Charlotte Awake Intercessors

I have been in prayer for months about these matters. To say we live in uncertain and turbulent times would be as blatantly obvious as Jeremiah saying there are Babylonians at the doorsteps. My purpose is, therefore, not to restate the obvious and further frighten the faithful. Instead, at this moment, I want to whisper a reminder of something I believe most of us in Charlotte Awake heard years ago as we were praying.

Charlotte Awake was born in the early 2000s from a prayer burden given to its founders— people like Mary Lance and Bob Sisk—and many of you reading this letter. Forgive me for not mentioning you all by name, but permit me to acknowledge a heartfelt debt of gratitude for your years of faithful intercession for God’s kingdom and our city. I do not have everyone’s addresses or emails, so please forward this letter to anyone you feel needs to read it.

I Remember

I remember the Spirit had told us that Charlotte would experience revival and that God would further use Charlotte to help awaken His church. I remember this revival would begin with the sparks and embers of prayer like a multitude of small campfires here and there, in pockets and places, that would become unstoppable flames as the Holy Spirit began to move through the city. Now, in this COVID-restricted world, we are forced to decentralize our face-to-face prayer.

Charlotte Awake’s Anointing and Calling

              All of you who have been part of Charlotte Awake through the years are part of God’s anointing and calling for revival prayer over this city. There is no formal membership to Charlotte Awake. There is just an awareness that God has called us to pray as watchmen with a mission. That calling and anointing are still present. Now is the time to step up and pray for that outpouring of God’s Spirit for revival of his church.

              This plea comes not to organize but to pray in obedience to what He has already shown us—to pray in small flames of fire throughout the city.

I wonder if it isn’t more difficult to pray in groups of two or three than to pray in larger gatherings. Both are necessary. If the Spirit has shown us that there would be fires of prayer throughout the city, then now is the time to pray for these fires to emerge. He does not need us to organize that. We need faithful obedience to pray and to ask God’s Spirit to begin to touch hearts one, two, or three at a time to pray throughout the city.

Romans 8:26 tells us we don’t even know how to pray as we ought, so the Holy Spirit guides our prayer. We need an obedient step of faith to call into existence a grassroots prayer movement that the Spirit has already told us He will bring.

The Ask

I cannot let go of these thoughts and have been pondering them for months. Why did the Lord show us these things so many years ago if He did not intend to bring them about? It seems that we daily encounter more and more restrictions and challenges to face-to-face prayer gatherings. Maybe the hidden blessing is to position us for such a decentralized prayer movement. Perhaps what we need to do now is to ask.

Charlotte Awake is the Lord’s doing, established almost twenty years ago on the city intercessors’ prayers. All of you who have been part of Charlotte Awake through the years are part of this anointing. There is no formal membership. It’s a calling. It’s an anointing. And that anointing is still present. It is to pray in that anointing and calling for all who are now willing.

If you are reading this letter and hear what the Spirit is saying to your heart, I ask you to pray as an anointed watchman of the city. Pray that the Holy Spirit will now begin to pour out a prayer movement throughout the city—one that is spontaneous, decentralized, and unstoppable until it sweeps throughout His church. Just ask in faith, and let’s see how He answers.

We stand in a long line of intercessors appointed for such a time as this. Thank you again for your faithful service. We have re-designed the Charlotte Awake website so that you can find out more and so that we can keep you posted. I have also opened a direct email account if you want to reach me personally (intercessors@charlotteawake.com).

Wrapped in grace,

Dr. David F. Ingrassia