A Time to Mourn 

Sept 29 - Oct 9, Northfield, Massachusetts

Happenings 2008

Wednesday, May 21, 2008
10 Days of Prayer Summary

One Story: Wednesday Afternoon and Evening

For those of you who were not able to make it this year, I wanted to share a few stories: God spoke to me about three days into the 10 Days and gave me a structure of what He would be doing in us. He said that the first 3 days were for “settling” in (Him and us), the middle 3 were for “building” the next 3 were for “receiving” and the final day was for “sending”. We counted our days from evening to evening—so each new day would begin with our evening worship time. 

Wednesday afternoon, the last building day, we experienced real breakthrough in the 12-3 prayer shift led by Youth Storm. It is difficult to put into words what happened during that time—perhaps the easiest way to describe it is in the image that God showed us—God gave birth to something spiritually and we got to participate in that birthing process. I was amazed to hear people praying out the same scriptures I had been praying by myself that morning—“rend your heart and not your garment” because Christian unity is first of all unity with the holy heart of God. Personally, I had to step out in the middle of the time in order to repent to a friend. 

Our faith was greatly increased that afternoon. After this intense time of prayer where God was doing lots of things in each one, we took some time afterwards to debrief and listen to what God had been doing in individuals during a very loud and passionate time of pressing in to God. Several reported witnessing/participating in a "spiritual birth" during this time. This impression was confirmed by numerous sources--it seemed to be something the Spirit was really emphasizing. Also, several spontaneously received a gift of tongues during that time. The way in which this happened was a real testament to God's ways. One of the gentlemen who received the gift had been praying to receive it for 3 years. The other brother shared that he had never prayed for it nor particularly desired it--the Spirit just gave it to him. There is a diversity of gifts, but one Spirit who "works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills." (1 Cor. 12:11)

That night, we had a “Bridegroom feast”, to end a three day fast and celebrate what the Lord had been doing. This feast led into a time of testimonies and communion, overflowing into expectant worship. I knew that we were going to begin “receiving” that night, but I had no idea what that would look like. As we worshipped, I saw God extending His hand to us. As I was seeing this, Josiah got up and began to prophesy that God was preparing to send a spiritual downpour, to “break open a dam” on us—God was going to rain on us spiritually (rain is an image of His grace) and we were going to begin receiving from Him as God had told me. 

As the kicker, Josiah prophesied that God would send physical rain that evening as a sign of what He was doing spiritually. As soon as he said this, the room was charged with the smell of rain. There were loud cries of intercession for the rain to come. Then the worship progressed and erupted in joyful dancing as we abandoned ourselves before our awesome and beloved God. Many of us can truly say that we have now “danced like David danced” before the Lord. The worship moved into a time of personal prayer and ministry—personally, I was able to pray for and minister to my mom. As I ministered to her, I could feel myself being strengthened—since that night I have sensed a growing boldness and freedom from timidity. 

Finally, just as I was getting into bed right before midnight, I heard the rain come. It was a soft, gentle rain. At a conference last year, Rhonda Hughey spoke about community transformation. She said that in many transformed communities, after going through a process of repentance, God will manifest His presence visibly by sending a gentle rain. As I fell asleep that night I was so joyful—we were becoming alive and our GOD was so strong, so real—the God whose searchlight eyes examined every inch of my heart, the God who speaks prophecy, the God who gives “signs in the heavens and signs on the earth”, the God who sends the rain. My joy that night was mixed with an incredible sense of my own need—I had never seen so clearly how immature I was in Christ, how far I had to grow, how little I understood my Father’s strange ways—and this place of need was both a place of rest and a place of pressing into God’s heart.

After this day of breakthrough, the presence of God increased noticeably on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Personally, I noticed an increased sense of boldness and authority in my prayers and in the prayers of others. Our Father made it clear that our cries were touching His heart and that He would do what we were asking of Him. Among other signs of His presence, our prayer times were characterized by spontaneous outbursts of public, personal repentance. This repentance especially characterized our Friday night meeting, which many remember as the culmination of the 10 Days and as a real turning point. 

Many Stories—Let’s hear from you

By the way, I am once again hoping to get written testimonies of ways that you experienced God at Northfield. In the story above, I chose to concentrate more on the larger group dynamic. Your story may be more personal, more focused, more intimate, or it might be a general observation about the entire time paired with some specific examples. At any rate, we want your written stories. Stories will be posted on our website and Cassi and I may use them (with citation) in a writing project on the 10 Days that we are working on.

Finally, God sent us out on Saturday and Sunday with three messages, and it seems fitting to close this email with a reminder.

1. “God’s eyes and ears are open and attentive to our prayers”—We have His favor and His blessing on us, we can be confident that He will hear us
2. “Eat this Scroll”—God has sent us back to the Church carrying a prophetic message, those things that the Lord showed us and taught us during the 10 Days of Prayer
3. “You will see the Glory of God”—We learned on Friday night that true repentance is one of the things that glorifies God the most.

Planning/Logistical Update to Come

I will send another email out to you shortly with some fresh information on planning meetings for next year, a call to bring the 10 Days to the local church next year, and some new information on the New England wide Solemn Assembly on October 4, 2008. I guess this is enough for now…

Joy and Peace in the Holy Spirit,

Jonathan Friz
314-306-8037