THE GLORY OF GOD ON CAPE COD

Articles

 

Could This Happen in USA? How United Prayers Changed the Course of a Nation

by PrayTV Studio on April 19, 2016

"Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, doing wonders?" Exodus 15:11
 
How God Used the United Prayers of the Church in Egypt to Change the Course of That Nation
By PrayTV Studio


Dear friends,

We often hear of the encouraging revivals of the past, when God did amazing things way back then, in the Great Awakenings in USA, the Welsh revival, the Korean revival, etc. 

However, God is still at work today as well doing great and mighty things around the globe, and it is encouraging and inspiring to hear about what He is doing here and now.

The following is a PrayTV Studio production in which Gregg Healey, a prayer leader in Connecticut, interviews Pastor Khaled Ghobrial of the Arabic Baptist Church in Boston. Pastor Ghobrial shares how God has used and is still using the united prayers of the church in Egypt to change the course of that nation since 2011. The link below is a playlist with five segments that constitute the entire interview:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoJ7NaibJ99D3PhnRnmvZYGGg9wDVmzoF


Background: 
 
* Egypt is a country of 90 million people with 85%  Muslim and only 15% Christian.  Christianity came to Egypt in 42 A.D. through the Apostle Mark who wrote the Gospel by that name. The original inhabitants of Egypt are the Coptic people (equivalent to the Native Americans in USA, or the Maori people in New Zealand).
 
* The Arabs invaded Egypt in 639 AD and brought Islam. Since then, the church in Egypt has been under various degrees of persecution throughout history. This drove the Church to its knees in prayer. As you know, biblically and historically, pressure and persecution causes the Church to thrive, while prosperity and times of ease often cause the Church to slumber; thus the pressure on the church in Egypt fueled
her prayers. 

In this video: 
 
* In the 1980's a prayer movement started and had five stages of growth. The stages included:
1. The Church in Egypt learning from the prayer movement in Korea.
2. 
The charismatic movement influence and a new understanding of the the centrality of prayer and intercession in revival.
3. A
 crisis that fueled the prayer movement.
4. 
Learning from the prayer movement in Uganda.
5. Growing in unity
 across denominations and generations on a national level, and having a united vision for revival and a great harvest in Egypt. The church cried fervently, "Lord, make your name known in our land!". 
 
* The Church in Egypt continued to suffer persecution under former President Mubarak. 
 
* The Church continued to pray fervently, in unity, that the Lord would expose and displace the darkness and shine the light of Christ.
 
* In 2011, Egypt had a revolution that toppled President Mubarak. In its essence, it was like the French Revolution where the masses revolted against a corrupt regime. God had answered the prayers of the Church and exposed darkness!
 
* The Church continued to pray fervently and on 11/11/11, a united, multi-Church prayer meeting took place in Cairo with 75,000 in attendance. It was a 12 hour prayer meeting for Christ to be known and magnified in that land! 
 
* In 2012, the revolution was hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, and a Muslim Brotherhood President named Morsi, came to power. The Muslim Brotherhood vowed to remain in power for decades if not centuries.

* The Church was disappointed and confused as to why after all these years of prayer for revival, God allowed the Muslim Brotherhood to take power.
 
* Despite the disappointment, the Church in Egypt continued to pray in unity, fervently crying out, "Lord, expose darkness, come with a mighty move of your Spirit in our land!"
 
* Only one year later, 33 million mostly Muslim Egyptians took to the streets demanding the ousting of President Morsi. Some world newspapers, including the  Huffington Post, called it, "The largest demonstration in the history of mankind." For 33 million Muslims in a strongly Islamic country to reject Islamic rule is historical and unprecedented. The US equivalent of that would be millions of Americans rejecting secular humanism, and realizing that it does not make sense.
 
* The Lord has once again heard the united prayers of His Church in Egypt and exposed the darkness in the land!

In addition to the millions of Muslims coming to Christ, other amazing changes are happening in Egypt.

* The Egyptian constitution was re-written to provide Christians more rights and protection.

* Muslims recognized and expressed that the toppling of the Muslim Brotherhood government was the result of the prayers of the Church. They even asked the Church to continue to pray!


* In October 2015, the Egyptian Ministry of Education banned the teaching of Islam in Egyptian public schools, and substituted it with a subject called Virtue and Ethics. The US equivalent of that , is for the US Department of Education to ban the  teaching of evolution and stop promoting secular humanism!
 
* On January 6, 2016, the current president of Egypt was the first Muslim president in the history of the country to visit the Coptic Church Headquarters. He apologized to Chrisians publicly on live television for their persecution, bombed and burnt church buildings,and he vowed to advocate for them and protect them. He is the best president Egypt has had since its independence in 1952. All this happened in direct response to the united prayers of the Church there!

* Lessons from the prayer movement in Egypt: 
1. It takes time and persistence in prayer. 
2. It takes individuals taking ownership and responding to united prayer. It is not someone else's problem. 
3. Kingdom mentality, relational unity, and united prayer is key: focusing on what unites us, not what divides us. 

 
 
This is what happens when Church leaders respond to God and walk in unity, consecration, and prayer!
 
What would happen on Cape Cod and beyond, if we all walked in unity and together mobilized the body of Christ in our region towards a united prayer movement, with a vision to see the glory of God in our midst and the subsequent outbreak of revival, where thousands of people reject secular humanism and embrace Christ? 
 
As you know, the Scriptures contrasts for us people and generations who understood their times and responded to what God wanted them to do, and those who did not. It describes the "Sons of Issachar"  in 1 Chron 12:32 as having "Understood their times, and knew what Israel ought to do." In contrast, Jesus wept over Jerusalem, because "They did not understand the times of their visitation" Luke 19:42. 
 
We want to be people who understand our times and what God is inviting us to, which is nothing short of changing the spiritual atmosphere in our region in the same way that the Church in Egypt (and elsewhere) changed the spiritual atmosphere in their own country.
******************************************

Related:
 
A Clip of the 12 hour prayer service on 11/11/11 with 75,000 in attendence (with English subtitles)
 
 
A clip of one of multi-church prayer meetings, with foot washing service among church leaders of different denominations in Egypt (with English subtitles)
 
 
back