A Sign of Hope, YWAM Europe Pt 2
In England, Brian Mills promoted the concept of prayer triplets, where believers came together in threes, each in turn bringing three other names to pray for. Prior to the Billy Graham and Luis Palau campaigns in England in the late 80’s, prayer triplets were active across Britain, and many were coming to faith in Jesus even before the campaigns had started!
Prayer walking was an activity we engaged in as YWAMers back in the 70’s, walking through neighbourhoods and cities, praying quietly for God’s Kingdom to come among families, in schools, in businesses, in government buildings and in police stations and so on. It was not such a broadly practised concept in those days. However it led directly to the Marches for Jesus, firstly in London in the late 80’s, then jumping across the Channel to the continent, and eventually going worldwide. These events were called at the time ‘the longest prayer meetings in history’ - sometimes kilometres long!
The global climax was on June 25, 1994, then called the biggest prayer prayer meeting in history, involving many millions simultaneously. One year earlier, the first ‘30 days of prayer’ of Muslim prayer focus during Ramadan was held. This year is the 16th such season (15 solar years, 16 lunar years).
As the century drew to a close, a remarkable prayer movement surfaced among young people responding enthusiastically to calls for prayer and fasting. Some fasted for up to forty days. Early in the new millennium, Pete Greig and other young people took the lead in initiating the so-called 24/7 prayer network, spreading contagiously across national and denominational borders. Boiler rooms seemed to sprout like mushrooms. The term Houses of Prayer came into currency over the past decade in Europe, often being championed by mainstream pastors. Mike Bickle injected a fresh intensity into the name IHOP (International Houses of Prayer), resulting in a fastgrowing global network. Bickle has more recently teamed up with Lou Engel and The Call, gathering hundreds of thousands of young people in stadiums across America for prayer and repentance.
Meanwhile, the Global Day of Prayer has emerged out of Africa after filling stadiums in every capital city of that continent. This year 60 million engaged together in prayer in 205 nations on Pentecost Sunday! That far outstrips the March for Jesus events! So, what does this mean? Either God is simply teasing us, and business will simply continue as normal. Or, we are on the verge of something never before seen in history! What do you think?
Till next week, Jeff Fountain 01 Oct 2007 ©YWAM Europe - Weekly Words are the personal reflections of Jeff Fountain and do not necessarily express the official position of YWAM. They may be reproduced with due acknowledgment. Past WW's may be viewed and downloaded at: www.ywam.eu/news/word.asp To subscribe or unsubscribe go to www.ywam.eu/home/subscriptions.asp
Prayer walking was an activity we engaged in as YWAMers back in the 70’s, walking through neighbourhoods and cities, praying quietly for God’s Kingdom to come among families, in schools, in businesses, in government buildings and in police stations and so on. It was not such a broadly practised concept in those days. However it led directly to the Marches for Jesus, firstly in London in the late 80’s, then jumping across the Channel to the continent, and eventually going worldwide. These events were called at the time ‘the longest prayer meetings in history’ - sometimes kilometres long!
The global climax was on June 25, 1994, then called the biggest prayer prayer meeting in history, involving many millions simultaneously. One year earlier, the first ‘30 days of prayer’ of Muslim prayer focus during Ramadan was held. This year is the 16th such season (15 solar years, 16 lunar years).
As the century drew to a close, a remarkable prayer movement surfaced among young people responding enthusiastically to calls for prayer and fasting. Some fasted for up to forty days. Early in the new millennium, Pete Greig and other young people took the lead in initiating the so-called 24/7 prayer network, spreading contagiously across national and denominational borders. Boiler rooms seemed to sprout like mushrooms. The term Houses of Prayer came into currency over the past decade in Europe, often being championed by mainstream pastors. Mike Bickle injected a fresh intensity into the name IHOP (International Houses of Prayer), resulting in a fastgrowing global network. Bickle has more recently teamed up with Lou Engel and The Call, gathering hundreds of thousands of young people in stadiums across America for prayer and repentance.
Meanwhile, the Global Day of Prayer has emerged out of Africa after filling stadiums in every capital city of that continent. This year 60 million engaged together in prayer in 205 nations on Pentecost Sunday! That far outstrips the March for Jesus events! So, what does this mean? Either God is simply teasing us, and business will simply continue as normal. Or, we are on the verge of something never before seen in history! What do you think?
Till next week, Jeff Fountain 01 Oct 2007 ©YWAM Europe - Weekly Words are the personal reflections of Jeff Fountain and do not necessarily express the official position of YWAM. They may be reproduced with due acknowledgment. Past WW's may be viewed and downloaded at: www.ywam.eu/news/word.asp To subscribe or unsubscribe go to www.ywam.eu/home/subscriptions.asp
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