All right, guys. Saturday, November 5th is the day. That’s one week from the day I post this blog. I’m sure most of you know one major event that will be happening on that day (my birthdaaaaay!), but I would like to draw your attention to something just as exciting—that is the day my class at TheCall Institute will be leaving for TheCall Detroit! At 3 AM on that day, about 30 of us will stumble to the IHOP University building and pack into a series of cars with our tiny bags of clothes and sleeping bags; then we’ll head off on a 12-hour trek until we arrive in Detroit, Michigan. That city is the site of what will be an enormous assembly of thousands of people gathered to seek the Lord through prayer and fasting. 11/11/11 is the date to remember.
Words cannot express how excited I am to be a part of this. As tired as we will be, and as long of a drive we’ll have, I’m certain this will be one of my best birthdays ever… And I have a request from all of you, but I’ll get to that at the end. Let me begin by explaining more about the Biblical basis for TheCall.
I’ve explained my school a few times before—I’m in a small one-year program called TheCall Institute led by Sam Cerny and inspired by Lou Engle. The school is focused on radical dedication to the Lord like the Nazirites of the Old Testament. I’d love to get into the history of TheCall, but there isn’t time for that in this blog!
The Biblical basis for what we are about to do in Detroit is incredibly important. We aren’t just doing an assembly because someone thought it would be a good idea; we are gathering because it is Biblical. For over ten years TheCall has rallied hundreds of thousands of people in the spirit of Joel 2.
The context of the book of Joel is important as we look at the basis for TheCall. Basically, the context goes all the way back to the book of Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy 28 God speaks to His people and tells them how He will bless them if they are obedient, and also how He will punish them if they are disobedient. He says if they do not obey the voice of the LORD or if they are not careful to do his commandments, curses shall come upon them and overtake them (28:15). These curses are remarkably intense and include physical sickness, slavery, the rule of foreign nations, losing every battle against their enemies, famine and economic disaster, which we see focused on in Joel.
Joel was a prophet to Judah during a terrible time when locusts were invading the land. You may wonder how this relates to economic crisis, but you must understand that the livelihood and economy of Judah was based on crops. Locusts came and devastated the land, thereby wrecking the economy. With this came famine, starvation and disease.
You may also be wondering why God would punish His chosen people so ferociously. You must understand He is not acting against them out of anger, but out of incredible love. God laid out his curses way back in Deuteronomy so that Judah would be able to look back and say, “Oh, we are having trouble winning our battles—perhaps it is because we are being disobedient!” The curses are like a sign, or a red flag, that is screaming, “TURN BACK TO THE LORD AND THE PUNISHMENT WILL BE LIFTED!” God clearly told the nation what He would do when they were disobedient so that they could repent and turn back to Him. So you see the curses were not from an angry God looking for a way to hurt people—they were gracious and kind signs meant to turn His people back to Him.
So that is where Joel comes in. The locusts are ravaging the land and the economy of Judah is falling apart. Joel, an unknown, random man, hears from the Lord and recognizes that the curse is a sign of disobedience, so Joel gets out his soapbox, puts it on the corner of the street and begins to call aloud for repentance. Joel also knows from Deuteronomy 28 that, unless the nation repents, something far worse will come upon them—a military invasion. God speaks and says, “Yet even now… return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” (Joel 2:12-13) Joel continues and pleads with Judah, “Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.” (Joel 2:13-16)
The very end of these verses outlines the steps to repentance. In a nutshell Joel calls the people to gather together and fast. The call is for everyone—the old elders and the young children and the newlyweds on their honeymoon. There is such urgency in the gathering that it takes first place—even the honeymoon will have to wait! Judah had a great need to call on God through fasting, prayer and repentance. They had to return to the Lord, and the way to do that was through a public, solemn assembly.
In the book of Joel, God says He will hear their crying out to Him. He says that He will turn away His wrath and heal their land. Verses 18, 22, 24 and 26 of chapter two detail this, “The LORD answered and said to his people, ‘Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations… The tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield… The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil… You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.’ ”
God says He will restore what He took away from His people and give His blessing. Provision will return; the economy will take a turn for the better and God will take His place as the first love of His people! The most amazing thing will then happen… After the solemn assembly, after the fast, after the mourning and weeping and prayer… God says He will pour out His spirit.
“ ‘And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.’ “ (Joel 2:28-29)
Not only will the solemn assembly stop the curse and restore what was lost, but also it will lead to a massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit—the part of the triune God that dwells within all believers. That outpouring shall come with a noticeable increase of the prophetic, and the outpouring shall be for every nation, people group and language (“all flesh”). Oh, what an amazing promise! Even greater wonders will occur in that day, which can be noted if you continue reading Joel 2.
So that’s really the Biblical basis for TheCall. The very namesake comes out of these passages. TheCall event is basically a solemn assembly dedicated to prayer and fasting. It’s not a music festival or a youth gathering with lots of musicians or vendors or food. The fact is concessions probably won’t even be open because the majority of people will spend the day fasting! This is a solemn gathering of people (of every age, race and language) who want to repent on behalf of our nation, which has turned remarkably far from God.
We must learn from the mistakes of Judah, which did not heed the warning signs. They did not listen to Joel. It’s a disheartening truth—they were given the opportunity for mercy if they could have simply recognized God’s discipline in the economic shaking, but they didn’t. So God had to take the next step and send a military invasion because Judah would not turn from their obvious sins. Babylon comes into the picture and Judah is led into captivity for seventy years.
But enough about Judah. How is America faring? The whole earth for that matter? It doesn’t take a genius to note that America is in a rough spot. Immorality is rampant. Death is pervasive. Foreign gods have invaded. We worship entertainment and sex above God. We are prideful, selfish and arrogant. Humility is a rare trait. Our economy is failing. Our government is tainted. The sex trafficking industry is seen in every major city. Secular beliefs have invaded a culture that should be rooted in God. Even “Christians” don’t seek after God with passion. We have downgraded God to nothing more than an invisible guy in the sky who hates humanity and wants to find all of our sins so that He can send us to Hell. If we even believe in God, that is.
Like I said, we’re not exactly in a great spot.
So we’re going to fast and pray, specifically in Detroit on 11/11/11. Why Detroit, you may ask?
Detroit is one of the great remaining strongholds of racism in the United States—the division between the African Americans and the whites is still remarkably prevalent, even among churches. Abortion is consistently chosen over life. Islam is predominant—Dearborn, Michigan (a suburb of Detroit) boasts the Islamic Center of America, which is the largest mosque in the western hemisphere, as well as the largest population of Arabs outside the Middle East. Certain mosques in Detroit, Dearborn and Hamtramck (another Detroit suburb) have minarets that will sound the call to prayer five times a day (but ringing a church bell in the city of Hamtramck is not allowed because it violates the sound ordinances). Detroit also has a ridiculous crime rate—murders and sexual assaults and theft… Overall Detroit is a spiritually dark place…
That is why we are going to Detroit—to bring it the light of Christ. We want to take hold of these issues and bring them before the LORD… to implore Him to turn away His wrath and send a blessing instead… to pray for Christ to again become the focus of governments… to break down every attack of Satan against Detroit and the United States… We are going to Detroit TO FIGHT. It’s going to be an incredible battle—we’ll be fasting intensely and praying for hours each day. Sleep will be relatively minimal and will be on a concrete floor of a gracious church that will be hosting us. The days are going to be packed with ministry events. There will hardly be a moment of down time. TheCall event goes for 24 hours straight with no sleep.
And I want you to be a part of it. It’s probably impossible for you to make it to the event itself, since it will be taking place in two weeks, but you can still participate.
TheCall is rooted in two things: prayer and fasting. What I want for my birthday(hahaha, you can’t say no to that) is for you to commit to do those two things. With two weeks until 11/11/11 I’m going to give you a few suggestions, especially if you’ve never fasted before and think only insane radicals do that.
MINI FASTING BLOG HOORAY!
Fasting is a normal Christian practice. Jesus said to his disciples, “When you fast…” in Matthew 6: 16; Jesus did not say, “If you chose to fast because it fits your schedule…” In Luke 5:35 Jesus also said, “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” Jesus was the bridegroom, and he said that after his death his disciples would fast! Fasting was a very normal practice, especially in the early church. Great revivalists of old also attribute much power in their ministry to fasting.
Fasting is not about not eating. This may seem surprising, but God doesn’t want you to just not eat for a day—that’s just a hunger strike or a diet. Those things don’t move His heart. What God does desire is for His people to posture their hearts in such a way to receive from Him. When we fast, we become physically or mentally weak. Second Corinthians 12:9 states, “But he [the LORD] said to me [the apostle Paul], ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Fasting is all about the principle of divine exchange—we give God our weakness and admit how feeble we are. A day without food will incapacitate most of us, and we realize how little we can do by our own power—we truly need God’s salvation and strength in everything we do.
That’s basically a mini run down on why fasting is important. There are dozens of Biblical examples of fasting.
- Daniel fasted and prayed for 21 days and on the 21st day was visited by an angel who basically told Daniel that his persistent prayer and fasting was what brought the angelic visitation.
- Esther called a three day fast when her nation was threatened with genocide.
- David fasted for seven days to plead with God for the life of his son.
- When Jonah went to the city of Nineveh he cried out for their repentance combined with fasting.
- Immediately after Jesus was baptized he went into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days.
Time and time again fasting is included in the scriptures as something that is allowable, beneficial and vital.
So what can you do? You can fast and pray. TheCall solemn assembly begins at 6 PM on 11/11/11 and goes until 6 PM on 11/12/11. I am urging you to dedicate either the next two weeks, or the week leading up to TheCall or even the day of TheCall to fasting and prayer.
Here are the excuses I will be hearing: No, Rachel, I don’t have the time to fast and pray. No, Rachel, I cannot physically go without eating for a week. No, Rachel, I don’t think I’ll make any difference if I’m fasting all alone. No, no, no.
And to those I say, “NO!” The importance of temporarily satisfying your belly pales in comparison to the importance of turning this nation back to God. And your fasting willmake a difference. You may not see it that day, but when you join in this corporate fast God will see you. Every individual, committed person is vital.
If you are still concerned by this and if it still makes you nervous, let me give you some practical suggestions regarding fasting. Keep in mind that these are only suggestions—if God gives you clear direction on what and how long to fast, you ought to obey Him first and foremost. Pray about what I’m about to lay out and see how God leads you. Also, don’t beat yourself up if you screw up while you are fasting. Push delete on any mistakes you’ve made on the fast and keep pressing in. Slipping up on your fast doesn’t disqualify you! Anyway, here are some practical suggestions.
- Do not fast food. This may surprise you, but it is a legitimate option. Some people aren’t fazed by not eating, and since fasting is about weakness they have to do something else that makes them weak. Perhaps this could be fasting from texting on your phone (it’s a challenge!) or fasting from Facebook for a period.
- Do a partial fast. There are various kinds of fasts that are Biblical! When Daniel fasted, he ate only fruits, vegetables and nuts. Natural things. A LOT of people take part in this fast, especially if you are going on an extended fast or fasting for the first time. Another type of partial fast is a liquid fast, where you eat soup and smoothies and basically anything that can fit through a straw.
- Fast for the duration of time that God calls you to. Some people have been fasting for 40 days leading up to TheCall, but some others I know fasted for 21 days. Maybe fast just one day. Whatever God speaks to you, be obedient!
- Do not fast without praying. If you go about fasting grumbling and complaining and not having the right mindset, you aren’t going to make much of a difference. On any day that you chose to fast, give yourself an extra hour or two just to pray and read the word. This gives you the right mindset.
- When you fast, pray for grace. Grace is God’s supernatural power made available to His people. When you are praying for grace, you aren’t asking for God to make you less hungry, but you are imploring Him, “God, make me desire intimacy with you more than I desire food!”
- Don’t quit if you mess up! I’ve known people who have stopped the fast multiple times, but each time they start all over again, knowing that pressing in and being persistent is vital. Don’t beat yourself up if you stumble and eat a hot dog when you said you’d only drink liquids—start over again. Satan wants you to give up, but God wants you to keep going!
So with all of this in mind, I’m urging you to join us in Kansas City and in Detroit as we fast and pray. We believe we will be changing the course of history by what we are about to do, and we believe the Lord WILL encounter us.
Here are some resources…
IHOP Fasting Information/Guidelines
TheCall Detroit Informational Video
TheCall website
Be blessed, guys!
Rachel
Rachel
(Originally posted October 31st on Tumblr)
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