IF we were to set up a 24-hour prayer watch before the polling day, will we get any response especially for those ‘graveyard’ hours (when people are sleeping)? We were unsure about the response but we were certain about setting up the round-the-clock watch to pray for the election.
In March, we visited the northern places – Alor Star, Penang and Dungun – to mobilise prayer for the nation and while there, one Christian said that her pastor had advised her not to vote. Some Christians said they were not voting because they had no time or no transport to the polling centres, or it was just inconvenient. By then, NECF Malaysia had already sent out posters and letters encouraging Christians to vote and I understood the significance of these posters in light of the apathetic attitude about polling that some Christians had.
The comments spurred us to mobilise prayer for the election and confirmed the necessity of the round-the-clock intercession for the election.
The idea to mobilise the 24-hour watch started when a lady, representing her prayer group, approached us in March one week before our visit to the northern states and shared her vision about a clock. She felt that God wanted to set up a 24-hour watch for the nation during the election period. “I asked the Lord how to go about it and He said to go and see NECF,” she shared.
So while we were up north, we felt the urgency of setting up the watch and immediately started mobilising intercessors to fill in their names and time slots through their churches and our website. Within a week, over 900 people had signed up! Even the ‘graveyard’ hours were taken.
In my reflections after the election, Isaiah 59:16 came to mind: “He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor…”.
I was very encouraged that our people had risen to the occasion to watch for the nation in its critical moment. From here, I was convinced that we have people willing to watch. We just need to provide the avenue and means for them to respond.
We were also very encouraged by the churches, particularly in Alor Star, Kangar and Sungei Petani, Seremban, Penang and Dungun, that came together to intercede for the nation during the election season. Time and again, we have seen God moving powerfully when churches pray together as one. Like the Christians of the early church who “joined together constantly in prayer (Acts 1:14)”, we are also to pray always in one voice.
Now that the election is over and the new cabinet has been appointed, we must not ‘take a break’ from our intercession for the nation. Let us go beyond the 24-hour watch and move on to the 365-day watch. Luke 18:1 says, “Men always ought to pray and not lose heart (emphasis mine).” Jesus’ encouragement to us to persist in prayer was told through the parable of the persistent widow. In verse 7, “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him (emphasis mine)?” Leviticus 24 tells us that the fire on the altar “must not go out”. It was a symbol of praise, worship, intercession and reconciliation offered by the priests to God. In Isaiah 62, God talks about posting watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem who will “never be silent day or night.”
In 1727, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on a German congregation led to confession and repentance. As a result, 24 women and 24 men agreed to take turns, spending 4one hour a day in prayer for God’s blessings on their congregation. This was the beginning of over 100 years of “hourly intercession” by the members of the Moravian church. from this prayer movement thousands of evangelists and missionaries spread into Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.
So, let us continue to pray as one at all times. It is not impossible to establish round-the-clock watches because we have many churches all over the country and if we come together, we can get all the time slots filled.
On our part, we will continue to feed information on the current events in the nation that warrant our concern and prayer, so that people know what and how to pray. This we will do through our website and regular Prayer Digest. May He continue to knit our hearts together as we pray always in One Voice. |
