When Roxanne first joined Woodland over 20 years ago, she wanted to serve, but didn’t know where, so she started showing up with gardening tools and trimming the bushes outside the building! “That was my first ministry at Woodland Hills,” she says. She soon joined the prayer team because she knew that’s where her gifts were and it was where she belonged.
Roxanne’s gifts in intercession flow out of her own personal prayer life where she tries to “practice God’s presence” all day long. “Some people think you have to get into a corner and do something special to pray, but the truth is, your thoughts are prayer. When you’re sitting in the car, waiting for it to warm up, share your thoughts with God. During times I was desperate, I’d be walking in the grocery store saying out loud, ‘God, I need you.’ The person next to me must have thought, ‘Wow, what a nut.’ But just call me crazy for the Lord, because prayer is relational; it’s not about a prayer time, it’s a prayer-all-day thing.”
As part of the online prayer team, Roxanne prays with people from all over the world, yet many of their requests are similar, things like struggles at work, or mental and emotional challenges. She says that often something specific from a Sunday service sparks a prayer request, and so she tries to connect them back to the worship time or the message. “I want them to see that I’m joining in with God and with them. It’s not just me, it’s God.”
Sometimes Roxanne has the opportunity to connect with the same person multiple times. “Before the pandemic, there was a young girl who kept coming to me. Greg had encouraged us during one of his sermons to change habits, and she and I decided to hold each other accountable. We created a system where we’d give a thumbs-up for a good week or a thumbs-down if we needed to pray for each other. Another woman I was praying for invited me to her wedding, and before the dinner, she surprised me by asking me to pray over the wedding meal. Those were sweet moments.”
Being part of the larger intercessory team has been a special joy, too. “When no one shows up, we end up ministering and praying for each other and having mini-church after the church service. We have become intertwined in each other’s lives.”
How can others grow in their prayer life? Roxanne encourages them, “Just begin by talking to God. Don’t make it rigid—he’s your friend. Have a conversation. Start at the same time every day until it becomes so routine that if you don’t do it, you miss it. At the same time, don’t let prayers become so routine that they sound the same every day.”
Roxanne adds, “Don’t say, ‘All I can do is pray.’ How dare we call him King of Kings and Lord of Lords and not think of our communication as something massive and huge? Prayer is not a small thing. It can change the outcome of almost any evil or sin that’s being done!”
Thank you Roxanne and the rest of the prayer ministry for showing us that indeed, prayer is no small thing! 
