Where: Ruggles Baptist Church 2nd floor 874 Beacon Street, Boston
When: Everyday from 6-8am from Monday January 14 - February 22
Early Sunday morning on January 13, 2008, I had a dream. In the dream, I was sitting against the side wall on what looked like the third floor of Ruggles Baptist Church. Near a northwest window with sun coming in, a man was standing with his back to me. I knew the man was Lou Engle (Lou leads the Call and represents the radical prayer and fasting movement). I looked to the right and saw a bookshelf with a stack of board games, and a box with a nazi flag and other WWII symbols stuck out at me; the box said “Axis & Allies” (an old strategy game). I then saw some of the other games and thought that I was just picturing a stack of games my family had. In the dream, I went back to what I was doing (reading or thinking- I’m not sure) and a moment later the presence of God flooded into the room from the south and moved towards Lou. I was immediately roused and looked up expecting Lou to be doing something, and God spoke to me as I looked at Lou, “Is it possible for a human being to carry the mantle of my presence like this?” The dream ended, and I instantly felt that God was challenging me to pray and fast for a greater manifestation of the tangible presence of God.
I went to Abundant Grace Church that morning, and two sisters said they both had dreams on Wednesday night about a person smoking. Because they both had similar dreams, one of the women shared her dream with me. She said, “I saw you standing against a wall in a small room where I was sleeping on twin bed. Someone else was there, but I didn’t know who it was. I was sitting cross legged on the bed, and I said, ‘Now that I quit, you need to quit too.’ I thought you were smoking or something. Then, my dream ended.” The woman had just quit smoking a week earlier.
During the church service two themes began to emerge. First, the presence of God could be felt during different moments of the worship; yet I felt as we were worshipping that demonic influences and ideologies were attacking and stopping new believers and seekers from worshipping God in Boston. Then the pastor showed a video of a revival in Guatemala where a city of 20,000 people was transformed from a place where Christians were persecuted to 80% of the city being born-again Christians. The main theme of the video was that the power of prayer and fasting defeated demonic and cultic strongholds. Secondly, the pastor preached on Isaiah 61 and the anointing of the Spirit of God, which transforms peoples’ lives. He talked about God’s people being agents of transformation through the power of the Holy Spirit. One of the concluding questions was: "Are you desperate enough for change to pray?"
As the pastor was speaking, God began to speak me about launching a daily prayer movement to usher the presence of God into our city as we started a new school semester. I felt God leading me to consider daily prayer for an extended period. Our church plant was already starting 4 days of prayer and fasting beginning the following day. I felt led to look at the calendar to see when 40 days of pray would end if we continued to pray after those first four days; I thought it would be around March. As I looked at my calendar, I found out 40 days ended on Friday February 22. I was amazed because a year ago I had a vision of the Spirit and fire of God falling on a multi-day gathering of people starting February 20 and lasting several days! I had tried to plan a conference for those dates 3 different times but each time had been unable to put something together. February 22nd would have been one of the concluding nights. However, recently the friends who I had wanted to participate emailed me saying they wanted to come at the end of February to host a worship night.
At this point, I was feeling the power of the Spirit on me. I really began to feel God was doing something. I got up to share my dream with the church at the end of the pastor’s message. As I was sharing, God spoke to me about a Spirit of complacency and comfort that was keeping people from crying out to God to move in desperation. My sense was not prayer in striving but in re-prioritizing our lives towards God and the transformation he wanted in Boston. After the service, as I talked to the women who had the other dreams, everything came together.
In the dream I had, Lou Engle represented the radical prayer and fasting movement. The “Axis & Allies” game represented the spiritual battle that we are in. In that game, if the Americans do not mobilize quickly and join the battle, the Allies will lose to the Axis powers. I felt God beckoning people to respond to a call to seek God in prayer for revival and a breakthrough of the presence of God and to contend against the anti-Christ powers that were opposing this work. I also felt God was positioning key people in the next 40 days who were “on the ground” laboring in the harvest fields of Boston to begin to pray, fast, and unite together. I feel even now God is positioning different movements, groups, and people, ready to bring them into the spiritual battlefield that is Boston. Finally, the dream of me smoking represented my own personal complacency and love of comfort, which was holding me back from prayer and fasting and thus holding back the manifestation of the presence of God in my life and our church plant. My sister’s dream of me smoking confirmed my attitude in my dream where I was sitting on the sidelines! The preaching Sunday morning confirmed that God desired to place “a mantle of his presence” (a mantle represents anointing and authority) on those who would seek him so that they could be Isaiah 61 agents of transformation and of God’s victory over the enemies that would oppose him (Isaiah 61:2).
That afternoon my wife called me on her way back from the Airforce Reserves. She said that morning, while driving, she listened to the message I spoke almost 3 years ago in New Hampshire on Isaiah 61 and was moved powerfully. When I had preached that message, I was traveling with my same friends who wanted to come and host the worship night this February. They believe God for signs, wonders, and healings!
I believe God is calling many of us into a season violently contending in prayer against the enemies that oppose the move of God in Boston and fervently seeking God for the realization of Isaiah 61, the manifestation of God’s power and presence in his church. I am calling those who God moves to join in daily prayer for revival for 40 days starting January 14th. You can join us daily from 6-8am at Ruggles Baptist Church near Kenmore Square. Our prayer focus will be Isaiah 61:1-2 for the anointing of God’s Spirit and destruction of God’s enemies in Boston.
Isaiah 61
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God…
Isaiah 58:6
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?”
I believe as we contend in prayer and fasting for Boston the yoke of slavery to sin will be broken as God’s presence revives the church and awakens the lost to the reality of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
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