Popular Christian author and Pastor of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, Max Lucado and Texas Christian Fellowship Senior Pastor Dorian Williams helped organize a citywide park-and-pray event that was held this past Sunday in the parking lot of the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas. PraySA was created to bring people together to call upon the Lord to bring healing to our land, and watch the Lord’s hand move on the city and the nation. There was an estimation of around 3000 people that attended in their vehicles, and around 23,000 watched online.
Revival Begins When The Church Repents
Lucado read 2 Chronicles 7:14, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Lucado said, “We are longing for revival…but revival cannot come, unless the church first repents.”
“Our heavenly Father has used this pandemic to bring to the forefront the most ancient sin of humanity and certainly of our nation,” pastor Lucado preached, “and that is the sin of racism.”
Max Lucado then knelt at a prayer bench on the stage and lead those in attendance and online in prayer. As he knelt Pastor Williams, who is African American laid hands on him as Lucado begged God for forgiveness.
Lucado Prayed We Are All of One Blood
“Heavenly Father you have made from one blood every nation of men and women to dwell on the face of the earth that is in your scripture. We are all of one blood. We are one people created by you. We are your idea and you have no bad ideas. We are of one blood, no person is born better than another…ever. You love all people. You do not play favorites. You never, ever called one people of one skin color to oppress another. That is a sin! You told us to love our neighbor, not suppress our neighbor. We are all of one blood, there is no black blood, there is no brown blood, there is no Asian blood, there is not white blood, there is only one blood. We are all of one blood, and when you died Lord Jesus you shed your precious and holy blood so that people of all nations could be saved. This was and is your plan. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in your sight.“
I am sorry that I have been silent.
“Yet they have not been precious in ours, and for that sin oh Lord we repent, and we are sorry. I am sorry, I Max Lucado am sorry. I am sorry that I have been silent. I am sorry that my head has been buried in the sand. My brothers and sisters are hurting, and I am sorry. I have made them to feel less than. I did not help! I did not hear! I did not see! I did not understand! And I am sorry, forgive me oh Lord. Forgive us oh Lord!”
Our ancestors were wrong!
“Our ancestors were wrong! They were wrong! When they bought and sold human beings, that was wrong. When they claimed superiority over slaves…over blacks, that was wrong. When they refused to share water fountains, restaurants, and city buses with your children…your chosen precious children that was a sin, and we are so very sorry. We are sorry for the pain of that day. We are sorry for the pain of this day. We are so sorry for the racism that lingers and precious Lord for those occasions that your church…your pastors have broken your heart by favoring one skin color over another, oh Lord God have mercy on our souls! Have mercy upon us! How dare we! How dare we! How dare we! Have mercy upon us! How that must nauseate you oh Lord, we are so very sorry. When blacks were refused access to the church, or told to create their own church, or told to sit in the balcony…”
The word ‘wetback’ has found it’s way on my lips too…
“…and heavenly Father as I am confessing that I say I am sorry to my brown brothers and my brown sisters, for Father the word ‘wetback‘ has found it’s way on my lips too, and of that I am so very sorry! Would you please oh Lord bring a new day, our politicians can’t fix this, we shouldn’t expect them too! Policies can’t change this, we can’t expect it too! This is a heart issue! This is a pride issue! Have mercy upon us Lord. Please bring a supernatural interruption to the sin of racism, we ask you do a miraculous work to change our hearts one toward each other, that our children would inherit a new day and that new day would begin right now. And you have made this promise, so we are standing on it, if my people who are called by my name would humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven and I will heal their land.'”
Heal this land oh Lord!
“Heal this land oh Lord! We declare that systems of oppression are wrong. We declare that the mindset that places one race over another is wrong, and we declare that you can do what policies and politicians cannot. You can in a moment break walls of bias and prejudice, you can bring a miraculous day, and we declare and stand against the forces of evil and the principalities of racism. You have no place here! In the name of Jesus Christ you must leave! You must leave! You must leave! You must leave! You are not welcome here! We are beneath the cross of Christ, we are covered in the blood of Christ, and we bow before the throne of Christ. And we welcome a new day, a new day that begins right now, right here.”
After Lucado finished his prayer Freeman Coliseum‘s parking lot was filled with car horn sounds showing their appreciation, approval, and unity for what he just prayed.
Pastor Williams Closed the Event
Never in my life have I ever seen a white person say to me that ‘I’m sorry,’
Pastor Williams closed the event by telling everyone we have more work to do. “I want you to hear me clearly! Never in my life have I ever seen a white person say to me, or even to my brown brothers and sisters say to them, that ‘I’m sorry,'” As Williams paused trying to hold back tears he continued, “‘that I’m sorry that happened to your people, and our ancestors were wrong.’…Never in my life, have I ever heard somebody say, ‘this is what we used to say around the dinner table, and I was wrong for that.’
White brothers and sisters, we have to release you from sins that you did not commit.
“No longer will the fathers bite on sour grapes,” Williams Biblically proclaimed from Jeremiah 31:29, “and their children’s teeth be set on edge.” What does that mean he rhetorically asked then explained quoting Ezekiel 18:17, ‘no longer will you suffer the sins of your father.’ Listen to me white brothers and sisters, we have to release you from sins that you did not commit.” Williams shouted, “I know that’s unpopular!” then quoted 1 John 4:20, “If you don’t forgive your brother, who you do see, how can you say you love me, who you don’t?” God cannot forgive you, if you don’t forgive them Pastor Williams stated, then enthusiastically said, “I’m not letting slavery send me to hell! No longer will I walk around being angry and bitter at white people that I don’t even know! I feel like I have a right as a Black man to be angry. This doesn’t mean we’re not fighting for injustice….God said in your soul, you gotta release them, because we are in bondage when you walk in anger!” Car horns filled the parking lot again as they did for Max Lucado’s prayer in agreement. Williams finished by saying, “We are the body of Christ…diverse and colorful….we are one…united by one Father into one family! His family! Amen!”
According to air1.com anther event will be held on August 16, at 7 pm.