A small church in a farming town had been without a pastor for more than six months. It had been decreasing in size for years, so God led the head elder to unite with church members several times a week in prayer. They prayed, and prayed, and kept praying for people to come to their church. People did start coming, and members continued to pray until their attendance had more than doubled! Their dying school became their next united prayer object. God soon had doubled its enrollment plus the members were now seeing personal answers to prayer and were filled with rejoicing!
Imagine, millions of Seventh-day Adventists around the world, all praying together in one accord for the same thing! What would happen? If millions unitedly persevered in prayer, much like the disciples did in the upper room just before Pentecost and through the book of Acts, what could God do!
God has promised to pour out His Spirit upon us, if we just ask, and press together as a people in one accord in prayer. You can be part of a similar dynamic, worldwide prayer movement with that same purpose! United in Prayer, as this Revival and Reformation initiative is called, is a global church community of Seventh-day Adventists members praying together. “We want to encourage members to join together in prayer,” says Jerry Page, General Conference Ministerial Association Secretary, “whether through your own personal time with God, personal prayer groups, or in a broader sense as a church through prayer partners, prayer chains, united prayer phone lines, 777 on the hour, texting groups, or any other way that God leads.” Participants of United in Prayer will also share and receive testimonies, prayer requests, practical helps, and inspirational messages.
In Matthew 18:19 and 20, God invites us to come together and ask great things of Him: “. . . If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (AKJV).
WHY PRAY UNITEDLY?
Ellen White tells us that “The promise [in Matthew] is made on condition that the united prayers of the church are offered, and in answer to these prayers there may be expected a power greater than that which comes in answer deeper into God’s Word. The companion to the United in Prayer global prayer initiative is the global study program called Believe His Prophets. Believe His Prophets, the sequel to Revived by His Word, is a five-year program of reading through the entire Bible, a chapter a day, with an accompanying blog, and interactive comments. It also includes weekly readings from seven Ellen G. White books, including Steps to Christ, Christ’s Object Lessons, Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, The Desire of Ages, The Acts of the Apostles, and The Great Controversy.
“God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path,” says Derek Morris, editor of Ministry magazine and coordinator of the program. “So our goal is to encourage church members to spend time with God in prayer and reading the Bible every day.”
“I used to be violent and always aggressive,” writes one participant, “but now, because of God’s Word and His love, I’m now peaceful, loving and kind.”
“My work mates are seeing changes in my habits,” writes another, “I use to swear a lot at work, but now these habits are dying out. Thanks, Revived by His Word!”
Shah writes, “I am no longer complaining about leaders in my local church, but I pray for them!”
The name Believe His Prophets was taken from the counsel in 2 Chronicles 20:20, which says, “Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed” (ESV). “Thousands have been blessed by God as a result of Revived by His Word,” Morris concludes, “and we believe thousands more will gain an even deeper understanding of God’s will for their lives through Believe His Prophets.”
To be part of these two worldwide movements and receive the daily chapter and regular prayer mailings, go to www.RevivalandReformation.org.
Jackie Ordelheide Smith is Ministerial communication manager at the General Conference world headquarters.
