Wednesday March 25 — a day of divine visitation
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, who last week called on South Africans who understand the power of prayer to gather in groups of not more than 7o people on Sundays and Wednesdays to pray for the nation, yesterday joined a group that responded to his call.
Yesterday’s meeting in Randburg, Johannesburg was arranged by Apostle Linda Gobodo who called leaders and intercessors to gather in prayer to hear from the Lord regarding what the nation is facing. She was concerned that even though leaders had spoken, the Church needed to gather to hear a word from the Lord for the nation and be directed by Him and not by the reports of man.
When Mogoeng heard of the prayer meeting that was scheduled to start at 12pm yesterday and continue until the Lord answered he decided to attend, demonstrating his firm belief that God indeed is able to answer His people in times like these. Because of the 21-day national shutdown that starts at midnight, yesterday was the last day for a while for people to respond to the chief justice’s call.
Unknown to the prayer group, yesterday was also a significant day in the Jewish calendar called Yom Kippur Katan – a miniature Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) that takes place each month on the day before the start of the new month. This Wednesday was especially significant as it heralded the month of Nissan, a month of miracles and redemption linked with Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and the festival of Pesach (Passover) which is celebrated this month.
SA chief rabbi Warren Goldstein also called on the Jewish community to take a half-day fast in the different cities of SA yesterday and encouraged them to “storm the Heavens with prayers, crying out to our loving Father, imploring Him to bring healing”.
Yesterday’s prayer meeting in Randburg opened with prayers of repentance and with acknowledgment that the nation has not obeyed the Lord. It was noted that while the Church was instrumental during the apartheid era, it has since been silent and allowed evil to prevail and failed to be the prophetic voice needed to give direction to the nation.
The state SA finds herself in today is similar to the nation of Israel described in Ezekiel 22: 26-30, before the nation was sent to captivity. At that time leaders of the nation used their power to advance unjust causes and oppress the poor, and inequality was great because others profited through bribery, usury and extortion. The priests and prophets didn’t help as they prophesied lies. Despite the evil state of Israel at that time the Lord still sought someone to stand in the gap on behalf of the land so that he would not destroy it.
Yesterday, after the kneeling group of leaders and intercessors offered prayers of repentance, Gobodo shared Joel 2:17, a Scripture she had received to pray until the Lord answered. — Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, Spare your people Lord, and do not give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the people, Where is their God?
This led the meeting to a session of crying before the Lord to spare the nation and the continent. At this time three intercessors from Lesotho arrived to deliver a parcel. They did not know about the meeting or its prayer direction. They couldn’t stay and just asked to be prayed for and released to go home.
One of the Lesotho intercessors, Thaki Matsimane works for the African Union (AU) and is a member of Beza International Ministries which hosted a prayer breakfast this year at the AU that was attended by the prime ministers of Ethiopia and Swaziland before the opening of the AU Heads of State Summit. It was at this prayer breakfast that the prime minister of Ethiopia declared the ultimate solution for Africa is Jesus Christ.
After the Lesotho group was prayed for Matsimane shared a photo they took in Ladybrand of clouds in the sky looking like the African map as if it was covered with blood. They said when they saw this the word the received is that the Lord has spared the continent of Africa. She didn’t know that the Randburg prayer meeting was asking God to spare SA and Africa and was surprised when those present erupted in praise and thanksgiving because the Lord had answered them through His people from Lesotho.
Even though this report may seem like a fanciful tale to some, it is similar to a Bible account of what happened when Jehoshaphat and the people of Israel were facing a massive battle. Confronted by three nations which had military prowess far superior to theirs, they spent the day crying and praying before the Lord and he sent an answer through Jahaziel, saying: “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s” — 2 Chronicles 20:15
The meeting was closed with thanksgiving. Everyone was encouraged to tell others that the Lord had answered, saying He will spare the people of South Africa and the continent.
Immediately after the meeting another sign in the sky was seen — a rainbow without rain, which is a symbol of a covenant that God made with Noah promising that He would never again destroy the earth by a flood (Genesis 9:9-17). This confirmed that indeed this Wednesday prayer, on the March 25 2020 was a day of divine visitation and indeed the Lord heard the cries of his people.