There are still churches left in this land where folks gather every Wednesday night for \u201cprayer meeting,\u201d since they\u2019re convinced God doesn\u2019t just listen on Sundays.<\/p>\n\n
Central Church of the Nazarene in Fort Wright, Ky., is that kind of church. Last week, the Rev. Larry Dillon told his mid-week faithful that he felt God wanted them to spend some extra time praying about the sniper attacks near Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe prayed for the victims and their families,\u201d he said. \u201cWe prayed for the police. We also prayed that somebody out there would find the killers. \u2026 Our people just kept praying, \u2018Please Lord, let this end.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n\n
One layman who couldn\u2019t be there was trucker Ron Lantz. Normally, he drove his 18-wheeler back and forth to Wilmington, Del., on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But he\u2019d been called in special and had to be on the road Wednesday night and into the morning.<\/p>\n\n
This is, of course, where this prayer story turns into a news story.<\/p>\n\n
Christian truck drivers often like to take their breaks far from the temptations and noise of giant truck stops. The Myersville rest area near Frederick, Md., is one safe refuge where Lantz regularly pulls over and parks.<\/p>\n\n
This time, it was a few minutes before 1 a.m. and, as usual, the 61-year-old Lantz was listening to the national Truckin\u2019 Bozo Radio Show. The host was urging truckers to look for a 1990 blue Chevy Caprice with New Jersey license plate NDA21Z. Lantz pulled into the rest area and there was the car. He was one of the first callers to get through and alert the police.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI called 911,\u201d Lantz told CNN. \u201cThey told me, \u2018We\u2019ll be there as soon as possible. We\u2019ll be there right away.\u2019 He didn\u2019t say how long. He said, \u2018You stay right where you\u2019re at.\u2019 I said, \u2018OK.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n\n
Lantz and another driver blocked the rest area\u2019s entrance and the exit and, about 20 minutes later, swarms of officers arrived. After a cautious stakeout around the car, the police awoke John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo and put them under arrest.<\/p>\n\n
The next day, Lantz enjoyed a few sheepish moments in the media spotlight.<\/p>\n\n
That was the end of that story. But what few journalists noted was that the folksy trucker was telling them that his story had a beginning, as well as an ending. Finding that deadly sniper-mobile followed some serious prayer, he said.<\/p>\n\n
A week earlier, lots of truckers were talking on their CB radios about the sniper case. Finally, Lantz and several others told everybody to pull off the road. It was time for a prayer meeting. According to Lantz, at least 50 truckers and a slew of other drivers got together \u2014 a mere 20 miles from that Myersville rest area.<\/p>\n\n
Lantz is on the road again this week, far from reporters. But he told the whole story in church last Sunday, said Dillon.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThat truckers\u2019 prayer meeting is a big part of all this, the way I see it,\u201d said the preacher. \u201cRon said they all knew that the sniper was probably driving on the same roads that they were. So they prayed that the truckers out there would be able to help stop him, somehow. \u2026<\/p>\n\n
\u201cRon\u2019s testimony is that he was just in the right place at the right time. But Ron doesn\u2019t think any of this was a coincidence and I don\u2019t think it was a coincidence, either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s probably hard for journalists to figure out where prayer fits into this kind of news story, said Dillon. But millions of people sincerely believe prayer makes a difference. So they keep praying. It\u2019s part of the story of their lives.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI know people ask, \u2018If prayer matters, then why didn\u2019t God stop the killing earlier?\u2019 Well, God gives people choices. They can choose good or they can choose evil,\u201d said Dillon. \u201cSo we don\u2019t know why those men chose to do what they did and we don\u2019t know why God didn\u2019t stop them sooner.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThose are tough questions. But we know that we\u2019re supposed to choose what\u2019s good and keep doing what God wants us to do. We\u2019ll have to get to heaven before we truly understand how all of this works.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are still churches left in this land where folks gather every Wednesday night for \u201cprayer meeting,\u201d since they\u2019re convinced God doesn\u2019t just listen on Sundays. Central Church of the Nazarene in Fort Wright, Ky., is that kind of church. Last week, the Rev. Larry Dillon told his mid-week faithful that he felt God wanted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[282,676,720,878,916],"class_list":["post-1202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dc","tag-prayer","tag-religion-news","tag-truck-drivers","tag-washington"],"yoast_head":"\n