June Prayer Points

Every morning at 4am, John Wesley, Founder of Methodism knelt at the kneeler at the corner of his room and prayed. This is the birthplace of Methodism. Next to the kneeler was a fireplace. He built a fire when he prayed. This is where the fire of revival started.

This is our Methodist DNA. This is what the Conference Prayer and Intercession Team wants to restore in the Northeast Global Methodist Church. Our vision is to make the Northeast GMC a prayer-based church.

John Wesley said prophetic words near the end of his life in 1786, only 2 years after American Methodism began:

“I am not afraid that the people called Methodist should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.”

Unfortunately, these prophetic words were fulfilled.

As we begin a new movement called “the Northeast Global Methodist Church”, we don’t just want to be a denomination – we want to be a movement and remain a movement! We don’t want to make another mistake by losing the power and become a dead sect.

There is a reason why this power was lost, as illustrated in this story of the great revivalist and intercessor, Charles Finney. The United States had a second great awakening in the early 1800s. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Charles Finney was able to bring hundreds of thousands of people to Christ. He was very well-known in that time of great revival – but less well-known was his partner, Daniel Nash, who was the source of the power of this great revival.

Daniel Nash was a pastor like Finney; however, he did not have Finney’s gift. Throughout most of his career, Nash was an ordinary pastor but at the age of 48, he realized a new calling. Working with Finney as his prayer partner, Nash would go to a town two or three weeks in advance of the revival. He would rent a room, gather two or three committed prayer warriors and he would begin to pray. He prayed over the town, prayed over the people of the town, and prayed over Finney.

Once when Finney got to a particular town, the boarding house keeper asked Finney: “Brother Finney, do you know a man named Father Nash?” Finny said, “Yes, I know Father Nash.” The lady said, “I rented Father Nash and two other people a room and they have not come down to eat for three days. I worried about them. I thought something was wrong. I looked in the room and I found them on the floor, groaning face down. I thought that they were in great pain so I came to see you. Would you please come and check on Father Nash and these men?” Finney smiled and said, “There is no need to check on Father Nash. That’s just how the man prays.”

Nash didn’t go to the revival meetings and was hardly ever seen. He stayed in his room and prayed. When there was trouble at the revival meeting and the Word wasn’t being received, Finney would ask Nash to pray harder. One time there was a particular group who were opposed to the work that Finney was doing because all the liquor stores closed and all the wicked ways to ceased to exist when Finney came to town – which they didn’t want. They made a straw figure of Finney and burned it to curse him; however, they also made one of Nash that they also burned because they recognized that it wasn’t just the man on the stage that was bringing down the power of God – it was the man hidden in the room praying. They recognized that Nash’s fervent prayer was the secret weapon behind the revival.

Nash was the prayer partner in the revival circuit for six years until he died of some illness while praying. After Nash died, Finney stopped going town to town on the revival circuit and began serving the church in New York city. The revival fire went out because Nash was no longer there to pray for Finney.

Somewhere in upstate New York, there is a forgotten cemetery with an old headstone which has the name Daniel Nash, his date of birth and date of death, with words all of us can hope to have next to our name, “Laborer with Finney, mighty in prayer.” (from “Fresh Wind. Fresh Fire” written by Jim Cymbala)

Watchman Nee, a Chinese pastor and writer, once said, “Prayer lays the rails upon which the purpose and plans of God can and will travel.”

Rev. Dr. Terry Teykl said, in his book, The Chronicles of Prayer: Praying in Jesus Name for 21 Centuries, “And so it was the early church, their prayers that laid the rail for a phenomenal expansion of the church. In just 30 years, they, a motley group at best, changed the world and set in motion a movement of conversions to Jesus like none other. They were united in prayer. Jesus told them to wait to be endued with power from on high, and so they waited constantly and prayed. And then it happened, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost like a giant waterfall to launch as movement across their known world.”

This is what the Northeast GMC Conference Prayer and Intercession Team is trying to do – lay the rails upon which this movement called the Northeast Global Methodist Church can and will travel.

It is Biblically and historically proven that when prayers stop, the power disappears. When that happens, the movement becomes a dead sect.

We want to keep this as a movement, not as a denomination. When we stop praying, this movement will stop. We don’t want to make the same mistake!

It is our job to lay the rails. We want to continue to have this fire of revival by continuing to lay the rails. We want to see the Northeast Global Methodist Church continue to travel with the purpose and plans of God.

Our first Northeast GMC Convening Annual Conference took place from April 11-13 in Camp Hill, PA. This was a historic moment, bringing tears to many eyes because what we have been dreaming about for several years was actually happening! The Northeast GMC has come a long way, facing many challenges, and enduring the birth pains as we gave birth to a new baby named “Northeast Global Methodist Church.”

The future of the Northeast GMC is heavily dependent on our prayers.

The 31 members of the Northeast Transitional Conference Advisory Team met for the first time on May 1, 2023. At that first meeting, the very first team formed was the Prayer Steering Team. We want to see every local church of the Northeast GMC have a prayer point person and a prayer room. We want every local church of the Northeast GMC to be a praying church and every congregation to be a praying people.

The Northeast GMC could have great, wonderful ministries and well organized structures; however, if we stop praying, those ministries and structures will eventually collapse.

Please pray for the Northeast GMC so that the vision of making the Northeast GMC as a prayer-based church will be fulfilled.