Pastor Jack Hibbs urges Christians nationwide to join Tennessee's month of prayer, fasting
A prominent megachurch pastor is calling on all Americans to follow in the footsteps of the state of Tennessee by participating in a month of prayer and fasting.
During a sermon delivered on Sunday at the California-based megachurch Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, Pastor Jack Hibbs shared with the congregation that Tennessee's Republican Gov. Bill Lee had approved a resolution urging the state's residents to pray for the state and the nation during the month of July, and to “seek God’s hand of mercy [and] healing on Tennessee.”
Hibbs then shared a screenshot of a LifeSite news article reporting that Lee had signed the bill calling for 30 days of prayer and fasting beginning July 1.
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As the congregation erupted into thunderous applause, Hibbs invited them to stand and extended an invitation to “every pastor in America and every Christian church in America” to “join Tennessee.” Hibbs then lamented that California’s Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom "won’t say such a thing."
“We don’t need our governor to say such a thing,” he added. “We’ve got ears to hear what the Spirit is saying and the Holy Spirit is calling Tennessee and its governor and its people to pray for America.”
Proclaiming that "we in California can do the same thing," Hibbs reiterated his call to "the church in America," adding: "Let’s all be Tennesseeans this month of July and pray and fast as the Lord leads you."
“Maybe God is waiting for America and its churches to wake up,” he suggested, then asked the congregation to join him in prayer, calling on God to “pour out Your Holy Spirit not only on Tennessee but on California.”
The prayer included a request to "renew the covenant of faith in Jesus" and the acknowledgment that "this country was dedicated to Your Word." Hibbs also invited Americans to “join with Tennessee in intercession for America and for our states.”
Hibbs asked the congregation to share footage of that portion of the service on social media and encouraged them to “pray all the month of July.” The resolution recognizing July as a “time of prayer and fasting in Tennessee” was approved by the Republican-majority Tennessee House of Representatives in an 82-6 vote and passed by the Republican-controlled Senate in a 27-1 vote earlier this year. Lee signed it into law on April 16.
Eleven Democrats in the Tennessee House of Representatives joined Republicans in supporting the measure, while only one Senate Democrat opposed the resolution.
The resolution cites “violence committed upon our citizens” by both citizens and noncitizens as well as “acts of violent crime in our schools,” human trafficking, drug addiction, drunk driving, the “approximately 9,000 children in foster care” and “corruption in our federal government” as reasons why a month of prayer and fasting was necessary.
“We, as public servants in the Tennessee General Assembly, seek God’s mercy upon our land and beseech Him not to withdraw His Hand of blessing from us,” the resolution stated. “We recognize our sins and shortcomings before Him and humbly ask His forgiveness.”
Asking “the Lord Jesus to heal our land and remove the violence, human-trafficking, addiction, and corruption,” the resolution requested that “the Holy Spirit fill our halls of government, our classrooms, our places of business, our churches, and our homes with peace, love, and joy.”
The resolution concluded by calling on those who are “physically able and spiritually inclined to do so” to participate in the “season of prayer and intermittent fasting as we begin a new fiscal year as a means of seeking God’s blessing and humbling ourselves to receive His Grace and Mercy, transforming ourselves, our communities, our State, and our Nation.” The document noted how in the past, both state and national founders “trusted in the omnipotent hand of Providence to guide and bless our land.”
While the resolution did not elaborate on what the month of prayer and fasting would entail for participants, it cited a 1799 proclamation from President John Adams calling on citizens to “abstain, as far as may be, from their secular occupation, and devote the time to the sacred duties of religion, in public and in private” as an example of American leaders urging the public to pray. However, Adams’ proclamation only applied to a day as opposed to an entire month.
State Sen. Mark Pody and State Rep. Monty Fritts, the Republican lawmakers who introduced the resolution, published a letter last month elaborating on their goals for the month of prayer and fasting. They suggested having the resolution read aloud at church services on June 30 and expressed a desire to embark on a journey to “all 95 counties in Tennessee, visiting courthouses and places of worship in order to read the Resolution, profess the need for repentance, and join in prayer together.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
