David and I went to the Response Day of Prayer yesterday at Reliant Stadium in Houston. For my readers outside the US, our governor of Texas called a day of fasting and prayer for our nation and the prayer gathering was held in our Houston football (gridiron) stadium. I haven't heard the numbers, but we guessed about 25,000 people were there--young families with little children, elderly adults, young people, professional people, pastors, those from every walk of life. It was a glorious time of worship and intercession and a powerful time of personal and corporate confession of sin. Although our governor took at lot of criticism for this call to prayer, there was no political statement and no one took our names for future "marketing."
We were asked to pray sometimes in groups of 3 or 5 and sometimes prayed individually as we were led in prayer by person after person at the microphone. The worship band led us to sing our worship and intercession in familiar and not so familiar, but glorious songs. The event lasted all day and was based on Joel 2, "Even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart, not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing--grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. Let the priest, who minister before the Lord, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, "Spare your people, O Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, "Where is their God?'"
What do you think about all this?
That's awesome!
ReplyDelete