PLUS

Job 12:23-25 “He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again. He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.”

America in the fall of 1857, like today, had been groping in the dark without light. They had been staggering like a drunken man. They had been wandering in the wilderness. Jeremiah Lanphir’s Handbill stated the following:

“HOW OFTEN SHALL I PRAY?
As often as the language of prayer is in my heart; as often as I see my need of help; as often as I feel the power of temptation; as often as I am made sensible of any spiritual declension or feel the aggression of a worldly spirit.
In prayer we leave the business of time for that of eternity, and intercourse with men for intercourse with God.
A day Prayer Meeting is held every Wednesday, from 12 to 1 o’clock, in the Consistory building in the rear of the North Dutch Church, corner of Fulton and William Streets (entrance from Fulton and Ann Streets).
This meeting is intended to give merchants, mechanics, clerks, strangers, and businessmen generally an opportunity to stop and call upon God amid the perplexities incident to their respective avocations. It will continue for one hour; but it is also designed for those who may find it inconvenient to remain more than five or ten minutes, as well as for those who can spare the whole hour.”

The prayer meetings offered the opportunity to focus on the business of eternity. The business of time needed to yield to more pressing matters. Based on the results, the business of eternity was long overdue, greatly needed, and magnificently impactful.

God’s presence is what gave this meeting, and others like it, their power. There was no centralized earthly authority. There was no earthly master plan. There was instead a single meeting, ordained by God, which prompted other meetings to spring up all around the country. God tugged on the hearts of others, laymen and pastors alike, to replicate a focus on the business of eternity.

Maybe God is tugging on your heart to take the lead. Maybe a weekly, lunchtime prayer meeting should start in your church, your community, your home, or your place of business. Maybe people around you would welcome an opportunity to stop and call upon God amid the perplexities incident to their respective avocations. Maybe God can use your example to direct others toward the business of eternity.

PLEASE PRAY WHETHER GOD WOULD HAVE YOU TO START A REGULAR PRAYER MEETING. The business of eternity awaits your initiative and your leadership. The results will be left up to God.

THOUGHT: The attached article is one I came across recently that further indicates the welcoming environment you may find when you offer up the opportunity to pray and receive prayer:
https://www.faithandleadership.com/thomas-rusert-why-i-offer-“free-prayer”-coffee-shop

Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

In the past few weeks I have been reflecting on the origins and the original intent of PLUS. In many ways, PLUS was modeled after the Prayer Meeting Revival of 1857. Yet, after a dismissive response by a chaplain to my early request to advertise daily prayer for our nation at the base chapel during lunchtime, I settled into a mostly individual time of prayer. All along, though, something has been missing.

Recently, the Lord placed on my heart the need to reinvigorate this aspect of prayer for our nation. After all, the Lord specifically mentions the special power of communal prayer. We need God in our midst.

In 1857, businessman Jeremiah Lanphir was called to be a City Missionary in New York. A few months later he started a prayer meeting for businessmen, though his church board was initially dismissive and unenthusiastic about the idea. Lanphir advertised his prayer meeting by passing out handbills (to be described in the next post) and putting the following placard outside a room in lower Manhattan on Wednesdays:

“Prayer Meeting from 12 to 1 o’clock – Stop 5, 10, or 20 minutes, or the whole hour, as your time admits.”

From a simple and inauspicious start, the Lord used this meeting in a mighty way. America at that time had gone through a recognizable cycle. They had seen great prosperity and had lost interest in God. Then their prosperity and stability started crumbling and they recognized their need to return to their first love. Lanphir’s prayer meetings fostered this need. These God-ordained meetings quickly shifted from weekly to daily, and other prayer meetings sprung up around New York City. It didn’t stop there; meetings sprung up in other American cities and beyond. Within two years, an estimated one million people were saved and national church attendance increased by over 10%.

Wow! We need God in our midst like He was in their midst.

With that in mind, two Wednesday’s ago we started a weekly prayer meeting from 12 to 1 o’clock on Capitol Hill. People are encouraged to Stop 5, 10, or 20 minutes, or the whole hour, as their time admits. We are hoping for God to act in our midst like he did in their midst. These communal meetings don’t replace individual, daily prayer for our nation. Instead, they complement and supplement individual, daily times of prayer with a weekly time of group prayer. Maybe, with God’s help, weekly group prayer meetings will transition to daily meetings like Lanphir’s prayer meetings did.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE HEAVENLY ANOINTING OF THIS WEEKLY PRAYER MEETING ON CAPITOL HILL. With God in our midst, we look to trigger nationwide prayer and call down supernatural power.

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (that a “Christian” governor would yield to minor pressure and deny religious liberty), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

II Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I heard from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

During the last night of the previously referenced conference, I was convicted of something that had been lacking during the previous few days. During the conference, we had spent a great amount of time participating in government. We had spent a great amount of time preaching about government. Yet, we had spent no real time in dedicated prayer for our government or for our nation. We had done everything but the most important and impactful thing. We had squandered a great opportunity to pray with Christians from around the nation and model prayer to Christians from around the nation.

Frankly, I was as much at fault as anyone. I was offered the opportunity to share the PLUS ministry for 5 to 10 minutes and I shared it for 5 to 10 minutes. In retrospect, I could have shared it for a minute and yielded the next 4 to 9 minutes to prayer. I had squandered a great opportunity to pray with Christians from around the nation and model prayer to Christians from around the nation.

Revival may be encouraged by Christian participation in government. Revival may be prompted by Christian preaching about government. These are important parts of our ministry. Yet, revival will only actually come through humble, repentant, and expectant Christian prayer. It is the least we should do and the most we can do to make an impact on our nation and to heal our land.

As the conviction of these thoughts overcame me during the last service of the conference, I decided that I needed to do something far more important than listen to another great preaching message. I needed to put my faith into action. I needed to pray! Thus, I walked out of the service to the back of the venue, and spent the next hour in prayer for our nation. During that time, my prayers included the petition that God would silence the microphones of the conference and convict the rest of the attendees that they too could spend their time in a more impactful way. We had already heard a series of great preaching. We needed to hear from God by bowing to Him!

God did not answer that portion of my tearful prayer that evening, but I continue to hope and pray that American Christians would better balance their ministries between participation, preaching, and prayer.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO REBALANCE THEIR WORSHIP TO INCLUDE MORE HUMBLE, REPENTENT, EXPECTANT PRAYER. We can no longer squander the time God has given us. The healing of our land is at stake!

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (that the sports & entertainment industries are blackmailing states into denying the free exercise of religion), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

Jeremiah 29:7 “And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”

I recently attended a powerful Christian conference that focused on the need of Christians to participate in government, preach about government, and pray for government. Three times during the conference the following rhetorical questions were asked:

• Who has ever fasted for our nation?
• Who has ever prayed an hour straight for our nation?
• Who has ever prayed 30 minutes straight for our nation?
• Who has ever prayed 15, 10, or 5 minutes straight for our nation?

These questions should be convicting, especially if the answer to one, some, or all is never. The speaker suggested that few in attendance could say yes to most of these. Shame on us, especially if we find ourselves spending more time complaining about our nation than praying for our nation!

We don’t have peace in our communities because we have not prayed and fasted for them. We don’t have peace in our cities because we have not prayed and fasted for them. We don’t have peace in our states because we have not prayed and fasted for them. We don’t have peace in our nation because we have not prayed and fasted for it.

PLEASE COMMIT TO PRAYER AND FASTING FOR OUR NATION. These rhetorical questions should convict us of a massive shortcoming in our Christian citizenship that must be resolved now!

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (that Christians have failed to employ our most powerful weapon – prayer), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!
SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (that our government fails to offer reasonable accommodation to sincerely held religious beliefs), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

Psalm 107:28-30 “Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distress. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.”

Considering the previous post, what if America went to war tomorrow against an advanced adversary? During that war, what if America’s leaders decided to keep our F-22 Raptors in their hangars and were instead determined to wage war by commandeering a fleet of Cessna 172s from local airports around the country? How would we do over the fields of strife?

We would get slaughtered. No matter the skill of the pilots, such rudimentary weapons could not withstand a skilled and determined adversary employing advanced technology. No matter the friendly tactics, the strategic decision to employ the Cessnas instead of Raptors would lead to great loss. The inexplicable strategy to keep our greatest asset (admittedly, I’m a bit biased) out of the fight would be a pivotal and disastrous decision.

Christianity in America is getting slaughtered. No matter our personal skill, our rudimentary weapons are unable to withstand skilled and determined adversaries. No matter our tactics, our strategic decision to employ a variety of weapons other than prayer is leading to great loss. Our inexplicable strategy to keep our greatest asset out of the fight is proving pivotal and disastrous.

PLEASE UNHANGAR THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON IN THE CHRISTIAN ARSENAL. We are getting slaughtered, and must realize that it is the fault of our inexplicable omission.