prayer and fasting

Up and down the country - and far beyond as well - countless folk joined in a day of prayer and fasting yesterday for the Church of Scotland.

For ourselves here in Edinburgh we'd arranged a meeting through the afternoon for ministers. It was good to meet like that, to humble ourselves together before the Lord and to seek his face through those three afternoon hours: adoring, beseeching, confessing.

The ABC of prayer. Getting back to basics, and declaring to God our utter sense of helplessness, the burdens and the grief we feel for the honour of his name, the sense we have that we have no power and we don't know what to do.

We'd arranged, as well, a meeting at night for folk from all over the town, from different congregations, to come together to pray. To mark this day of prayer and fasting together.

Many, in their own local setting, had been fasting and praying all day. Now, at the day's end, there was the chance to come together.

It pleases the Lord when his people come together in this way. It moves his holy heart. Things happen.

There are some striking, powerful precedents for this sort of thing, recorded for us in Scripture. Occasions when all of God's people deliberately choose to gather together for prayer. To lay hold of God, to seek his face and favour, and to look once more for his mercy, deliverance, help.

It's interesting that the first such occasion recorded for us takes place on the back of behaviour by one of the tribes which shows scant regard for God's holy law in relation to sexual conduct - both homosexual and heterosexual (Judges 20.26 - the background is given in chapter 19, the sort of thing you should only be reading after the 9 o'clock threshold).

A loosening hold on the law of the Lord creates all sorts of hard predicaments for all of the people of God.

It represented a crisis for the people of God. We know the feeling today.

These times of prayer and fasting are almost invariably set in the context of crises. Probably the best known one of all is that recorded during the reign of the good king of Judah, Jehoshaphat.

He was a good guy, in all sorts of ways. He resolved from early on in his life that he would seek to honour the Lord - and him alone. He took some bold, decisive action to that end in the life of the people he ruled. He refused to go with the flow.

There was widespread Biblical illiteracy through the land at the time, so he sent out folk to all the towns, Bibles in hand (as it were), to teach the people the Scriptures.

I've always liked the guy. I read the stuff about him and I find I'm almost cheering from the sidelines as he does his thing and seeks to see the people moving forward into better days.

What's more, the Lord himself is plainly rooting for him too.

But there came a time of crisis. They faced what's called "a vast army."

Impossible odds, in other words. Everything stacked against them. Defeat and ignominy staring them in the face.

So the good guy Josh (it's a whole load quicker to spell if I call him that) called a fast. And everyone came. They gathered together from every town. And Josh stands up and leads them all in prayer. It's powerful stuff.

And it ends with Josh confessing - "We have no power to face this vast army ... we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

They don't have the power and they don't have a clue.

Without the Lord and his timely intervention they're lost. That's why they've gathered like this to fast and pray.

What follows is quite exciting!

Hardly has this good guy stopped his praying than the Spirit of the Lord comes down. God speaks in power with his people.

"Don't be afraid or discouraged .. the battle is not yours, but God's ... stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you ... Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you .."

Which is basically what then happens.

I don't think there's a single case in Scripture where a 'crisis-type' of fasting and prayer by the people of God is not followed by God's gracious turning things round. Sometimes quite remarkably.

It's not magic. It's mercy.

Pure, rich, unthinkable, unwarranted, extravagant mercy.

Things happen when God's people start to pray like this. The real revolutions begin right here. In a person's life, in a church's life, in a nation's life.

Scotland's not the same today as it was before yesterday! The Spirit of God's been released!

Be warned!