Praying for Peace
Michael Cassidy turned out to be a very important player in the 1994 elections in South Africa. As many of us know, it was a momentous occasion where the first democratic elections were held and there was much fear in our land about war breaking out, about violence spreading all over the place. Some people left the country in a hurry. Some people stocked up on food so that they could go underground if they needed to, because there was much turmoil and fear all over the place.
Prayer for Peace
Cassidy, being one of the country's foremost evangelists, did a lot of work with the local politicians, praying with them, organizing peace rallies and prayer meetings with all sorts of people. And in fact, one of the most fascinating parts of this book was learning how much prayer went into those few months by people like Cassidy and African Enterprise. It makes me wonder how much worse things may have been if the Church of God and people like him weren't rising up in prayer.
And oh boy, I hope there are still people praying like this for our nation today because we are not out of the woods! There is much turmoil still, as we all know, and how the country needs the prayers of the faithful people of God to stop evil in its tracks and open the way for God to do His work here in this country.
The Power of Unity in Prayer
In fact, African Enterprise came up with a venture called Project Okutula, which means Project Peace. It included visits to police stations to pray for the police, newspapers, and radio stations being challenged to report good stories and stories of hope. Many prayer chains were formed, and Christians everywhere in the country seemed to rise up to pray for God's protection.
On 14th of June that year, the newspaper The Mercury said that a genuine peace initiative seemed to have been evolved, led by churches and backed by political revival. The peace summit in Durban can be seen as the first step towards a lasting solution to the reign of terror. And then it said “how joyous it would be if in future years the month of June might be remembered in South Africa not only for the tragedy of Soweto Day, but as the time when the people of Kwazulu Natal came to their senses.”
Friends, prayers for peace can avail much if we pray them a lot! As Cassidy says at the end of this chapter “In Project Okutula, day and night prayer was the underlying key and God had made a way.”
And so don't be weary in prayer, my friends. Pray for our nation. Pray for your nation wherever you're listening from. Pray fervently in prayer. Organize prayer meetings, pray with others, pray by yourself. And surely God will use these prayers just as He did in our land in those times.
