This is the third in a series of posts about my personal experience with loud prayer, blasting and deliverance. My first contact with this practice was in 1992, in Greenville, SC . This small, independent church was not formally organized or connected with WOFF. However, in practice this church was a sister-church and would in 2002, merge with WOFF. Leaders from Greenville would regularly attend WOFF in the late 80’s and early 90’s on through 2002. This laid the foundation for the merging of the two groups.
“Loud prayer” is actually a term coined later in my time at the Greenville church and later WOFF. In the early days, it was called “blasting devils” or “deliverance”, “hitting devils in someone” or “hitting the heavens” or some other phrases. After the public scrutiny which came through several child custody cases at WOFF and the DSS lawsuit, then the use of certain terms faded and others became popular.
Whatever the term used for whatever time period, the prayer was loud! Generally, in the early days- louder was “better”. If the person was praying in a weak manner, then they would usually get help in the form of someone coming beside them and praying “with strength”. This was meant to help the person get a breakthrough to be able to pray with strength. Yes, behavior modeling in the most basic form. I know because during my time there, I was helped and some times helped others.
“Blasting” prayer was a shrill sound emanating from pushing the diaphragm upwards and using the vocal chords to make the shrill sound as seen in the previously listed video. Using the upper throat could damage your vocal chords. Most every time, after a period of prayer folks would sound hoarse. Cough drops – many times Halls®, would be recommended and sometimes passed out to folks for relief. This blasting prayer would be performed in small groups or with the entire church prayer for a certain purpose. Group prayer or prayer groups for individuals could last for two or more hours. You prayed until the person got a “breakthrough”. This of course could cause much sweat and some level of exhaustion. Fans were placed in the Greenville church as the building was small and could get warm during prayer times.
During the first few months of participating in this type of prayer, I saw folks become flush in the face from bending over for extended periods of time. Small red spots would appear on their faces. Combine this with the hoarse voice and exhaustion and you are getting the picture of the early days. If you were the one receiving prayer, you generally would be bent over in a chair while others prayed over you. Sometimes, hands would be laid on the person getting prayer, sometimes not. Some folks would push on your back to “help” you bend over. I never enjoyed that as my belly was so large, it hurt to bend over for any length of time. Occasionally, I would just have to tell the group leader that I had to sit up to relieve the stress on my middle.
In the early days, there were very few if any folks who used ear plugs during these loud prayer times. After moving to WOFF and having my hearing tested , the doctor recommended I wear ear protection for any loud activities. He especially meant during prayer times. This doctor was a WOFF member. He knew that some folks would get close to a person’s ears and could unintentionally cause further damage to my hearing. From birth, I had some hearing loss, but did not protect my ears until this doctor pointed out the need for precaution. Even with the ear plugs, you could hear what was being said because of the volume of the session. After this, I noticed others using ear plugs during prayer as well as more parents covering the infants ears. Yes, everyone participated in these prayer times. Children, nor senoir citizens were exempt.
In future posts, I will share more about my thoughts and observations during these prayer times. I will share more about “What is deliverance?” and the origins of this at WOFF. Since my time started in 1992, I will be repeating the stories that I was told during times of preaching and sharing. Jane Whaley has much to say about the beginnings of deliverance and its importance. I will share what it meant to get a “breakthrough”.
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