Leader's Letter

It’s time to pray!

Jesus and His apostles taught us that we should ask the Father in the name of Jesus and He would give us what we ask—especially if we agree together. (See John 14:13 and Matthew 18:19)

As YWAM, we have already received so much of what we have asked together. We are in a new season of blessing and battle, fruitfulness and warfare.

Now we want to encourage every YWAM staff and student to agree together in prayer on the first Thursday of every month beginning January 3rd, 2008. Whether you are on a small team or in a large training community, please set aside time for prayer on the first Thursday of every month. You might fast and pray during a meal time or all the meal times. You might take the whole day or you might even decide to fast sleep and pray through the night. Your team or community can seek God about how to spend the day, and you can feel free to do something different every month.

About seven years ago God spoke to us from the early chapters of the book of Joshua and compared us to the two-and-a-half tribes of Israel who settled on the east side of the Jordan, before they had seen the land that God had already promised to them. Tom Bloomer brought us this prophetic message and asked the question, “Will you press on in faith for all that God has promised or will you settle for the good things you have already seen? Are you comfortable to stay where you are, or will you fight the battles that are necessary to be all that God wants you to be?”

Some time after that, the Global Leadership Team was in prayer and waiting on God and He called us to 50 Days of Prayer. We obeyed and experienced a touch from God all around the world. When we completed that time, many wondered whether we would carry on, since that had been such a good time for us to be united together in our obedience and asking. But God did not say to continue in that same way. That was three years ago.

This year, when the GLT met in Korea, God spoke through Tom again, and from the same early chapters in Joshua. We all “bore witness” that Tom had heard from God when he opened Joshua 5 and said, “You have crossed over into the land God has promised to you.” We were nearly overwhelmed with gratitude! And I had no doubt that the 50 Days of Prayer were a vital part of our obedience and restoration in recent years. This is a most important answer to prayer.

At those recent meetings, we felt God was calling us to this new prayer initiative and so I write to you on behalf of the leadership of YWAM around the world. Though you may have other plans in place, though it might be inconvenient for you, will you just ask the Lord how he wants you to respond to this leading? We expect to continue with this regular prayer pattern for the next few years—at least until our 50th anniversary events in 2010.

The fact that we’ve crossed the Jordan is rich with prophetic significance. As we meditate on Joshua 5 together in the coming months, God will expand His message to us and bring greater detail about what comes next. But during the first day of prayer we want to concentrate on God’s first priority for Israel when they had completed the crossing—circumcision.

Circumcision symbolized being set apart for the Lord, sanctified, and made holy. The Apostle Paul takes up that theme again and again in his letters and writes about allowing our heartsto be circumcised.

We think God is saying that we are entering into a new period of growth, anointing and power but that He first wants to cut away all that is not holy—everything that does not please Him—everything that hinders us from being who He wants us to be. So would you begin this new pattern of prayer by asking the Lord to show you what he wants to cut away?

As we go on into the months of prayer, we will have visionary themes and hear stories of answers to our requests, but we want to start by asking the Holy Spirit to sanctify us. Expect Him to speak to you! It would help us if you could email or write to us with what God is saying to you. We think He will confirm similar issues in many of our 1200+ locations around the world.

Thanks be to God that we are in a better place than we were a few years ago. Now, new battles are about to begin but we will also see more miracles, more fruitfulness and more of our heritage, which is to see the whole earth reached with the fullness of the Good News.

Please e-mail us at prayerday@ywam.org with comments or testimonies that come from your prayer day experiences. It would be most helpful if you could send them just as soon as you’ve completed a prayer day. You can also write us at YWAM Prayer Days, 6 Highfield Oval, Harpenden, England AL54BX United Kingdom.

In His Peace,

Lynn Green

International Chairman, YWAM