The story goes that C. H. Spurgeon once showed some visitors around the famous Metropolitan Tabernacle where he was the pastor. The group saw the imposing doors, the high pulpit, and the vast meeting room where thousands heard the gospel. Then, Spurgeon offered to show his guests the basement “boiler room.” They were uninterested, but Spurgeon insisted and threw open the door to reveal 100 church members in prayer. Spurgeon knew that his church wasn’t powered by human effort but by the Spirit, and that the Spirit works when God’s people pray.

If you come to our TGCW24 conference in June, you may be amazed by the crowds of people, interested in the numerous book tables, and encouraged by the gospel teaching. But the conference has its own “boiler room” that most people don’t know about. Every person and speaker who attends a TGC conference is prayed for—by name—by a member of TGC’s staff. We keep the lists in our Bibles and we bring them before the Lord on our knees. We ask the Lord to meet each woman in his Word, to help her by his Spirit to worship, and to allow her to grow in her love for him.

This year, I fully expect TGCW24 to be amazing. I expect abundant spiritual fruit in my own life and in the lives of the other women attending. But if I do experience growth, it won’t ultimately be because of any of the things I’ll observe during the conference. It will be because someone was praying for me.