"If My People . . ." Week of Prayer Begins January 7

As the Assemblies of God recognizes the 75^th anniversary of the Week of Prayer, being held Jan. 7-13, AG General Superintendent Doug Clay urges leaders and individuals to not only set aside the first week of January for prayer, but to make prayer a priority.

“Beyond this one special week each year, I believe God wants us to be focused on prayer,” Clay states. “Scripture is very clear that every Christian should practice calling on God individually and corporately.”

This year’s week of prayer focuses on 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land.”   

The Week of Prayer resources offer daily prayer points that cover the key ideas in the 2 Chronicles passage, including: If My People, Humble Yourselves, Pray and Seek God’s Face, Repent and Turn, Hear From Heaven, Restore the Land, and the final day concludes with Pray Continually.

“Prayer underlines the fact that we cannot make it on our own,” Clay says. “Prayer verbally acknowledges our dependence on God, rather than our own efforts or intellect.”

Resources, in English and Spanish, are available to download on the Week of Prayer website, including: PowerPoint slides, a bulletin insert, an email header, the daily prayer points, and an opportunity to sign up to help cover the Week of Prayer with prayer. The site also includes seven brief devotional videos each featuring an Executive Leadership Team member.

Clay observes that the founders of the Assemblies of God understood that their natural efforts and understanding would only take them so far; it would take the power of the Holy Spirit to do the task that God had set before them.

“If there ever was a core Scripture for the Assemblies of God,” Clay says, “it would probably be Zechariah 4:6, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.’”

Calling upon today’s leaders and church members to not just add a few bullet points to their prayer lists, Clay instead asks them to intentionally set aside time to pray in the Spirit, seek the face of God, and, if possible, fast.

“Let’s believe,” Clays says, “that 2018 will be a year that God will raise up intercessors and prayer warriors throughout this Movement that will flood heaven with prayers that will change our churches, our nation, and our world for His glory!”

Dan Van Veen

Dan Van Veen is news editor of AG News. Prior to transitioning to AG News in 2001, Van Veen served as managing editor of AG U.S. Missions American Horizon magazine for five years. He attends Central Assembly of God in Springfield, Missouri, where he and his wife, Lori, teach preschool Sunday School and 4- and 5-year-old Rainbows boys and girls on Wednesdays.