STR8UP.CO.UK CALLS OUR
READERS, CHURCHES AND CHRISTIAN ORGANISATIONS TO
PRAY FOR A REVIVAL FOR THE CITY OF LONDON…
July 7th 2005 will forever be known as the day when
Londoners witnessed the ‘deadliest
attack on UK soil since the second world war’.
With over 50 confirmed dead and over 700 casualties,
the city is now getting to grips with the aftermath
of the bombings. The first blasts took place at
8.51am at London Liverpool Street station, killing
7 people. Blast 2, resulting in the highest number
of fatalities (21) occurred at 8.56am at Kings Cross
station. At 9.17am, blast 3 claimed 7 more lives
at Edgware Road station. At Woburn Place/Travistock
Square, near Russell Square station, blast 4 was
heard, killing 2 people, as the No. 10 bus ripped
open and the roof torn off.
The judiciary, the Home Secretary, the Security
and Intelligence teams, the Metropolitan Police
and indeed the Prime Minister Tony Blair, will be
in the throws of assessing the carnage and trying
to make sense of such senselessness. London has
been preparing for such an attack ever since the
Twin Towers and the Pentagon was hit in New York
on 11th September 2001. Comparisons have also been
drawn with the Madrid bombings in March 2004 (of
which 191 train commuters died). But can we say
that we, the church, the body of Christ have been
in preparation?
This is not the time for ‘knee-jerk’
reactions, or emotional measures. It is a time for
prayer, vigilance and a REVIVAL.
The Bible records several great revivals whereby
people turned to God in the midst of anarchy. Each
revival was characterised by a LEADER
who recognised that the nation was spiritually broken,
bankrupt and barren. Who will lead us? We as children
of God have been called as leaders, to follow the
best practice of Christ Jesus. The Word of God says
that we should ‘stand in the gap’. That
we are ‘a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people…’
(1 Peter 2:9).
We must unite in body (using our physical strength
and mental capacity) as well as in Spirit. This
is not a time for complacency - but for spiritual
warfare. We must take up the
‘sword of the spirit’ and arm
ourselves with the ‘breastplate
of righteousness’. We cannot fail our
city. We have been given a mandate, the authority
to ensure that ‘no
weapon formed against us will prosper’.
It is time to take a stand against such acts of
terror. God has not given us a ‘spirit
of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind’.
If not us, then who? If not now, then when?
During biblical times, a true REVIVAL
caused the people to RESPOND,
REACT and RECEIVE
the Word of God again. We must trust in God, let
Him turn our sorrow into joy. They made a commitment
not to compromise and renewed and rebuilt their
faith, just as we are now called to renew our minds,
and rebuild our city.
Str8up.co.uk urges
and pleads with all those with a sense of responsibility,
not to stand still, but to be unmoved, undeterred
and uninhibited in our attempts to open ourselves,
to heeding the Word and listening to the Spirit
of God. It is a time to be proactive, rather than
reactive. Hence, a time to hold prayer meetings
and re-energise the church by the
‘tearing down of strongholds’.
Thus, a time to show solidarity in such disarray.
This is definitely not the time for egotistical,
antagonistic, divisive and fragmented attitudes.
We must put away our flesh, be led by the Spirit,
walk in meekness, leave our hearts on our sleeves
and repent for our disobedience, judge ourselves,
lest the city of London be judged!
