THE POWER OF PRAISE
Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name; make known among the nations what He has done. Psalm 105:1
On January 22, 2020, some of my classmates and I headed down to High Springs, Florida to attend the annual event, Southern Union Prayer Conference, at Camp Kulaqua. I went last year as a freshmen, for the first time, and I absolutely loved it! I could not wait to go again. When we got there, we headed over to our cabin where we would stay. We unpacked and went to the cafe for supper. I saw many of my friends that I had made from the year before. After supper we headed over to the evening worship. We would sing and heard a pastor preach about things that were relevant to me and my life, and how I could better it. Nothing really clicked for me though until my ears were blessed by the amazing voices of the members of Engage Ministries from Southern Adventist University. That was my absolute favorite part of Prayer Conference. Going every evening to praise my God. Being there, and singing my voice out is something that I love, and looked forward to every night. And just hearing everyone else sing to God was so beautiful. Hearing this had me thinking about how we will all sound praising the Lord in Heaven. If I’m being completely honest, the experience I had at Prayer Conference was life changing. Many people say you cannot change overnight and I totally agree with that. But we all have to start somewhere and my change started this year when I went to Prayer Conference. It was as if the Holy Spirit touched my heart and just inspired me to be all-in for God. There are many things that I enjoyed from Prayer Conference — from making new friends from different places all the way to every night praising the Lord. At this year’s Prayer Conference, I realized that last year I just went for fun and so I could be out of school and meet people. This year though, I really felt I realized my purpose for being there and for being here on earth too. The pastor that preached said many wise things and two of those things that stayed in my head were, “God is preparing a palace for us. There is no place for us in hell,” and, “sometimes rejection is more like redirection.” The pastor who preached also taught me to never doubt God, to always trust him 100 percent, even if it does not seem right. Only God knows what is in store and what will happen. Long story short, if you have not been to Prayer Conference yet, I definitely recommend it.
By: Joceline Garay ('22)
Raleigh, North Carolina