college, and/or local vocational training
A 12-month graduate intern program called CADRE gives New Creations graduates deeper Christian discipleship and the chance to work beside mission staff in key roles.
For more information about the Men's Shelter and its programs, please contact Mike at 206.622.5177. They may yet come, when they are ready. We need to pray...

how to pray
5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
Luke 11:5-8

"See the man at midnight. Imitate that man. Act it all alone at midnight. Hear his loud cry, and cry it after him. He needed three loaves. What is your need? Name it. Name it out loud. Let your own ears hear it. . . . The shameful things you have to ask for. The disgraceful, the incredible things you have to admit and confess. The life you have lived. The way you have spent your days and nights. And what all that has brought you to. It kills you to have to say such things even with your door shut. Yes, but better say all these things in closets than have them all proclaimed from the housetops of the day of judgment.

Knock, man! Knock for the love of God! Knock as they knock to get into heaven after the door is shut! Knock, as they knock to get out of hell!"
Alexander Whyte, "The Man Who Knocked At Midnight," in "Lord, Teach Us To Pray, "
pages 174-176.