It has been awhile since our church had an All-Night Prayer Gathering. After coming off the 21 Days of Awakening, as the pastoral staff and I talked, we felt a greater sense of urgency with prayer. Usually when God prompts His people to prayer, it is because there is something that God wants to show us. No matter what it is – at the end it, is always a good thing.
In various seasons of prayer, I have realized that God uses the need for prayer:
2) To prepare us for something
3) To protect us from something
4) To persist in something
It is amazing that in the posture of prayer, we become more sensitive to the voice of God; therefore when God points out something in our lives (usually an area of sin, disobedience, unfaithfulness, etc), we are able to respond.
There have been many times when God was going to do something great or require us to do some great things; therefore He brings us in a season of prayer to increase our faith and to ready us for the task. This has been true of our church plants, as well as other things in the past.
God also uses prayer to protect us from things. There is power in unity, especially when unity is built through prayer. So often Satan attacks within the church, therefore when God’s people pray they are able to overcome any attack or trial.
Lastly, prayer enables us to find greater strength to endure. There have been many times when in a spirit of prayer, I have experience a God-given strength that is powerful and unexplainable. God is faithful to work out everything in our lives. This is why I believe He will provide everything we need to persist in our calling. I love the verse in the book of Hebrews where it says, “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Heb 13:20-21).
I hope many of you will come out to our All-Nighter. Even if you can only come out for a few hours – come out! We are expecting great things from our Father.