FEB 17-18 @ 7pm-7pm
"I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry."
Psalm 40:1
We received the GREEN LIGHT for a 24-HOUR global prayer meeting with the students at Bob Jones University in cooperation with SermonAudio during the regular Bible Conference week at BJU when normal class responsibilities are suspended.
The specific effort is to engage in 24 hours of uninterrupted prayer for the revival of religion and the advancement of Christ's kingdom on earth.
GLOBAL
This prayer effort is unique in that it will involve BOTH in-resident students at BJU that will be gathered in our Vault Room as well as those who wish to join from around the world in various time zones via our regular United Prayer Zoom link.
The Vault Room is located on the second floor of Mack Library on the campus of BJU and will be open for the entire 24-hour duration to in-resident students of BJU only.
24-HOURS
Beginning TUE Feb 17 @ 7pm and ending WED Feb 18 @ 7pm, there will be a brief prayer talk given at the top of each hour by a different speaker and the remaining time in that hour will be given over to prayer. This pattern will continue uninterrupted hour by hour, for 24 hours.
PRAYER
At the heart of this effort, it is an old-fashioned prayer meeting. There will be no secret agendas, no ulterior motives, no gimmicks. Simply put, it is a call to gather with a group of burdened saints that desire to seek God with all their heart in extraordinary prayer.
ZOOM & WEBCAST
For those around the world in any time zone, all are welcome to join via Zoom, day or night, or tune in via the 24-hour live webcast that will run uninterrupted on the front page of SA. Only the devotionals at the top of each hour will be webcast.
WHY 24 HOURS?
In a day when everything is valued by shorts and reels, I believe it is important to highlight the importance of a thing by giving extraordinary time to it. 24 hours may seem like an arbitrary number, but it signifies completeness, it pushes back on a convenience-driven society, and it carries with it real cost.
Is it necessary?
Was it necessary for the unnamed woman to pour the alabaster box of very precious ointment on the head of Christ in Mark 14? Indeed, the criticism raised by the disciples was that it was a "waste." What could be more precious in our day than our time? It is what the entire social media industry is clamoring after—your time. And sadly, we are thoughtlessly and willingly handing over our most precious commodity—time—to industries that care nothing for our souls. I call it the destruction of distraction, and I'm praying that God will give us enough discernment to see a new "anti-social" movement begin to rise, as impossible as it may seem.
A question was recently asked of Elon Musk, "What's one invention that's made us worse, not better?" Insightfully, he said, "Maybe short form video, it's rotting people's brains."
Do you not observe it in your own experience? Are you not plagued by the inability to concentrate or even to meditate on God's word? Could it be that we are rotting our own minds through the steady stream of mindless content that drains not only our time, but our very life energy? Social media began as something good as a way to connect with family and friends. But today, our feeds are flooded with irrelevant content, carefully engineered to be addictive and endlessly entertaining. Let us be wise to their methods.
And yet, in light of the real "waste of time" that we are witnessing today, when an idea of a 24 hour prayer meeting is proposed, is there not something that rises up even in the hearts of Christians, saying, "to what purpose is this waste?"
For the woman, it was not done out of slavish duty, nor as an attempt to earn His favor. Rather, she quietly and without prompting gave what was most precious to her, out of pure devotion and a desire to simply “do what she could” in loving service to her Lord.
Christian friend, may you not be among the number that heaps scorn and derision upon efforts of this nature, especially when they are born out of a sincere desire to recover the lost art of offering the precious ointment of time to the Lord in prayer. Indeed, "I waited patiently for the Lord."
JONATHAN EDWARDS' TAKE
In his little book, An Humble Attempt, Edwards makes the case that there ought to be seasons of extraordinary, united prayer among God's people as they take into consideration the state of the church, and of the world of mankind generally. In other words, the times call for it. However, in order to answer the criticism of such efforts being a "novelty," he answers like this:
Agreeing on certain times for united extraordinary prayer is a likely and proper means to promote and maintain (I would say, sustain) such prayer; I think will be easily evident to any one that considers the matter. If there should be only a loose agreement or consent to it as a duty, or a thing fit and proper, that Christians should be much in prayer for the revival of religion, and much more in it than they used to be, without agreeing on particular times, how liable would such a lax agreement be to be soon forgotten, and that extraordinary prayerfulness, which is fixed to no certain times, to be totally neglected!
Don't get lost in the language. Edwards makes a powerful point that the organization of such efforts in prayer is more for OUR aid and benefit than for God's. Meaning, it's not as if our prayers become more effective by virtue of the fact that we are praying in this fashion, but rather, our prayers become more effective because we are actually encouraging and sustaining one another MORE in the duty of prayer!
If that point wasn't clear enough, he goes on to say this:
Though it would not be reasonable to suppose, that merely such a circumstance, (as a 24-hour prayer meeting), will directly have any prevalence with God; yet such a circumstance may reasonably be supposed to have influence on the minds of men. Will any deny, that it has any reasonable tendency to encourage, animate, or in any respect to help the mind of a Christian in serving God in any duty of religion, to join with a Christian congregation, and to see an assembly of his dear brethren around him, at the same time engaged with him in the same duty?
We are creatures of weakness. God has so ordered it to have God's people in a body so that we can help and encourage one another. Included in this is the discipline of prayer.
Extraordinary times of declension call for extraordinary efforts in prayer.
Learn more about the 24-Hour United Prayer:
https://www.24prayer.com
POST 24 HOURS
The 24-hour prayer meeting has concluded.
As to be expected, it was an incredibly challenging 24 hours—both physically and spiritually. I can't speak for anyone else, but God finally broke through at HOUR #16 that gave me the grace to finish. And finish, we did.
When Cory Booker spoke for 25 hours uninterrupted on the Senate floor, he sought to bring national attention to what he felt was a crisis in the nation under the Trump administration. There's something unique about 24 hours that's difficult to explain. But one thing is for sure, it helps to draw attention to a cause. In our case, we believe the crisis we are facing is far more dire than anything happening on the political landscape—it's a spiritual crisis.
Our churches may be filled with bodies, but we are losing the minds, the hearts, and the attention of those bodies. We are witnessing a generation where God's word is slowly, subtly, but most assuredly being TUNED OUT. It might be more accurate to say, it's being DROWNED OUT by the world's noise. A famine of hearing the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11).
We sought to pray in such a way as to draw attention to the great need—the need for revival. Along this 24-hour journey, the Lord showed us our sin, our inward corruption, our hypocrisies, our weakness, and our own great need. But as we concluded, the Lord graced us with joy, love, unity, and strength.
Personally, I needed to face some old demons. I also wanted to see what the old saints saw and understood. I wanted to climb that mountain and see for myself. The temptation to give up several times all throughout was profound. Thank God we finished, and we finished together.
This is the challenge I was burdened to bring at the start:
https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermons/22026259451885
"As soon as you wake up in the morning, get on your knees and begin praying for your family, your friends, your finances (work)—all before looking at your phone. It can wait."
You see, I believe we are addicted. Addicted to this little block of glass and metal we hold in our hands. I believe this addiction needs to be broken and we have to begin somewhere, even if it's a baby step. After taking that baby step, take the next. Read your paper Bible and spend time with the Lord—all without your phone. See if it changes your life.
It. Can. Wait.
All 24 meditations are uploaded:
https://www.sermonaudio.com/series/214110
