NIGHT VIGIL AND THE CHURCH TODAY (IS IT SCRIPTURAL?) Text: Lamentation 2:18-19; Their heart cried unto the Lord. O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; give yourself no rest. Let not the daughter of your eye be silent. Arise, cry out in the night. At the beginning of the watches, pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift up your hands toward Him for the life of your children who faint from hunger at the head of every street. Ref: Ephesians 6:18 “Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication; to that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” What are the hindrances of not practicing it? Is it from Biblical Exegesis? Is it from opinion view point? Definition “Biblical exegesis involves the examination of a particular text of scripture in order to properly interpret it. Exegesis is a part of the process of hermeneutics, the science of interpretation. Exegesis...is an act of love. It means loving the one who speaks the words enough to want to get the words right. It is respecting the words enough to use every means we have to get the words right. Exegesis is loving God enough to stop and listen carefully. -- Eugene Peterson, in *Theology Today*, April 1999, p.10 Opinion is define as a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. In general, an opinion is a judgment, viewpoint, or statement about matters commonly considered to be subjective, i.e. based on that which is less than absolutely certain, and is the result of emotion or interpretation of facts. A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof: The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by fact … [The free dictionary] Introduction As Christians, we must maintain a life-style that lends itself to prayer (See Luke 18:1; Colossians 1:3; 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Philippians 4:6). It is through prayer that not only our inward man is strengthened, but also the work of God is called upon in the life of the believers. The night before Herod was going to bring Peter out before the Jews, God answered the prayers of the saints. Though Herod had taken every precaution to secure Peter, God’s power was greater. Christians must remember that the power of man does not compare with the power of God. There is power in prayer simply because the power of God is able to accomplish exceedingly abundantly more than we can imagine. WATCH WITH ME IS JESUS COMMAND TO HIS FOLLOWERS Matthew 26:36-38 “Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, Sit here while I go and pray over there. And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and in extreme anguish. And He said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. Stay here and watch with Me”. Matthew 26:40-41 “And He came to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, What? Were you not able to watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, that you not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” The hour of temptation was drawing on, and very near; the troubles of Christ were temptations to his followers to disbelieve and distrust him, to deny and desert him, and renounce all relation to him. He therefore exhorts them to watch and pray; Watch with me, and pray with me. While they were sleeping, they lost the benefit of joining in Christs prayer. Watch and pray against this present temptation to drowsiness and security; pray that you may watch; beg of God by his grace to keep you awake, now that there is occasion. We must watch and pray against the further temptation by which devil may assault us with; watch and pray lest this sin prove the inlet of many more. Note, When we find ourselves entering into temptation, we have need to watch and pray. Matthew 25:13; Mk 13:35 “Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming; in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning”. “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man comes”. In reference to the coming back of the Lord, Christians must watch with responsibility. Those who do wickedness, do their evil under the cover of darkness. They do such because they think that their evil is concealed. However, their evil behavior is known by God! 1 Thessalonians 5:6 “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober” As sons of God who are walking in the light of His will, we must not allow ourselves to become indifferent to the coming back of the Lord. Our soberness about that which is coming encourages us to live in a manner that is pleasing to God. Those who are not sensitive to the coming of back of the Lord will become lazy and indifferent concerning their Christian responsibilities. 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”. Acts 10:1-48 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with his entire household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God” MEMORIES OF NIGHT VIGIL Exodus 12:12 “For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And I will execute judgment against Exodus 12: 14 “So this day will be a memorial to you. And you will keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You will keep it as a feast by an ordinance forever”. On this night the LORD kept his promise to bring his people out of the land of Egypt. So this night belongs to him, and it must be commemorated every year by all the Israelites, from generation to generation; and the selfsame night is worthy the remembrance of all the spiritual Israel of God, of all true believers in Christ; for that very night after Christ had ate the Passover with his disciples, he was betrayed by one of them; and to perpetuate the memory of this, and of his sufferings and death, an ordinance is appointed to be observed until his second coming, (see 1 Corinthians 11:23) Acts 16:25 “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them”. Though Paul and Silas had been beaten and thrown in jail, they were still in good spirits. They were praying and singing praises to God in the midnight while the jailor and other prisoners listened. Acts 12: 5-6 “Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. (See 2 Corinthians 1:11; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Peter 1:22). Acts 12:12 “So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying”. The church earnestly and continually prayed for Peter They did not want him to be killed as James was killed by Herod. The brethren knew that if it was God’s will Peter could be freed. They had surely prayed for James. However, it was not God’s will that James be delivered from Herod. On this occasion, it was God’s will that Peter be delivered as a testimony of God’s protection of His people. NIGHT IS WAR TIME FOR DEVIL AND ITS HOST OF DEMON For the king of Syria to arrest Elisha was in the night. For the kingdom of darkness, night time is conference time. It is when the enemies meet to deliver their reports, re-strategize and take decisions concerning the fate of many-including Christians. It is also when they renew covenants, curses and sacrifices. It is the time they supervise the burdens, punishment and yokes already placed on their victims. I pray that every night activity of the satanic kingdom against you this season till Jesus come will come to nothing in Jesus’ name. 2 Kings 6:13-14 “Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city”. And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, behold, the army was surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, Alas, my master! What shall we do? So he answered, Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them”. Believers must be active participants in the spiritual realm. Praying for one hour at night has great effects on the operations of the dark kingdom, much more all night prayer. Reduce your sleep! As they meet to determine your fate, you go on your kneel and determine theirs, scatter their meeting and strip them powerless. A LOT CAN HAPPEN IN ONE NIGHT. In Judges 16:2-3 “When the Gazites were told, saying, Samson has come here! they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, In the morning, when it is daylight, we shall kill him. And Samson lay down till midnight; then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that is before Hebron”. We learn from here that a lot can happen in one night. It was at night that the gates of Gaza shut against Samson, were uprooted and dumped at the mountain top. Every gate of blessing the enemies have shut against you can easily be opened through effective night prayers. Also, taking a cue from Paul and Silas in prison, night time is when to effectively use the weapon of praise to break every yoke in your life, and set other captives free (Acts 16:25-26). In addition, going by Peter’s experience in Acts 12:5-10, midnight prayer easily attract angelic presence and intervention in preventing the unwanted. 2 Kings 19:35-37 “And it came to pass that night that the Angel of Jehovah went out, and struck in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead corpses”. We must embrace and never underestimate the power of a night vigil. The chief oppressor of nations- king Senacherib lost an army of 185,000 in one night to an angel. If you can rise up and pray and worship God at night, you can destroy the plans of Satan in one night. In other words, night time is a period of stressless and total victory. It is also the time to tame wild lions and beasts taking a look at Daniel’s case. In one night, he saw wild hungry lions turn to domesticated and satisfied lambs. What the enemies do in their covens we can do much more at the Throne of Grace at night. Declare a period of continuous vigils of at least 2 hours from 12 midnight -2am. For 1, 2, 3 or weeks. Evaluate your gains afterwards Acts 2:1-47 “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place; And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven”. IS NOT PRIVATE PRAYER SUFFICIENT FOR A CHRISTIAN? Faith expressed only in the soul becomes an abstraction rather than a living faith. For faith to become a living faith, it must be realized in life. Participation in church activates is the realization of faith in our lives. Christian worship, in the broad sense of the term, is collectively known as liturgy; that is, communal activity, and common prayer; while the science of worship is known as liturgics. Matthew 18:20 “Christ said where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I” When a multitude is inspired by common prayer, they find themselves surrounded by a spiritual atmosphere which enables true prayer. At that point, the faithful enter into an agreement with God, a state essential to genuine spiritual life. Conclusion: The only way we can say that congregational night vigil is not scriptural is only when we think that God is sleeping like men and not working all the time. In the service of the All-night Vigil, the Church conveys to the faithful a sense of the beauty of the setting sun and turns their thoughts toward the spiritual light of Christ. The Church also points the faithful toward prayerful consideration of the coming day and of the eternal light of the Heavenly Kingdom. The All-night Vigil is a service that sets before us the turning point in time between the day now passing and the day now coming. The All-night Vigil transports the faithful into a time long ago, into the services of the earliest Christians. [Bibliography]
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 20:51:41 +0000