The Response USA Solemn Assembly
According to Joel 2:12-18, there comes a time to sound a trumpet and to call the nation to seek the Lord together. Such a call has gone out.
According to Doug Stringer: “Texas Governor Rick Perry, in an historic move that has not taken place in our lifetime, is calling for a National Solemn Assembly called The Response: A Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis, on Saturday, August 6, 2011, in Reliant Stadium (indoors) in Houston, Texas.
“In a letter dated May 18, 2011 inviting the 49 other Governors to join him, Governor Perry cited the book of Joel as the answer for the challenges facing America. Scripture is clear. When the Lord moves a governmental official to sound a trumpet to pray, the response is to come and cry out to the Lord together.
“On August 6th, there will be no political agenda, no merchandise sold, no ministries promoted, no literature distributed and no offering taken. Registration is free. This event will not promote any denomination or organization. It will simply be those who love God and love America responding to Gov. Perry’s invitation to get on our knees together to ask for His mercy, guidance, wisdom and provision.”
Here is Gov. Perry’s letter to the nation, which is found on www.TheResponseUSA.com:
Fellow Americans,
Right now, America is in crisis: we have been besieged by financial debt, terrorism, and a multitude of natural disasters. As a nation, we must come together and call upon Jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles, and thank Him for the blessings of freedom we so richly enjoy.
Some problems are beyond our power to solve, and according to the Book of Joel, Chapter 2, this historic hour demands a historic response. Therefore, on August 6, thousands will gather to pray for a historic breakthrough for our country and a renewed sense of moral purpose.
I sincerely hope you’ll join me in Houston on August 6th and take your place in Reliant Stadium with praying people asking God’s forgiveness, wisdom and provision for our state and nation. There is hope for America. It lies in heaven, and we will find it on our knees.
Sincerely,
Rick Perry
Governor of Texas
There are times to show up. There are times to break routine. There are times to embody urgency and desperation.
Will you hear the trumpet call? Will you help blow the trumpet? Will you commit with others to seek Jesus like our lives, our families, our future, and our nation depended on it?
Why should we respond to this call for a Solemn Assembly?
Throughout the history of God’s people, the Lord told his people to pray and repent. Drawing near to God is our only hope. Consider 2 Chronicles 7:13-14. Whenever God’s people sin against the Lord, which includes sinning against each other and against the land, God prescribes the remedy. God declares what must be done to redeem the land and the people: humility, prayer, seeking God’s face, and repentance. (Read 2 Chronicles 7:13-14.)
Even in the book of Deuteronomy, long before Israel entered the Promised Land, God knew that his people would go astray. His prescription: crying out to God and repentance (turning back to the Lord). (Read Deuteronomy 30:1-20.)
God has moved in response to the identificational repentance of intercessors like Moses, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and others throughout the Old Testament, to save his people from eradication. It seems that their intercession was needed because God’s people had left their God.
Throughout history, God has used governmental leaders and authority figures to call God’s people to prayer, seeking God, and repentance. God used the Judges, Queen Esther, King David, King Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:3-11), King Josiah, and others.
When dealing with governmental and political leaders, one question always arises. “What is their real motive or hidden agenda?” I am sure that was true of their contemporaries. I doubt that everyone on the outside new the motives of these leaders. But, when the people responded to their leaders, God honored their cries.
As a matter of fact, in Hezekiah’s revival of 2 Chronicles 29:3-11, King Hezekiah places the responsibility for the condition of the nation– for the loss of life, for the oppression of women and children, and for the devastation of the nation– on the shoulders of the priests, who had neglected their ministry to and before the Lord. When the priests took up their rightful place before God and others, revival came quickly to the land.
In Revelation 2:1-7, the Lord Jesus describes our condition as having left our first love. The church believed right and engaged in dutiful actions, but had neglected their primary relationship: loving the Lord (Matthew 22:37-39).
In Revelation 3:14-21, Jesus calls his people to be zealous and repent. They had no idea how desperate their situation was. They were thoroughly deceived.
Points:
- I believe that God calls his people to humble themselves, to pray, to seek God’s face, and to turn from sin at an individual, corporate, community, and national level.
- One of the practical results of getting right with God and turning to Jesus involves sharing with and demonstrating the whole gospel to others, which includes touching the poor, caring for the marginalized, breaking bondage and slavery, and destroying sources of injustice. One is not right with God without loving others tangibly. This is the clear teaching of the Bible.
- I believe that throughout history, God has used governmental leaders to call his people to prayer and repentance.
- All political leaders are flawed, and possibly have ulterior motives and hidden agendas. (Isn’t that true of all of us? We are all flawed.) But, I want to support and connect with those who call us to seek the Lord Jesus. Obviously, we need discernment. Germany failed to discern Hitler correctly when he used religious rhetoric to advance his cause. But, unless we support efforts of politicians when they try to help us to turn to the Lord, we are missing the chance to influence that clarion call with our presence and proximity (salt & light).
- It is not possible to be right with Jesus without walking out his righteousness in daily life. That means that we must care for and touch the poor, the marginalized, and other attendant issues like injustice, human trafficking, etc., according to Isaiah 58 and other verses of Scripture. On the other hand, it is possible to care for the poor, to involve oneself in social justice, to advance social causes, and to miss God in the process. We need prayer as the heart of the matter, to keep our hearts connected with God. This is true at an individual and corporate level.
So, I want to support this call to pray. And, I have heard from Doug Stringer, the leaders of the prayer gathering who are from IHOP, and others, who see this as an opportunity to call our nation back to Jesus. I pray that God is in control, has answered our cries in Houston for revival for our nation, and is giving us another chance to seek his face and turn from our sins.
Now is the time to seek God as never before, according to Joel 2:12-18.
It’s not too late if we will listen to the Lord and respond to our God in this critical hour. It is time for “us to break normal routines in order to assemble before Him in gatherings large and small. It’s a time to interrupt daily habits of life, fasting from our normal diet, even moving from familiar rituals of worship to assemble in special ways. Why this urgency? Because something great is at stake for God’s glory” (Steve Hawthorne, Ten Days of Constant Prayer for the Global Day of Prayer.)
I am going to mark the date and will send out the above to all on my mailing list. I am in agreement.
Michael, thanks for sending this info to us. We are so excited about this. I have devised a letter to Gov. Perry over and over in my mind but never put it on paper and mailed it. God knew my heart and thousands of others who feel the same and the Lord moved on his heart. This is our only answer for our state and country. We are planning on attending if at all possible and are contacting friends to do the same.
Michel: Thanks for participating in and trumpeting the solemn assembly.
We heard about this at “Awaken the Dawn” — a prayer gathering in Fredericksburg, VA. We will be praying fervently for this gathering to be fully attended by all Governors, and for the Lord to hear our prayers for transformation, revival, and mercy.
Mary: Thanks for praying!
I have been looking all over for a place to comment about this awesome event!! This is the first one I have found.
I am thrilled beyond measure to see Mr. Perry standing up in front of a nation that has left God out of the picture for so many years! I trust that he will continue to push this event and not back down under peer pressure from this world. Our nation’s only hope is prayer! We have to pray and this is just awesome. If I lived close enough, my family and I would attend.
I will mention this to our pastor and see if we can get our church to join in prayer with everyone there in Houston, on that day. We have been having a prayer walk through our town for over 2,000 days, in Greenfield, TN, asking God’s forgiveness for the sins of the land! Prayer works!
God bless every individual that will stand up for what’s right and acknowledge that God is still the answer to our nation’s problems!
P.S. Let’s pray the current president out so we can try to save what’s left of this country before he totally mutilates it!
God bless all!
Lana: Thanks for praying. Actually, that is why we need Jesus to give us his wisdom and revelation, because the problems are bigger than one person or one president. The problems we face are found at every level: local, community, state, and national. So, we pray for all our leaders according to 1 Timothy 2:1-4. And, we pray for God’s people to become the salt and light which they are called to be (Matthew 5:13-16), true followers of Jesus. Turning to Jesus is our most important response to our problems. I am grateful the Lord is raising up such a conviction and prayer movement around the earth.
Am in full agreement and will be praying for this also and praying everyday for this.. You are right we are in a crisis that only the Lord can fix.. He can change hearts and only Him… Amen.
debbi rennier
Debbi: Thanks for praying.
I would like to attend. Could you please tell me what time the assembly starts? My pastor sent the date to me, and I think that this is awesome. This is exactly what we need as a state and as a country. If you could email me the details, I would really appreciate it. My email address is bella3576@gmail.com. Thank you, and I hope to see you there.
God bless you,
Katina Siegel
Katina: The website at http://www.theresponseusa.com says that the event is from 10:00am to 5:00pm on Saturday, Aug. 6. They also ask that people who plan to attend register for free on that web site.
I seriously want for God to start a ministry much akin to IHOP in Kansas City where homeless people can get ministered to, pregnant & single soon-to-be mothers can be helped, orphaned children can be given homes by loving, married Christian couples, and where there will be 24 hour night and day prayer with worship teams going round the clock. If God can raise IHOP up the way He did, then He can most certainly do it here in Houston! I don’t know if God has been speaking to anyone in Calvary Community Church about this, but I know He’s been speaking to me about it, and I know that I cannot do it alone. My prayer is that what happens at this coming prayer gathering will spark a SERIOUS awakening whereupon God’s people will wake up out of our religious slumbering and we will come to and realize that we haven’t been doing the work God has placed in our hands to do as a Body of Believers.
Lorin: There are several Houses of Prayer here in Houston, based on the IHOP model. One of them is in the Cypress area with Mark Baker. Hank Marion of New Haven House of Hope is in touch with all the HOP efforts in Houston, as well as directing the House of Prayer at his church. Hank will know about all of the HOP’s in Greater Houston. http://www.newhavenhop.com.
I’m not saying that all of the various smaller houses of prayer aren’t important. I definitely agree that they are very much needed. What I’m saying is we need a bigger set-up where 24 hour prayer and worship is concerned. Kansas City isn’t anywhere NEAR the size of Houston, and they’ve got a sprawling ministry that helps people in the whole Kansas City area and surrounding areas. How much more do we need that in Houston? I’ve been to Agape’ House of Prayer here in Cypress when God first opened it up, and it was most certainly something that God Almighty started. No doubt about it.
Yep. I hear your heart.
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[...] What is a Solemn Assembly [...]
We have a church here in Margate, Florida that would like to participate in the Response but are unable to travel to Houston at this time. On their registration sign up the said that live streaming would be available for church groups that could not attend. I have requested that info but have been unsuccessful in g anyone to reply to my request do you have any information concerning that?
Mike: I will have to look through my emails at the office. The short answer is “yes,” it will be available on the internet. It is also is supposed to be broadcast via TV. I believe they are still working on the details. Let me go through my emails again to find the answer to your question.
Thanks.We really appreciate it.
Mike: I confirmed with one of the event leaders about Internet streaming. “Yes, there will be streaming and details are being worked out.” You are welcome to send me an email reminder later next week to see if we have details. JTM@calvaryhouston.com.
Thanks Pastor Jeff. We are pretty pumped up about this event.
A high-quality web stream of The Response will be available at TheResponseUSA.com starting at 9:00am CDT on August 6.
This whole thing makes it even more important to support the separation of church and state. Our founding fathers knew what they were doing when they called for separation. Religion is protected, thank goodness, but the state also is protected FROM religious groups who USE religion for descrimination racial hatred.
Marjorie: There is a huge misunderstanding about the First Amendment. If you mean by the separation of church and state that the government should not and shall not establish a national religion or denomination, then I agree with your comments. If you mean that people cannot express their beliefs and convictions in the public square, including prayer rallies called by government officials, then I must respectfully disagree. Religious groups should never use their religion or the government for propogating hatred of any kind. But, government has no right to keep Christians from expressing their values and beliefs in private or public. Here are two good articles that talk about the history of the separation of church and state. One points out that our Founding Fathers actually practiced their Christianity in the public square and expected other to do so. The other article explains where the idea came from and how it is being misued today to squelch Christians from expressing their faith in public. Interestingly, it is only applied to Christians, and not those of other religions.
Hi Jeff, Can you tell me who the praise & worship team was who did about the last three hours of the meeting?
You might have to send an email to TheResponseUSA website to find out for sure. I believe that most of the teams and leaders were from IHOP in Kansas City. I know that Matt Gilman, Misty Edwards, Jaye Thomas, Johnny Fernandez, and others were mentioned by @TheResponseUSA on their Twitter feed throughout the day. Matt Gilman was mentioned in their Tweet for final set.
Thanks. Will follow up