Our purpose here @ Prayer Mountain NW put simply is: "Love God and Love People".

We get that purpose from the Bible in Matthew 22 where it says, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Almost 200 years ago, the Northwest’s Christian roots were established as a response to what some historians term a “Macedonian Call of the West.” In answer to a trek that several Nez Perce and Flathead Indians made to St. Louis, MO, in search of the “Book of Heaven,” Jason Lee and other missionaries brought the message of the Bible to what eventually became the Oregon Territory.

That portion of the region’s history will be re-enacted on Saturday evening and also seeks to involve 1st Nation, tribal representatives. As a major regional prayer gathering for revival in the Pacific Northwest, this event takes place atop Mount Ashland @ the Mount Ashland Ski Resort in Southern Oregon, just over the California border.

This, the second Prayer Mountain Northwest, will begin on Friday evening, August 13th, and concludes with a Sun Rise Service on Sunday, August15th for those who stay the entire weekend. “Our expectation is that God is going to answer those who come together to pray,” said Denny Stahl, pastor of Calvary Chapel in Grants Pass and one of the event organizers. Joining Stahl in the planning group is Dennis Dickson of Grants Pass; both were leading churches in the Bend area, when Dickson organized the first Prayer Mountain Northwest in 2004. That event drew about 2,000 participants to Mount Bachelor in Central Oregon.

Dickson and Stahl agree that a larger and spiritually significant gathering could well be in the works for this second event. “The aim is to petition heaven to get involved in the things of earth, with a specific focus on the Northwest,” said Dickson. The organizers note Mount Ashland’s easy accessibility off Interstate 5 and say participants could come from as far away as Seattle or San Francisco and Sacramento, CA. Dickson said the event will not focus on prominent names speaking or leading the event, but will be a humble declaration of the region’s need for spiritual revival.

“There will be one personality and it will be Jesus,” he said. Stahl said one reason the event could be impacting spiritually is that it will deliberately seek to involve representatives of Native tribes. The goal is to extend love and reconciliation to the region’s indigenous peoples, humbly acknowledging wrongs committed over the years to the tribes as increased non-Native settlement took place and build lasting bridges until Christ's return.

That kind of reconciliation could truly open the door for a move of the Holy Spirit in the Northwest, said Stahl. “We believe there is only one way that God can bring forth fruit, and that is if all the branches are connected to the Root."
 

This event is endorsed by the Salem-based Oregon Prayer Network headed by Madeleine Spalding and by R.O.A.R. (Reviving Oregon’s Amazing Roots), a ministry headed by Aaron Auer and John Sutton that seeks to call fresh attention to the region’s Christian heritage.  Auer and Sutton will be among those who stage a re-enactment of the “Macedonian Call of the West” on Saturday evening.

For 48 hours, running from 12:00pm Friday through, Sunday afternoon, continuous prayer and praise will be offered in shifts that will allow participants to pray both corporately and privately. An invitation is being offered, seeking worship teams, tribal dance and/or drum teams, to come and participate in this amazing gathering of all the “tribes” that make this nation one under God.

Questions/Comments