Remembering
BEYOND THE DECADE PRAYER GUIDE: November 2024
The Call for the 40-Year Pan-African Prayer provides the backdrop for this month’s prayer topic — REMEMBERING. The year 2019 was marked as the 400th anniversary of the first slaves from Africa who arrived on a ship in 1619 that ushered in the era of American slavery. It became obvious to the spiritually alert that God was up to something with the marking of this anniversary. It was a spiritual watershed moment for Africa and the African Diaspora. And as Candice Simmonds rightfully observed, “after a new revelation, a new test will often follow. No sooner had he heard the heavenly voice proclaim, “My Son, you are my beloved one” (Luke 3:21–22), then he was led into the wilderness to face the temptation of Satan.”
2019 marked the beginning of our wilderness experience. We are in the sixth year of the 40-Year Pan-African Prayer journey! God has called us into the wilderness for forty years to pray and prepare us to enter ‘Canaan,’ where he will fashion us for his purposes these tail end of the Last days. And here, we will be encountering miracles that will part seas of oppression, seas of ignorance, and seas of walls of separation before us; we will celebrate our miraculous deliverances (Ex. 14; Num. 33:8). God’s indwelling presence shall overflow from our lives in joyful celebrations as we submit to His leading. (Ex. 13:20–22). We shall meet together at the bitter waters of Marah, forgiving each other of past atrocities we visited on each other (Ex. 15:23–26). We will encamp at Elim by 12 springs (Ex. 15:27) to nourish and nurture our relationships. In the Wilderness of Sin, we shall be fed bread from heaven, but here also, our craving for the meat and diverse diet of our oppressors’ cuisine will be judged and removed. (Ex. 16). We shall defeat Amalek at Rephidim. (Ex. 17:8–16). The fear and glory at Mount Sinai will define the rest of our wilderness experience and determine our future. And there, we shall experience what it means to tabernacle with God Most High, our enduring REMEMBRANCE.
In the Wilderness Camp, ‘seventy elders’ will be called to govern our people. (Num. 11:16–17). As we march on through this Wilderness, we are forewarned not to take possession of lands and resources God has not apportioned to us, neither ‘Seir’ or ‘Moab.’ Some of our leaders will be sent on a reconnaissance mission to assess the glory of the work ahead of us at Kadesh-barnea. (Num. 13:1–3, 17–33; 14; 32:8; Deut. 2:14). Many of them will fail to see the glory and therefore will not be able to partake of it. We will win our war against the Amorites at the Arnon River. (Deut. 2:24–37). At Mount Nebo, our spiritual leadership, who would have navigated us through our Wilderness journey will deliver their farewell sermons. (Deut. 34:1–4). In the Plains of Moab, a finetuned strategic plan to enable us possess our possessions will be unveiled. We will then cross the Jordan River, the final barrier between us and our possession. And there, near Gilgal, we shall erect a monument to REMEMEBER. We shall remove stones from the bottom of the Jordan River as a monument of Jordan’s waters being divided (Josh. 3:1–5:1) before us.
Today, the Pan-African church is at Mount Sinai — “Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when He said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.” You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.” (Deuteronomy 4:10–12). The Pan-African Church has heard the voice of the Lord at ‘Mount Sinai.’ We have seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Why is God calling Africa and the African Diaspora for assembly at Mount Sinai? What is God calling us to assemble for? What is God calling us to remember? At Mount Sinai, a new law was birthed, moral and ceremonial laws to govern and secure the future of those who received it. At Mount Sinai, a peculiar people were raised to live out the covenant. At Mount Sinai, a priesthood was constituted. God, through the gospel has raised a new people in Africa and its diaspora, a royal priesthood called the Pan-African Church. God assembled us at the Cross. Our journey to the Cross was marked with indignities and humiliations. And so did the One who hung on it. Remember!
At Mount Sinai, God also gave the Israelites festivals to remember their deliverance and to celebrate their future. How is the Pan-African Church celebrating their deliverance, this unique gathering of multitudes of tribes in Africa and African Diaspora blocs?
Where is Africa’s collective Remembrance Day? Or its collective Thanksgiving Day as a memorial of the victorious era ahead of us. The West collectively remembers not to engage in inter-tribal wars every Remembrance Day. Descendants of African Slavery in the diaspora have instituted their many ‘Purims’ (Esther 9:22): Emancipation Day, Black History Month, Juneteenth and Kwanzaa, and even the primary target of the UN Decade for People of Africa Descent is the African Diaspora. When does Africa collectively mark a day to never again engage in slave-trading and inter-tribal wars, which destabilized and continue to destabilize our economies? This is how the future is celebrated. This is how a stable future is called into being!
We are at Mount Sinai, what is God calling Africa and the African Diaspora to assemble for and remember? How do we remember the God who remembers us?
Let’s pray that every person of African descent will remember to revere the God of Israel, God Most High. We must remember as Africans that God, the Maker of heaven and earth, has no FORM, but we can hear his voice through the Scriptures! “You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.” (Deuteronomy 4:11&12). And every Pan-African Christian must remember to praise God that we have “come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:22–24).
Let’s remember that God at this time has gathered his Pan-African Church at Mount Sinai. Are you among the number? He is opening the eyes of our leadership to see, understand, and appropriate unique ‘laws’ appropriate for the governing and securing of the future for all people of African descent. Pray that church leadership at all levels — both small and big congregations will be enabled to see, hear, understand, and receive the ‘instructions’ the Lord is giving out and that they receive empowerment to carry them out.
Let’s pray that every person of African descent will learn to live wisely in the present in light of the past. God reminds us to remember by teaching our children the truth about our past as a people, a truth told through the lens of Scriptural Truth, not convoluted ones. This must be intentional and properly documented. They must include properly documented tribal and family histories. Deuteronomy 4:9b commands it; “Only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” There is a difference between knowing and remembering. “Jesus remembered. He knew the same Scripture as the Pharisees, but he remembered. He didn’t hate or revile his persecutors because he remembered, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. He treated people gently because he remembered, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Both he and the Pharisees knew those Scriptures but only he remembered. Your remembrance of Scripture isn’t seen on a test; it is seen in your life.” (Adam Eisenga).
Let’s pray that the heart of every person of African descent is transformed. God commands us to remember because he wants to expose our hearts so he can transform them. As John Fry pointed out, “we are more prone to identify our difficult circumstances than we are to identify the issues of our own heart, which the circumstances mean to reveal.” God promises in Ezekiel 36:26, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.” Pray that every Pan-African Christian and especially our leadership will allow the Holy Spirit to expose our hearts which our present difficult circumstances would like to reveal, the challenges and circumstances which have been somehow unique to the experiences of people of African descent everywhere. Pray that God will give our leadership the courage to deal righteously with what is exposed so God is glorified, and we are delivered as a people.
Let’s pray that every person of African descent will remember to appropriate lessons from the slave-trading atrocities of our ancestors on Africans on the continent and the negative impact of slavery on descendants of African slavery. God commands us to remember because there are enough distractions in the world to help us forget what we have seen in the past and seeing now. Forgetting means not appropriating the lessons learned from our encounters and experiences in God’s dealings with us. “Only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.” Deuteronomy 4:9.
God commands us to remember so we will be careful what we say about ourselves as a people and other races. The Bible says death and life are in the power of the tongue, they that love it will eat the fruit thereof (Prov.18:21). Pray that our tongues will be set lose to praise and bless the Lord. Thessalonians 5:18 says, ‘Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Pray that we will remember to praise the strengths in each African tribe and African Diaspora bloc and recommend ways of how best they can be employed for our progress. “The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. (Deuteronomy 28:13). “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles.” (Proverbs 24:17).
Let’s pray that every Pan-African Christian will thrive under God’s discipline. God commands us to remember because we as a people must learn discipline, which equips us to accomplish the work he has entrusted to us. Moses told them; the Lord “humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:3–6). “Jesus was also tempted in the wilderness by the devil three consecutive times, but He overcame these temptations, because He was disciplined. It takes discipline to refuse to turn stone to bread after fasting for forty days and nights,” noted Ifeoluwa Oguntoyinbo.
Pray that God will teach every Pan-African Christian to remember to live by His Promise. God commands us to remember to learn his ways, that is, we are a people who live by his promise. Here is ESV Study Bible note for Isaiah 44:21: Remember. God calls his people to focused thought, in contrast to the muddled delusions described in vv. 9–20 about “these things,” both the all-sufficiency of the God who makes true promises to his people and the emptiness of the false gods with their lies (p. 1321). “We don’t live by the sweat of our own brow; we live by every promise that comes from the mouth of God,” (Adam Eisenga). “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” (Deuteronomy 8:17–18)
God, remember Africa and the African Diaspora. And let us remember You, Lord our God, who remembers us every day, in Jesus name. Amen.
God richly bless you as you endeavor to intercede for everyone of African descent to be set free to fully live for Christ Jesus, our only Lord and Savior, so we can fulfill our assignment as a people God has planned to use in His Last Days Agenda.
Beyond the Decade Vision is led and implemented by Beyond the Decade Coalition. To learn more about the Coalition, its members, and its mandate, visit www.beyondthedecade.org.
