Inspired by the Faith of our Spiritual Fathers

At the next ENOUGH prayer event, 1000’s of Christians from 8 countries in 3 continents will be crying out to God to impact their nations.

From asking God to bless and give wisdom to our governments, to standing with and praying for pioneering church planters – Christians will be gathered to pray – why? Because we believe that ‘if we ask for anything according to his will he hears us.’ (1 John 5 v14).

Over 250 years ago, the American preacher, theologian and revivalist Jonathan Edwards, inspired by a passage in Zechariah 8, wrote his famous work ‘A Humble Attempt’.

In the book, Edwards expounds from the passage, how the advancement of the church will take place, ‘by great multitudes in different towns and countries taking up a joint resolution, and coming into an express and visible agreement, that they will, by united and extraordinary prayer seek to God, that he would come and manifest himself.’ Edwards took this seriously, prayer was an integral part of his ministry. It is no coincidence that through his (and his peers) work the church was built, revivals took place, nations were impacted, and souls were saved.

In Acts 2 we read in verse 1, ‘When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place’. In verse 42 ‘And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.’

Gathering and prayer was a part of what the early church did. It is no coincidence that the Holy Spirit came, revival took place, society was impacted for good and the church expanded and grew. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that ‘faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see’. Hebrews describes how the ancients were commended for their faith and we are encouraged to be inspired by them and to ‘throw off everything that hinders….and run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus’

So as we gather to pray at the next ENOUGH, let’s take inspiration from the early church and from godly men like Jonathan Edwards, lets persevere in prayer and as we do fix our eyes on Jesus, because history tells us that as we gather and pray – God moves in power!

Written by Nick Oldfield (ENOUGH Delivery Team)