Prayer

Our Minnesota chapter of the Hollywood Prayer Network (HPN) is 90% communication by email. Whenever anyone hears of anything that has happened to an industry professional – like when John Travolta’s son died a number of months ago – they email me to make sure I know and then I send an email out to the whole group so we can pray about whatever the request is. We also do personal prayer requests for chapter members. 

Once every week I send out an email that we call, “TC (Twin Cities) HPN – Target Redemption: Special Edition.” It’s an email that is a bio on an industry professional. It tells the chapter members a little bit about the person and their life, family, accomplishments in the industry and, if possible, something about what they believe or don’t believe spiritually speaking so we know how to pray. Then we spend that week praying specifically for that person to come to know the Lord and we have a little something to converse with Him about them.

Every month we have an actual, physical prayer meeting that all the members (we have about 160 on the email list) are invited to (at present we have around 10-12 who actually come – it sounds like not very many, but it’s actually a very solid group). For this meeting I create what I call a “Share ‘n Prayer” sheet. It includes one Hollywood “missionary” (a Christian who works in Hollywood; one Hollywood “Target Redemption” for the MONTH (as opposed to the weekly one I just mentioned earlier – this is someone who, to our knowledge, still needs a personal relationship with Christ); and one “Minnesota missionary” (an industry professional here in Minnesota). These are people we highlight for the month so chapter members can spend the next month praying for them and, of course, we specifically pray for them at our meeting (which is always held the last Tuesday of the month). We also take prayer requests from those at the meeting and disseminate them to the entire chapter via email after the fact.

For the last two years we have also participated in a Christian Community Fair here in the cities. The Christian Community Fair is like a big trade show of Christian ministries in the Twin Cities (and also includes Christian businesses). We purchase booth space and then attendees walk around and are introduced to ministries they otherwise may not have heard of. We’ve gained many prayer warriors from this fair who had no idea there was such a thing as a group that advocates praying for Hollywood . It’s where a bulk of the 160 have come from. A lady came to the booth last year and said to me, “I signed up with you last year. I see every one of your emails and I stop and pray for each person when you send them.” What a blessing! I don’t know off the top of my head who all is out there, but the power of prayer from those who DO pray – it’s exciting to think about!

We also have just started having quarterly movie nights. This is a time when the chapter can come together and get better acquainted and just enjoy a fun time together munching and watching a good wholesome movie together.   

In addition, this year we were invited to participate in the National Day of Prayer festivities at the capitol in St. Paul .   An actress in our chapter went on behalf of our group. We considered that quite an honor.

Oh, and we get the occasional press.  I was recently interviewed  in our local Christian newspaper that comes out monthly here in the Twin Cities – along with afore-mentioned actress – and it was written up in the Minnesota Christian Chronicle. This also gives us some marketing and brings new pray-ers into the group.

Hollywood needs prayer!  And Hollywood Pres. is jumping in to meet the need!

Friday, November 6th is fpch's HOLLYWOOD PRAYER DAY:  UNITED -  16 hours of prayer in the Mears Center for the purpose of inviting God to come in to the world's most influential mission field and bring transformation to the Hollywood Entertainment Industry.

Would you join us any time from 8:00am to Midnight on 11/6 in a wonderful prayer room - the Mears Center transformed into prayer stations: a worship area, a reading space, and a creative interactive visual prayer area.  You can come in any time, bring your Bible and your friends, and walk into God's presence in the center of Hollywood to spend time with him and with others who believe that praying for Hollywood will bring spiritual revival in our city and our culture!

Come whenever you can, to be a part of interceding, praising, worshiping, and seeking the God of the Universe, who created Hollywood and the people in it.  We know He has big things in store in our city and our industry and we want to be a part of His plan.

Would you join us any time from 8:00am to Midnight on 11/6 in a wonderful prayer room - the Mears Center transformed into prayer stations: a worship area, a reading space, and a creative interactive visual prayer area.  You can come in any time, bring your Bible and your friends, and walk into God's presence in the center of Hollywood to spend time with him and with others who believe that praying for Hollywood will bring spiritual revival in our city and our culture!  And it's planned during the week of the American Film Market, which is the biggest gathering of film distributors in the country.  So, as the AFM makes decisions on the year's independ film deals in Santa Monica, we'll be praying for he people in he industry in Hollywood. 

-Hollywood-
Save Hollywood, save Hollywood
Please, Father, hear my prayer
Save Hollywood, save Hollywood
For that town I know You care
It’s lights are bright and beautiful
It’s people, just the same
Their fame and fortune’s evident
The whole world knows their names
You see beyond their wealth, O Lord
And their picture-perfect faces
You see their emptiness inside
As they dwell in lonely places
They search and search, as many do
To find something to fill
Something to fill the void inside
That fame only partially kills
They try and try to make some sense
Of their lives upon this earth
The only thing that they can guess
Is their success measures their worth
How desperately I want to scream
That Jesus is the answer
Not fame, or sex, or their appearance
That haunts them like a cancer
Save Hollywood, save Hollywood
Please, Father, hear my prayer
Save Hollywood, save Hollywood
For that town I know You care
You bled that they might live, my Lord
And find peace upon this earth
You bled because You love them so-
For You know of their great worth
There is more to human life
Than sex, drugs, rock and roll
Please, dear Jesus, help them see
You alone can save their souls
         Miss Ashley Wood
                7/10/08

1. The death toll from the May 12th earthquake in Sichuan Province and its neighboring region stood at 69,222 as of 8/7/08 noon, and the number of people listed as missing and injured reached 18,176 and 374,638 respectively. In the late 70's, China introduced a 1 child per family policy in hopes of reining in their exploding population. For many families who adhered to this policy, the Sichuan earthquake took many couples' only child. Pray for comfort, strength, and provision for the families.

2. Pray the Beijing Olympics bring encouragement and growth to the Chinese church.

3. 90% of China's Christians attend house churches, enduring severe persecution to boldly proclaim Jesus Christ. One Bible shared by a 60-member or more house church is not uncommon.

4. More Christians are in prison or under detention in China than in any other country. The Chinese government considers house church Christians "evil cult" members.

5. The Sichuan Province is experiencing some of China's worst persecution. Pray that the Church is triumphant in growing spiritually and sharing the Gospel.

6. Pray for China's President Hu Jintao.

7. Children under age 18 are not allowed to learn about Jesus or to have Gospel materials lest parents be imprisoned or worse. Pray for protection and boldness of parents who want to train their children in the ways of the Lord.

• If you would like to write a simple encouraging note to a Christian sister or brother in prison, you can do so via Prisoner Alert at www.prisoneralert.com. It is not dangerous for a prisoner to receive letters from individuals, but you do need to read the special instructions about letter-writing on the website indicated above before you write a note.

This week, my wonderful warriors let us pray for two members in the entertainment community.



The first: Eduardo Verastegui (from the movie Bella), a young man with a heart that burns so passionately for God. Pray that God will bless the work of his hands. Pray that God would be his strength in time of great need. Pray that God would continue to guard his heart as he faces the wiles of Hollywood.



Lastly pray for someone who is greatly admired by this world: Oprah. Pray that she would come to the truth of who God is, the real God. Pray that she may not look to her goodness as a form of salvation but Jesus himself. Pray that she may be bombarded with a real hunger and thirst to know who the living God is.



To my warriors thank you for praying please remember: prayer is one of the greatest things we can do. Prayer produces results; it shows God that you care. It's a verbal declaration of what we'd like to see change.



Be Encouraged,
HPN Staff

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