National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF)
National Christian Centre
Abuja, Nigeria.
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Week of National Prayers & Repentance
Monday 3rd – Sunday 9th February, 2020
January 24, 2020.
Dearly beloved,
WEEK OF NATIONAL PRAYERS & REPENTANCE
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:2). Amen. If ever the Church in Nigeria, like the Philippian Church, needed both grace and peace from God, it is especially in this season of increasing threat to Christianity and to national unity, this season of unpleasant rumours and fainting hearts, a season when, strangely, salvation is also nearer than before. As follow up to an earlier letter by Pastor Bosun Emmanuel that you may have received, I come in the awe of the moment again to bring you this 2020 call to the Lord’s altar of mercy “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).
The Week of Prayers this year is the third in a consecutive series since 2018, but the call this year is probably more urgent than ever, and more prophetic. As we began to respond to the urgency in the spirit to call the nation again to Jehovah’s altar of Mercy for the land, little did we realise that the call last year had come at exactly this same period, 4th – 10th February, 2019, ahead of the national elections. Significantly, this time, the Week shall be commencing at the conclusion of the three days also called by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) from Friday 31st January to Sunday 2nd February, 2020: “In the mouth of two or three…” (Matthew 18:16). In the same spirit has Throneroom (Trust) Ministry of Prophet Emmanuel Kure called significantly for 25 hours of divinely commanded prayer and fasting and worship, between January 29th and 31st, that the books be opened for judgement over the nation and its ruler. All in the same season. There is a sound in the spirit…
In August last year, the city of Jos in central Nigeria hosted the end time prophet, Sadhu Sundar Selvaraj, who saw a huge angel in the hall during a session, an angel he identified as “the chief prince angel of the nation of Nigeria,” who revealed that there was coming “a new Nigeria … a new beginning for the nation of Nigeria … a change ... in the political arena” that “will come suddenly,” and “the unrighteous one will be removed from office.” Whatever that might mean, may that time come now as we pray in this season with simultaneous stirrings from on High…
While I was brooding on the heavenly intelligence for Nigeria in 2020 aptly coded in Acts 12:4, another respected Messenger also sent a word reporting rare encounters with the Lord, with indications for urgent national prayer interventions before the end of the first quarter of the year. Like Haman (Esther 3:7), Herod has picked a date.
4 And when … [Herod] had apprehended him, he put … [Peter] in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after EASTER to bring him forth to the people … But prayer was made without ceasing of the church … and his chains fell off … and he went out [of the prison] … And immediately the angel of the Lord smote [Herod] … But the word of God grew and multiplied (Acts 12:4).
Herod had an Easter date against the early Church. We could put Nigeria’s name there and call the year 2020, and the parable might make better prophetic sense. To the discerning as well as the simple, in the physical also, no less has the urgency been stressed by recent curious media agitations from certain parts of the country, and the equally curious exodus of their peoples to certain other parts of the country. But we have also heard the Lord.
We might have been shamed by righteous blood spilled on the altars, by the painful molestation of our virgins, by the captivity and the enslavement of our young men, by the forceful occupation of our territories, but we have also heard God through His prophets, that He will come through for the nation when we would seem to have hit rock bottom. That time could be today, but the destiny of every generation lies in the hands of the people of that generation; whether they sleep or arise. Not Moses nor Martin Luther will return to lead this age to its Promise Land.
Having been directed again to coordinate the present initiative, and having consulted with respective leaders of the Church and intercessory organisations in the country and abroad and secured their commitments to this urgent call from on high, we are persuaded that Mercy shall prevail over judgment in our national destiny. In the spirit of ceaseless supplications, a 24/7 prayer watch shall commence soon after this exercise, tentatively, until 10th October, 2020 (10/10/20), with participating individuals and organisations in Nigeria and abroad picking a 30-minute slot in the day to watch in prayers.
The Week of National Prayers & Repentance has been scheduled as follows:
- DATE: Monday, 3rd – Sunday 9th February, 2020
- Everyone should fast during the day and find at least an hour to pray before midnight.
- Each city centre should meet daily at their designated venues to spend at least an hour of corporate prayers.
- On the seventh and final day, the meeting should include children, women and men, each group requesting God’s mercy and the frustration of Herod’s malicious and bloody calendar. A Passover Communion, where possible, is recommended, to close the day, besides psalms and hymns and scriptures to be read.
- Kindly find attached a guide for the daily meetings, and contact persons in respective locations in Nigeria and abroad.
Below is a programme guide especially for the last day of the Week. Each centre may however be freely guided by the Spirit of God.
1. Opening procedures
2. Prayers: national repentance/rededication (Ezra 10:1-3);
3. Hymns/worship/songs
4. Bible Reading
5. A Brief Exhortation
6. Prayers: the prayers of Nineveh (Jonah 3:5-10); judgment on Herod’s calendar (Ps. 2:1-5), etc. by children, women, men, etc.
7. Passover Communion / Closing
You may kindly share this information as widely as you can, with your members, your branches, and with other Christians. Be free to reach any of the undersigned with further matters of interest.
May the Lord strengthen your good hands for much more at “such a time as this” (Esther 4:14) in this Week of mercy mingled with tears. Amen.
Sincerely,
Prof Kontein Trinya
The Prayer Desk, Advocates for Freedom and Democracy (AFD), National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF).