God continues to stir His people to pray, to pray more and to pray more fervently! We are seeing tangible answers to these prayers. A few weeks ago we held our first Athens Pastors prayer summit. Over 50 pastors participated in it! God connected these leaders and began new partnerships in our city. There are many new friendships coming from this summit. Pray for your pastors!
A group started in a university Greek sorority house, one that up to now has been very closed. The group consisted of 25 university young ladies. Only three of these were actually followers of Jesus. The remaining 22 confessed they were just tired of partying, self-indulgence and where their lives were headed and wanted a new direction. Pray for these seeking students!
Many of the campus ministries and local churches are experiencing attendance above where they usually are at this time of year! Pray for even more explosive growth!
During the Bible distribution of the 21 day challenge, at some of the tables, students literally lined up to hear about Jesus and get a Bible! Interesting enough, some of the best dialog came from the students who actually said no to the challenge. Ask God to pursue them.
The actual Bible reading officially started this week (Monday, September 22). Thousands of Bibles are in students’ hands right now! May the word of the Lord not return void (Isaiah 55) but do its work in these seeking students! Pray that God would reveal Himself to those who have taken the challenge!
Here are some more opportunities to pray. If you can’t make it to any of these, please feel free to pray with us at home or wherever you may be! Let me just say, your prayer matters, much!!!
Prayer for the Middle East & Africa
Date: Wednesday, October 1 / noon-1pm
Venue: Classic City Church Ministry Center – 386 Milledge Ave., Athens
Details: Join us to pray for the families and communities affected by the conflict in Syria and across the Middle East, and those in West Africa dealing with the Ebola epidemic. Everyone is welcome!
Classic City Worship
Date: Sunday, October 5 / 7-9pm (Doors open at 6pm)
Venue: The Melting Point – 295 E Doughtery Street, Athens
Details: The first of many regular worship events where 2 or 3 different worship teams from around Athens will lead the time. At this one, the Wesley Foundation Band and the Classic City Collective will be leading this two hour slot of unity worship. Everyone welcome!
Unity Prayer
Date: Sunday, October 5 / 9:30-11:30pm
Venue: Wesley Foundation Chapel – 1196 South Lumpkin, Street, Athens
Details: This is a “for college students only” that brings together many students from different campus ministries. It is a grassroots movement. If you’re a college student please come if you are able. If you are not, please join in prayer for our city from wherever you are at!
Pastors Prayer Gathering
Date: Wednesday, October 8 / 9-10am
Venue: City Church of Athens – 4019 Atlanta Hwy., Bogart
Details: This is “for senior pastors only” where we come together to pray for and with each other for our city. Please take this opportunity to be praying for your pastors during this time slot!
Prayer Walking
Date: Saturday, October 11 / 10am-noon
Location: Meet at the arch and we’ll go from there!
Details: This is open for everyone who wants to connect with other followers of Jesus, to strategically pray on the UGA campus and/or downtown Athens, and get some exercise! What an awesome opportunity!
ADVANCE (21 Day Challenge celebration event)
Date: Wednesday, October 15 / 7pm
Venue: Tate Center UGA
Details: Most of the campus ministries are coming together to celebrate what God has, is and is going to do on the campus. If you are a college student, you don’t want to miss this strategic event. If you are not a college student feel free to come and be praying or pray from wherever you are!
Living Room Tour
Athens Dates: October 17&18
Details: There are people all around America who are believing that the time is now for the family of God to be gathered and that the message of love would impact the hearts of this generation like never before! The heart behind the Living Room Tour is to meet our family. From that place of family, we want to see the love of Jesus overflow out of every life, all across your campus and region. That we would love the one in front of us as a regional and national family, and work together to see something powerful take place in our homes and in our nation. The Living Room Tour exists to worship Jesus and work together to see Jesus made famous and hearts awakened wherever we live. Check out the website: http://www.livingroomtour.org/
Athens International Prayer Center
Open: M-F 9am-5pm
Thursdays – 6:30-8pm encounter gatherings
Location: 4680 Lexington Road, Athens
Details: Everybody is welcome to come for a few minutes or several hours. It is a great place to just sit with Jesus in the context of ongoing worship, to press in with God in intercession or even to sit in the back at one of the tables and do some business or homework. If you’d like to reserve the room for your prayer group or a prayer meeting or just want some more information, please contact Pastor Robert at 706-549-0000 or robert.sheppard@cornerstoneathens.cc
If you are interested in knowing more about Athens Prayer Network, or would like to make a donation (or become a regular supporter), please check out our website (athensprayernetwork.com).
If you don’t already receive these APN updates which include prayer alerts and frequent emails with opportunities and news, please email me and I will add you to that list (athensprayernetwork@gmail.com). Also, let me know if you have a prayer gathering that is for those across the body of Christ (include the details as above).
Thanks for your partnership!
Steve
