Solemn Assemblies (Day 6/40)

Friday. Stepped into church half an hour after the prayer meeting started, and it was FULL. I mouthed the word to the usher who was trying to find me a seat, "Full?" Incredible stuff. When the house of the Lord is packed to the gills not because a well-known speaker is preaching but because a solemn assembly has been called, would God not move?

Yet, tonight, the theme of prayer was a sombre one: abortion. Singapore has one of the most liberal abortion laws in the world, being just one of seven countries permitting elective abortion after 20 weeks (ours is 24 weeks; the other nations are US, Canada, China, Netherlands, North Korea, Vietnam). The issues are not easy: and our laws permit the abortion of a baby at 6 months to provide options to mothers of babies with deformity or abnormality.  Compassion. Love. Grace. Yet, God is also very clear in His word about the sanctity of all human life.  We prayed for mothers and fathers to have a change in heart, to love their own, to feel they have options. And also, for more to rise up to be willing to be a fosterer, to be willing to take care of children not their own.

In the scene in Lord of the Rings, Gandalf confronts a monstrous being that seeks to cross an old bridge with the words "YOU SHALL NOT PASS."

As watchmen over Singapore, will we likewise say to the spirit of abortion, that in our land, "you shall not pass."

Solemn Assemblies (Day 5/40)

This evening's meeting was focused on praying for the young people, the next generation. And oh wow, there was such a mighty presence of God in the room, a knocking on heaven's door, a cry to the Father to reprise the Holy Spirit revival that started from ACS in the 1970s. Do it again, Lord!! We prayed for the teachers in our land, who wield such an influence in young lives. The young prayed for the fathers and mothers in the land, who likewise prayed for the young people to surpass our generation. It was just such a wonderful time in the Lord. And the auditorium was full on a Thursday evening (a work day) with cries rising up to heaven, and impassioned pleas to the Lord. I think tonight, I caught a glimpse of what can happen when the saints in the land carry a burden in their hearts as one, and in one accord, knock on the doors of heaven. Send rain, send revival, Lord!!

Solemn Assemblies: Day 3/40

Day 3/40: A night of recognising the holiness of God, a night of consecration. Such a strong presence of the Lord in the house... also a reverence before a holy God. Praying O Lord that we will shed every weight and sin that entangles. And that with one heart, we will continue to stand with each other to pray for Singapore to be a dwelling place for the Lord. 37 more days to go of this 40-day solemn assemblies: come!

Solemn Assemblies (Day 2/40) - Prayer of repentance

Day 2/40, Cornerstone: Today we heard the report about FOPx that took place on the grounds of St Andrew's Cathedral yesterday. Despite the rain, some 2,000 young people came to pray and worship the Lord. In 1978, Billy Graham had apparently preached on those grounds too, and many of those who came to faith grew up to become pastors, preachers and missionaries. Awaken this generation again, Lord!

This evening's prayer focus was on repentance -- personal, corporate (church) and national.  We repented for walking away from our first love, and for our pride and unbelief. We prayed "God, change us!" Oh Lord, that after these 40 days, we would be a people that are changed, a people who love! That we would be like the Acts church! 

We prayed, "Don't leave us to ourselves, Lord".  Hem us in (Psalm 139) if necessary. Hem us in for our own sakes, that Singapore will enter into her destiny. 

"Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on Earth. " (John Wesley) 

Solemn Assemblies - 40 days of prayer for Singapore (1 July - 8 August) (Day 1/40)

Day 1/40: Sunday, 1 July 2018, Cornerstone Community Church. Today marks the first day of the 40 days of prayer for Singapore. Every year, this is spearheaded by the Love Singapore movement, and there is a booklet on prayer pointers that is available for believers in the land to pray on their own, ahead of the Day of His Power, which is a gathering of the corporate body together. This year, though, because of a sense of the kairos time for Singapore - the 40th year of the prophetic word upon Singapore as the Antioch of Asia - different churches are helming corporate prayer meetings over the next 40 days.  There are 4 churches helming the prayer meetings this week -- but I am at my home church, Cornerstone.

Wow. I am so glad to have been there. There was such a spirit of prayer in the auditorium!! There was also quite a crowd so that was a wonderful encouragement to me -- that there are so many people who would come together to pray for the land of Singapore!! My heart was so moved. 

The prayers that I found notable this evening:

1. "Send the Spirit now for Jesus' sake".  We prayed the great Welsh prayer of revivalist Evan Roberts over our meeting. 

2. We prayed to secure Singapore's Antioch calling.  That we will be willing to send forth labourers from our midst to the harvest fields, to the ends of the earth. That parents would be willing to release their children to God's calling and destiny for them.  

3. That we would hear from the Holy Spirit as clearly as the church in Antioch did in Acts 13.  "While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart from me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.' So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off." We prayed that at the end of the 40 days, or in the midst of the 40 days, that there will be such a clear word from the Holy Spirit of His heart for Singapore. 

4. 2 Chronicles 7:14: "If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked way, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Oh Lord, that we will humble ourselves before you. 

5. Joel. Last night I felt led to revisit and study the book of Joel, and so many prayers from the pulpit today were from the book of Joel. Oh Lord, that we would weep between the porch and the altar (Joel 2:17), that our old men will dream dreams and our young men will see visions (Joel 2:28), and that the Lord would be merciful toward us and relent (Joel 2:14) 

6. We prayed for the young people, who tonight were at the St Andrews Cathedral Open field worshipping and praying to the Lord. May the Lord empower this younger generation to run faster than us, but may the two generations together do more than any one single generation can do alone. Amen. 

For the schedule of prayer and prayer pointers, click here.  Schedule is on the last few pages of the booklet.