August 31, 2008
It is said that Prayer always precedes Pentecost. The Acts of the Apostles describes many outpourings of the Holy Spirit, and on every single occasion, Earnest Prayer was the foundation of the new beginning. Prayer is the POWER-HOUSE of the Church. Rick Warren, in his book, a purpose driven Church says, “A prayer-less Church is a powerless Church”. The Moravian Church was founded on prayer. The band of displaced men and women who gathered on Zinzendorf’s Estate as they sought religious freedom to worship God, had freedom and didn’t know it. They had freedom in Jesus, for it was He who built a HEDGE around them and protected them from their enemy who sought to wipe them out. They began to have heated controversy on doctrinal questions which threatened to derail, disrupt, divide and destroy their congregation.
At Herrnhut, there were not only Moravians, but other displaced and disaffected believers from the Reformed, Lutheran and Baptists Churches who joined their fellowship. All of them were seeking a place of refuge to worship their God in sincerity, peace and safety. Soon, a multitude of conflicting opinions and doctrinal issues like, predestination, holiness, the meaning and mode of baptism and the like threatened to divide them into a number of small, hostile sects. Sensing that the devil was seeking to gain a foot-hole and destroy the works of God, the more earnest and spiritual souls among them began to cry mightily unto the Lord for deliverance. This group of dedicated believers got on their knees day and night, lifting up their voices to God in prayer for deliverance. Did God respond to their cry? Indeed, for deliverance came on August 13, 1727 when there was a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon them. The Holy Spirit de-militarized, transformed and united them for one common purpose, that is, to serve God and God alone.
From that faithfully day in the Bertlesdorf Chapel when revival broke out, Herrnhut became fertile grounds for the Master. The Watchword was Prayer; the battle cry was, Souls for the Master. The united, spirit-filled community, as they went into battle on their knees, began to send Missionaries to the ends of the earth to point men and women to Jesus. Prayer started it and God confirmed it. James Montgomery, son of John Montgomery a Moravian Missionary wrote:
Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,
The Christian’s native air,
His watchword at the gates of death:
He enters heaven with prayer.
Let us celebrate our new beginning. God did it before and He shall do it again. Will you participate in this great move of God? Together in prayer we shall tear down the gates of hell and bring deliverance to God’s people. Is there a witness for the Lord?
