UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who prayed! The Set Free Summit was amazing–you can learn more about it HERE. Download the resources from Josh’s talk HERE.
2 More Weeks To Go!
Set Free Global Summit on pervasive Internet pornography on April 4-7, 2016 in Greensboro, NC is 2 weeks away.
We humbly request prayers for this event, and thank you, in advance!
Click on the days of the week below or download this week’s Prayer Guide.
Monday, March 21
The remnant of God’s people ‘“are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall…is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven…’ Nehemiah 1:3-4
In the Bible times, an enemy would break down the walls around God’s people and burn their gates with fire, we are experiencing a similar onslaught with the enemy of pornography. It scorches any sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and one’s own conscience while tearing down any walls of protection against other spiritual invaders. Only by the power of the living God will the walls of protection be rebuilt in the lives of those devastated by this insidious monster of sexual immorality. Just as in Nehemiah’s day, God has brought this burden to the attention of someone He has called to do something about it. May God raise up more who grieve over the condition of His church, repent on behalf of our corporate sins, and rebuild what has long been desolated.
Let us pray: Father, pour out upon us a Spirit of Repentance. Reveal to us where we have grieved Your heart, in any area we have fallen short and gone our own ways. Prepare us for what You are about to do. Where Your presence is there is liberty, so pour out Your Spirit of repentance on Your servants to be cleansed heart and soul from any chains that would bind us to the sinful ways of this world. Let us be set free by the blood of Christ to serve the living God, find refreshment in Your presence, and share that experiential freedom with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Tuesday, March 22
“…the word of the Lord came to me: “…The people defiled (the land) by their conduct and their actions…for the sake of My Holy name, which you have profaned…I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you a heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees…I will save you from all your uncleanness… I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 36: 16-17,25-27, 29; 37:23
Before Nehemiah even attempted to request permission from the pagan king to rebuild the walls of protection around his people, he came before the Lord with fasting and prayers of repentance for his own sin, his family, and the sins of his people. Jesus instructs us to remove obstructions from our own lives so we can see clearly how to help others get rid of theirs.
Pray with me for God to set free those speaking, working behind the scenes, volunteering, or attending from any pockets of resistance to our Father’s ways. Ask for the Holy Spirit to fill in those places of our hearts and minds so the Lord might use us to empower others to be set free. Petition Him to raise up Nehemiahs to repent, fast, pray, and rebuild His church. Could you be one of them?
Let us pray: ‘…God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and obey His commands,…hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your…people…I confess the sins we, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have not obeyed the commands…you gave your servant…’ Forgive us for profaning Your great name, defiling the land with our conduct, setting up idols in our hearts, and becoming unclean by going our own way, not Yours. ‘Cleanse us and we will be clean, wash us and we will be whiter than snow.’ Thank you for the hope of Your promise to cleanse us, give us new hearts, and deliver us from backsliding. In Jesus’ name. Amen.(Nehemiah 1:5-7; Psalm 51:7)
Wednesday, March 23
“When Sanballat… and Tobiah… heard that we were rebuilding the wall, (they) became angry and… greatly incensed. They mocked and ridiculed...’Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble – burned as they are?’ They plotted together to come and stir up trouble...But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat...’Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes’…God frustrated (their plot), we returned to the wall, each to his own work.” Nehemiah 2:10, 19; 4:1-2, 8-9, 14-15
Anything God sets out to do usually has an element of looking completely impossible at first glance. Tackling porn in the church when it has gotten this dreadful isn’t any different. As if the size of the task wasn’t challenging enough, opposition from those who we would expect to applaud such an effort can appear out of nowhere. When someone in the body of Christ stands up and wants to address the rubble of sin in God’s house, sometimes, resistance surfaces within your own church, Christian ministry, or family. Yet, our warfare is not against flesh and blood. It is against powers and principalities and rulers of darkness in this world. Those forces employ people to carry out their agenda. We are to resist the devil, not the people he uses.
Let us help those dealing with opposition by our prayers. They need encouragement, endurance, the grace to forgive those opposing, and hope that God will fight for them. While the example shows one type, this resistance can have many forms: international attendees struggling to obtain a visa, a minister berated for wanting to address the sin of porn in church, confused communications, difficulties in travel, transportation, sickness, obtaining a hotel. Pray for the Summit that it would enable the message to reach so many more.
Let us pray: Lord, you are our rock, our fortress and our deliverer. You are the one in whom we take refuge. We call out to you and we are saved from our real enemy. Frustrate and expose all the enemy’s plots to obstruct this conference. Grant those called to represent their ministry at this conference favor with those in authority over them so that they might attend with a blessing. Provide us with Your angelic army so that all the blockades against those speaking, volunteering, planning, and attending are removed and they are escorted safely and peacefully to the Summit. Encourage those who have been worn down by the resistance. Strengthen them to press through in prayer and praise until they see a break through. Let us not grow weary. Send Your people to encourage with Truth and Love along the way. In the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.
Thursday, March 24
“When you go to war against your enemies and see … an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt will be with you…the priest…shall address the army…”…Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory...Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his brothers will not become disheartened too.”
This war against pornography in the church is not for the fainthearted. Those who come to the Set Free Summit are facing perhaps their first hurdle. The rest of the action happens after they leave and try to incorporate what they have learned into a practical plan to help those poisoned by porn. Let us pray for those yet to register and those who have committed to attend to have courage.
Let us pray: Gracious Father, stir up those who have yet to commit to coming, who are wrestling with whether or not to get involved and address this horrible issue. We pray for the Holy Spirit to envelop them and give them inspiration, boldness as well as tenacity to face off against this enemy. Let them not be daunted by the size of the task or the magnitude of this enemy. We pray they will come and be equipped to go back into their sphere of influence to break down the strongholds of the enemy, repair the walls of salvation, and restore the captives. We also pray for your covering over Clay Olsen, Bernie Anderson, Dr. Jay Dennis, and Luke Gilkerson as they prepare to share the challenges the church now faces and the hope You offer. May You infuse them with Your power and shield them from every attack of the enemy against them. In Jesus’ powerful name. Amen.
Friday, March 25
“Forsaking me, you…made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked on their nakedness… You were wearied by all your ways...you have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts…Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles (of sin) out of the way of my people...I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite…I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him…” Isaiah 57:8, 10-11,14-15,18
God makes it abundantly clear that pornography is an act of forsaking Him and that it wears out the one engaging in it. He is calling us as His representatives to remove this obstacle out of His people’s way. Set Free Summit is the toolbox for that job. Those who are assigned this task must walk in His humility following His lead. He offers healing, guidance, and restoration. He will strengthen those coming to be leaders against this evil. Let us support them with our prayers.
Let us pray: Father, please pour out Your Spirit on this Summit. Put Your words in the speakers’ mouths and open the ears of those listening. Give them courage to act on Your word in the power of Your might. Let them be inspired as David was to slay this Goliath in Your house. As church leaders survey the damage, encourage them to not be overwhelmed. We also pray for your covering over Vicki Tiede, Ron DeHaas, Doug Weiss, Donna Rice Hughes, and Sean McDowell as they prepare to share the challenges the church now faces and the hope You offer. May You infuse them with Your power and shield them from every attack of the enemy against them. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Saturday, March 26
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,” Acts 3:19
As the Summit approaches, let us examine our hearts daily for anything that does not look like it belongs in His kingdom. Let us pray for Him to break up the fallow ground in every heart that is involved and will be reached by this information. His church, His bride desperately needs refreshing so that the world may know that He is real. Join us in prayer that he will begin to pour out repentance on those in bondage in His own house. Then when these brave souls return to share hope, they will see God’s deliverance in lives set free!
Let us pray: Father, may our minds be set upon You and what pleases You. Turn us from following our own evil desires that never satisfy and leave us empty. Bring repentance upon Your people called by Your name. Open our eyes to see, our ears to hear, and our minds to understand where we have sinned against You. Then move our hearts to turn to You in obedience, not out of obligation but rather deep love. Your arm is not too short that it cannot save. You loved us while we were yet sinners and died to redeem us. May our hearts overflow with gratitude to You.
Sunday, March 27
“Sanballat and Geshem..were..all trying to frighten us, thinking, ‘Their hands will be too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.’ But I prayed, ‘Now strengthen my hands.’…So the wall was completed...in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this,…they were afraid…” Nehemiah 6:2, 9, 15-16
As the conference coordinators try to bring together the last details, you can only imagine the myriad of obstacles they are encountering. The forces of darkness do not want Christian leaders to take back a message of hope to those enslaved by porn. But God is for us, so who can be against us?! Our God is an awesome God! He reigns from heaven above and laughs at the enemy’s attempts to thwart, for no plan of His can be stopped. He will finish that which He began. Let us lift up those shouldering the load of putting this Summit together and praise our amazing God for the victory coming!
Let us pray: God thank you for the message of hope being prepared for your people. Thank you for every volunteer, speaker, coordinator and supporting role. May you receive all the glory. Thank you for Josh McDowell and Covenant Eyes partnering together. How good and pleasant it is when we dwell together in unity! Father, let each one see You move mightily on their behalf. Let them know that You have intervened and done that which was impossible. Let each attendee see Your hand in every aspect of their travel so that they can say with certainty they saw You at work.
