Bring a Spade!

Someone once said that, as Christians, we are responsible for the spiritual atmosphere where we live. That statement has stayed with me ever since. Through prayer and intercession, God invites us to partner with Him in bringing His light, peace, and truth into the places where He has planted us.

I live in a small town called Nuneaton. It has a beautiful historical heritage. In the 12th century, a group of Benedictine nuns established Nuneaton Priory. It started as a small, sleepy farming village, but the Priory wanted to stabilise the area's finances. To do this, they sought permission to host a weekly market and an annual fair. The market is still going to this day, every Wednesday and Saturday.

Many people, churches and organisations have prayed for Nuneaton throughout the years. This testimony is one example of how God can work through the prayers of His people.

One day, I drove through town and past the Christadelphian Hall, which can be seen from the main road. The building has been there since the 1950s, and I had past it hundreds of times, but today my eyes lingered on it and I decided to look into this denomination. What do they actually believe?

I discovered that some of their core doctrines differ significantly from what Scripture teaches. For example, they do not believe that Jesus is fully divine. The Bible warns us to discern teachings that draw people away from the truth about Christ. 

1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

I began to pray. As I prayed, I wasn't praying against people. I was praying that the Spirit of truth would reveal Jesus and that His truth would prevail. I spoke in tongues for a while and used my body to express movement as the Holy Spirit was leading. As I moved my body, it felt like I was pulling something out in the spirit. I kept pulling and pulling, not knowing exactly what was happening but trusting the Lord with the movement until it felt completed.

A few months went by, and one day my friend Pat and I went for a prayer walk in town. Before we left, I sensed the Holy Spirit asking me to write down some Scriptures on little pieces of paper. He also told me to bring a spade! You can probably guess where this is going. 

We began to pray outside a building site where new homes were being built. We passed the library and suddenly found ourselves behind the Christadelphian Hall. I shared with Pat what I’d experienced during my recent prayer time and we decided to pray into it some more.

We started by blessing the grounds outside the building. We buried the verses as a prophetic act, declaring His word would bear fruit. We blessed the people who were using the Christadelphian Hall, and prayed that God would bring fresh revelation. That whatever was taught there would have sound doctrine and glorify the Lord. That the Spirit of truth would prevail.

A year or so went by. 

One day I was driving through town again, and I drove past the building where we had prayed. It no longer had the words Christadelphian Hall written on the wall. Instead, another name was displayed: Liberty Family Church

I looked up the church online and it’s a Pentecostal church with biblical, Christ-centred doctrine. The building we had prayed over had become home to a church proclaiming the truth of God's Word and the lordship of Jesus Christ. I couldn't help but praise God.