Linger in the Presence of God

Written by James Shafto

For the first time in my life, I spent an hour with God… alone. I was 14 years old, and I woke early to climb the hill near the village where my parents’ summer mission team ministered in Northern Ghana. I remember watching the sun rise as I pulled my Bible and leather journal from my Jansport backpack. In the past, I’d felt the spirit moving through the music of worship or a sermon at a youth conference, but here, for the first time, God met me one to one. I longed to linger in the LORD’s presence like Joshua, who did not leave the tabernacle, even after Moses had returned to camp. Like with Elijah, He whispered in the breeze, which rustled the leaves of the tree I leaned against. No words were spoken, yet I was awe struck that Jesus would come to me, and speak truths to me as I sat in nature and read my Bible.

I’d like to say my lingering impulse stuck around; it did not. I have tasted the delicacies of the Lord’s table, yet still I find myself grasping after the corn-syrupy slop of the world. Most mornings, I choose to wake up late and say a hasty prayer over my meal. With luck, I cram Lectio 365 or the Bible Recap with Tara Leigh Cobble into my 10-minute commute. Often I forget both. Mid-morning, my phone reminds me that screen time for Chrome, has more than doubled my spiritual efforts for the day. I beg the Lord to increase my faithfulness, making me a man of prayer and humility, “worthy of the calling I’ve received.”

Enter “24-7 Prayer,” an organization which champions Mission, Justice and Faithfulness, through facilitating 24-7 prayer rooms across the globe. Such prayer rooms provide a space to reset my heart and reorient towards intimacy with Jesus. They capture the heart of Lent in a single room, inviting us to turn our eyes to the cross. Furthermore, 24-7 has picked up the baton of 100 years of non-stop prayer, which fueled the Moravian Missionary Movement in the 1700s.

In October, some Waypoint members attended the 24-7 USA conference, and we decided we want to join their work of global, non-stop prayer. At the start of Lent, Waypoint will open our own 4-day prayer room, and take our stand as “watchmen on the walls”.

The room is a creative space designed to allow us to meet with Jesus and transform our hearts towards his mission. There will be creative stations for poetry, music and art, along with guided reflections and a wall for capturing the prayers of the people. You can sign up as an individual, or with a friend, spouse, or even come in as a whole community group.

If the idea of sixty minutes of prayer feels daunting, I’m with you! But I’ve heard the testimonies of the folks who began this movement. They talked about how the creative stations do the work of drawing us into the presence of God, and how often one hour feels like ten minutes.

The Ancient Celts used the phrase “thin places” to describe locations where the veil between heaven and earth becomes so fine that prayer flows easily. We hope Waypoint’s Prayer room can be that kind of place for you. I am eager to meet with God here, and I hope you will join me!

To find out more, check out the 24-7 prayer website.

Sign up for a slot here.

Prayer for Foster Care and Adoption at Waypoint Church

We are grateful that God has called many Waypoint members to be foster parents, and to support foster parents and children in foster care. We are also grateful that many children have been adopted into Waypoint families. In the past year we saw an international adoption, foster care placements, reunification of a children in foster care with birth family, a family in the last steps of adopting their two foster children, a member committing to being a Guardian ad Litem, three Waypoint members completing their foster parent training, and one couple receiving the final approval to adopt a second child through international adoption. This is in addition to the adoptions, reunifications, and support we have already seen over the years. We, as a community, are so blessed!

As we think about both the joys and the challenges that come with foster care and adoption, here is a prayer us as we pray for these children and families: 

Lord, we know and acknowledge that adoption and foster care both begin with loss. First, we pray for the hearts of these precious children waiting for forever families, in transition, or at home in a family already. We pray that they will know how much they are loved by their biological families, by those currently caring for them, by their parents, and by You. Please give them a sense of comfort and security, and we pray that they would ultimately know You and your boundless love. Please give the parents and caretakers strength, and may they rest in You and show Your love well to these precious children. 

For those parents in the adoption process, Lord, the path of adoption can be long and challenging, filled with waiting, uncertainties, and emotional highs and lows–please grant them strength to persevere through the waiting seasons, knowing that You are with them in every moment. May they find endurance in Your love and peace, even when the journey is difficult.

We pray for the birth parents who have made the courageous decision to entrust their child into the arms of another. Lord, we pray that your boundless love surrounds and embraces these birth parents. May they experience the depth of Your protective care. May they feel the comforting presence of your Spirit, assuring them that they are seen and not alone.

We pray for those involved in the foster care process. Please comfort the children, the biological parents, the agency workers, and the foster parents as they make challenging adjustments. Father, we know that children in foster care experience confusion, trauma, and fear as their lives are turned upside down. Comfort them, hold them close as only You can. May they experience love, peace, and security.

God, we pray for their biological families. You know their circumstances, their hurts, their needs, their hearts- you also know deeply what they need. God, we pray for the biological families that they would have access to the resources they need to experience help, hope, and healing. Please bring loving communities around them that will support them. 

Lord, we pray for encouragement and strength for the foster parents within our communities. Please give them understanding, patience, and grace as they open their homes and families to children in need. Renew their energy and hope so they can continue in their important role. Give them wisdom to know when they need to rest, and when to persevere. When they feel weak, may they rely on You for strength. Would you often bring them to the minds of those in our community, to offer them support through prayer, and in tangible ways as well.

Father, we pray for the safety and emotional health of agency workers on the front lines as they come face-to-face with difficult situations. Give them the strength to overcome discouragement and burnout. Restore their hope and peace. Help them understand the deep impact they have in the lives of children and families on a weekly basis. Lord, we pray that the judges who preside over these cases would have eyes to see the best solutions to bring about safety and restoration. We pray for clarity amid circumstances that can be so confusing. We pray for empathy to give grace for complexity.

For all these families, children and workers, please help them to find courage in Your unfailing love. Remind us all that You are with us every step of the way, guiding our path, and providing the strength we need.  And we look forward to the day when you will make all things new, and brokenness and hurt will be no more. May we all journey on in hope towards that day. Amen.

Waypoint Goals and Vision for 2026

Written by Lawrence

Waypoint Church, it is so hard to believe that it is 2026.  Time flies by so fast.  As we enter into this new year, I want us to pause and remember God has been faithful. Not theoretically. Not abstractly. Tangibly, personally, visibly faithful. Through every joy, through every stretch, through every moment where we wondered if we had enough—He has been enough.

I shared the following at our Decemember meeting, and I would love for this to be our heart for 2026.

As I’ve prayed for where God is leading Waypoint this next year, three themes keep rising to the surface. They feel simple, but I sense the Spirit inviting us to embrace them with deeper conviction than ever before.

1. A Year of Deepening: Rooted in Christ More Than Ever

In Colossians 2:6–7, Paul says,“Continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith.”

As a church, we do a lot. We serve, we give, we volunteer, we teach, we welcome. But Jesus’ call to us this year is not simply to do more—it’s to go deeper.

This year, I believe God is inviting Waypoint into:

• Deeper discipleship—a slow, steady, unhurried discipleship that forms Christ in us.

• Deeper prayer—not as an obligation, but as an oxygen for our souls.

• Deeper Scripture engagement—to know and cherish the Word of God and let it form us.

• Deeper spiritual health—resting, repenting, recalibrating, renewing.

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In a world addicted to hurry, outrage, and distraction, the church must become an alternative people—a rooted people.

And before Waypoint does anything for God this year, I believe God is calling us simply to be with Him more deeply than we ever have.

2. A Year of Belonging: Strengthening the Family God Has Given Us

John 13:35 says,“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Waypoint has always been a hospital for the hurting, a home for the wandering, and a refuge for the weary. But this coming year, I believe God is calling us to take a step even further: to become a church marked by radical belonging.

Not just friendliness—belonging.

Not just warm greetings—spiritual family.

Not just welcoming guests—embracing brothers and sisters.

Not just attending—but seeing everyone as a needed member of the body.

Belonging is not a program; it’s a posture.It’s the decision to say: “You don’t have to earn your way in. You’re already family and we aren’t complete without you.”

Waypoint, may we be a community where people don’t simply attend—they are known, encouraged, challenged, and loved.

3. Bless

Waypoint has always lived with a missional heartbeat. But I believe this year, God is stirring us to lean into that calling even more boldly.

This year, we will pray and pursue:

• More global partnerships and short-term teams

• Greater support and sending of missionaries

• Training our people to live missionally in workplaces, neighborhoods, and everyday life

• Serving our local community with greater compassion and consistency

• Raising the next generation—kids, students, and young adults—to live on mission

The mission is not for a special class of Christians.

The mission is for all of us.

We want to be a blessing to our community.

The Vision in One Sentence:

A deeply rooted, radically belonging, boldly living church—anchored in the gospel and alive in the Spirit.

That is where I believe God is leading Waypoint this year.Not simply into new programs or bigger goals—but into deeper identity and more courageous obedience.

Church family, imagine what God could do if every person at Waypoint:

• grew deeper in Christ,

• loved others like family,

• and lived every day as God’s missionary.

We wouldn’t just do church; we would be the church.We wouldn’t just gather on Sundays; we would be scattered as light Monday through Saturday.We wouldn’t just hope for change; we would participate in the renewal Jesus is already bringing.

This is our year to listen, to surrender, to step forward, and to follow wherever He leads.

And He will lead.

Because He is faithful.

Because He loves His church.

And because the best days for Waypoint Church aren’t behind us—they’re ahead.