Prayer day for the nation and the EU referendum, hosted by Intercessors for Britain, London, Saturday 18 July 2016
Four hundred plus people were gathered in Regents Hall, while Dave Borlase, director designate of Intercessors for Britain (IFB) preached on three calls to prayer in Joel 2. The first call is to the spiritual leaders who should have been mourning over the state of the land. God is looking not for the nation, but for the Church to pray. The second call is to humble ourselves and confess the sins of the nation in the hope that he may have mercy on us. The third call is “Return to me, rend your heart and not your garments”. The Church has failed to take a lead, has adopted worldly agendas and has not spoken out.
We were then led in prayer to confess the sins of the nation, the failings of the Church and to cry out for mercy.
In the afternoon author Adrian Hilton explained how the southern states are being oppressed by EU leaders, Schengen is in disarray and regulation is underway which will eventually remove all religion from the public sphere.
Prayer for deliverance from the EU then ensued.
In the final session Ray Borlase, IFB’s outgoing director, encouraged us from the Psalms: “We need to pray not just for God to deliver us from the EU but also for something to change the spiritual climate in the nation…. We need to have a burden for the soul of our nation…. Pray that reverence for God will come back into the Church and nation.
Carole Woodiwis
The way forward
Dave Borlase writes:- The result of the referendum may have shocked the nation but for many who prayed the overwhelming sense is how merciful and gracious our God is to us, a sinful nation.
Reactions have been of bitterness, anger and abuse, often reinforced by the BBC. There has been a stirring up of fear, a talking down of the economy. MPs like Philip Hammond stated, “We will not be able to negotiate control of immigration from the EU and at the same time full access to single market”. So the calls will come for us to join the EEA. The battle is fierce.
I am reminded that after the children of Israel had been released from Egypt, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart. Egypt gave pursuit and suddenly the Israelites found they were left with nowhere to turn. With the Red Sea before them and the power of Egypt behind them, they turned on Moses and wanted to go back under the power they had been delivered from. However, Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord”. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the sons of Israel to go forward”. (Exodus 14). The way forward may seem unclear to us, but we know for sure that God will direct our paths if we seek his direction. Whatever people say and do in the coming days, let us pray for God’s direction and for his decision, expressed through the Leave vote, to stand.