The novel coronavirus pandemic is causing a worldwide revival with people praying and seeking God like never before. Even the atheists and the backslidden ones are turning back to God with a heavy burden of prayer for themselves and others.
On Tuesday, World War II veteran Rev. Fred Lunsford prayed for spiritual awakening in an online prayer meeting with more than 250,000 people in attendance.
Lunsford, has pastored for 70 years in North Carolina, but fell ill 2 years ago and prayed that God would take him home, but God had other plans for him.
“Two years ago, I thought I was going to die at the age of 93,” Lunsford said. “I was very sick and asked the Lord to let me die. I wanted to go to heaven, but God said, ‘Not yet!'”
Lunsford said he asked God, “Why are you leaving me here?”
God answered Lunsford, saying, “pray for a spiritual awakening!”
Since then, he has done just that in his personal prayer garden nestled in the mountains of Marble, N.C., Lunsford has steadfastly prayed for a revival.
“[God] extended my years for a reason, and He wanted me to pray for spiritual awakening and to get as many people praying as I could,” Lunsford said. “God spoke into my heart, and I yielded to it. It’s not me; it’s the Lord,” he asserted.
In January, Lunsford asked Mud Creek Baptist Church pastor Rev. Greg Mathis to pray for a revival with him and Mathis described the prayer experience as powerful, noting that he had “felt God in a way that I hadn’t experienced in a long time.”
“Heaven came down and the area in which we were praying could barely contain us,” he added.
The initial plan was to have hundreds of pastors join Lunsford on the mountain to pray for an awakening, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, new plans had to be made.
And so the online prayer event, “Praying on the Mountain”, was organized at Mud Creek Baptist Church where more than 267,000 people joined in for a day of fasting and prayer.
“I now realize that it never was about us gathering physically to pray but joining our hearts and souls to collectively pray together for a spiritual awakening,” Lunsford said.
“It’s been amazing how it’s all happened, what’s taken place. It’s beyond my comprehension. I just can’t understand it. It’s all because of His grace. I know this is of God, and on May the 5th something big is going to happen,” he added.
