Day of Prayer for Britain, 31 August 2019, The SSE Arena, Wembley
Join us for a Day of Prayer and Praise to bring the Glory of God back into our nation and set our hearts on Fire. As in Scripture, the Levites led Israel into battle with music, so Praise and Worship will set our hearts on Fire – Prayer will bring the Glory of God – and Release the Power of the Holy Spirit. Saturday 31 August 2019, The SSE Arena, Wembley, 10.00-18.00.
Solomon prayed: ‘When they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have committed wickedness’; and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captive, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name: then hear from heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You. Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place.’
When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying: “For He is good, for His mercy endures forever.”
The Lord’s response to Solomon: “If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 6:37-40, 7:1-3, 14)
One of the biggest problems in Britain today is the chaotic division which is worse than at any time in recent history. We are divided politically and culturally yet face some of the biggest challenges since the last war. Then we were united against a common foe, now we are divided against ourselves.
I believe that the only answer is through prayer and a spiritual awakening. I am the first to agree that solving the questions over Brexit will not bring the nation back to God. Whether we are in the EU or not, the same problem exists, that we are no longer a Christian nation. Since the turn of the century, our laws, which have existed for hundreds of years and set Britain up as a Christian nation, have been overthrown by a minority determined to remove Christianity from every part of nation and culture. This, although slower and less definable, is actually as serious as what happened under communism.
But there is an answer! This is the defining motive behind my calling Britain to prayer over the last two years. However, if we want to see the divisions in the nation healed and the nation turn back to God and reject the disobedience to God’s law (which has not been just symptomatic of our national and moral breakdown, but largely has been the cause), where do we begin? Yes, by increasing in prayer, but as we do, I believe that the Word of God is speaking to us Bible Believers, that unless we return to John 17, we cannot bring healing to a nation of unbelievers! Is not the exhortation of Jesus that one of the purposes of His prayer for unity in the Body is that this very unity amongst us would challenge the unbeliever to believe? In that last recorded prayer of Jesus, His prayer is not for the world to be saved, but that the unity of us Believers, the Church which is His Body, might be the witness to the unbeliever! Not merely the Gospel which we preach, but the UNITY which we have in Christ! John 17:21-23.
Why are we so divided? The unbelieving world does not see the Gospel as uniting but dividing us. Probably more wars have been fought over religious issues, than political! Yes, we do have some unity, but too many divisions through cultural differences. For example; we ‘whites’ took the Gospel to Africa and the Colonies, now it’s ‘payback’. We need you to evangelise us, because we aren’t doing it!
One of the greatest miracles of this generation that I have seen is the transformation in former communist Ukraine. It was a Ukrainian born Premier of Russia, Khrushchev, who declared that he would destroy Christianity and show the last living Christian on TV as proof that Christianity was eliminated from the Soviet Empire! Today Ukraine is unique in that we have brought every Christian denomination together in a National Day of Prayer for four consecutive years, where the leaders of the denominations are the ones who humble themselves before, not only the 10,000 people in the arena, but the whole nation on TV. This in a former totally atheistic nation!
How does it happen in Ukraine? When I invite them to participate, I make a clear declaration. If you want to be part of this unity, you must agree that the only Authority in the Church is the Word of God and the only way of Salvation is in the Name of Jesus! When President Poroshenko saw what had happened, he and the Government, not only supported, but joined in reading the Bible and praying!
If this is to happen in Britain – then firstly we must repent of our differences, yes and persecutions, by uniting in a great prayer meeting. That is why I have rented The SSE Arena in Wembley for a united Day of Prayer when we can show a divided, hurting nation, what unity is. But doing it the way that Jesus indicated. I weep because, until we do, that prayer of Jesus cannot be answered. Unity and healing will not come in Britain until we, the Body of Christ, show how!
This is why I call you to come to The SSE Arena, Wembley – Saturday 31st August 2019