by Rev. Dale Shunk
September 13, 2022
For more than two years the WCA International Intercessory Prayer Network (IIPN) has prayed and fasted by Zoom every Monday at 9:00 PM under the capable leadership of the Rev. Leo Park and like “midwives” we helped birth the Global Methodist Church on May 1, 2022. Leo has stepped down and now a second season of prayer has begun.
As the new WCA (IIPN) Coordinator, I am announcing the first of a series of Zoom prayer sessions on the third Monday of each month starting on Monday, September 19, 2022. The Wesleyan Covenant Association will host two one-hour sessions of prayer for our 57 WCA Regional Chapter Intercessors at 9:00 AM EDT and 9:00 PM EDT. This enables intercessors in multiple time zones to join us. In preparation for this launch I am calling for a three-day fast of your choice and have invited the Rev. Dr. Carolyn Moore, WCA Global Council Chair, to share from her heart what the IIPN means for the church and its impact for the Kingdom of God. I am encouraging each WCA Chapter Intercessor to invite other prayer warriors to join this movement. If you are reading this and are moved by the Holy Spirit to pray with us each month, please write to me at dale.shunk@gmail.com and I will send you the Zoom link.
The IIPN wants every church that finds themselves in the valley of decision and struggle with The United Methodist Church establishment to know that we are praying for promises to be kept, boldness in witness, angels sent to help you, and the Holy Spirit to fill you with wisdom and strength to do the right thing for the glory of God the Father. Send your prayer concerns to your local WCA Chapter Lead Intercessor or President and we will lift your concern to throne of God Almighty. Of course, you can dial JER333 (Jer. 33:3) and go directly to God’s throne, but we want to serve you and stand before the throne with you.
Why Pray?
- Because Jesus did. Our Lord had emptied himself of any glory (Phil. 2) that he knew in Heaven, and he prayed to his Heavenly Father to know his will and do his will. When the Jewish leaders asked why Jesus healed the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda, Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” We can only do what the Father does, if we know what the Father wants us to do. We can only know that through constant, fervent prayer. That is why we pray. If our Lord Jesus needed to get up before dawn every day to seek the Father, then, how much more should we seek the Lord all day long!
- Because we are weak, and he is strong. We often talk about Jesus as the source of our salvation, wisdom, and power, but we find every excuse under the sun to do other things than seek his presence in prayer. Yes, I am talking to myself, too. Since my thyroid cancer surgery on April 30, 2013, I have been taking a Levothyroxine pill every morning at 7:00 AM. Since I cannot eat or drink hot coffee for the next hour, so the medicine can be absorbed into my system, I have enjoyed prayer, Bible reading and quiet meditation in the morning while I wait. This has been a wonderful blessing, yet too many times I have gotten pulled away to do a chore or get caught up in a morning news report and the time slips away. I really feel the difference in focus and my ability to handle the daily tasks when I miss my quiet time with Jesus.
- Because there is joy in the presence of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is your strength! (Nehemiah 8: 10) He is my strength and in these stressful days we need his strength and guidance more than ever. There is no other place that I want to be than in his presence.
- Because the times demand that we pray. I heard a missionary tell a story that while traveling to his assignment on a steam ship he went to the bridge to talk to the captain. He complimented that captain on how fast the ship was going. The captain replied that the ship was using only one engine since the ocean was calm, but when the ship enters a storm and the waves get high the ship needs both engines just to maintain its place in the water. The missionary related this story immediately to prayer. Daily when all seems to be going well, we can get along with daily morning prayer and worship services. Yet when we are in a difficult transition or being attacked by the devil, we need prayer partners praying with us, fasting for days, and hours of personally seeking the Lord just to maintain our faith. It is time to pray hard!
The Rev. Dale Shunk is a retired elder in the Western Pennsylvania Conference of The United Methodist Church. He leads the WCA’s International Intercessory Prayer Network.