Prayer Update: "As One" Phase 1
The first season of the “As One: An Appeal to Heaven” prayer walking campaign is complete, and the reports are starting to come in. What wonderful news we are hearing across the nation from those who participated. Even though the lead-in time was short, over 23,000 Christians across all denominational lines signed up on the website to join in. We are sure there were many more who participated, but did not make their locations known through the website.
Our State Generals have reported the following:
In a city in Kansas, between 30 and 40 pastors of all backgrounds unified for the first time ever to prayer walk the city. One leader there said the Lord “sovereignly brought them together.” They had never prayer walked before either, but that didn’t stop them from giving it a try. They and their congregations enjoyed it so much that they plan to send teams out on a regular basis!
Las Vegas, NV, is a place known for high crime; they have recently seen a surge of violence and homicides. Coinciding with the “As One” initiative, the police department went to local churches and asked for their help to pray over the neighborhoods surrounding those churches. Over 100 people responded, and they blanketed the neighborhoods in prayer. The pastors are now planning a prayer walking gathering in October they are calling “For the Sake of the City.” Pastors are leading the way in praying specifically to end trafficking and domestic violence in Las Vegas.
A number of states have said that while there was quite a bit of prayer walking activity during the first 40-day period, the prayer walking did not end. Some churches and individuals heard about it and have started ongoing prayer walking initiatives since that time. County by county and city by city, they are slowly covering each zip code in prayer!
There is more prayer walking than ever before in northeastern Ohio, including the Cleveland area. Our General there discovered teams out prayer walking that had been led by the Holy Spirit to cover their areas in intercession, and they knew nothing about the national “As One” campaign! They were covering neighborhoods, police departments, and schools led by a momentum of unity. Leading up to the National Republican Convention being held in Cleveland this year, numerous prayer initiatives are planned, including non-denominational, bi-partisan times of worship across the city.
Many of our northern states were still covered in snow during the “As One” period, which began on Easter Sunday and ended on the National Day of Prayer, May 5. This was the case in Wyoming, where our State General there had to get creative! Her sister drives a waste disposal truck. Lonnie and her sister-in-law christened it “Barnabus” (Barney for short), and it was driven throughout a wide-range of cities and counties, rural and recreation areas. They declared that everywhere it went the debris of the enemy would be taken out and dumped, never to return!
Best of all, we are continually hearing of the way this campaign initiated unity between pastors and churches coming together across denominational, racial and political lines to cover their cities and states in prayer toward national revival. In lots of areas the prayer walking has only begun, with plans to continue or plans to do more as the year goes on!
Don’t forget that there is a second wave of “As One: A National Appeal to Heaven” planned for September 3 through our national election day on November 8. We have lots of time to prepare this, so sign up here to pray for your neighborhood; then let all of your friends, family and pastors know about it!
