Burdened by the spiritual atmosphere of the nation and the various issues threatening the country’s stability, a group of intercessors from six churches representing several denominations started meeting in 1999 for all-night prayers.
The once-a-month intercession, called ‘the Watch’, at Christian Life Centre, Petaling Jaya, lasted from 1.30pm to 6am the next day.
Word got around and soon Christians – mainly prayer leaders and pastors – from other churches started attending; today, the number of churches represented has grown to at least 12 with an average attendance of 200 people from also the BM- and Chinese-speaking churches.
"We’re not a prayer group but a prayer movement because we want to see an emergence of a prayer movement across the Klang Valley and the nation," clarifies Lucrece Loo, a member of Klang Valley Inter-Church Prayer Network (IPN), the group that mobilised the Watch.
Adds NECF Malaysia Prayer Commission Executive Secretary Ann Low, "A prayer group is a group of people praying. It is exclusive. A prayer movement has an extensive ministry – it seeks to influence or draw others into the ministry of intercession."
At the Watch, the focus of the intercession is revival in the nation. There is no agenda or programme because the organisers believe that "true intercession is hearing from God"; they trust God to prompt them on what to pray.
However, there is a loose programme based on team confirmation of what God is impressing on the different teams to pray for monthly.
As a result of the Watch, IPN members have noticed a growing unity among the participating churches. Some of the churches have even jointly organised community events.
"For CLC (the hosting church), the church has grown since the start of the Watch. We had so many new people on Sunday morning that we didn’t have enough communion cups, and they always prepare extra just in case," says an IPN member worshipping at CLC.
