The Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) has called the churches to a day of fasting, prayer and intercession on March 11, Saturday, from 6:00 am – 6:00 pm.
Rev Dr Zelhou Keyho, General Secretary, NBCC while informing the churches for the day also shared 12 prayer points. Besides, he also advised the churches to come up with more elaborate prayer points and organize prayer time in a manner that would best fit the situation based on the local context.
“In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears” (Psalm 18: 6).
The NBCC calls the churches to a day of fasting, prayer and intercession on March 11 (Saturday) from 6:00am-6:00pm. As we look around us and see the things happening, we can see that it is a distressful time. Brokenness, disunity, falsehood, malice and deceitfulness have become the order of the day. God is far removed from us. His name is only used as a proof text. Our situation must be hurting God.
Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace” (Nehemiah 2:17).
In a situation such as this, the need of the hour is to spend time in confession, repentance and intercede for our people and return to God. We are so much blessed and yet we have taken God’s grace and mercy upon us for granted. We have not only wronged each other with selfish motives and greed, hurting each other but have put God at the periphery in our lives and dealings. We have become like a generation in Jesus’ time “These people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me” (Matthew 15: 8).
As a Christian majority State, we are supposed to be doing much better than what we are. We have failed God in so many ways, in our lives, in our governance and in our relationship with each other. We have taken the name of God in vain, we offer thanks and praise but we do not conduct our lives in a manner that honors him. We use the name of God lightly to cover up all the wrongs we do and all the sins we commit. We have become a people unworthy of his Holy Name. We need to return to God and commit our ways to him. There is no other way, we must draw near to God and live worthy of calling as an individual Christian and a Christian majority state.
1. Begin the prayer day with confession and repentance.
2. Pray for the church leaders that they will rekindle their calling.
3. Pray for our leaders to look after the welfare of the state led by the Chief Minister and his council of ministers and colleagues.
4. Pray for the bureaucrats and the government servants and the police personnel (law enforcing agencies in the state).
5. Pray for the tribal leaders and other civil society leaders that there will be unity.
6. Pray for our children and young people and the challenges they face in life.
7. Pray for our children writing their exam and those in schools, colleges and universities pursuing further studies.
8. Pray for parents, single mothers, widows and widowers, and the orphans.
9. Pray for the farmers and for favorable weather as we approach the sowing season.
10. Pray for the Naga political situation that we will see divine intervention. Humility and unity has to be established.
11. Pray that love and truth will prevail over falsehood and selfishness.
12. Pray for Spiritual Awakening, we need God to visit us, transform and heal our land.
Churches are advised to come up with more elaborate prayer points and organize prayer time in a manner that would best fit the situation based on the local context. Let’s take this day to approach God’s throne of grace seeking his face in repentance and the healing of our land.
“My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7: 14).
Rev. Dr. Zelhou Keyho
General Secretary, NBCC
