In the Aftermath

First, I want to give thanks and praise to God for His protection and grace through the hurricane. This one was way worse than the one that hit us last year. However, there was a lot less damage because it hit in the autumn. Most trees had already lost their leaves so they didn’t come down as easily as before. Also, the ground wasn’t already saturated by weeks and weeks of rain, like last year. So we didn't have as much flodding. Various sections lost power off and on throughout the night, but overall, our area came through in good shape.

I honestly believe that our area was spared because we have been in intercession and prayer for over a month, in obedience to the directive of the Holy Spirit to pray.

In the aftermath of this massive storm and the news of a major earthquake that occurred just off the west coast, I’m going to emphasize, again, why we have been in this prayer campaign. I told our church family, at the end of September, that I felt like something bad was about to happen and we are now watching it unfold right before our eyes.

Back on September 26th we sent the following email to the church family:
"We wish we could put into words, the urgency that we feel right now. All we know is that we can sense that something horrible is on the horizon and the Spirit of God is calling us to pray NOW. The urgency is beyond words. All we can say is that if you can hear the voice of God, respond now. We’re dropping our schedule and changing our plans. Starting this Sunday, it’s all about prayer at Urban Life Church."

 In light of that prophetic email, here is Tuesday’s assessment of the hurricane from New York City's Mayor Bloomberg:
* 26 fires, 80 houses lost;
* 76 shelters are open and accepting people and pets;
* 10 dead in NYC and the number is expected to go up;
* extensive damage in the city, loss of power & flooding of mass transit;
* worst disaster in mass transit in 108 years;
* 3/4 of a million people without power as well as 326 buildings and 50 developments;
* hospital heating via the steam system is shut down;
* all under river tunnels are flooded;
* public transportation is closed "until further notice";
* all major airports are closed due to flooded runways;
* NYU and Manhattan veteran hospitals were shut down,
* Bellevue Hospital is on back-up power,
* 2 other hospitals were evacuated;
* 4000 downed trees in Queens;
* schools (public & Catholic) are closed;
* all parks are closed; stay away from beaches and sea walls.

I cannot stress it enough. We must make prayer a priority in daily life and make every effort to join together for prayer on Sunday mornings. We're rebuilding and restoring the gates and walls that protect our hearts and homes through intercessory prayer and prophetic impartations. That’s what we believe we were sent to Harrisburg to do. We were called to this city for such a time as this. I don’t want to blow it in any way. It’s time to step up, like never before.