We all slept in our clothes--I, my brothers, my workmen, and the guards backing me up. And each one kept his spear in his hand, even when getting water. ~ Nehemiah 4:23 The Message
Last Saturday, at Aqueous, Pastor Billy's sermon (click link to be taken to podcast of sermon) mostly consisted of sharing his heart and the spiritual state of our church and his own spiritual walk. It was a powerful and emotional service, in a VERY good way. I am continually amazed at how God has worked in PB's life and how He has brought him and his family to lead our church. I feel so blessed to be led by these two amazing followers of Jesus.
As PB talked openly about the spiritual battles we are facing at this point in time, I felt my spirit be charged with passion. As he talked about how a lot of us are getting tired and discouraged at this point in our battle to reach the city of Goleta, I realized how much that is true for me. But rather than sit back and wallow, I realized that now is the time to press forward and persevere past the discouragement. The enemy is gearing up for attack and we need to be ready.
In line with the analogy of the book of Nehemiah, we have the walls half up. The enemy is seeing that we ARE persevering and making a difference, and realizing that they better do something to prevent us from furthering God's kingdom in Goleta. It's an exciting, but also difficult time.
PB talked about speaking with a man who formerly pastored a Foursquare church in Goleta that started in the 1950s. He said the average tenure of a pastor was about 3 years and the church ended up closing its doors. Our church has only been in existence for 7 years now, and our first pastors resigned after 4 years. At the same time, God obviously has a big plan for Goleta. The former pastor that PB talked with also said that he hasn't seen the same level of life-change in any church he's worked in since he pastored the Goleta Foursquare church.
That really struck me. It is obvious that God has something awesome planned for Goleta, but the battle is difficult. We're in the thick of it.
As I was contemplating the story of Nehemiah, I noticed how dedicated Nehemiah was to prayer. He often gathered the people for prayer. And that's when it hit me. We have 24 hour prayer from 8am Friday to 8am Saturday, but no specifically mobilized prayer the rest of the week. We don't have the attendance necessary to have 24/7 prayer, but we can certainly mobilize people to be praying each day of the week.
So I emailed PB and gave him my idea. Here's the basics:
Purpose:
To mobilize daily intercessory prayer from within the Aqueous community for our church leadership, church community, our neighborhoods and cities, and our global partners in ministry.
To give our community the opportunity to be intentional in prayer and give them the tools to pray effectively and specifically.
To build hedges of protection around our church leaders, especially Pastors Billy & Kristin as they minister to our community, our church community, and global partners in ministry.
Team Function:
Team members would sign up for a specific day on which to pray and possibly fast. Once signed up, the day stays the same unless the team member requests a change.
On the day a prayer team is scheduled, they will pray for the specific prayer needs of our church leadership, church community, neighborhoods and cities, and our global partners in ministry.
If urgent situations arise that can be communicated to the team, the Ministry leader will contact a team member, starting a chain of contact to pass the message on so team members can be praying.
Tools:
The main source of communication would be email. An email would go out to Team members prior to their prayer day listing any current needs for their prayer day, along with encouragements, Bible verses, and any other pertinent communication. Telephone contact would be used in the event of urgent, day-of needs.
Prayer cards/bookmarks could be a helpful tool for ongoing prayer needs.
Over the past few years, different prophecies have been spoken over me that indicated that I am meant to be a spiritual warrior. God has continually pressed upon my heart the need to be constantly interceding. Another part of the prophetic words spoken over me has been an image of leadership...leading others into the battle.
I have admittedly not been following that call very much. I've been lazy and content to do my own thing, just doing enough to "get by". I don't want to do that anymore. I am the most impassioned when I think about God's people mobilizing and seeking Him, ushering in His Kingdom and winning spiritual ground through prayer.
I'm stepping up, and I hope the church in Santa Barbara will too. It's time to fight, persevere through the tough times, and win the battle before us!!!
