Watch, Pray & Sweep House
“I’ve got friends in prayer places”, might be a phrase Tony Dungy borrowed first, but I too have friends in prayer places! To my friends who believe in the power of prayer, this call to prayer is for you to use your influence in the natural and spiritual to reveal Jesus! If you live or work or even have a particular interest in the Erie Area, you are in the right place at the right time. It is time to use God’s authority in our sphere of influence (Genesis 1:28, Psalm 103:22). We are never to interfere with man’s free choice, but rather have authority over situations. Be they physical, financial, emotional or spiritual. For example; prayers have gone up over the years for every city/county school district as well as the governmental and economic structures of Erie municipalities. Multiple prayer walks have spoken blessings and declarations for “peaceful habitation, quiet resting places and safe dwellings for families” (Isaiah 32:18). Given the current move of God ignited at Asbury College, this is the time for you who have a heart for revival and young people to pray for Erie’s campuses!The PrayErie monthly prayer walks will continue (March 4, 9:20am at Headwaters Park) however, this call to prayer is different.This call is for each watchman to accept the mantle of prayer for their particular domain, to sweep house, and keep it filled with peace (Job 25:2, Acts 17:26-27), to exercise faith in this time and place. Should you choose to answer the call, and I hope you will, grab a friend and ask the Lord how to pray on-site with insight. (God also honors “drive by” prayers.) Declaring the words God gives you, use your voice to allow God’s will to be released on earth. Go be an access point for the voice of God! The Lord will show you, as He did Elisha in 2Kings 6, the angels who have been sent to fight with and for Erie and this nation. Did you know you were called to live here for such a time as this?
1Prayer
2Item 2 title
Aligning with the new era!
PRAYERS & DECLARATIONS FOR THE ERIE AREA:
There have been negative, life draining words spoken over this land in the past. Some of these curse words have even made it half-way around the world. On a recent visit to Hawaii, I attended a local church. The pastor said, ‘Oh, I know someone from Erie. He calls it dreary Erie & the mistake on the lake.” Aghast, I responded, “Not any more, God is moving in Erie, Pennsylvania. We know it as “Gem City” the gem of the Great Lakes!”
God created the land and called it good, and He doesn’t make mistakes! The land He created and the people He called to live here are for His good intention (Acts 17:24-28)! Erie may have seemed dreary at one point in time but the apostle John reminds us of an old/new commandment which was evidenced in Christ and is also in us. The darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining, therefore we are to love one another (1John 2:8-11)! If you love God and love people, you are invited to prepare your heart and pray these prayers and declarations along with us:
Declarations
We praise and thank you LORD for bringing us here to dwell and we declare it as our possession. Erie, Pennsylvania, city & county, is the place in which we are called to rejoice and exercise dominion authority (Deuteronomy 11:10-12). We are grateful that Your thoughts for Erie are thoughts of peace and not evil, to give us a future and continuous hope (Jeremiah 29:11). We bow our hearts before You and on behalf of the people here we repent of the sins of our city & county. We ask You to forgive our sins and cleanse Erie from all unrighteousness.
Teach us to prepare the way for a divine visitation of Holy Spirit in Erie. May our city/county as a whole, turn to God. We plead the blood of Jesus over Erie and declare Jesus is LORD over this land (Nehemiah 1:6-7, 1John 1:9). From this day forward, we will only speak Your words and Your will over this Gem City! We take authority over every negative word that has been spoken over Erie and we declare them null and void in Jesus’ name. We pull down every witchcraft prayer over our city and declare those words powerless – they will produce no fruit here. We stand as watchmen on the wall over Erie and declare the Blood of Jesus over our borders and city gates.
We declare fear cannot reside in Erie, and division will not reign here. We decree unity reigns in Erie city and county and where there is unity, God commands the blessing of life evermore (Psalm 133:3). We declare today, sickness, and disease will not gain a foothold in Erie. God fearing people in Erie are strong in the power of His might, and there will be no feeble among us. Children will play daily in the streets of our cities and towns, safe and unafraid for God is watching over our land. Our streets and roads will be filled with healthy, whole, elderly men and women, who have been blessed by God and satisfied with long life. We are covered in the blood of Jesus Christ, and are walking in the fulness of healing that was purchased for us at the Cross (Psalm 105:37).
We declare this day that Erie and its governmental officials will do only what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD. We ask for godly men and women who do Your will to be elected to every office and appointed to every council/board position. We pull down every stronghold over Erie and cast it to the ground. We say, “Go back to where you came from, there is no place for darkness here.” We ask You to send warring angels to surround our borders and keep out all evil and those with evil intent. May those involved in drugs, trafficking, greed and pride and other evils, leave our city and never return (Psalm 127:1, 125:2, 91:11-12). We commit this day to build fortified walls around our city. Walls of the spoken Word of God, walls of praise and worship, walls of prophetic declaration, walls that cannot be demolished, but will forever prosper, in Jesus’ name (2Chronicles 14:2-7, 1Timothy2:1-4).
Your word says, “Unless the LORD guards the city, we say awake in vain.” We ask You to guard our city/county from this day forward, knowing whatever we ask in prayer, we receive. Thank You God for guarding Erie day and night. We bless our neighbors to the north, south, east and west; may they be blessed because Erie is blessed! We declare and decree this day, Erie is obedient to God, in total peace, and continual prosperity.
Adapted from city-by-city.org.
January Prayer in McKean
1-7-2023 – Today is not about an “area” but an “Era”
From MaryBeth White: A few years ago, I began hearing more and more prophetic or apostolic people making “decrees” instead of petitions or requests to God. That kind of puzzled me, and initially offended me that they could be so presumptuous to declare what God was going to do. I began to hear the reasoning behind this, and now I have begun making decrees, as well as petitions. Also, in the last few years I have heard the difference between the church and the Ekklesia. So today we’re going to talk a little bit about the word Ekklesia, the reasoning behind decrees, and then we will make some decrees and /or petitions on behalf of the Lord.
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From Jane Hamon’s book – Declarations For Breakthrough
Foreword – Dutch Sheets writes Melchizedek had a dual role, both priest and king, he was a type of Christ. Kings sit in positions of authority over kingdoms; they move in authority, releasing it downward from their seat of authority. Priests, on the other hand, serve the needs of others. They offer, prayers, petitions, worship, and intercession upward on behalf of those they serve. Jesus fulfills both of these roles, representing the rule of God to the earth (King) and in the needs of humanity to heaven (priest). Both roles are needed in us, offering priestly requests & releasing kingly decrees.
Church/ Kyriakos vs Ekklesia
[p 13] Dutch Sheets: About 10 years ago an understanding began emerging that brought everything into clear focus. Teaching began coming forth regarding the ekklesia. Christians discovered that when Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church [ekklesia]” a people, the gates of hell could not prevail against, He was referring not to a building, a religious organization, a worship service, or even his bride. He was referring to a legislature, a government body. This was meaning of the word Ekklesia in Christ’s day.
Emma Starks insight: King James commissioned the translation of the Bible in 1611. However, he stipulated that every time the word Ekklesia appears, (a legislative and governing assembly) it was to be replaced by the translation for the word Kyriakos [belonging to the Lord; kirk, or ‘church’]. King James did not want his subjects to realize their authority. So, for 400 years we were taught to think of ourselves as a household and family, but never a government.
Pam Kohler: Jesus was intentional to use the word Ekklesia and not the word Church/ Kyriakos, which in Greek, meant a gathering; a congregation; an assembly. There was a purpose to the Ekklesia and it was “to govern; to legislate; to rule”. And the people to whom Jesus spoke this would have understood that concept.
From the Greek perspective, Ekklesia was a governmental assembly having authority in determining the affairs of their cities and territories, depending on their citizenship. All qualified persons were summoned together for a purpose and expected to participate.
the Romans adopted the word –to them it was a specialized military task force that made things look Roman. They would disciple a nation through warfare, education, legislation, government, family and culture. They wanted to disciple a nation- to have it look and function like Rome.
From the Hebrew perspective, Jesus’s use of that word Ekklesia would have told the hearers that they were a summoned people, assembling together to receive God’s heavenly kingdom government on the earth. Jesus intends for us to be part of an Ekklesia; agents of His kingdom government to transform earth back to the model of the Garden of Eden; and a governing assembly of His followers that will transform cities, nations, and the world!
Dutch: Many of the body of Christ now realize that we are Christ’s governmental arm on the earth. We understand that we have kingdom authority to speak and command for him. According to Matthew 16:18–19, we can forbid and allow, bind and loose, command, and decree. Christ’s arm of government on earth, his ekklesia, has been enlightened to our privilege and assignment, and this revelation is resulting in revolutionary change.

February Prayer at the Millcreek Mall
February’s prayer walk is set for Saturday, February 4, 9:20AM, at the Millcreek Mall. Use the entrance between Mad Mex and Primanti Brothers – right under the “Round one” sign. There is seating down the hall.
Unlikely people, Unusual solutions
So, if you were going to start a new venture, who would you pick as your first employees to represent your company?
A thief? Maybe an older woman, who has lived an aimless life, and has poor social skills. How about someone who would abandon you as soon as things got difficult? A shameless woman, with severe mood swings? How about an agitator and murderer? They seem like pretty unlikely characters to choose as representatives of your new company.
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Jesus chose these people, as unlikely as they appeared. He loved them, he forgave them, and he transformed them in the people who would work with him to advance His Kingdom.
Each of these individuals encountered the Transforming love of God, His great grace, acceptance, friendship. He was aware of the treasure in them. He sees the treasure in us, a people who will also work with him to advance the Kingdom of God today.
This is a Segway, or rabbit trail but I’ll tie them together. We often look at many Old or New Testament stories with such familiarity we’re no longer astonished by them.
- What if you were kayaking in the bay of Erie and you dropped your car keys down and watch them sink to the bottom. What if someone said “I know, I’ll just tell the keys to float’
- What if you were at the foot of State Street at the Bicentennial Tower and you needed to get to Perry Monument, at the end of the peninsula ASAP; how about if somebody put their hiking stick into the bay and watched the water separated and ground dried up so that you could walk directly across?
- What if you worked at the Pentagon and they needed a military strategy, and someone suggested “let’s walk around that city and then shout”. And did it, and it worked!
- What if all the grocery stores really ran out of food? What if someone took one kids lunch and fed all the school children in the city of Erie.
All these things were done by humans, including Jesus as a human, relying on the Holy Spirit.
[Elisha ax floats; Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Elisha all parted water; Joshua at Jericho; Jesus fed crowds more than once]
I believe this year we will begin to see unlikely people bringing unusual solutions from the Lord. An important part of our involvement in the Kingdom of God in this year is to know who we are; and no longer who we were.
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 So from now on, we do not think about what people are like by looking at them. We even thought about Christ that way one time. But we do not think of Him that way anymore. For if a man belongs to Christ, he is a new person. The old life is gone. New life has begun.
God’s declarations to us – Mary Beth White 4-24-2022
Should we ever say “I am a sinner saved by grace”? last week while in the shower, the Lord told me NO. Look at the verb tense, we WERE sinners but now are righteous
2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. God calls us righteous! What else does He say about us?
Old is gone, new is now
2 Cor 5:17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
2 Corinthians 4:16 So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.
We Fell short, but now are justified
Romans 3: 23-24 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 9 Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, 10 no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. 11 And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Death to life
Ephesians 2: 1You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. Not just life, but eternal life begins now
John 5:24 Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. [also John 3:36 and John 4:14]
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Darkness to light
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Ephesians 5:8 is more emphatic; For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light—
Kingdom of satan to Kingdom of God
Col 1:13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, Acts 26:18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
From a Slave, to friend, to child of God
John 15:15 I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.
John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name
Romans 9:26 “And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”
From Distant to Chosen and deeply loved
Ephesians 2:3-4 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us … made us alive together with Christ… and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
John 15:16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.
John 17:23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Even our Garments change
Is 64:6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Isaiah 61:10 … for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
The Lord God almighty declares this about you & me; and wants us to agree with His word.
I was created to become the righteousness of God
I wear salvation, and righteousness
I am a new creation; my inner nature is being renewed day by day.
I have been saved by grace; and I am justified by his grace as a gift
I have redemption, I am washed, sanctified, and justified.
I am alive together with Christ
I already have eternal life
I am seated with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
I am His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be my way of life
I am part of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people
I live in his marvelous light and I myself, am light
I live in the kingdom of his beloved Son, under the power God
I am a friend of God and a child of the living God
I am brought near to God, he chose me, and He loves me with a great love, my heavenly papa loves me in the same way (with the depth and quality) that he loves his son Jesus
MaryBeth White
March Prayer at Headwaters Park
March 4, 2023 Prayer Walk at Headwaters Park, 1927 Wagner Rd, Erie, 16509. We will gather in the parking lot above the trail at 9:20 am.
As the Erie Area Watchmen Prayer Network aligns with the era of prayer and declaration; we will marry the power of prayer with the authority of the decree. In her book, Declarations For Breakthrough, Jane Hamon says, “Prayer is petitions, communication and fellowship with God, while decrees are God’s words released through our voices into the earth realm to bring change. Prayer is actually the foundation for every decree we make.”
Declarations
We praise and thank you LORD for bringing us here to dwell and we declare it as our possession. Erie, Pennsylvania, city & county, is the place in which we are called to rejoice and exercise dominion authority (Deuteronomy 11:10-12). We are grateful that Your thoughts for Erie are thoughts of peace and not evil, to give us a future and continuous hope (Jeremiah 29:11). We bow our hearts before You and on behalf of the people here we repent of the sins of our city & county. We ask You to forgive our sins and cleanse Erie from all unrighteousness.
Teach us to prepare the way for a divine visitation of Holy Spirit in Erie. May our city/county as a whole, turn to God. We plead the blood of Jesus over Erie and declare Jesus is LORD over this land (Nehemiah 1:6-7, 1John 1:9). From this day forward, we will only speak Your words and Your will over this Gem City! We take authority over every negative word that has been spoken over Erie and we declare them null and void in Jesus’ name. We pull down every witchcraft prayer over our city and declare those words powerless – they will produce no fruit here. We stand as watchmen on the wall over Erie and declare the Blood of Jesus over our borders and city gates.
We declare fear cannot reside in Erie, and division will not reign here. We decree unity reigns in Erie city and county and where there is unity, God commands the blessing of life evermore (Psalm 133:3). We declare today, sickness, and disease will not gain a foothold in Erie. God fearing people in Erie are strong in the power of His might, and there will be no feeble among us. Children will play daily in the streets of our cities and towns, safe and unafraid for God is watching over our land. Our streets and roads will be filled with healthy, whole, elderly men and women, who have been blessed by God and satisfied with long life. We are covered in the blood of Jesus Christ, and are walking in the fulness of healing that was purchased for us at the Cross (Psalm 105:37).
We declare this day that Erie and its governmental officials will do only what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD. We ask for godly men and women who do Your will to be elected to every office and appointed to every council/board position. We pull down every stronghold over Erie and cast it to the ground. We say, “Go back to where you came from, there is no place for darkness here.” We ask You to send warring angels to surround our borders and keep out all evil and those with evil intent. May those involved in drugs, trafficking, greed and pride and other evils, leave our city and never return (Psalm 127:1, 125:2, 91:11-12). We commit this day to build fortified walls around our city. Walls of the spoken Word of God, walls of praise and worship, walls of prophetic declaration, walls that cannot be demolished, but will forever prosper, in Jesus’ name (2Chronicles 14:2-7, 1Timothy2:1-4).
Your word says, “Unless the LORD guards the city, we say awake in vain.” We ask You to guard our city/county from this day forward, knowing whatever we ask in prayer, we receive. Thank You God for guarding Erie day and night. We bless our neighbors to the north, south, east and west; may they be blessed because Erie is blessed! We declare and decree this day, Erie is obedient to God, in total peace, and continual prosperity.
Adapted from city-by-city.org.
APRIL – SPECIAL TRAINING DAY FOR TENT MINISTRY
BECON OF HOPE – TENT MINISTRY
We seek to continue the work that Jesus fulfilled in Luke 4:18-19 To preach the gospel to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, recover sight to the blind, and set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
Bringing light to a dark world by sharing the gospel of Jesus through tent meetings in neighborhoods and communities. Where God leads us, we will GO.