Day 1 – Sunday

Scripture Reading: Ez 37:1-6
Prayer Focus:Nation, Region & City
• Church
• Elections
• Government
• Marketplace
• Economy
• Family

A Week to Return!

I am sitting in a Barnes & Noble Cafe just north of Pittsburgh, and I feel like a wreck. I have been going back and listening to some Audio/ Video files from The Call DC. It seems like my heart is vulnerable these days to things connected to praying for the country. I was trying to hold back the tears, but then I thought better of that.

I think being vulnerable is a really big deal. Opening our hearts to the affections and concerns of another. I guess the biggest impact that praying for our country has had on me, is that somewhere on this journey, walls in my heaer were torn down between the raw data about the state of our union and a place in my heart that I didn’t know existed. It is a place of intercession for our nation. Not in a generic aggregate sense, but in a very specific way. It is a place where I see just how a culture that condones abortion and exploits individuals through pornography impacts the girls in our faith community. How these precious girls feel as if they do not measure up to some standard. How even girls who know better, are willing to be exploited for some sense of being desired and valued.

And it is not just girls that are impacted, but I know stellar young men who struggle to keep their mind pure. They too have been victimized by a culture that targets their sexual desires in order to sell pizza, toothpaste or just about anything else. It seems that the restraints are continually being torn down.

One week from today, we will gather for a day of humility. A day to fast, pray and worship the Lord. It is a day to re:Turn to the Lord. I am asking that you intentionally set this week aside to get vulnerable to God’s heart for righteousness, and to His heartbeat for our nation.

Would you join with me in setting aside extra time to pray for our nation. Would you consider fasting this week. It maybe you fast for several days, or maybe you would fast one meal a day for the week, or fast two hours of sleep each night. There is a guide available with scripture reading, the 7 specific prayer points of re:Turn, and some suggested reading, video’s audio files. These are all designed to help us get focused on God’s heart and to make ourselves ready for a day of solemn assembly, and to help us become vulnerable.

Father,
I pray in Jesus Name that you would come on us. Prepare us for your coming. Help us to know how make ourselves ready for you to come upon us. Lord, we surrender and lay down and make ourselves vulnerable to you and to your heart. Come on us this week with all of your passion. Unleash the fury of Your love on Your children.

Grip our hearts. Infuse us with Your life. May we not rejoice at what breaks Your heart, but tune our hearts into yours. That what makes You weep would make us weep. That what makes you laugh would be our delight.

Humbly we bow before You, as Your children and as a part of the royal priesthood. We plead the blood of Your precious Son, Jesus. God end abortion. Put an end to our tolerance for wickedness. We cry out for mercy. Grant our nation the fruit of true repentance. Bring revival to our nation. Mark a generation for You and for Your glory.

In Jesus Name!

Ready for Response?

(Originally posted on leemyers.wordpress.com)

This post is one that I feel like I need to write as opposed to something I want to write.  So here it is:

I’ve had a pretty rough week.  Other than the obvious stuff that’s hard in life right now… other stuff has been going on too.  I told Brad a few days ago that I don’t think they write country songs that are this bad.  I’ve felt like I have nothing to look forward to on earth that I currently have a glimpse of.  There’s been probably 2 or 3 times in the past 2 weeks that I’ve yelled at God and told Him He seems pretty unreliable at times.  I’ve felt like I’m just hanging out on death row waiting for the sentence inside of me to be carried out.  God hasn’t seemed so good lately… All of that isn’t what I believe really, but what I feel doesn’t always follow my beliefs.  I have to choose which one of those two things to follow.  I’ve already made up my mind about the fact that God is good and faithful.  I will choose to live from that place as best I can even when I don’t feel it.

This past Sunday, I was on the phone at the beginning of what turned out to be a really hard conversation.  I was lying in my bed and I felt like my body was moving a bit.  (I’ve only told one person about this until now because I haven’t really cared about it in light of how I’ve felt… and when I told him, I actually told him, “I knot this will probably excite you, and you’ll think it’s great or something, but I don’t really care about it right now.”)  My body didn’t feel like it was trembling… it wasn’t chills… it wasn’t a “normal” God thing.  I honestly felt like there was a small earthquake happening.  I’ve felt earthquakes out here in PA maybe once or twice in my life.  That’s what it felt like.  I sat up and looked around my room expecting things to be moving sort of slowly like I was… I can’t describe the feeling unless you’ve been in an earthquake.  Nothing else in my room was moving.  I laid back down and continued to feel that for another 15 seconds maybe.  …weird right?

The next day, I mentioned that experience to Brad when we were talking about stuff.  I won’t go into too much about it, but he told me the semi-obvious and probably completely correct interpretation of that stuff.  He mentioned briefly about a shaking happening in some people’s lives where everything is being shaken that can be.  He referred to it as a preparation of sorts that maybe we don’t altogether understand even though it seems simple enough… Everything can be shaken, but God’s Kingdom cannot be shaken, and living that revelation to understand it might be a big deal before we can really preach it.  It’s bible stuff, but I don’t know if I’d choose a shaking from where I stand right now.  I’m pretty sure it’s what my life has chosen though… not that I’ve asked for a shaking, but that I’ve asked for whatever and offered whatever to see the Kingdom come more and more in this world.  I know I’ve done that, and it’s a reality in my heart.

Don’t get depressed… I don’t think I’d write a blog post just to talk about how much things suck right now.  It’s not that I couldn’t or think it’d be wrong.  I just don’t feel like writing usually until something catches me on fire a little bit…

Last night… I watched some videos on the blog-site for re:turn08, which is going to be a really sweet prayer gathering.  I watched a couple from The Call DC.  I went to The Call in DC with a few people.  I made it to the mall where the event was being held.  I felt like I was dying though… I guess I kind of was at the time… I only stayed at The Call for a half an hour.  Then I made my way back to where we were staying and went to the hospital the next day.  My God sustains me, and that’s the truth.  (Richard and me saw Sarah Palin last night… I love a good politically based mob with all the chants and cheers like we’re about to storm a castle.  Then we go home and vote like we would’ve before the rally… On the way home from the rally, we were sort of close to getting T-boned on my side of the car.  I told him… ehh, I doubt I would’ve died)  I really believe it, so I say again… my God sustains me!

Alright, so I was watching some videos from The Call that I was at, but didn’t really get to be at.  I told God that I wished I could’ve been there and actively participated more.  The Call is basically a corporate time for praying and fasting for the nation to turn back to God and for God to send revival… tens thousands of people usually gather when there’s a Call thing…  I asked God why I couldn’t be there for it really even though I was kind of there.  I feel like He told me something.  I cried when He did.  I feel like He said “You’re busy being prepared as a part of the answer to their prayers.”  … … … Maybe that seems arrogant.  Part of me doesn’t want to share that on a blog.  I don’t think my mind made it up because my mind has largely felt lately like all destiny has been stripped from me and what could I possibly do for this Kingdom of power.  I also need to say that I know anyone can become part of the answer to the prayers for revival in the nation.  I don’t even know if I fully believe right now what I feel like God just said… I’ll try as I can to run towards it and then we shall see what comes about.  I think anyone who knows the heart of God and has given themselves over for Him and His Kingdom is already being prepared to be a response to this national prayer movement… preparation in hearts happens differently for different people.  I believe that for real… things are seasonal, and I say to all the crap in life right now… this too shall pass.  Another day will come.

One more thing happened last night.  I know this is long already… I was praying about something… I don’t remember what.  A vision jumped in and out of my head really quick.  I haven’t had a ton of visions in life, but I know when one is a God thing because so much more happens in the vision than could possibly happen in any mental image I create.  It was in my brain for half of a second, and I could draw it easier than explain, but here it goes… I saw John Mark McMillan in an outdoor concert setting.  There weren’t many people there for the show.  The “concert” was in a valley with really high/steep embankments on either side.  The valley was actually a DEEP riverbed… I know this because the whole concert was being held in a grassy area where the river would normally flow and destroy everything, but there was a HUGE dam right behind John Mark and the band.  They were playing a song… they were playing How He Loves Us.  Here’s what I felt like it meant…

One of the things that they pray about a lot at The Call is for God to hold back the flood of judgment against the nations.  I feel like the revelation going out into the nation of the way God Loves Us is the dam that holds back judgment and war and death.  We NEED to pray and cry out and intercede and fast and pray for the country and for the world.  …but we also NEED to be ready to carry the answer to our prayers when it is released and delivered in us, through us, and upon us.  People need to know that God loves them greatly… we pray for our nation to turn back to God, but why would they do that when most people have only seen imposter gods that seem impotent because the church has been more focused on being scared and greedy.  I’m not saying we will answer our own prayers because we’re so great… but I believe God wants to move in our hearts and pour out His Spirit greatly upon us to become the church and the physical body of Jesus in the world to deliver righteousness and love to the nation to demonstrate the character of the God that we pray for them to turn to.  This mission we’ve been given cannot be accomplished without the Spirit of God in us and on us, and we won’t do it unless we’ve purposed ourselves to first and perpetually know God and His heart for ourselves and for our world.

I don’t know how this sounds to any of you, but it stirs me.  I’m not foaming at the mouth and ready to dropkick Satan in the gut right now.  I still feel weak and like I can’t do anything for the Kingdom I proclaim.  I know my feelings aren’t true, but they are the honest present moment.  I really want to try and do what I can because what else is worthy… It’s by grace we are able, and it’s a privilege to carry good news.  Yes, I suppose we will see what happens next…

Promo Video – The Call DC August 08

more about "", posted with vodpod

This song captures the spirit of re:Turn.

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“Battle Hymn of the Republic” The Call CD

His Truth is Marching On!

more about ""Battle Hymn of the Republic" The Cal…", posted with vodpod

FRC Video on Same-Sex Marriage

Unbelievable. If you think same sex marriage does impact the public, please watch this.

more about "FRC Video on Same-Sex Marriage", posted with vodpod

Promo Video for The Call California

Incredible video outlining what is at stake in our country right now.

more about "Promo Video for The Call California", posted with vodpod

Crown Jesus King ‘08

My inbox is getting full of desperate sounding emails from people who are concerned about the outcome of the upcoming election. And there is a lot at stake for our nation, but once again it seems that the evangelical voting block is trying to rally hope around one candidate, or maybe this year it is more of a rallying away from another candidate.

While I believe that believers should take an active roll in our nations elections, I think sometimes that we really miss the point. Since before I was old enough to vote, I have noticed a disturbing trend. It seems that every four years in the month(s) preceding our national election, a desperate prayer movement begins.

Every election I hear how this is “the most important election in 30 years” or some other arbitrary number. I have experienced the church taking credit for getting a president elected, and Yes, I have personally witnessed believers dressing in black and mourning when the “right one” didn’t win.

The problem is this. Many of the people that rally the country to pray once every four October’s, return to “normal” by the second week of November. (Except for elections that include “hanging chads” and “butterfly ballots”.) While I believe there is a genuine desire to see God’s will for our country, our spiritual attention span seems too short even for Sesame Street.

I distinctly remember being a part of the October Prayer Movement four years ago and asking God what He thought. In my heart, this is honestly what I believe He said to me.

“I am much more interested in what happens in my house, than I am in the White House.”

I am praying and calling others to pray for our nation and for the elections. My desire would be to see leaders elected that would honor righteousness and have a heart to know the Lord. But make no mistake, the hope of our nation does not rest on the platform of a political party, or on the shoulders of any candidate for president, or vice president for that matter. The hope of our nation is found only in the person of the Three in One, holy God and in His people walking as sons and daughters of righteousness.

We have the unique opportunity as a royal priesthood, to cry out and petition God on behalf of our nation, but equally important we get to represent the King of kings and His kingdom to our nation. I believe it is time to “Crown Jesus King”. Let’s crown Him with praise & adoration, Crown Him by acknowledging Him as the Sovereign Lord, who alone is worthy of our hopes and trust.

It is good to be full of allegiance for our nation. I love America with my whole heart, but my love and allegiance for her must be in subjection to my love and allegiance for the King and His Kingdom. I can only serve America effectively as I am faithful in my role as I am an ambassador of King Jesus and as I actively commit to seeing His kingdom come, on earth as it is in Heaven.

So let’s continue to pray for the nation and for God’s will for the elections, but let us see that the hope for nation is to “Crown Jesus King ‘08″

LOCATION CONFIRMED

We are happy to announce that we have a confirmed venue for the re:Turn prayer gathering. We will be meeting at noon on November 1st at the First Baptist Church in Ellwood City, PA. The church address is 220 Fountain Avenue Ellwood City, PA 161117. Click here for map.