The Good News
HERALD
Earlier this month, following a transformation seminar with Ed Silvoso, we held a Prayer Evangelism Exercise, December 3rd to the 8th. Following 3 nights on the air, hosted by John and Lorraine Dick of KKMC, 880 AM, we set out Saturday the 8th to "prayer walk' the perimeter of our city. If you take a look at Salinas from a birds eye view, it is very compact, surrounded by agricultural fields;
In our two previous "prayer walks", we concentrated on specific areas of the city, Santa Rita and East Salinas. This time, influenced by our time with Cindy Jacobs in August, we wanted to "surround" Salinas, much like Joshua did with Jericho. We caravanned in cars, stopping at 3 schools and a grocery store, marking, north, east, south and west; finishing off with a time at City Hall.
Counting our "prayer walk" Saturday as the first, we committed to circle the city each day for six days, then on the seventh, circle it 7 times. So each day I would drive the 20-ish miles around the perimeter, praying. On Friday, the 14th, I rose early and began my drive just before 5 AM, like the story in Joshua 6. While the warriors were told to be "quiet" (Joshua 6:10), I have often wondered what they were thinking; was it about their families, their new land, all the years waiting in the wilderness, about any righteous in the new lands or ?
When you start before 5 AM, even in an agricultural city, it is very quiet. But as you make your circles, you observe many things. I was thinking of those getting ready to go to work, to school, to church. I drove by First Baptist Church, where there was a street sweeper, cleaning up the final trash from Streets of Bethlehem. Did the warriors have coffee like I was having? As the city awakened, school buses became an apparent beacon; kids were heading off to school. I saw a fire truck rush down a neighborhood street and thought of their life-giving service. That caused me to think about our police; we don't assign their life-giving services enough attention. The sun began to rise and with the fields on my left and the city on my right, the beauty of our agricultural lands was unfolding before me. But, for many who work these fields and live in cramped quarters, it is a hard life. I would see hawks on the power wires, airplanes landing at our local airport. The temperature rose from 30+ degrees to about 60 when I finished.
I was listening (I know, I'm supposed to be quiet!) to Matthew Ward and phrases began to impress upon me, "HE endured this pain for me." Or, "YOU have come to release this heart from sin." I prayed these phrases for Salinas, that they would recognize Jesus. I continued to think about what it meant for the Israelites to "take" this first city in the Promised Land. How crazy it does seem to me, to circle a city, be quiet, then shout after the trumpets blare and the city is "yours"? While I was falling more deeply in love with Salinas with every passing lap, as I neared 5 hours of driving, how crazy was I to be doing this? (I don't know if anyone noticed a silver pickup truck going by their house, school or business every 40 to 45 minutes!)
There are interesting direct parallels between Salinas and Jericho. They are both small in size in comparison to cities in their countries. They are both "gateway" cities, in this case, at the head of agricultural valleys. They both produce a tremendous bounty of food. Could it be that there are spiritual parallels? Jericho was the entry point for the Israelis coming into the Promised Land. Is Salinas an entry point for the reconciled land that Jesus died for? (Col. 1:20) Jericho was taken first, by faith, then by a real strange action! In fact, the next city seemed so easy, they tried it on their own and failed! It is clearly by faith that we do these "prayer walks", because no one in their "right mind" would do this. Why? Perhaps it seems silly, unrealistic. It's too "out there", maybe not intellectual enough. Why don't we just go out there and do stuff?
Because this is what we must really learn and print upon our heart in order to watch God gain the victory - "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual {forces} of wickedness in the heavenly {places.}" Joshua and the Israelites learned the truth of this statement. Through a foolish act, a city fell with no one hurt. Who or what needs to fall in Salinas? The spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places! But, why couldn't the Israelis have kept that truism of faith? Do we fall into that same trap? We see God work, then it's off to the races on our own!
Except, we do have problems that man cannot solve. If man could we wouldn't have any problems! But we do, lots of them, tough ones, tragic ones. And the answers aren't going to come from just the right worship song, just the right program, more money from the Fed, more this, more that. Those of us who follow Christ know the answer. We might get a bit sideways with how we go about accessing that answer, but we do know and it is Christ.
I pray that as we go into 2008, we become obedient to what the Lord calls us to do, sometimes as strange or foolish as it may seem. We need to accept our position in Christ, to know we are all "ministers", to disciple nations, to watch Jesus build His church while we attack the "gates of Hades" and to facilitate Acts 4:34-35, so no one in Salinas will be in need.
I'm not saying we sit on a chair in the desert and wait for God to move, but it may be doing the foolish things that accelerate God's presence and promises in our communities.
Blessings to all of you for 2008,
Dick Renard