“For the Lord to achieve His ultimate move He also needs the proper situation. If you consider the entire world today, you would have to say that the best place for the spreading of His recovery is the United States of America”
- CWWL, 1981, vol. 1, p. 346.
Dear saints in the local churches in North America,
We hope that all the dear saints in the Lord’s recovery in North America would rise up with a fresh burden to intercede in prayer for His move in this country. Persevering prayer in the church prayer meetings, sisters’ prayer times, and vital groups should be the base for all the labor in His present move.
There are three particular burdens regarding this matter of prayer for the Lord’s move. First, may we receive the spirit of Isaiah 62:6-7 to “never keep silent”:
“Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, / I have appointed watchmen; / All day and all night / They will never keep silent. / You who remind Jehovah, / Do not be dumb; / And do not give Him quiet / Until He establishes / And until He makes Jerusalem / A praise in the earth.”
Let us take our stand as the Lord’s “watchmen” who day and night do not keep silent but remind Him concerning His will to establish His testimony on the earth. In particular, may we remind Him of His desire to spread His recovery throughout middle America and the Bible Belt region.
Second, in order for the Lord’s prevailing move in this country to be realized we need to pray intercessory prayers for all men, and especially for the leaders of this country. This is according to Paul’s word in 1 Timothy 2:1-4:
“I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men; on behalf of kings and all who are in high position, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all godliness and gravity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of our Savior God, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.”
Our prayers are not political in nature; rather, we pray for the Lord’s will in these verses to be fulfilled so that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in godliness and gravity. Such prayer is with a view to preserving a proper environment that is suitable for “all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.”
Third, we must beseech the Lord of the harvest to thrust out workers into His harvest. Matthew 9:37-38 says:
“Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is great, but the workers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest that He would thrust out workers into His harvest.”
Our beseeching prayers to Him as the Lord of the harvest honor Him and afford Him the way to bless His move and to thrust out laborers into His harvest. Specifically, we need to pray that at least 300 saints (including 30 full-timers) will migrate to the 10 target cities in the US.
Regarding this point, brother Lee said:
“We all need to see a vision of the Lord Jesus as the Lord of the harvest. In [Matthew 9:38] the Lord told us to beseech the Lord of the harvest that He may thrust out workers into His harvest. Firstly, in His economy, God has a plan to accomplish. Then His economy requires His people to beseech, to pray, for it. In answering their prayer, He will accomplish what they have prayed concerning His plan. Many times when we sense the need for workers, we sound out the call for help. But from now on, whenever you sense the need for workers, you must firstly pray to the Lord of the harvest, saying, ‘Lord, here is Your harvest. You are the Lord of the harvest. We call on You to thrust out some reapers. Lord, send more reapers into Your harvest.’ Praying like this will make a difference. To pray like this means that we have seen a vision that our Christ, the kingly One, the Shepherd, is the Lord of the harvest. Whenever you pray that the Lord would send reapers into His harvest, you honor Him very much…Therefore, we need to call on Him and say, ‘Lord, You are the Lord of the harvest. The work in this field is Yours, and this harvest is Your crop. We call on You for Your crop. Lord, send Your reapers.’” (Life-study of Matthew, msg. 29, pp. 359–360)
Dear brothers and sisters, let us respond to this threefold burden for prayer by: 1) giving ourselves to be the Lord’s watchmen; 2) interceding for this country, both its people and its leaders; and 3) honoring the Lord of the harvest by beseeching Him to thrust out laborers into the ripened harvest of middle America.
In Christ,
The co-workers in North America coordinating for the GTCA move
“I feel that some saints need to migrate to strategic cities in the southeastern and south-central region of the United States known as the ‘Bible Belt.’ In particular, we should spread the Lord’s recovery in the following states: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. I believe that there are a good number of seeking believers in these states. If a group of saints migrate to the cities in these states, as they work at a job or study at a university, they can contact the Lord’s seekers and gain them for His testimony”
— CWWL, 1981, vol. 1, pp. 384-385.