Back in 2004, I was a college student in North Dakota with a passion to bring others together to see my campus know Jesus. As we huddled in prayer after reading stories from the book of Acts, nothing seemed impossible with the God who lived in us.
We even made fliers to challenge others to go all in with God: “What would happen if we came together? What if we prayed? What if God moved? It has happened before. Why not us? Why not now? PULSE is coming.”
From those early prayer meetings until today, God has proven himself time and again. At first, it was His answer to our prayers for faith to truly follow Jesus. Then it was His answer to prayers that classmates might experience His hope. Next it was answers to our prayers for venues on campus to open and be filled for outreach events. Today He’s answered us with a permit for the National Mall and momentum building toward a gathering of 1 million people this summer in Washington, D.C. We know that 1 million people are not guaranteed to attend, but that number is our prayer, and even you reading this might be part of God’s answer. Truly, there is no shortage of excitement when we follow Jesus.
In the book of Habakkuk, the prophet nears the close of his back-and-forth discussion with God about the troubles around him and his desire for justice. In Habakkuk 3:2, we see his perspective reset from despair over his circumstance to faith in God to move in his day: “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.”
If I could summarize Habakkuk’s prayer, it would be, “Lord, would you do it again?” As a good religious leader, Habakkuk knew all about the stories of what God had done in times past. In this passage, he is asking God to do again what He has already done. That’s the same prayer I am encouraging people to lift up today: “Lord, would you do it again?”
Throughout history, God moved in response to the prayers of His people, and today will be no different. God moves and His people are stirred to spend time with Him. As people spend time with Him, their eyes are opened to those living without the hope of heaven, and they share their faith. As they share their faith, masses turn to Jesus, and culture is changed from the inside out.
If I hadn’t seen it firsthand, I wouldn’t believe that what started in prayer meetings among students in North Dakota would result in more people surrendering to Jesus than lived in our entire state (over 600,000). But that did happen, and I have since learned that these are the kind of things that happen when we gather in Jesus’ name, under the authority of Scripture and in the power of His Spirit.
So what about you? Are you willing to go all in?
While many are hearing reports of doom and choosing to live their lives from a place of defeat, there is a movement emerging of those believing these are the most exciting days in history to follow Jesus.
On July 16, more than 10 years of prayer meetings will culminate in what we believe will be the largest Jesus gathering in American history. I believe that God wants to unleash a modern day movement that might define our time and unleash another Great Awakening. God has done it before, and He can do it again. All you need to do is look through Scripture and history to find stories to stir your faith and cause you to join others praying, “Lord, would you do it again?”
In the summer of 1886, evangelist D.L. Moody gathered 251 students from across America in Mount Hermon, Massachusetts, to equip them for the Great Commission. It was a gathering full of worship, prayer and challenges from God’s Word to follow Jesus. Out of that time, a group of students known in history as the “Mount Hermon 100” began to gather and eventually drew up a contract to give their lives for the gospel. Those students became the leaders of what we now know as the Student Volunteer Movement, one of the largest evangelism and missions movements the world had ever seen.
While 2016 may look very different from 1886, the need for Jesus remains. If I were to edit those visionary words we drafted as students back in North Dakota and refocus them toward our dream of a reset together this summer, they would say:
What would happen if we came together? What if we prayed? What if God moved? It has happened before. Why not us? Why not now? Together 2016 is coming.
If you think about it, a reset is exactly what we need today. By definition, reset means to get the system working toward its intended purpose. When you hit reset on your phone or computer, it clears past errors and gets it working like new once again. Just like our phones or various tech devices, our personal life systems have become a mess. We turn to the wrong things. We lose sight of what matters most. We need a reset, and Jesus offers that reset.
On July 16, I am calling the nation to come together under the banner of Jesus. Not because we are perfect, but because He is the perfect one … and the only leader worthy of our allegiance. What our nation needs today isn’t more politics, programs, money or machines. What we need is Jesus and the reset He offers.
So what if we gathered as one and asked for the supernatural reset that Jesus offers? Let’s find out.
Nick Hall is the founder of Pulse, a prayer and evangelism movement that is calling for 1 million Americans to gather July 16 on the National Mall for a day of unified day and worship (reset2016.com), and the author of “Reset: Jesus Changes Everything.”
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