Soaking Prayer And The Mission Of Catch The Fire

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PNEUMA 36 (2014) 183–203

Soaking Prayer and the Mission of Catch the Fire

Michael Wilkinson

Trinity Western University, Langley, British Columbia

Michael.Wilkinson@twu.ca

Peter Althouse

Southeastern University, Lakeland, Florida

pfalthouse@seu.edu

Abstract

Charismatics who practice soaking prayer claim that the experience of God’s love leads tolovingothers.Inthisarticleweofferadetaileddescriptionofsoaking prayerastaught and practiced at Catch the Fire. Findings are based on three years of research that included participant observation, face-to-face interviews, and a survey of participants. Theoretically we draw upon theories of ritual and embodiment to explain how partic- ipants engage in acts of benevolence.

Keywords

soaking prayer – Toronto Blessing – ritual – embodiment – benevolence

…

Our desire is to see people in all the nations of the world soaking and receiving the Presence of God and then giving it away to their commu- nities, reaching the world with Jesus. As we soak in His Presence we are changed. As a result our families are changed, our communities are changed, and we reach the world with Jesus!

john arnott,Catch the Fire

∵

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2014 | doi: 10.1163/15700747-03602002

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Introduction

In the 1990s rumors of revival were circulating around the globe with the announcement that the “Toronto Blessing” was shaking the churches. John and Carol Arnott were pastoring a small Vineyard congregation in Toronto and praying for God to do something new. They invited Randy Clarke from St. Louis to come and speak in January 1994, when it was claimed that “the Father’s bless- ing fell” and one hundred and twenty people were taken up with God’s love.1 Arnott said, “We had been praying for God to move, and our assumption was that we would see more people saved and healed, along with the excitement that these would generate. It never occurred to us that God would throw a mas- sive party where people would laugh, roll, cry and become so empowered that emotional hurts from childhood were just lifted off them.”2 In December 1995, however, John Wimber, along with Robert Hunter and Gary Best, announced that the Vineyard was parting ways with the Toronto congregation. Still, for three years the revival attracted large crowds of two thousand people on a reg- ular basis, many from across North America and Europe.3 Although by the end of the 1990s most thought the revival had ended,4 the Toronto church, now renamed Catch the Fire (ctf), was still holding meetings while extolling the benefits of soaking prayer.

Soaking prayer is an adaptation of pentecostal-charismatic prayer with a number of influences, including classical pentecostal practices in which people who fell to the ground following prayer described the experience as being “slain in the Spirit.” Among mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics the experience of falling down was described as “resting in the Spirit,” although the

1 John Arnott,The Father’s Blessing(Orlando, fl: Creation House, 1995).

2 Ibid., 57–58.

3 See the following for details on the Toronto Blessing. Martyn Percy, “The Morphology of Pil-

grimage in the ‘Toronto Blessing,’”Religion 28, no. 1 (1998): 281–288; Margaret Poloma, “The

‘Toronto Blessing’: Charisma, Institutionalization, and Revival,”Journal for the Scientific Study

of Religion 36 (1997): 257–271; “Inspecting the Fruit of the ‘Toronto Blessing’: A Sociological

Assessment,”Pneuma 20 (1998): 43–70; Main Street Mystics: The Toronto Blessing and Reviv-

ing Pentecostalism(Walnut Creek, ca: Alta Mira, 2003); Philip Richter, “The Toronto Blessing:

Charismatic Evangelical Global Warming,” in Charismatic Christianity: Sociological Perspec-

tives, ed. Stephen Hunt, Malcolm Hamilton, and Tony Walker (New York: St Martin’s Press,

1997), 97–119.

4 For example, see Stephen Hunt, “The ‘Toronto Blessing’—A Lesson in Globalized Religion?”

inCanadian Pentecostalism: Transition and Transformation, ed. Michael Wilkinson (Montreal

and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2009), 233–248.

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phenomenon remained the same. It was the Roman Catholic Francis MacNutt who linked the practice of resting prayer with healing.5 MacNutt occasionally spoke in Toronto and most likely had some influence on its practice, where it was adapted and incorporated particularized notions of resting, the Father’s love, intimacy, renewal, and empowerment. In Toronto, resting in the Spirit was playfully referred to as “carpet time,” because so many people were observed lying on the floor. Carol Arnott explained that during the revival she was tired and wished she could “rest in the Spirit” when she claimed God told her she could.6 All she needed to do was to lie on the floor and let God love her. This ritualization is an interesting adaptation from appearing to fall spontaneously to the ground to the purposeful placing of oneself in a position of rest to experience “the Father’s love,” as ctf leaders teach.

Charismatics claim that soaking prayer facilitates and expands the reception ofGod’sloveforthepurposeofgivingitaway.Itiscommontohearpractitioners say, “You cannot give away what you don’t have.” Soaking prayer is said to fill you up with God’s love, thus enabling you to love others more effectively. The theological basis is found in the New Testament, and specifically in the Great Commandment to love God and love others. Soaking prayer, it is claimed, enables charismatics to fulfill that mission.

In this article we discuss our main findings from our research on soaking prayer.7 Specifically, we offer a detailed description of how charismatics prac- tice soaking prayer, the different kinds of experiences claimed during prayer, especially heightened levels of love, and the ways in which charismatics express this love through acts of benevolence. We discuss our findings in light of theo- ries about ritual, the body, and religious benevolence.8

5 MacNutt borrowed the term soaking from the charismatic Tommy Tyson to describe pro-

longed prayer for people during which they were “soaked” in healing love. Francis MacNutt,

Healing(New York: Bantam Books, 1974);The Power to Heal(Notre Dame, in: Ave Maria Press,

1977); Overcome by the Spirit: The Extraordinary Phenomenon That Is Happening to Ordinary

People(Grand Rapids, mi: Chosen Books, 1988).

6 See Soaking Prayer Kit, dvd. We also heard her relay this story at the Soaking Prayer School

in Virginia Beach, February 2009.

7 For an expanded discussion of our research see Michael Wilkinson and Peter Althouse,Catch

the Fire: Soaking Prayer and Charismatic Renewal (DeKalb, il: Northern Illinois University

Press, 2014).

8 We acknowledge the support of the John Templeton Foundation and the Flame of Love

Project with a grant that made this research possible.

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Methodology

Between 2009 and 2011 we attended soaking prayer meetings and charismatic events, collecting observations from twenty-five site visits.9 We conducted face- to-face interviews with 126 participants in soaking prayer.10 We examined docu- ments and websites published by ctf and other charismatic ministries. Finally, we conducted a survey of 258 charismatics in order to understand their prayer practices, experiences, and benevolent actions. The main question that guided our research focused on how experiences of what participants claim to be “divine love” could potentially lift people out of their current circumstances, imagining another way and reaching out in love to others. Our research is shaped by the work of Margaret Poloma, Stephen Post, and Matthew Lee, who gave leadership to the John Templeton-funded research project on “Godly love.” The project’s guiding research question asked: To what extent can emotionally powerful experiences of a “divine flame of love” move us beyond our ordinary self- interests and help us express unconditional, unlimited love for all others, espe- cially when our human capacities seem to reach their limits?11

Methodologically we developed a qualitative case study on soaking prayer.12 A qualitative case study employs a number of tools for gathering and inter- preting the data. Our objective was to describe the practice of soaking prayer and the claim by charismatics that prayer empowers them with love, which in turn benefits their personal relationships, churches, and social ministries. Our study is an interpretive one that is confined to illustrating the case. The strength of qualitative research is the detailed description and analysis of a particular case that explores the events, practices, and interactional relations

9 We made multiple site visits at ctf Toronto over a three-year period. Site visits were

also made at charismatic conferences across Canada, the United States, and England. We

attended a soaking prayer school in Virginia Beach, soaking prayer meetings in homes,

centers, and churches in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Washington, Florida, Michi-

gan, California, New Zealand, Australia, and London, England.

10 Face-to-face interviews were conducted with leaders of Catch the Fire, soaking prayer

coordinators, national soaking prayer coordinators, and practitioners for approximately

one hour. All interviews were transcribed and analyzed with the use of the qualitative

software NVivo.

11 See http://www3.uakron.edu/sociology/flameweb/index.html accessed May 30, 2013. 12 See Robert K. Yin,Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 2nd ed. (Thousand Oaks, ca:

Sage, 1994); Robert E. Stark, “Qualitative Case Studies,” inThe Sage Handbook of Qualitative

Research, 3rd ed., ed. Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln (Thousand Oaks, ca: Sage,

2005), 443–466.

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of a group for which no previous study exists. What we add to the literature on “Godly love” is an in-depth description of and explanation for a charis- matic approach that values soaking prayer as a means for facilitating benev- olence.

Observing Soaking Prayer

What follows are observations from our research focusing on the ritual com- ponents of soaking prayer and how it is embodied, and, from our survey, the relationship between prayer and benevolent actions.

Prayer and the Renewal of Christian Love

Soaking prayer takes place in a number of contexts and is practiced in a variety of ways. Typically, participants are encouraged to join a soaking center in someone’s home or at a local church. People soak alone as well, usually daily for about an hour. Soaking also takes place in larger renewal events. Soaking begins with a few words of encouragement from the leader who reads from the Bible or simply speaks about a personal encounter with God during the past week. After about five or ten minutes participants will pull out pillows and blankets and lie down on the floor. The lights will be turned down and the music begins. A small industry is beginning to flourish with cd recordings of soaking music. The music style is soft, slow contemplative music with or without singing.13 In some cases the worship music contains words of prophecy.14 Sometimes people fallasleepandsnoringcanbeheard.Ratherthandisturbingthosewhosoak,the sleeping is viewed as a sign that someone is experiencing rest in God. Following prayer, people will share with one another what they believe God is speaking to them during prayer. Someone may share with the group that God wants them to speak to someone about God’s love or how they can respond to a particular need. The group members will then encourage one another to act upon God’s

13 For example, see Julie True, who is a popular soaking prayer music leader, at julietrue.com

(accessed November 25, 2013). For an analysis of the role of music see Peter Althouse and

Michael Wilkinson, “Musical Bodies in the Charismatic Renewal: The Case of Catch the

Fire and Soaking Prayer,” in The Spirit of Praise: Music and Worship in Global Pentecostal

Christianity, ed. Monique Ingalls and Amos Yong (University Park, pa: Penn State Univer-

sity Press, forthcoming).

14 Musicians who lead soaking prayer or record it will resort to a prophetic orientation

whereby words are spoken as if the Holy Spirit is inspiring or motivating listeners to

respond to God in some particular way.

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word. In this sense, there is a prophetic component to soaking prayer linked with the ctf mission of loving God and the world.15

According to the Student Manual, soaking “is a term used to describe the practice of expectantly waiting and resting in God’s love, rather than striving in prayer.”16 As stated, participants are encouraged to rest in God’s love and to expect an experience of love. Students are encouraged not to speak or to strive inanyway.Rather,soakingisanopportunityforGodtospeaktotheparticipant, and one should expect to experience rest and divine love.

The participants at Soaking Schools are also encouraged to consider start- ing a local center. The institutionalization and expansion of soaking began in 2003. Soaking centers are considered important venues for spreading the val- ues and culture of ctf as they plant churches throughout the world. As stated in the manual, “ctf Soaking Prayer Centers are an integral part of a world- wide network of Centers where people can be powerfully touched by God, and then give the love of God to others.”17 Further, the manual says, “As we passion- ately pursue an intimate relationship with God he gives us ‘more’ and we give it away to others. This is the Great Commandment, to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.”18 ctf intends for the centers to play an important role in fulfilling their vision and mission. Again, according to the manual, “ctf Ministries, with its network of ctf Soaking Prayer Centers, is dedicated to feeding the hungry, both phys- ically and spiritually. Our leadership teams are going into third-world nations bringing this revival to the masses. We feed them spiritually and, at the same time, we feed them physically.”19

Teaching on soaking covers a number of key points. The first session focuses on “Hearing God’s Voice.” Hearing requires a level of spiritual discernment whereby those who soak learn to distinguish the voice of God from other inter- nal voices that condemn, for example.20 Second, students learn that soaking prayer is about resting in God’s presence, which means one is not to strive or

15 For further discussion on prophetic prayer, see Matthew T. Lee, Margaret M. Poloma,

and Stephen G. Post, The Heart of Religion: Spiritual Empowerment, Benevolence, and the

Experience of God’s Love(New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 118.

16 Catch the Fire Ministries. 2009. Student Manual: Soaking Prayer Center Training School,

1.

17 Ibid.

18 Ibid.

19 Ibid.

20 See Mark Virkler and Patti Virkler, How to Hear God’s Voice (Shippensburg, pa: Destiny

Image Publishers, 2005).

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perform in any way to get God’s attention. Students are told that much of what happens in the church and in the culture is about performing in order to receive love and acceptance.21 The next session is about “the Father heart of God,” and students learn that God loves unconditionally and accepts people. The heart of God, according to ctf, is intimacy. Soaking is central to experiencing intimacy with God, to know that one is loved unconditionally.22

Hearing God’s Voice, the Problem of Performance, The Father Heart of God, and Intimacy with God form the core teaching on soaking prayer. Further teaching in the manual includes material on the idea of forgiveness and the power of the cross that covers the basic evangelical beliefs about sin and the efficacy of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Participants are encouraged to confess and repent from sin while being cleansed of guilt. Finally, the manual includes a section on contemplative prayer, including the prayer practices of eighteenth century mystic Jeanne Guyon.23 The manual says, “Contemplative prayer is an exercise of resting in God, which fosters the realization that God lives in you. It is not a suspension of all activity, but saying yes to God’s pres- ence. It produces in you all the fruit of the Holy Spirit. As he immerses you in his healing love, it helps you to love God for his own sake and then carry the love you experience in prayer into every area of your life.”24 The manual also includes a section on starting a soaking center, with answers to such questions as what to expect and how to start, as well as readings from prominent charis- matic leaders that serve to motivate participants.25

Following the completion of the three-day “Soaking School,” students re- ceive a Soaking Prayer kit that includes a dvd on soaking prayer and further details on how to start a center in their home or local church. ctf has also started “In His Presence Weekends” on which participants can come and learn about soaking but, more important, experience soaking with a larger group. While the primary purpose is to “soak” in God’s love, rest, and experience divinelove,leadersarealsoencouragedto“soak”participantsbytouchingthem through the “laying on of hands.” Leaders are not encouraged to vocalize any prayers, but to impart love, healing, forgiveness, or rest to the participants. Following a time of soaking, leaders give opportunity for those in attendance to share any impressions, visions, or other experiences that occurred during

21 Student Manual, 9. 22 Ibid., 12.

23 Ibid., 32–33.

24 Student Manual, 70. 25 See Student Manual, Appendix.

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prayer with encouragement to act upon anything the Holy Spirit speaks about to the participants. In our observations of centers across North America and elsewhere, participants appear to follow the pattern as taught by ctf.

The Embodiment of Love

As we observed soaking prayer, we identified a number of bodily experiences associated with soaking prayer, such as resting, breathing, groaning, weight or pressure, smell, heat, dreams and visions, often associated with healing, and love. For example, rest refers to the physical act of lying down and making oneself comfortable with a pillow and blanket. Soaking music facilitates the goal of resting, as does dimming the lights and lighting candles. Resting is sometimes linked with the idea of Sabbath, a Jewish and Christian practice based upon the Genesis creation account in which God rested after creating, or the command of Moses to keep the Sabbath holy. As one participant said, “And I think soaking is more like the Sabbath you take every single day. I mean in the Old Testament, you get six days of work and one day of rest, but we don’t [do] that now. On Sunday people are so busy in their work, people go to church and then after church they do all these things. But then I feel like what God wants us to do is have a time of rest every single day” (p48).26 The sense here is that resting is not just limited to a day of the week, but is an important spiritual practice that is incorporated into the daily life of charismatics. Rest becomes the first step of preparation for listening and receiving.

Along with rest is the practice of breathing, with its rhythm of air moving through the body.27 Breathing is often related to stress release and relaxation. In our observations and interviews this is what we most often heard as people described their bodies slowing down and their breathing becoming more reg- ulated. This was our own experience too as we participated in the practice of soaking, noticing how our breathing changed within minutes and the muscles in our bodies started to relax. The deepening of one’s breathing in the context of religious ritual has been associated with pain reduction and other health benefits.28 Soaking prayer music reinforces the regulation and experience of

26 We identify the participants in our face-to-face interviews with the letter p for “partici-

pant” and an assigned number for purposes of anonymity.

27 See Cleo McNally Kearns, “Irigaray’s Between East and West: Breath, Pranayama, and the

Phenomenology of Prayer,” in The Phenomenology of Prayer, ed. Bruce Ellis Benson and

Norman Wirzba (New York: Fordham University Press, 2005), 103–118.

28 Chris Shilling, The Body in Culture, Technology and Society (London, uk: Sage, 2005), 141;

Judith Becker, Deep Listeners: Music, Emotion, and Trancing (Bloomington, in: Indiana

University Press, 2004), 127–128.

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breathing in the practice of soaking. One informant explained it this way, “I tend to just breathe in prayer, like I automatically pray” (p100).

Groaning is often heard among people who soak with sounds comparable to childbirth, longing, or desire. Some people are physically positioned on the floor in a way that supports comparisons with childbirth. It is not the entire group groaning but usually one or two people. The groaning is sometimes associated with Romans 8, in which Paul spoke about the Spirit interceding on behalf of those in need with groans. One participant said in a way that is suggestive of gestation and birth, “I remember I went into a season of eight months of really a groaning in me for just more, and more, and then suddenly bam I got hit with a fresh anointing, and revival started breaking out. So I’m in a place of hunger, desperation, and borderline depression just wanting more of God” (p97).

Weight or pressure is another experience sometimes described by people who soak. It is often talked about as a heavy weight felt on the body, especially in the chest. Some have spoken of the presence as an entombing experience in which they were unable to move. People will lie on the floor for several hours and say they were unable to get up because of the great weight upon them. Some have explained it as God laying hands on the person. “Laying on of hands” is thought to be an act of transferring the anointing or power of God from someone who is especially empowered by God. In soaking prayer it is claimed that God, metaphorically speaking, is directly laying hands on the person praying in an unmediated experience. One participant said, “The Bible talks about God’s glory as a weight of glory. I feel it’s perfectly fine for God to show up in that way. When somebody lays his hands on you, he’s putting weight on you. And when the All Mighty God, the Father God, He’s probably so huge, when He lays His hands on you, you’re going to feel a little bit of weight. And His hand is probably bigger than your whole body. When we lay hands on people, we feel a weight and we feel a touch and then we feel love.” (p48)

Smell or olfaction, the physical experience of sensing the perfume of flowers, fruit, or some other enjoyable odor is another experience. It is not as common, but in some of our interviews people spoke of sensing a specific odor during prayer. In many cases it was usually something enjoyable or,if it wasan unpleas- ant smell, it was interpreted with some tension that often signaled a call to spiritual warfare prayer. Smelling perfume or flowers was the more common experience during soaking prayer. The pleasant smell was identified as the pres- ence of the Lord. As one person said, “I’ve smelled different smells. In fact, I’ve had the experience where I woke up in the night. And I was smelling the pres- ence of the Lord. It was strong enough to wake me up. So, I went, wow, you’re here, Lord. And then, I turned over and suddenly I could smell it again” (p63).

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The feeling of heat or tingling in the body is another experience often associated with healing. One soaking coordinator explained, “It just feels like electricity like you just put your finger into a plug and you encounter God’s raw power, you just feel like raw electricity because there’s no way my body could shake like that in the natural, and like I said, I’ve tried” (p1). Another person described the sensation as follows, “Sometimes there’s shaking, but there’s this electricity—or heat, that just is powerful … Personally, I’ve had two healings during soaking” (p56). In some cases the sensations of heat, tingling, or electricity signifies the presence of God.

Dreams and visions are one other kind of experience that illustrates how soaking prayer is embodied. The key text for dreams and visions among charis- matics comes from Acts 2 and is thought to be the confirmation of the prophecy given in Joel 2:28, “Your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams” (Acts 2:17). Dreams and visions are understood as embodied experiences that involve mental impressions or pictures. Dreams are the nor- mal process of experiencing night dreams, but according to these charismatics dreams are occasionally special moments when the divine communicates to the believer. Visions are similar to dreams but occur during waking hours as spontaneous mental impressions or images. As one participant said, “It’s just one of those mysterious things that happen. You can’t really explain it. I try to come up with words to explain the visions, but ‘they is what they is.’ It’s an encounter with somebody invisible, but it’s not really invisible anymore because you’re in that realm where He is” (p10). Often visions are described as visual and colorful. As one person said, “… and in my vision, it was just all these colors and shapes and like what you’d picture in some ’70s psychedelic movie or whatever” (p57).

Another experience is laughter. Sometimes it begins with just one person and then it spreads like a wave across the group. Laughter is associated with happiness, joy, and having fun. One person said, “And I’m just out on the floor laughing hysterically and I don’t really know why I was laughing. I was just laughing hysterically” (p40). A man in Florida who teaches physics and considers himself very analytical began to laugh when he was prayed for. He said, “I just started laughing, like flat out, all out laughing. And I couldn’t stop. I tried to stop, and I kept—I laughed harder, and to the point, like the next day my stomach hurt I’d laughed so loud, and it was uncontrollable. Then, I’m like I need to stop laughing, and I was just laughing louder” (p61).

Love is the central emotion that captures all of the other experiences de- scribed above. These bodily phenomena are ascribed meaning as the expe- rience of divine love and presence. The embodiment of love is the defining quality that charismatics talk about as a baptism of love, a love revolution, or

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table 1

Profile of participants (n = 258)

Country—usa 71.9% Female 70.2% Age—55+ 44.3% Married 73.9% Race/ethnicity—Euro American/white 86.5% Education—university degree 55.9% Religious affiliation—charismatic/nondenominational 50.0%

a river of love. One interviewee said, “I had a vision one time at home where I actually felt like I experienced the Father’s love for the first time. I actually expe- rienced Him as my Father, that He truly loved me as a daughter. And that was amazing. That just gave me a new perspective of God” (p17). The sense that one islovedbya higherpower,a greaterlove,bythe heavenlyFather,isempowering, enriching, and enlivening for charismatics. It fills them with a sense of whole- ness, peace, and acceptance and shapes their identity. It is also described as a love that is not just experienced by the individual, but often people talk about feeling a greater love for other people. On many occasions we heard similar comments like this one: “I don’t know anybody that has received deeply of the Father’s love that hasn’t in some remarkable way or some very obviously new and different way found a way to love those people around them” (p53).

Experiencing the Father’s love and reciprocating that love is important in the practice of soaking prayer. Soaking prayer is a way to cultivate the spiritual discipline of hearing God and discerning what God is saying through the ears and eyes of faith. Hearing, however, is more than the physical act of hearing with the ears, but a way of knowing God and being guided by the Spirit.

Acts of Benevolence

To explore further how soaking prayer is practiced we surveyed 258 partici- pants and asked them a variety of questions about how they prayed, charis- matic experiences, forgiveness, compassion, hope, suffering, and use of time and money in benevolent activities. The participants from our survey fit a demographic profile that is predominantly from the United States, female, aged fifty-five and older, married, white or of European descent, university educated, and affiliated with a charismatic congregation.

On frequency of prayer, the participants, not surprisingly, have very high levels of prayer with 59 percent claiming to pray throughout the day. This prac- tice of praying throughout the day is a teaching associated with charismatic

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table 2

Frequency of prayer

< Once per week 0.4% Several times per week 6.6% Daily 13.1% More than once per day 20.9% Throughout the day 59.0% table 3 Types of prayer activities Talk to God in own words 95.9% Intercede for others 90.6% Intercede for personal needs 77.1% Listen to Christian music 76.7% Read and reflect on Bible 71.0% Intercede for world events 54.3% Reflect on devotional readings 45.3% Recite Bible passages 41.6% Fast 27.3% Pray on internet sites 13.9% Recite memorized prayers 12.7% churches, including praying in the Spirit or in tongues, wherever they may find themselves in the day, doing chores, at work, or during leisure activities. When combining the percentage of those who pray throughout the day with those who pray more than once per day and those who pray daily the number swells to 93 percent. The types of prayer activities vary among our participants, with 95.9 percent saying they talk to God in their own words. Intercession or praying for others accounts for 90.6 percent. The percentage of those who pray for their personal needs drops to 77.1, showing that while praying for oneself is important, praying for others is considered more important. Interceding for world events, however, drops to 54.3 percent, which demonstrates that praying for others is practiced more often. Listening to Christian music while praying was practiced by 76.7 percent of the respondents; 71 percent include Bible reading with prayer, while 45.3 percent read other religious material during prayer and 41.6 percent recite Bible passages while praying. Fasting as a type of prayer was practiced by 27.3 percent of the respondents, while 13.9 percent incorporated technology into PNEUMA 36 (2014) 183–203 12 soaking prayer and the mission of catch the fire 195 table 4 Soaking prayer Percentage of prayer time spent in soaking prayer 100% 0.4% 75–99% 7.5% 50–74% 16.3% 25–49% 25.4% 1–24% 45.4% None 5.0% Location for soaking prayer (all that apply) Home by myself 86.8% Home with a group 39.6% Church-based center 38.7% Renewal events 31.9% prayer, such as praying on Internet sites on which prayer requests are posted. Finally, reciting memorized prayers was practiced by only 12.7 percent, which demonstrates that among charismatics prayer is most often about personal communication, or talking to God in one’s own words while interceding on behalf of others. When we asked the respondents about the practice of soaking prayer, 45.4 percent of the respondents indicated that up to a quarter of their prayer prac- tice was soaking; 25.4 percent of the respondents stated that between 25 and 49 percent of their prayer time is spent in soaking prayer. Soaking prayer was most often practiced at home without other people, as reported by 86.8 percent of the respondents. What we see among the respondents is that they incorporate different types of prayer into their practices. The respondents also reported high levels of charismatic experiences. For example, 38.7 percent claimed to feel the presence of God on most days with another 25.8 percent stating they did so daily. On questions about experiencing spiritual insight, answer to prayer, sensing a divine call to act in some way, a revelation from God, and prophecy, the respondents indicated they had these experiences some days. When asked about protection from evil, 24.8 percent of the respondents claimed that they daily experienced protection, while another 22 percent stated that they did so most days. On the practice of speaking in tongues, 40.6 percent of the respondents claimed that they did so daily—with 28.1 percent most days, and another 20.7 percent some days. Only 5.5 percent of the respondents said they did not speak in tongues. PNEUMA 36 (2014) 183–203 13 196 wilkinson and althouse table 5 Charismatic experiences Most Some Once in Don’t Daily days days a while Never know Felt presence of God 25.8% 38.7% 27.6% 7.1% 0.0% 0.9% Spiritual insight 15.2% 33.5% 43.3% 7.6% 0.0% 0.4% Answer to prayer 6.8% 31.1% 45.0% 14.9% 0.0% 2.3% Divine call to act 5.9% 14.9% 40.5% 34.7% 1.8% 2.3% Revelation from God 5.8% 19.3% 48.4% 25.1% 0.9% 0.4% Prophesy over others 2.3% 7.8% 41.1% 40.2% 7.8% 0.9% Protection from evil 24.8% 22.0% 23.9% 23.4% 0.9% 5.0% Tongues 40.6% 28.1% 20.7% 5.1% 5.5% 0.0% table 6 Compassion, hope, and forgiveness Most Some Once in Don’t Daily days days a while Never know Greater compassion 25.7% 33.5% 30.7% 9.6% 0.0% 0.5% Greater hope 31.4% 36.4% 24.1% 7.7% 0.0% 0.5% Greater forgiveness 34.7% 31.1% 24.3% 9.5% 0.0% 0.5% Forgive others for hurts 39.0% 39.0% 16.1% 5.5% 0.0% 0.5% Forgive God 58.7% 28.2% 8.0% 1.4% 0.5% 3.3% Forgive self 40.9% 41.8% 14.1% 3.2% 0.0% 0.0% We also asked a series of questions about compassion, hope, and forgiveness. The respondents indicated they had high levels of compassion toward others, were hopeful, and valued forgiveness. They also claimed to experience compas- sion and hope on most days. Forgiveness was reported to be experienced with higher numbers on a daily basis. For example, 34.7 percent claimed they expe- rienced a greater forgiveness through prayer, 39 percent claimed the ability to forgive others, and 58.7 percent said they were able to forgive God, while 41.8 percent claimed to have the ability to forgive themselves most days. On questions about benevolent behavior, the respondents claim to be en- abled to help family members and friends on some days. When combined with daily and most days, however, the percentage of respondents able to help is 81.3. Helping friends daily, most days, and some days amounts to 83.3 percent. Help- PNEUMA 36 (2014) 183–203 14 soaking prayer and the mission of catch the fire 197 table 7 Benevolent behavior Most Some Once in Don’t Daily days days a while Never know Help family members 26.5% 26.0% 28.8% 17.8% 0.5% 0.5% Help friends 11.1% 31.5% 40.7% 15.7% 0.5% 0.5% Help acquaintances 6.8% 19.5% 35.3% 36.7% 0.5% 1.4% Help co-workers 9.5% 18.6% 32.2% 32.2% 3.0% 4.5% Help strangers 4.1% 12.0% 28.6% 50.7% 0.9% 3.7% Help those who dislike me 3.8% 12.4% 26.2% 40.5% 1.9% 15.2% table 8 Response to suffering Most Some Once in Don’t Daily days days a while Never know Saddened by suffering in foreign countries Saddened by suffering in my country Saddened by suffering in my community Saddened by suffering of strangers and loved ones 12.1% 19.1% 35.8% 30.2% 1.9% 0.9% 13.9% 24.1% 36.6% 21.8% 1.4% 2.3% 11.6% 25.1% 37.2% 22.3% 1.4% 2.3% 12.7% 17.4% 35.7% 23.9% 6.6% 3.8% ing coworkers, strangers, and people who dislike them declines in frequency but with notable responses: 32.2 percent said they help coworkers some days, 50.7 percent help strangers once in a while, and 40.5 percent claim to help those who dislike them once in a while. When asked about their responses to suffering, the respondents indicate that they are saddened by suffering, with very little difference with respect to location or the type of people involved. Between 35 and 37 percent of the respondents reported that on some days they are saddened by suffering in foreign countries, in their own country, in their community, and among strangers and loved ones. Respondents also agreed that it is important to leave the world a better place (52.9%) and to support causes for the less fortunate (50.2%), and that they were motivated to help humanity (55.9%). PNEUMA 36 (2014) 183–203 15 198 table 9 Response to world need wilkinson and althouse Strongly Strongly agree Agree Disagree disagree Important to leave world a better place 45.1% I support causes for less fortunate in the world 39.8% 52.9% 50.2% 1.5% 0.5% 9.5% 0.5% I am motivated to help humanity 39.7% table 10 Giving time 55.9% 3.9% 0.5% Yes, I have given time to help people in past 12 months 97.2% How often in the past 12 Months? Once 1.4% A few times 18.3% Once or twice a month 20.7% Once a week 17.8% More than once a week 29.3% Daily 12.5% table 11 Giving money Yes, I have given money to help people in past 12 months 97.2% How much money in the past 12 months? < $100 11.5% $100-$499 30.7% $500-$999 16.7% $1000-$5000 30.2% >$5000 10.9%

Finally, we asked questions about giving time and money to help others: 97.2 percent of the respondents said that they had given time to help people in the past twelve months, with 29.3 percent doing so more than once a week; 97.2 percent also indicated that they had given money to help others, with

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30.7 percent giving between $100 and $499, 30.2 percent between $1,000 and $5,000, and 10.9 percent over $5,000 in a twelve-month period.

Discussion

To explain our findings we focused on several theories from ritual studies, soci- ology of the body, and religious benevolence. Overall, we discuss soaking prayer as a ritual of renewal that entails for practitioners a subjunctive quality that allows them to imagine what life could be like if it were characterized by love in relation to God and others. More specifically, Randall Collins proposed a the- ory of “Interaction Ritual” (ir) that argues that interactions in life situations are characterized by emotional energy (ee) that appears in bodies through intense face-to-face situations.29 ir consists in the physical assembly of a group of peo- ple, shared action, mutual awareness, and emotional energy that contributes to group symbols and identity. He states, “At the center of an interaction rit- ual is the process in which participants develop a mutual focus of attention and become entrained in each other’s bodily micro-rhythms and emotions.”30 ee accounts for what participants experience during a highly intensive inter- action. ee also has the ability to be maintained by the individuals after the ritual has ended so that it continues to motivate them to act in accordance with the group’s goals. ee, however, is not just about a highly charged ritual that demonstrates a great deal of excitement or the dramatic effects that one might associate with Pentecostalism; ee refers to the long-term effects of ritual so that participants are convinced of the experience and act upon it.

Ritual is also associated with the subjunctive and that which is consequen- tial about ritual.31 The subjunctive quality of ritual captures the possibility, conditionality, and probability of the emotional energy associated with ritual. It is associated with human imagination sociologically and theologically. For charismatics the subjunctive is tied up with notions of the kingdom of God, renewal, and mission. The subjunctive quality of ritual allows participants to

29 Randall Collins,InteractionRitualChains(Princeton, nj: Princeton University Press, 2004). 30 Ibid., 47.

31 See Adam B. Seligman, Robert P. Weller, Michael J. Puett, and Bennett Simon, Ritual and

its Consequences(New York: Oxford University Press, 2008); for a discussion on ctf’s ritual

activity see Peter Althouse and Michael Wilkinson, “Playing in the Father’s Love: The

Eschatological Implications of Charismatic Ritual and the Kingdom of God in Catch the

Fire,”arc: The Journal of the Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University39 (2011): 93–116.

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consider the “what if” quality of the experience.32 Charismatics act as if the social worlds produced through ritual are in fact real. Ritual, in this sense is about world building or imagining a better social outcome for participants and those with whom they interact, ranging from improved interpersonal relations to volunteering in faith-based social services and other types of benevolent activities.

Second, literature on the body suggests that religious experiences are em- bodied and researchers need to pay attention to bodily experience as central for cultural meaning and interpretation of social life. Experiencing the love of God through soaking prayer and loving others cannot simply be reduced to observing experiences of the body; rather, it must be understood as a form of embodiment, which means that charismatics carry with them experiences of divine love from prayer meetings into their daily lives. Here we rely on the work of Bryan Turner, who has identified important cultural shifts for understanding the body and embodiment in contemporary society.33 Sociological discussions ofthebodyhaveprimarilyfocusedonthenatureofbodies,especiallytheirform and function. Issues surrounding gender, sexuality, and health, especially in the area of medicine, were often the focus of sociologists. Turner rejects this type of sociological work on the body, which tends to reify the body. Embodiment, on the other hand, focuses on notions of the body, how bodies are constructed in social space, and the social discourse of the body or the phenomenology of bod- ily experience. Embodiment allows observers to see how charismatics experi- ence and express through bodies the “Father’s love” as they interact with others and a range of needs they perceive as opportunities for acts of benevolence.

Thomas Csordas studied the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and argued that bodies are like texts that can be read semiotically; in other words, embodiment is also a methodological orientation that sees bodies as existentially grounded in culture.34 Embodiment calls into question the Cartesian mind-body dual-

32 For a theological perspective see Harvey Cox, The Feast of Fools: A Theological Essay on

Festivity and Fantasy(New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1969), Jean-Jacques Suurmond,

Word and Spirit at Play: Towards a Charismatic Theology (Grand Rapids, mi: Eerdmans,

1994), and Wolfgang Vondey, Beyond Pentecostalism: The Crisis of Global Christianity and

the Renewal of the Theological Agenda(Grand Rapids, mi: Eerdmans, 2010).

33 Bryan S. Turner,The Body & Society(London, uk: Sage, 1996).

34 Thomas J. Csordas, Body/ Meaning/ Healing(New York: Palgrave, 2002). Also see Csordas,

Language, Charisma, and Creativity: The Ritual Life of a Religious Movement (Berkeley, ca:

University of California Press, 1997) for an earlier work on charismatic Christianity and an

analysis of the use of ritual language and the prophetic for understanding creative ways in

which charismatics construct cultural practices in relation to the body. Also see the follow-

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ism. Embodiment is defined by precognitive sensory perception, presence, and engagement in the cultural world. Csordas explains how embodiment reveals the ways in which bodies are shaped by religious experience that constructs the self as a lived body in the world. A key implication is observing bodies embedded within culture. In other words, bodies are not observed in isolation or separation from culture but are examples of bodies actively engaged in cul- ture building. In our case, charismatic embodiment reveals the interactional relationship between experiences of divine love and loving others in a variety of benevolent actions.

Third, literature on religious benevolence shows how religious practices enable practitioners to serve others in tangible ways. Religious benevolence, as developed in recent research on “Godly love,” is based on the ideas of the Harvard sociologist Pitirim Sorokin and his work on altruism in the 1950s.35 Sorokin argued that an outflow of love depended upon an inflow of love, and his theory included experiences with a divine source of love in his understanding. Love, according to Sorokin, is a kind of energy that infuses people, motivating and leading them to meaningful social action. Socially, he defined love as “a meaningful interaction—or relationship—between two or more persons where the aspirations and aims of one person are shared and helped in their realization by other persons.”36 Sorokin also observed that the exemplars of benevolent acts all had some ritual practice such as prayer and meditation in which the inflow of love becomes an outflow or expression of love.37

ing for further discussion on the implications of embodiment and theology for pentecostal

studies: James B. Nelson, Embodiment: An Approach to Sexuality and Christian Theology,

(Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1979), Elizabeth Moltmann-Wendel, I Am My Body: A Theology

of Embodiment(New York: Continuum, 1995); James K.A. Smith,Thinking in Tongues: Pen-

tecostal Contributions to Christian Philosophy(Grand Rapids, mi: Eerdmans, 2010), Daniel.

E. Albrecht, Rites in the Spirit: A Ritual Approach to Pentecostal/Charismatic Spirituality

(Sheffield, uk: Sheffield University Press, 1999); Sam Gill, “Embodied Theology,” in Reli-

gious Studies, Theology, and the University, ed. Linell E. Cady and Delwin Brown (Albany,

ny: State University of New York Press, 2002), 81–92; Amos Yong, Theology and Down Syn-

drome: Reimagining Disability in Late Modernity(Waco, tx: Baylor University Press, 2007);

Deborah Beth Creamer, Disability and Christian Theology: Embodied Limits and Construc-

tive Possibilities (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009); Christopher A. Stephenson,

Types of Pentecostal Theology: Method, System, Spirit (New York: Oxford University Press,

2013).

35 Pitirim A. Sorokin, The Ways and Power of Love (Philadelphia: Templeton Foundation

Press, 2002 [1954]).

36 Ibid., 13.

37 For further discussion of the relationship between religion and altruism see Robert

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Theorizing on the interactional relationship between an inflow of love and its outflow, Poloma, Post, and Lee developed the “Godly love” model as an optic to see a range of interactions to account for acts of benevolence.38 These inter- actions include four components: exemplars, collaborators, beneficiaries, and claims of experiencing the divine.39 The model offers researchers a framework to account for the ways in which love is experienced, supported, and demon- strated in tangible ways. In our study, exemplars include such leaders as John and Carol Arnott, who influence people through the practice of soaking prayer. Collaborators include the soaking prayer leaders, church leaders, and other leaders with whom the Arnotts associate in ministry. Beneficiaries are many and include the spouses, families, congregations, and the people who are loved in some way by those who practice soaking prayer. The “divine” for charismat- ics is metaphorically described as “the Father’s love,” a term that captures many ideas and practices, including the idea of co-presence among the various par- ticipants.

In conclusion, ctf is expanding globally with high levels of charismatic activity. Moreover, ctf has begun to engage in benevolent action over the last decade, something it views as a consequence of the infilling of love that is directed toward various beneficiaries. Soaking prayer is a ritual that facil- itates this expansion through its cultivation of the experience of love that is then expressed to others in different ways. ctf’s mission is to spread charis- matic renewal throughout the world through the experience of love. Sorokin’s analysis of the relationship between love energy and altruism combined with Collins’s proposal of the increase and storage of emotional energy bolstered through ritual interaction helps to explain the relationship between charis- matic renewal, the experience of love, and benevolence. The Godly love model

Wuthnow, Acts of Compassion: Caring for Others and Helping Ourselves(Princeton: Prince-

ton University Press, 1991), Robert Wuthnow, “Altruism and Social Theory,” Social Service

Review67 (1993): 344–357, and Samuel P. Oliner, Altruism, Intergroup Apology, Forgiveness,

and Reconciliation(St. Paul, mn: Paragon House, 2008).

38 For an extended discussion of theoretical and methodological issues, see Matthew T. Lee

and Amos Yong, eds.,The Science and Theology of Godly Love(DeKalb, il: Northern Illinois

University Press, 2012);Godly Love: Impediments and Possibilities(Lanham, md: Lexington

Books, 2012).

39 For detailed studies of “Godly love” see Matthew T. Lee, Margaret M. Poloma, and Stephen

G. Post,The Heart of Religion(New York: Oxford University Press, 2013); Margaret M. Polo-

ma and John Green, The Assemblies of God: Godly Love and the Revitalization of American

Pentecostalism(New York: New York University Press, 2010); Matthew T. Lee and Margaret

M. Poloma, A Sociological Study of the Great Commandment in Pentecostalism: The Practice

of Godly Love as Benevolent Service(Lewiston, ny: Edwin Mellen Press, 2009).

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provides a lens through which we could observe the relationship between claims of emotionally powerful and embodied experiences of divine love and its expenditure to a range of beneficiaries. This study adds to the understand- ing of the relationship between charismatic prayer and benevolence as well as some of the cultural characteristics by which charismatic renewal operates.

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