Friday, January 25, 2008

7:14 City Wide 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting


It started in Dec. when six pastors were having a monthly meeting of fellowship. After a time of worship and praise, they found they wanted more of God. Not another program, not another conference, not another...just God. They wanted just more of Him and His presence. So this season of fasting and prayer for our city was birthed. They planned to call it the 7:14 after the prayer in 2Ch. 7:14. They and their churches would corporately meet one day a week for six weeks, starting at 7:14 pm. By the end of the week the six pastor's and their churches turned into 10 then 18, by the time the first week of the 7:14 meetings started there were 20 plus pastors and their churches involved. By week two, we had 30 pastors and their churches participating. So we started Jan. 4th and for the next six weeks we are meeting for one hour to pray for our churches, our city, and our country. The churches that are coming together on this are from many denominational backgrounds. We are seeking to walk in unity were we can all agree on the foundational basics of our faith in Jesus Christ.

The first meeting at Central United Protestant there was an estimated 500 people that showed up. It was a powerful first meeting with our brothers and sisters in Christ. There was such a sense of expectancy and hope. The prayer and worship was powerful. I especially loved it when we broke into small groups to pray with those we didn’t know from other churches, for our churches, city and country. The second meeting was estimated to be over 650, many didn’t make it in, because the church was too small. Nobody saw this coming. They quickly made arrangements to reschedule the next three meetings to be held in the largest churches in the city. The third meeting, Kennewick First Baptist was full, with a seating capacity of 900. We will have our final meeting at our local convention center on a Sunday night.

Last week at the third meeting something significant happened that I can’t stop thinking and praying about. It was at the end of the meeting when all the prayers had been prayed, the songs had been sung, and we were about to be dismissed, when a local pastor of a Baptist church got up with a young woman beside him. She was obviously nervous and contrite. He told us that this young woman was a member of his church and that she was woken up by the Lord the night before, and was given a message to deliver for this meeting. She came to him and he brought it before the rest of the city pastors and they all agreed this was a prophetic word for our meetings. She spoke out of Ezekiel 8. It was a major call to the body of Christ in the Tri Cities to repent. It was so powerful. There was not a corporate response at the time, just a few individuals. I don’t think the pastors quite knew what to do. It almost felt like God was saying to us, are you really serious, because if you are, this is where it starts, in the house of God, with full blown heart felt repentance. I hope and pray at the next meeting this will be re-addressed. I know from those I pray with and have talked to, there has been a response through out various small prayer groups that have been meeting this week. I teach and lead a group of college age students on Tuesdays, and after an hour and a half of those kids balling their eyes out in heart felt repentance, I had to drag them out of the sanctuary and start class. This is not normal. This is not a normal event. I really do believe God is calling His bride at this season, especially in our city as we have set to seek His face. I have a very special friend who lives in Portland OR and she has asked for us to please pray that this will spread. We live in the most un-churched region of our nation. Oh God, please bring revival, start here and let it spread through out our nation.

The feel about this season of corporate prayer and fasting is such a sense of awe. No one man or church orchestrated this. Nobody has taken it over or pushed their agenda. Each meeting is hosted by several churches working together. It seems almost a miracle in this day and age. It is just simply God, calling His people to come, come to Him. It is a beginning …

2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.



I will be posting updates about these meetings.
My Pastor's wife has also blogged about this on Just Being Me.

5 comments:

Alice said...

Oh, my, this is wonderful! A church so full that not everyone could get in--doesn't that just make your heart sing. I love services when all our churches come together. There is something special about worshipping with a neighbor who normally goes to a different church.

Barbara said...

Wonderful to read. We have done similar in this area where churches got together once a month for repentance and prayer.

Enjoyed the pics of your 'desert'

Kim S in SC said...

OH wow! What a God! He continues to call us back to him. I love the verse in Jer. 24:7 (which by the way I think is cool because we can pray this for our wayward ones 24/7) He says something like "I will give them a heart to know me and I will be their God and they will be my people, and they will return to me with all their hearts! I"m sure that I messed up that verse but I tell you, He wants to give everyone a heart to know HIm and to have us(corporately) to return to HIm. Thank you, thank you so much for posting this. I just want to share it with those in this community!

Nadine said...

Great summary of the events from the last several weeks. It has been a blessing to see God move in the hearts of His people. I can't wait to see how the difference inside will make on the outside.

Nicholas said...

This is awesome! I love it! :-)

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