PENDLETON PIKE PRAYER DRIVE

 

Driving Southwest (inbound) on Pendleton Pike.

 I have several options for driving in to work. I can get on 56th Street going west, and then take that either to the I-465 and get off at Shadeland Avenue or go straight down Shadeland and ignore the Interstate. Those, depending on construction and traffic, might be quicker. But the most direct is to get on Pendleton Pike - which goes from Northeast to Southwest - and take that to Shadeland. Not only is it a little more as the bird flies, but it also has become a prayer drive.

Note - I'm referring to the drive to work. I take a variation going home - I get off Pendleton at Franklin Road, because I find the light safer to turn left on than Post Road or Mithoffer. Thus, I miss some of the prayer focuses I have in the morning.

When I moved to this part of town (Indianapolis, in a township called Lawrence, thus giving me two mayors and two councils), one thing I noticed is that I passed by a pair of strip clubs, both stand alone buildings on my left side. I've driven down the road even before moving to Lawrence and noticed those businesses, and both have changed their names.

Well, one day an idea hit me. I need to pray for those two spots. After all, they're on God's Property, since the earth belongs to the Lord. I pray for the salvation of the workers there. Also, is there any connection between these "Gentlemen's Clubs" and human trafficking? I pray against that.

It took months for me to realize - I'm driving by a third strip club, on the other side of the road. Between it being hidden from me for a while and the fact that it's part of a two business strip mall (the other business being a payday loan place) and having the plaza named after the club, I consider it a stronghold. While I'm praying for God to take ownership of the other two, I'm praying for God to close down the "stronghold" and have a church start there.

I don't remember if it's before or after noticing the "stronghold," but I noticed that one of the two on the left side (the one closest to work) started advertising featured entertainers. That excited me for this reason - I have names of people to pray for their salvation! Yes, those names are stage names (I doubt, for example, a set of parents named their daughter "Shortcake"), but God knows who they are. So I pray for the featured act each month, and there's half a dozen I continue to pray for (including "Shortcake"). NOTE - only the side of the marquee I see on the way to work mentions the names, while the other deals with drink specials - another reason why the inbound route is more of a prayer drive than the other.

One other feature on this drive that does motivate me to prayer -  a billboard on the left side of the road. It first caught my attention when we drove down that road after visiting my Dad when he was in a nursing home. At that time, I was moved by the artwork "Millimeters" by mixed media artist Shelby Alexander. She's an artist I need to add to my prayer list. 

After moving to Lawrence, another billboard at that sight was one of the Prayer billboards put on by peopleforChrist.org, It read, "Pray: Time is of the essence." Unfortunately, that's no longer up, but I now have another prayer target - currently that spot hosts Dave Hofmann for Mayor. So now I have an encouragement to pray for him and his campaign. 

Well, I better finish this blog so I can get to bed, and be rested up for my prayer drive tomorrow morning! (Okay, confession - tomorrow morning I won't be taking this route because I attend a bi-monthly prayer time. But I can look forward to Wednesday!)