Time is flying!
It feels like it was only yesterday when we were all enraptured by the 2011 Early Morning Prayer Campaign. We sure did experience something special. And we knew that God was preparing us for the task ahead of us, even though we had little knowledge of exactly what. In hindsight, though, we are glad He did. And we’re also glad that we obeyed.
Now, it is time again to prepare for the 2012 EMP Campaign. This year’s campaign is, in a sense, more crucial than last year’s because we have to meet or surpass last year’s success. And also this year’s campaign is no less significant than last year’s.
As many of you have experienced in the past, 40 day is by no means a short time. It is a lengthy endeavor. To battle the temptation of getting more sleep each morning and force you to wake up and get out of the bed and drive out to the church is no small sacrifice. But the benefit of it and the sense of victory and doing something special together as a community of believers are surely worthy achievements in themselves.
This year’s campaign will begin with Ash Wednesday on February 22 and end on the Saturday before the Easter on April 7. We will meet every day at 5 am except on Saturday. On Saturday we will begin at 6am. Unlike last year, however, we will not meet on Sundays.
Since we have gone through this many times already, I don’t have to stress the importance of preparation. You do have to prepare in advance in order to participate and take full advantage of this special occasion.
First, you have to pray. Pray together with your spouse about how you should participate as a couple. For those of you with children, you must discuss and decide who should go and on what days. The best thing to do is to alternate between the two of you. And the other person can participate through the internet broadcast that will be available real time.
Second, you have to decide in advance how this is going to affect your daily schedule. No doubt for those of you who are not used to this kind of grueling schedule, you have to make certain changes in your daily activity during this period. You cannot simply start with your desire. If you do that in most cases, you will likely not be able to last to the end. You must approach this with a clear tactic. You must remember that this is a spiritual battle that the enemy does not want you to succeed in. He will throw every obstacle available at his disposal at you to make you fail.
Third, no matter what you do, you have to go to sleep early. Since it is happening during the season of Lent, it might be a good idea to fast from certain activities or entertainment that you enjoy or take for granted anyway. As a family, you might want to enter into a covenant or an agreement that you will abstain from certain evening activities that you enjoy and instead do more spiritual activities like praying or reading the Bible together instead of watching television for instance. However, getting enough sleep is the most vital discipline, so try to go to sleep as early as possible.
But most of all, pray that God will meet us every day. Wouldn’t it be an empty exercise of futility if we go through all this effort and yet fail to see God? I’m confident that that will not be the case. I’m confident that God will meet us every day. But it doesn’t hurt that we pray fervently and passionately as we prepare ourselves that He will embrace us each time with a timely message and revelation.
May our life change once again through this campaign! May the people of God encounter the Great I Am as Moses and His congregation did time and time again as they assembled at the mount of God! I hope to see you there.

From The Senior Pastor’s Heart
February 5, 2012