Prayer in the Lives of Prisoners Makes Them Distinguishably Different.
August, 2017 at Riker's Island
Yesterday at Rikers we had 30 of these young incarcerated boys, interspersed with some gang members, come to our basketball program. Then 21 showed up in the evening attending the biblical life support group and prayer meeting. From my experience at Rikers over the past ten months, and from what I am told by others who have been there longer, the number of participants is now unprecedented. We began the Bible study with only one or two boys usually attending.
Ha! Go Jesus!!!
Before the biblical life class starts I always ask who is going to court that week and who needs prayer. Yesterday over ten hands shot up! I have the entire group pray for each boy with me individually by name, as this gives each one we pray for a sense of personal value. That is my focus! To restore value to each boy individually, by name. This is what the enemy has stolen and this is what we are restoring!!!
I end these sessions with the boys hugging each other. It is wild! Only a short time ago these two houses were fighting each other. Nobody has ever seen anything like this before. There is one African American boy who is the biggest and toughest guy in the entire bunch, he now is always last to leave so I can give him a longer hug and whisper life into his tender heart. I weep as I write this. His name is Dennis. I would sell my home to help this boy. This is the manifestation of God's love and mercy that we are all seeking. This is Matthew 25 coming to life when Jesus says, "when we do this to the prisoner, we are doing it directly to Him!" This outreach to many of these orphaned boys and now their mother's defines pure religion.
I could not be more humbled by what Abba is accomplishing. Thanks so much for your prayers and financial partnership, without which none of this would be happening. Please check out our website at RexDuval.Com which should pull up "Prison In The Wild." I would like your feedback on it as it is evolving. Please keep praying!
Last night I drove up to the Catskill mountains to Woodbourne Correctional and led a men's intercessory prayer meeting. I have between 20-30 men who are hungry for Jesus that I have been discipling for the past two years. What fun! What a blessing! One of them shared that from the last meeting we held Abba had healed Him completely from his diabetes and he is off all the medication. Ha! Praise God! Onward Chriatian soldiers!
In Jesus' love and grace,
PR