(Sam Tillery)
Tonight we want to welcome you to City Reach Prayer. We are here to pray and to join forces in what God has for our cities as we serve Him as the united body of Christ. We want to be informed as to how to pray and what to pray for, so Harry is going to share and give us some prayer points and direction. The second half of our time here at City Reach Prayer will be focusing on the host ministry here: the pastor, the people and the ministries that take place here. Take a moment and find someone that you do not know and let's start with praying a blessing over one another.
(Prayer)
(Sam Tillery)
We want to take some time and give a report on some prayers that have been prayed. So often we pray and then we go about our lives and we forget to acknowledge when God has answered our prayer. I probably could spend the whole two hours talking about the things that God has been doing, but I'll pick a few. We have been praying about the gangs in Santa Rosa and I would like to let you know what is happening with that. There is an incredible favor that God has given to Hope Works and this city and officials are coming more than ever and calling upon those in Hope Works to speak into the issues that relate to these problems.
Right now, I believe there are about 80 that have gone through the program and 40 who have been placed into jobs. Think about this. This is a one-on-one Ministry to those who are in gangs or out of gangs, and Hope Works is primarily about jobs and Jesus. So, to recognize that there are about 80 individuals going through or have gone through, and that forty have been placed. One of the areas of need is for businesses to open the door for a second chance for these individuals. Not every kind of job is conducive to those who are coming out of gangs and to their skills, but that is an area of continued prayer.
So, first answer to prayer to bring up tonight is how God is moving in such a short amount of time this year in Hope Works. I believe that is a pretty significant amount of people, in light of the fact that these men are being dealt with one-on-one. They are discipled and they are mentored one-on-one, and that is an answer to prayer. We are seeing other communities look to us. As a matter of fact, Santa Rosa was voted the most changed city in the nation and things are happening. And a lot of it revolves around the work with gangs. We are still in the beginning stages, and there are other places that are dealing with gangs, but there has been an acceleration of what God is doing and I believe that is because we are a community of believers that are continuing to pursue God, and we continue to pray. The pastors, the believers and the intercessors throughout this County continue to pray persistently and consistently and God is responding in significant ways. So that is a great report from Hope Works.
I want to give you another report about Israel. How many of you were praying for us 40 pastors that just went to Israel? Well, we thank you very much. God answered your prayers. From my standpoint, all that I envisioned as the facilitator of this trip was accomplished and even more. I have never had a trip like that. Then, on top of it I was sick on the trip, and I lost my voice, and I think that that was part of the Lord telling me that He was in charge and to just let him do what He wants to do. It was amazing how when I needed to speak my voice came back. My voice is just coming back now, and I have just started this week to feel much better.
There was such an incredible sense of unity amongst the pastors and marketplace leaders. There were 40 leaders who came and all are involved with Pastors Prayer Fellowship in one way or another. We wanted to bring these together so that we can learn from one another and inspire the movement of God in each of our areas. One of the encouraging things was, about five days ago one of the pastors that went with us from Alabama called me. He told me that he just wanted to get back to me to thank me for the inspiration.
He said that the unity of the pastors in Sonoma County spoke so highly to him that it inspired him. He said that one of the stories that he had heard about our group was how we had gone to the Mayor of Santa Rosa and asked her what her dreams and challenges were and how we can pray for her. After that we had moved through a several year journey endeavoring to address those needs in our city; not publicizing that we were doing this, but just did it. And of course from that, God began to bless our effort like Spring Clean with unity and such.
We got a lot of open doors, because we postured ourselves to serve. And so we have been praying and caring for the community, so that God would open the doors for us to share the gospel verbally and share the love of God through actions and through our words. So, back to what he called to tell me, he said that right when they got back after being in Israel that they went to their Mayor and asked him how they could pray for him. He is a non-believer. They also asked their Mayor what some of his needs were. Apparently, the Mayor had told them that he'd never heard anything like this before, but they asked him if they could pray for him right then. So they got to pray for their Mayor, and they had a positive interaction.
Not too shortly after that, they got a phone call from the Mayor and he told them that he didn't know what was happening with him, but he asked them if they would consider bringing some kind of Bible study for his whole staff once a week in his office complex. Their Mayor asked them if they would be willing to do that. He said that when the Mayor asked that question, that they just looked at each other and said, "yeah." So, the comment was this, that the Bible says that God blesses those who bless Israel. We haven't been back for but just a few days, and the favor of God has been showing up in so many ways and doors are opening that were never opened before, because of prayer, caring, and the encouraging words that have inspired each one. They are so excited! So, that has just happened.
Then, this morning we had one of the pastors who went with us from Hawaii call us. He said that he was just now calling because he had been so busy, but that he has been so inspired ever since he had gotten back from all of the unity that he experienced with the pastors in Israel and how it is happening that the leaders are praying together and seeking God in the land. Now, the land of Israel speaks for itself and there is a ton that the Lord speaks to us in Scripture about Israel, but the powerful thing was that God was moving and using the unity to inspire other communities.
One of the things while we were there, that came out, was...you know the Scripture that says that the Gentiles will make the Jews jealous unto salvation? Isn't that a Bible verse? Catch this, while we were in Israel, and we were just doing our thing (when you have pastors from 20 different denominations and nine areas of Ministries represented) coming together in unity and just loving one another and enjoying one another, we had different people from different venues come and speak to us from the land. The people that spoke to us were from different messianic congregations and ministries. I personally have heard from four different messianic Jews, in four different locations, who said, "you guys are making us jealous with your unity and your oneness in Jesus Christ. If only we could have that here."
You see, we are walking examples that although we are such a diverse group, yet Jesus Christ has made us one. One of the things that we did, was that we brought a $2300 check from Sonoma County to give to one of the Arab pastors. On a street corner, he rendezvoused with us, and I handed him this check on behalf of the Pastors Prayer and Ministry Alliance (which is the body of Christ) . He was the pastor of one of the largest Arab ministries in Jerusalem. Now, that was only possible because we collectively together took up an offering and were able to bless this Arab Ministry.
One of the other contacts we had, was a man by the name of Caleb and he is a lawyer who works with government officials with one of the largest law firms in Israel and he loves Jesus Christ. We were able to pray with him, and as he spoke to us one evening, we were able to bless him and pray for him. We had gone there to do Spring Clean and we found out that it was not about how much we were able to do, but it was about our posture. Spiritual posture.
So, we were able to do that and we had to do it quickly, because there was a rumor that around three o'clock that afternoon, that it was going to snow in Jerusalem. We didn't want the snow to cover up the garbage that we were wanting to pick up in the garden area, so we were hurrying. Keep in mind that this is the garden leading into the Garden tomb area. Well, we found out that there was a small congregation of messianic Jews that Caleb fathered/pastored that had been seeking on a weekly basis to clean the streets and the graffiti in Jerusalem. Isn't it interesting how the Spirit of God moves in the hearts of people?
And so he told them that that was the reason why we came there. So, as I have continued to talk with the Arabs and the messianic Jews, I have encouraged them that they need to demonstrate the Lord of the land, and instead of just doing things independently all the time, you should together clean the streets and begin to administrate that love. So, you see, we have used what God is doing here to inspire those in Jerusalem. So, in answer to your prayers, God kept us safe and things are beginning to change. You do not need to stop praying. Thank you for praying for us and deeds are now relationships that we want to cultivate and continue to bless Israel.
At a three hour meeting, where we were debriefing after Israel, we began to ask ourselves what we could do to continue this process. How do we embrace Israel for the future? How do we live out and demonstrate the kingdom of God? And so, that is how it is happening. Our part in City Reach Prayer is so vital and it's inspiring to the work that is going on through Israel. It is quite encouraging and I wish I had more time to go into more detail.
I am going to turn it over to Harry now so that he can give us some direction for prayer tonight and we will launch into prayer, but first I want to bring a little message. 1 John 1:5 -
"This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you."
Do you know what that message was? God, and He is the light. Does He live in you? God is light. You are the light. We are little Christ's and ambassadors and we incarnate Him now, collectively.
God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another; and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. When we walk in the light as He is in the light, there is fellowship. The word fellowship means partnership. We think of fellowship as merely being around refreshments, but it is partnership. Paul writes in Philippians that he is thankful for their fellowship in the gospel; in other words, their partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. He was thankful for their partnership.
If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, then we lie and do not put the truth into practice. If we walk in the light as He is in the light. We have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we defeat ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives. (1John 1:6-10)
We have been gathering for the past eight years on the first Friday of every month to confess, to acknowledge, to seek to repent and we are moving into this season of incredible blessing. There are tangible ways that we are seeing the move of God in our midst. So, tonight as we pray, I simply want to encourage you and I thank you for your faithfulness. What we are doing here is so vital, with the transformation of our communities.
Tonight, we are in Sebastopol, and so our focus is not the world, our focus is not Santa Rosa, it's Sebastopol. After we pray for Sebastopol, we will focus specifically on this Ministry as a light in this community. There is something that happens when we unite to pray, it impacts heaven in a way that just praying alone wouldn't. Our individual prayer works, but nothing like the unity of the body as our Symphony comes together.
(Harry Skandera)
I really want to thank everyone for coming out. What I would like to do first is to pray about this city. In 2002 we came to this city as one in five cities. It was something that we felt directed of the Lord to do in August of 2001 in Santa Rosa; we had gone to the four Gates of the city and had driven stakes in the ground as we read a particular Scripture out of Isaiah 33. We have established what we believed was a canopy of worship and prayer over Santa Rosa. The next year in 2002, we felt led to do the same over Sonoma County, or at least to the places where we have felt we had been invited, and one of those cities was Sebastopol. We got to Sonoma, Sebastopol, Petaluma, Healdsburg and Santa Rosa. We have been here twice in eight years, but it has probably been at least six years since we have been in the city of Sebastopol. We had a foot washing here six years ago, because the city of Santa Rosa and it's pride felt that it had been very condescending and had not spoken life over the city of Sebastopol. So, we got out our basins and began washing their feet as an act of repentance. I remember that night and it was very moving.
I say all that, because we are getting ready to pray for those of you who live in the city of Sebastopol in just a minute, so if you don't live in Sebastopol prepare yourself.
This is the city that of course was named for a famous battle. It has been kind of a city of mercy, like a haven for many in the counterculture in the 70s and beyond that, but despite its agricultural roots here, and the corresponding conservatism, at least in the last decades, there has always been an underlying culture war and it has kind of characterized this town. Like the fog that kind of merges into the crevices of the orchards and the vineyards, this is a community where light and shadow align. Among many of us who pray, we have a special place in our heart for this city and West County. There is a lot of war. There is a lot of collision, a lot of spiritual collision in this place. If you live here, you know what we are talking about. If you don't live here, you should know what we are talking about. And what I would like to do here tonight, is I would like to bless those who live here. Sam talked about the light. We carry light, and I know we have people who pray from Sonoma, Petaluma and Santa Rosa, at least I know those cities are here tonight. I would like those who live in Sebastopol or the West County area to stand up if you would, please.
Okay, you are our I'm going to ask the rest of us tblessed target and what we are asking is if you will just remain standing and receive for your city for this area, the blessing that comes to this city from those of us who come from the other cities.o stand up and gather around them. Whatever light we have, we need to bless them within this city and for this area. I am going to pray, and I'm going to ask you to stretch out your hands as you speak forth a blessing. Now, whatever that sounds like is going to be up to you. I am not going to ask us to go one at a time, but I'm going to ask you to extend a blessing even if we are all praying out at one time.
(Prayer)
Father, your church is small in this community. It is a righteous remnant, an outpost, Father. Lord, it's a mission, just like it is in Guerneville and other communities, but you have Your people in every place. Lord Jesus, I ask that You would raise up and empower this church. Father, let them be a mouthpiece for You and that the hungry would find their way here. We pray that those who are seeking You would find their way to the believers here. It is like a mission in Iraq outnumbered hundreds to one by forces of darkness, yet it is a watering hole for the thirsty. God, we pray that You would keep them secure and protect them, prosper them and give them utterance and boldness in the face of this darkness that is over this County. In Jesus name.
Father, we bless You for the heart of compassion that You have put in Sebastopol and for the many that they take in that would be rejected in other places. We just declare over this place, that Your heart of compassion would be what draws people. Even those who think that they may be coming for other reasons would be attracted to the love that You have to offer.
We pray for the youth of this county. They are radical Lord, but they are radical in the enemy's way and I just pray and declare that they would be radical for You, God. Radical for the truth. That the light of God, that is shown in this place, in their schools and with their peers and families. We just declare a radical holiness over the youth in this part of the county.
Father, I pray that You would raise up godly leaders in the political and business arena and in the educational system. I pray that you would raise up godly men and women that could be a light out of this community and throughout various organizations and structures in this community; that they would be a witness to Your truth and righteousness. I pray that the men and women that are already in place that know You, that they would have a boldness and a sense of vision of what they can do, a sense of excitement over whether they can do for God. Father, I pray that You would bless them and anoint them to do mighty things in Your name and to proclaim Your truth and to stand in righteousness; to make godly decisions; to be a witness in this community.
Father, we proclaim Your presence in the city of Sebastopol. We proclaim Lord Jesus that You would raise up a holy standard in and around this city; Father, that Your light and presence would shine here, and that Lord, You would draw men and women to Your holy presence. We ask for divine encounters, that You would stop people in their tracks, stop the youth in their tracks and speak to them and give them a divine encounter, that they would no longer be the same.
Lord, we invite You to make changes in the people of this city, that You would turn their hearts towards You, that You would give them a hunger and thirst for righteousness and a hunger and thirst for the truth that You are Lord. Give them a wonderment of who You are, a hunger for the God who has created them.
The people of this city are unique, Lord, they are special! You have created them, Lord; you have given them gifts and talents and we proclaim them as to be unto you Lord, that they would recognize their talents and give them back to you, Jesus. Father, that you would make Yourself known here in a mighty way. Thank you father!
From the windows of heaven, pour out the power of your Holy Spirit over the city counsel, over the Mayor, over those that are in counsel of this city, turn their hearts to You, Lord. Turn their hearts to righteousness, Lord. Father, we commit them into Your hand, we ask that You would finish the work that You have begun of your kingdom here in this place. Thank you Lord.
Lord, we speak Your blessing into the business community here that they would prosper and increase.
Thank you Lord for the beauty that You have given to this place and for the abundance of natural things for the market. I pray a special blessing for the migrant workers who are here working in the field. I ask for a safety for them, I ask for avenues for them to be able to come into this country without the fear of having to sneak in, that there may be justice and a way for them to come here legally so that they can work in peace and without the fear of being sent back. I also ask a blessing for all that they do while they are here, that they would meet you in a personal way Lord.
Father, we pray for our radical transformation of the art community here in Sebastopol. I pray that You would raise a fire here, that they would do their art to glorify You. No longer for themselves, but that it would be their desire to represent God and to glorify You, God, with their art.
Father, we have heard about the tension between the old order in conservatism with liberalism, and I pray that You would reconcile these people, and those spirits under Your life, Lord God. That You would truly make one new man out of this, Lord. And that out of that You would cause to blow forth light out of that and a generosity for the churches, that they would be generous spiritually, materially and in reconciliation to one another. Lord, that you would make something completely new, even beyond conservatism or liberalism, or selfishness or anything else, and that they would see the blessing that comes through Your people upon this area.
Lord, we pray that the light of Your body, Your church here in this area would send forth such light, that this community would be transformed by the warmth that comes from knowing You, God. Lord, bring together the unity of the pastors in this area, that there would be unity over this land for the churches here.
We pray for a unifying of Your people, that the scattered lights would come together, even though there may not be as many as we might like, that they would come together as a laser that would cut through the darkness and push back the fog that covers this place, and that they would open eyes to see and ears to hear who You are Lord, and also be seen.
Amen.
(Harry Skandera)
Now, you folks that are here from Sebastopol, will you receive these blessings?
Amen. Thank you.
We pray for the souls of men, that they will find repentance and forgiveness and go to heaven; but how, if our focus is always on heaven, is earth going to be any different? We have come into a time, whereas the body of Christ, we need to take responsibility for the stewardship of our cities. Some people want to do that through the ballot box, and there is nothing wrong with voting, but that's not where the authority is. The authority resides in God's people, who will lay down their lives for where they live and that is us.
We have got to keep stretching ourselves. We have got to keep listening to what the Lord's heart is for the place where he has put us. So, I just really wanted to encourage you and I appreciate you people coming out from the cities. As you know, this is a target city for us here in this County.
We want to see the pastors come together in unity, because we believe that that will be an example that will bring peace into the rest of the community. We want to see the pastors intentionally commission watchmen, people who are praying for the city, under the authority of those who have authority from the Lord. It doesn't take that long, but the rest of us need to pray that that will happen in our cities and that would certainly be our goal for Sebastopol. We know that Sebastopol has some of its own goals, and just like Jesus would ask some of those before he healed them, "do you want to be healed?" What do you want for this city?
When we come to city reach, remember, we are praying for the city. Because someone is gracious enough to host us (the Ministry), we pray for them as well. We believe that that is where it really gets started. I mean, we are the ones that have His spirit, we ought to have His heart and that the prayers to bring change and transformation right where we are.
(Sam Tillery)
Take a moment's and find someone next to you and very specifically each of you pray, one thing that you believe God wants to bring into Sebastopol.
(Prayer)
(Sam Tillery)
We have got to be persistent in prayer. What happened in the church is that, we pray for five minutes, or maybe 10 minutes. With this group, we have been praying for eight years and meeting the first Friday of every month. I believe that as we stay with it and continue to pray and specifically targeting a prayer area that we will continue to see God moving and doing mighty things.
(Prayer)
So, Father, in all of these things that have been mentioned, make Yourself known and bring an awakening to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bring in a dissatisfaction to the things of the flesh. Bring in a fresh move and win of your Spirit and awaken Sebastopol to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Awaken Your church to the unique call upon their lives. Bring the churches together and speak to the leaders to the life giving churches in this community of their need for one another. Tear down pride, and may it be for Your glory. Amen.
One of the areas that we have found that God is pleased with is our actions that care for the community. We have an event coming up that is for all of the cities to participate together and that is Spring Clean. So, I am going to show this short four minute video from spring clean last year, and as we get ready for this year, May 3rd and 4th (and I will expound more on that later), but we really need to keep this in prayer, because it is just around the corner. We are really seeking to rally the body of Christ here in Sonoma County. Windsor and Petaluma are both doing this too. We need to pray for God's protection and his direction. This year, we are expecting well over 2000 volunteers.
We will be starting at the Finley Center and our focus is one of the most neglected and controversial areas within the city and the city and County fight over who will be taking this area over, and that is the Roseland area. We will be dealing with other areas, but the primary thrust will be the Roseland area. This year for the first time, Petaluma is rallying up the folks in Petaluma and plan to do Spring Clean May 3 as well and Windsor will be doing one the following week, so they will be available to come and help us here in Santa Rosa. We are probably going to go to Windsor and help them on May 10.
We also have expanded Spring Clean this year to the fourth, which is a Sunday. The reason we have done that is because we want to be open to include the Jewish community and the Seventh-day Adventist community. They wanted to be involved, but because it is typically on a Saturday, that is the day that they worship and when I challenged them, they weren't quite ready to leave their sanctuary services to go do spring cleaning, so we said we will do some on Sunday. Now, you do not need to come out on Sunday if you would like to join and/or mix with some of them. You are welcome to come out on Sunday as well.
We are endeavoring to live out the life of Christ and develop relationships in the community and with other faiths, and so that is how that is going to work. We need to pray with purpose. The first half of the day is going to be working and the second half of the day is going to be a tremendous rally. There is going to be a safety fair, so this city and county will bring all of their equipment in and display all of the things for safety. There is going to be a children's area where there will be a jump house, kind of like a miniature City Kids Festival, so that we can interact on a fun basis with the community.
Then there are other areas of services provided from within the community, so if your local church has a service ministry that they provide, we are wanting to let the community know what is out there and the city and the county is going to do the same. So, at Finley Park there will be different staging areas, where we and the community can come together to hear about the various ways the community serves itself and offers these services. It is going to be a great opportunity to connect, not only at working together, but playing together.
It has expanded this year and we are definitely in need of your help. If your church has not been involved, then see me after this and I want to get you this video so that you can take it to your church and present it to your pastor and your congregation. So if you are in Windsor, plug-in with Windsor. If you are in Petaluma, plug in to Petaluma. If you're in Sebastopol or wherever you are come on down and plug into Santa Rosa, because we know one time there is going to be a Spring Clean Sebastopol.
As far as lunches go, food will be able to be purchased at Finley, but you can bring your own food if you would like to do that. We will be coming back from the actual Spring Clean cleaning to the park around noon. It is going to be a full day with music into the evening, so let's pray.
(Prayer)
We pray that enthusiasm would build and not die down at all. We pray for a good flow with the work and the social services. We pray that You would drive out any darkness and bring in Your light from all of this service and connecting with people. We pray that other cities would catch on to this too.
We pray that You would bless Petaluma and Windsor as they are going to be working on their first one this year. May the impact be just as great if not greater there. Thank you for the favor that You have built with the government in Santa Rosa. We thank You Father for the excitement with the youth who want to serve and make a difference. We pray that it would enlarge the way that they see the body of Christ. That they will see the greatness of the body of Christ. We pray for the City workers, that they would be able to be blessed that day and that they would see how God is wanting to bless them and how Christians really just want to serve.
We pray for the Jewish community that is wanting to come and serve on Sunday and the Seventh Day Adventist people as well. We just bless you Father and look forward to all that you are wanting to do at Spring Clean this year to Your Glory, Father.
(Sam Tillery)
We are not going to take some time and pray into the host Ministry tonight. Harry is going to be passing around a sheet of paper that will help us focus on what to be praying on. I am going to ask pastor Richard if he would come and give us an overview of their vision, run us through some of their challenges, and of course he has written down some of his prayer points for us, but maybe he can expound a little bit on them for us now.
(Pastor Richard)
Thank you so much for being here tonight. It is exciting to see so many people gathered to pray, because I do think it makes a difference. I printed up these points here, and after I printed it out, I wanted to add about five things to it that I did not, so I have a pen handy to add to it. As Harry shared earlier Sebastopol is a real place of spiritual battle. It is like the father that comes in, and by the time it gets to Santa Rosa it has kind of dissipated. As you go westward, not that Santa Rosa doesn't have spiritual issues, but West County is unique and Sebastopol being the whole gateway to the West County, because it is through Sebastopol that you get to Guerneville, Graton and Forestville, Occidental and Bodega Bay and all of these areas out there that are just pockets of ungodliness; pockets of false spirituality; I think that is what makes them so dark, is that it is false spirituality and I believe that God wants us to be the gateway to true spirituality and to true life, and of course the enemy doesn't want that, and so he battles us everywhere that he can.
Let me quickly go over this, because we really covet your prayers and we really covet all of the spiritual support. I put some things on the list about small group leaders and Ministry leaders, new workers to help in Ministry support and one of my prayers is like the prayer when Jesus prayed the Lord of the harvest, that he would send the workers needed for the harvest.
There is a harvest, there are hungry people, but we need laborers, and so pray the Lord of the harvest and that he would send laborers. That is a prayer that I would ask you to pray for us. Pray that God would send us laborers that have a vision and a heart to reach this area with the gospel, because we need that. We need men and women who can provide the leadership to do it. The farther west you go, the more we need that. I am jumping around this list, but when you get to the end you will see the prayer to create a new and fresh vision for West County. I believe that Sebastopol is the gateway to West County and I believe that God wants this church to be a gateway of Ministry to West County.
God has opened some doors and there has been opportunity for us in some of the other communities to expand and get involved in Ministry, but we need workers and we need some mature workers. Please pray for that and pray that God would give us vision and pray that God would give us wisdom to know what to take on and what would become a distraction. My natural temptation is to take on everything. Every time I see something, I think to myself, "we can do that", and I can get distracted and spread out, so pray that God will give us vision and with them in what to do there.
Someone prayed earlier about the high school campuses; pastor Tony, our youth pastor, has a real heart and vision for youth. Pray that God would allow us to have a spiritual impact into the El Molino and Analy high school campuses, as well as down to junior high and the grade schools, that we would have an impact into those things.
One of the things that is not on the list that you might want to write on there. Pastor Tony has started the last Tuesday of every month Faith and Youth Worship times. God inhabits the praises of his people. God has given Tony a vision to create an atmosphere of worship, and I think when we worship we dispel darkness and we provide a place for God to work. We know that the enemy doesn't want us to worship, so pray for those on Tuesday night. Luckily, worship has been very powerful and there have been three of them so far. It is an all County thing, I think we've had several Santa Rosa churches that have come. Last month, RC Carillo from the Giving Tree Church came and led worship. Another time, the pastor from the Nazarene Youth came and led worship; and various other pastors from the area have been coming.
We have a ministry kind of like a food bank, where we have a building and we average about 2 tons a month of food that we process through there and tomorrow is going to be one of those days where everything will go out. We deliver the food out to something like 100 families throughout the west Sonoma County area. Our prayer every time that we go is that when we deliver this food that it be done in the name of Christ and that the spirit of Christ would speak through that.
God has given us favor to where we are touching them in their physical needs, but we need prayer that we can translate that into meeting their spiritual needs. And part of that is that West Sonoma County is very heavily Hispanic and at Christmas time we gave food and toys to over 103 families. 256 kids that got at least two toys each. 80% of them are Spanish and at least 50% of them did not speak English. We need a Hispanic ministry. Our church desperately wants Hispanic leadership so that we can begin to reach these people with the gospel. Please pray for that, for the release of that.
I could go on and on with the passion and vision of what I believe God wants to do.
One other area is, we have a Christian school, Sebastopol Christian School, and I am convinced of the great need for the body of Christ and the future of Christian schools. I am passionate about that. You don't have to look very far to see what is going on in the public school system and court decisions attacking homeschooling. The next step after that is bad, they will be going after Christian schools, so by incorporating our school into a natural part of the church, it provides a little bit of shielding from the department of education. Even though it is a quality school and the kids test out great, the thing is this, if we are going to train up godly leaders for the next generation, we are kidding ourselves if we think that it is going to happen in the public school system. It is going to have to come through the Christian school system; either that, or parents who spend an amazing amount of time teaching and discipling their kids, to undo everything.
So, pray for our school. Pray that God will release students to our school. Pray that God would strengthen our teachers with wisdom and insight. That they would have an anointed teaching and caring for the students. Pray that God would make a provision for families, because there are a lots of families that would like their children to go to a Christian school, but do not have the means to do that. I believe in Christian education, and we need to pray that God's blessing would be on all Christian schools. We want to make an impact in training up godly men and women in this next generation of leaders.
Bless you. And thank you for coming.
(Sam Tillery)
Thank you. Break up into groups of three or four and go ahead and pray with the lists that you have and what you have just heard. I would like you to just go ahead and pray and I will invite us back to come together in just a little bit.
(Prayer)
(Sam Tillery)
As we meet together here as intercessors at City Reach Prayer, we have the privilege to pray collectively for our cities and for the body of Christ. As you pray, what are you hearing from the Lord? If there has been something that God has been, more than once, bringing to your attention in regards to you or the city, the city and/or County as a whole. I want to give you an opportunity to express those things and it needs to be concise.
(Comments)
A greater need for a focus on some sort of evangelism. We have become cloistered in our Christian communities and we don't have much interaction with the world out there. I was just watching some videos of the 70s Jesus movement tonight. To see how enthusiastic they were and they were out preaching all the time; I mean, those methods may not work today, but something similar, something creative.
I think we need to know the land better. We need to know where God's foot prints have clearly been set and where they need to show up.
There needs to be more unity in prayer and in gathering as the body of Christ. More than just the Pastors Prayer Fellowship.
We need to speak life everywhere we go. Speak it over your city, speak it over your schools, speak it over your families, government, business, commerce, speak it to your neighbors, speak it when you are at the gas station, store, basically every where that you go. I think that God wants his people to really be actively blessing, because we have authority to do that and are called to do that. Speak blessing and speak life.
My prayer is that the body of Christ would not fear, but would realize that God is stronger and the light is greater than the darkness. That the body of Christ would carry the boldness of knowing the truth and living it out.
(Harry Skandera)
Some of the things that we do could be called a symbolic act or you can call them a prophetic act, or you can call them something that actually represents something bigger than just what is present there. It signifies something larger.
I asked pastor Richard, if he would be willing and open for he and his wife Beth to receive prayer from two of the intercessors tonight. Forest Brandon, the lead intercessor from Petaluma and Paul Dominis from Sonoma. Pastor Richard is certainly open to that.
We want to do this with intentionality, because, one, we want to demonstrate the support of those who feel specifically called to pray for those in leadership, because they need our prayers. We also want to demonstrate the openness of those in leadership to hear what others are hearing and seeing. There is a tremendous amount of warfare in the body of Christ between the people who make the decisions (often typified by the pastors or other ministry heads), and those who have a real calling and are devoted to speaking and listening to the Lord and interceding for the body.
All of us are called to pray, but there are some who have a more watching role. There are a lot of reasons why there is a lot of interference between those two roles in the body of Christ, but when we have come together, we have found that there is a tremendous amount of authority that is released. It involves really submitting to each other in a way. I don't know if you understand that, but many in the body of Christ do not. So, lets do that tonight, and Richard and Beth, if you could just come on up here along with Forest and Paul.
(Pastor Richard)
The youth pastor and secretary of our school are here tonight and I asked Kerry if we could expand the circle of those being prayed for tonight, because they are very much involved in leadership here, so Tony Sevillo and Christine Sevillo, please come up.
(Harry Skandera)
And since we are expanding tonight, I wonder if we can have one more intercessor from each city come.
I want to recommend these folks that are praying for you as people who have been commissioned by pastors in their city and people who Sam and I have worked with specifically for several years now. We trust them and know they are faithful people of prayer and carry their County and their cities in their heart. So, we want to feel safe.
(Prayer with intercessors)
Father, we just magnify your name. We lift up your name and worship you here tonight, Jesus. We recognize, oh God, that you are Lord of this city. You are Lord and rule over this city and every aspect of it and every part. We declare you to be the Lord over Sebastopol, this whole extended area and through this city and through the West and into Sonoma. Father, that makes them a springboard, a place of leaping forward, going forth and leading forth, in carrying forth, speaking forth the things of God.
We declare, oh God, that it is in your heart to raise up Sebastopol and utilize them in speaking into the West.
We pray, Father, that you would come and breathe upon the pastor of the city, that they would learn to pastor a city. God, that you would call them to pastor a city and in praising and blessing this city that you love and that you have laid down your life for.
Call these pastors together Lord and knit their hearts, we pray, as one man, with one heart and one message, with one Christ and one Lord over all in the midst, oh Lord, that you would make your name known to every man in this city and beyond.
We pray for a release, God, of that spirit of unity and bond that comes by your spirit knitting hearts together, who will stand and lift up the name of Jesus and believe to release your kingdom on the earth as it is in heaven. A sound of heaven that will go forth into the land, of healing, deliverance and saving and releasing, building up your kingdom, oh God, releasing your people to praise and worship and adoration of the Most High; that you would have your way and do the things that are upon your heart to do here; and that you would send forth your words that will not return void.
Create within their hearts a strong desire to see your heart, oh God, displayed in this city and to the west of Sonoma County; that this would be a city that worships you in spirit and in truth, as the heart of God is displayed and lived out here. Out of their rich, deep love for one another and their unity, cause your kingdom to come here.
Father, I just pray favor over both of these couples, an increase of favor with their own people, the school systems, the business people, the arts people and the Latino people. I ask for an increase of favor, wherever they go, Lord. May others doors is open. May people's houses be open. May their minds be receptive, father God. We pray, God, that you would open doors that they have not even thought of.
We pray that creativity would be released over every area that they are ministering in, Father God. That when they go into every area, they would have the creative ideas springing up and that the resources would be there, the people would be there and the availability of the places they need would be there.
We pray for mercy, Father God, that your mercy would be poured out upon them, mercy on the physical bodies and on every situation; that their hearts be filled with your mercy, Father, for the people that they are ministering to. May they see the people with your heart of love and speak to them with compassion in their hearts. Expand their hearts, Father God, so that when they are out there, they are consumed with your love for the people. May they see beyond their own congregation and may their eyes have an expansion of vision, Father God.
Expand their vision, Father God, and bring all of the resources that are needed. May their hearts be so intimately intertwined with what you want to do in this community that that is their passion and desire and that they would be able to lay their lives down, holding nothing back from you, Lord. In Jesus name.
Father, we thank you for the leaders here that you have so uniquely designed and prepare them for such a time as this.
Father, I pray that you would increase their joy in who you have created them to be and who you have created their Ministry partners to be. I pray that there would be great joy in that.
Father, I also see them putting on these amazing Jesus lenses, that they would see their city, every circumstance and every life through Jesus' lenses, and Father, that you would show them exactly how to apply your heart to each heart, to comment to each situation, to each challenge, that they would know beyond a doubt that they are equipped and empowered supernaturally by your Holy Spirit.
Thank you for each of them. Increase this beyond what they would ever ask for or imagine, and we pray this in the mighty and powerful name of Jesus.
Father, I want to thank you for the beauty of your Spirit that I see, the desire for your purposes, the lifting up of others for the work of the Ministry, the vision for expansion, and I pray for your blessing upon these two marriages. As you are giving them wisdom and direction and guidance, and as they are coming against the Gates of Hell which will not prevail against them, I ask Lord God for your encompassing protection and wisdom. that their love as a couple would increase for one another; that issues that would be weaknesses from the past would be healed; that you would strengthen their hands for war together, Lord God. We know that two can't put to flight 10,000 and we ask for that in each of these couples, Lord God; in each of these two couples, that they would put to flight 100,000.
Father, in Jesus name, I ask for the strengthening of the body through these two people. I ask for the strengthening of each of them as individuals and as couples. I pray for your blessing in favor as Janet had prayed, upon every where that they turn.
I pray that you give them wisdom to turn in the direction only that you call them to. I pray that they would come under the yoke with you, God and not run off on their own. Thank you for the heart that is ready to take on an Army and take on the enemy, and go in and take on the Giants, but I pray Lord God for your wisdom, guidance, power and peace. May they rest in you Lord God, and that the battles that are fought would only be the battles that you have called them to.
Father, we proclaim victory for this ministry, victory for this town through this ministry and through these people; victory on every single level of life and we glorify you for that, Lord God, because we know that you are the Author and Finisher of our faith. And you have established Angels around and about these two couples.
Lord, we proclaim your victory and the assurance of your love, healing and the depth of change that you have called us to.
Bless these people in Jesus name. Bless them beyond what they could imagine, ask or think.
(Harry Skandera)
We want to thank you, Richard, for inviting us here this evening.
There are just a couple of things that we want to remind you of. As a matter of fact, next month, the first Friday in April we will be at the Wells Fargo Center as we pray for Santa Rosa Christian school and their move into the Wells Fargo Center. As you might've guessed, that is a big deal. It is not just about the school. For those of you who have lived in this area for a while, you know what that piece of property represents and we are very aware of the significance of being there and we do believe that it is meant to be owned and operated by God's people for his glory. So we really covet everyone's prayers.
It will be at seven o'clock on the first Friday in April, so we hope to see you all there. We will be meeting in atrium, but you can check the website for further details, www.togetherinchrist.net
In regards to May: May 1 is the National Day of Prayer and there will be a lot more about that on the website. The second day of May will be the first Friday of that month and we will be gathering on the Windsor town green to pray over the economy of the Windsor town green, and so we invite you to come and pray with us there.
Mother's Day is on May 11 and is also Global Day of Prayer. Petaluma will be hosting the Global Day of Prayer for the County. There are eight days of prayer associated with that, so for those of you honoring your wife, I am sure you will be with your wives and mothers for part of that day, but we want to remember the Global Day of Prayer as well and the eight days around that.
The County intercessors will be inviting you to join a 40 day fast beginning the first of May and that is the second of three fasts scheduled for this year, so if you want to find out more about that you can talk to anyone of us, but that will be a time of concentrated prayer for the County.
(Sam Tillery)
Tomorrow, if you are free, at the Jewish free health clinic we will be gathering around to bless them. We are going to be doing some work and some painting. Also, going to the synagogue in Cotati, we are blessing them as well, so the body of Christ is uniting together to bless the Jewish community, which in turn is blessing the Hispanic community through the health clinic. So, that will be tomorrow, beginning at eight o'clock in the Jewish synagogue in Cotati, which is behind the fire station. From there, the teams will be split up between the synagogue and the Jewish free health clinic, which is in Rohnert Park. So, if you are free it would be great for you to come on out and join this service time. This is just one of the expression of the body of Christ to bless the Jews. The synagogue is at 85 La Plaza in Rohnert Park.
May the Lord bless you all and if you forget where we will be meeting next month, just check the website, www.togetherinchrist.net or www.unitedprayer.org.
Special Thanks to Christelle Eddy
who transcribed this document. |
