CITY-WIDE PRAYER
“In an impressive show of Christian unity, about 40,000 people from more than 400 Nashville-area churches have embarked on a month-long initiative to pray for every local citizen by name. Awaken Nashville (https://awakennashville.com/) is billed as ‘a city-wide movement of prayer and fasting unifying the body of Christ to strategically intercede for every person’ in the surrounding area.”Could it be that God is beginning to bring an awakening to the United States? It is not uncommon to hear stories of great movements of prayer in churches and in cities around the country. There is a growing awareness of the spiritually bankrupt condition of our country. Christians recognize that Washington is unable to restore Christian values to the culture. It is only as the Holy Spirit changes hearts that we will see a changed nation.It is impressive to read of these city-wide prayer movements, but God also honors the prayers of those gathered in small groups. It was a small group that gathered in Acts 1:14, and that prayer meeting birthed a movement that has changed the world.It doesn’t appear that there was a large group worshiping the Lord and fasting in Antioch (Acts 13), yet from there the Gospel spread to the Gentile world.I hear from pastors, prayer coordinators, and other leaders who become discouraged with the lack of response in calling people to prayer. While large groups of people praying is wonderful, some of the great revivals have been birthed from small prayer gatherings.Keep praying! Pray about prayer! Ask God to raise up men and women of prayer in your church and in your community. Continually invite people to join you in times of prayer. A growing number of people recognize that John 15:5, where Jesus said, “apart from me you can do nothing,” is absolutely true.Pray for a growing sense of dependency on God. Pray it for yourself, for your church, for your community. Until we are desperate, we will not cry out to God.God laid it on the heart of one pastor in Nashville to pray for every person in the city. Now 40,000 people from 400 churches have united in prayer for 30 days for the city of Nashville.Don’t try to duplicate what is happening in Nashville. Pray! Ask the Lord what He would like to do in your church or your community and PRAYFIRST!