personal relationship with God,
The Night Vigil of Strength took place at the UCKG UK headquarters in Finsbury Park, London on 31 December 2019 at 10pm.
Bishop Alvaro Lima conducted the night vigil, where people attended in their thousands. The meeting commenced with everyone presenting their plans and projects for the new year to God. The bishop admonished the congregation on ensuring that our personal relationship with God is of the utmost priority. The biblical reference highlighted was that of Nehemiah, who was seemingly an ordinary man in those times. He saw the destruction of his nation when the people had broken their covenant with God, and consequently, faced suffering at the hands of their enemies. This made the nation’s restoration seem impossible. Nehemiah however, saw the wisdom in interceding for his nation and himself, acknowledging the sins they had all committed and sought for forgiveness and a renewal of their covenant with God.
Nehemiah asked this of God:
“Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.” (Nehemiah 1:8-9)
After presenting this supplication to God, Nehemiah also sought for God’s help in approaching and getting approval from his earthly master, the Persian king.
Though he was a “nobody”, Nehemiah was confident in his supplication to God and as such, was better equipped to address the king on this matter. As a result of Nehemiah’s desire to bring the nation back into communion with Him, God granted Nehemiah divine favour from the king and great success in the work of restoration. It was very evident that God had been central in this work of restoration, as the work was completed in record time, despite the enemies’ attempts to disrupt it.
In the same vein, when we focus on and establish our relationship with God as a priority, then we are able to get direction from Him in all matters pertaining to our lives.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalms 127:1)
This is the focus for this Decade of Strength. This strength is not just physical, as the verse above shows that even with our best efforts, without God involved, our actions are pointless. Our true strength comes from our communion with God and this is only established when we have an intimate relationship with Him. This is when all of our efforts will be successful, even if we encounter failure, it will be a necessary and blessed part of our growth. God’s will always works in our favour.
The night vigil concluded with the serving of the Lord’s Supper, which is a key factor in re-establishing and solidifying our relationship with God.
Roll on 2020 – the beginning of the Decade of Strength!
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