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Drawing Near to God in a Solemn Assembly |
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By Julia Thistle
As prayer coordinator at Christ Community Church in Brazil, Indiana, I found myself disheartened at my personal level of commitment to Christ. As I examined myself in the light of the New Testament Christian in the book of Acts, I wondered: where was the love, joy, boldness, and power to lead others to Christ? Where was the manifest presence of God that flooded their prayer times, comforted them in jail and accompanied them on their journeys? I didn’t just want to come closer to God—I wanted God to come closer to me. I reached a point where nothing short of a deeper participation in the life of God would satisfy me.
The Holy Spirit revealed my need for a deep personal repentance before I could move forward. As I began to walk down this path, I felt a longing for my church to experience it as well. As with many churches, CCC appeared on the surface to be a successful, growing congregation of more than 600, but there seemed to be an increasing undercurrent of passivity toward spiritual things. We needed spiritual renewal.
Scripture records that centuries ago God moved leaders to hold
something called a solemn (or sacred) assembly. Second Chronicles
mentions five solemn assemblies called by spiritual leaders to revive
the hearts of the people.
I shared how the Lord was leading with my pastor, Tim Russell. Over the
next several months, we both kept coming back to the idea of calling
for a solemn assembly. Pastor Tim believes that the foundations of true
revival are laid when every believer surrenders completely to Jesus. He
hoped that total surrender would be the “first fruit of solemn
assembly.”
A Significant Happening
When the idea of solemn assembly first began to take form, the Holy
Spirit clearly spoke that those involved in preliminary preparations
and those who attended must be willing to give of themselves
sacrificially. As the prayer committee sought the Lord humbly for a
spiritual renewal in our church, He drew us to an investment of
extraordinary amounts of time for prayer, fasting, and personal
repentance for three months prior to the event. We used various
materials designed to encourage self-examination: “The Heart God
Revives” bookmark by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, a list of sins of commission
and omission adapted from Charles Finney’s Lectures on Revival, Richard
Owen Roberts’ pamphlet, “The Solemn Assembly,” and The Calvary Road by
Roy Hession.
To prepare the congregation, Pastor Tim explained the scriptural
foundation for solemn assembly in sermons leading up to the event. He
encouraged members to circle the dates on their calendars as the “most
significant happening in the history of CCC.”
The solemn assembly began on a Wednesday at 5 a.m. The church was
opened for three consecutive days of prayer where people came and went
all hours of the day and night. Hundreds came each night to the
corporate sessions from 7-9 p.m. The theme for Wednesday evening was
individual repentance; Thursday evening, corporate repentance; and
Friday evening was devoted to praise and worship. Although we planned
to close the doors at 9 p.m. on Friday, dozens stayed through the night
until Saturday morning, worshiping and spending time in God’s presence.
A New Set of Values
Testimonies have emerged of how God met with each one who attended. One
teenager shared that he came away with a “new set of values”—right and
wrong were clearly defined for him. One man shared that as he listened
for God’s voice, he was surprised to hear that he needed to be a better
husband (he had been praying for God to change his wife). Together they
renewed their commitment to God and to each other.
Another man shared that he was able to raise his hands in worship for
the first time in his life. As he worshiped with this simple outward
expression, something “broke” inside and he began to weep. He thinks we
should have a solemn assembly every year!
In the months that followed, I found that my personal compassion and
love for others has increased. I am bolder in sharing Christ and have a
stronger desire for God’s Word. My faith increased along with my
dependence on God. Although the results for people were varied, one
common thread emerged: prayer lives have intensified.
Led by the Spirit
The solemn assembly provided our church body with an opportunity to
escape our overwhelming flurry of activities, examine ourselves and
focus totally on God. The Holy Spirit favored us with a time of deep
meditation, warm fellowship, and genuine worship.
While I think all churches would benefit from taking time to seek God,
it will only bear lasting spiritual fruit if it is initiated by the
Holy Spirit. It must be protected from becoming a “form” of godliness
without the power of God. The excitement must be for God, not for
holding a solemn assembly. I can’t stress strongly enough the
importance of bathing the assembly in prayer. If there is not a
committed prayer effort before the assembly to prepare the hearts of
the people for repentance, it is unlikely that the church will benefit.
Pastor Tim called a solemn assembly because he believed the Holy Spirit
was leading us to use this biblically-based instrument to revive
hearts. We are determined to continue to hang on to God until He favors
us with a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
--Julia Thistle is a high school English teacher and the prayer coordinator at Christ Community Church in Brazil, Indiana.
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May 2006