On Rogational Sunday (5 May), over 20 people representing different churches and denominations in Bishop Auckland engaged in Kingdom Prayers. Here, Catherine Knights talks about how God’s tent covered a wide area.
There are so many different ways in which to serve the Lord. Prayer is just one of them. However, unlike lots of other ways in which we serve God, prayer is something that we're ALL called to do. But that doesn't mean to say that we're all called to pray in the same way, except more generally when we share in worship with others.
What I choose to call 'Kingdom Prayers' (some might call them spiritual warfare prayers) are probably prayers which stretch some of us more than the ones about individuals or local organisations. These are the prayers that focus directly on the destruction of the kingdom of darkness, the advancement of the Kingdom of Grace and the hastening of the Kingdom of Glory. They are 'top down' prayers that address the big issues of God's Kingdom, on the basis that, if you address the big issues - if you change the whole atmosphere of a place - then the healing of individuals and organisations within that place will follow naturally. Other prayers which focus on individuals and organisations are 'bottom up' prayers, that seek to bring about change one small step at a time. And there is a place for both.
With this in mind, on Sunday 5 May, Rogation Sunday, (when historically parishioners beat the boundaries of their parishes to pray for God’s protection and blessing within those boundaries), here in Bishop Auckland a group of over twenty of us, representing different churches and denominations, were specifically involved in 'Kingdom Prayers'. Having ‘beat the bounds’ last Rogationtide, this year we committed to doing something different. Together we determined to set up God's tent over Bishop Auckland, following the instructions in Isaiah 54:2-3:
2 “Increase is coming, so enlarge your tent and add extensions to your dwelling. Hold nothing back! Make the tent ropes longer and the pegs stronger. 3 You will increase and spread out in every direction. Your sons and daughters will conquer nations and revitalize desolate cities.’ (TPT)
We did this by first sharing together in worship at a central point in the town, the garden of the Baptist Church, where we declared who God is. There we set up a central tent pole in the form of a simple cross. Then we set off in mostly twos and threes out to seven carefully chosen locations around the edges of town, taking with us seven large marquee stakes. Each stake had written on it a different Jesus’ ‘I AM’ saying because our intention was to set the true identity of our Saviour and King as the tent over our town in order to dispel the lies and confusion of the enemy.
As we spread out in different directions, we knew that we were lengthening the ropes of God’s tent, as it rose above Bishop Auckland. As we banged our stakes deep into the ground, we knew that they were strong. Now we wait in expectation for God's increase here, in response to our faithfulness to Him.