Together for prayer

Nick Hall started praying for a revival in the United States of America 10 years ago as a student at North Dakota State University.

Many prayers and countless hours later, Hall hopes the event July 16, 2016 will prompt a “reset” for the country at the Together event at the National Mall in Washington D.C.

“‘Reset’ means to get the system working again — to get it working towards its intended purpose,” Hall said. “We really believe our nation needs a shift.”

Hall is the author of “Reset,” visionary for Together and founder of the Pulse Movement, “a prayer and evangelism movement on mission to empower the church and awaken culture to the reality of Jesus,” according to Pulse’s website.

The event will host speakers and artists such as Hillsong United, Lecrae, Francis Chan, Ravi Zacharias, Passion, Kirk Franklin, Christine Caine and others who will take the stage throughout 9 a.m. – 9 p.m., according to reset2016.com.

The only expenses come from the commute to and from Together.

Through fundraising and even selling a donated tractor, Hall said Together managed to make the event free.

“We’re praying for over a million people to gather on the National Mall for a generation defining moment,” Hall said.

“It’s all about Jesus. … In a time of division, people are really hungry … for unity. I think Jesus is the only leader who can bring us together.”

Hall said the event will focus on answering questions such as “What does it actually look like to follow Jesus?” and addressing the issue of biblical illiteracy in the U.S.

“Study after study in the last quarter-century has revealed that American Christians increasingly don’t read their Bibles, don’t engage their Bibles, and don’t know their Bibles,” Christianity Today’s article “Biblical Illiteracy by the Numbers Part 1: The Challenge” by Ed Stetzer, published Oct. 17, 2014 said.

“It’s obvious: We are living in a post-biblically literate culture. Pew Research tells us that 23 percent of us didn’t read a single book in the last year. That’s three times the number who didn’t read a book in 1978.”

Hall said he also wants the event to be “the largest day of Scripture engagement in global history.”

Together plans to release follow-up materials and an app later in the year, according to Hall.

Ultimately, according to Hall, he wants to see people come together collectively and worship Jesus, then go back into their communities and share the gospel.

Hall said Together picked Washington D.C. because he believes the event will make a historic impact.

“You need to be there,” Hall said. “(Together) is gonna be a moment that we believe will be talked about as we look back on our generation as a defining moment.”

Hall believes the positioning of Together, in the nation’s capitol holds significance.

Considering past influential movements have taken place in the city such as Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and women’s suffrage efforts, Hall hopes Together will rally people together for a “catalytic movement” in order to bring people back to the local church.

“We really believe the church is God’s plan A, and there is no plan B,” Hall said. “… We want to do something that’s going to serve and empower and send a generation back into the church.”
Hall said Together is “no one’s,” and what he aims for at the rally is to have “John 17 unity.”

Using the hashtag, #JesusChangesEverything, Together wants to keep the focus on Jesus, according to Hall.

“It’s one day around one leader, (Jesus),” Hall said. “But really, we’re praying that it would result in a generation called and commissioned. And so obviously, the day’s gonna come and go, but what’s not gonna come and go … (are) going to be the lives that are changed.”

As of Monday May 2, reset2016.com showed 253,237 people have already signed up to attend the event, one-fifth of the way to the goal.

“Just imagine a million people on the (National) Mall and then all of these voices and movements all coming together to seek God—all coming together to seek Jesus,” Hall said. “And we really believe Scripture tells us that when (people gather), change happens, … that’s when God moves.”

Hall offered encouragement to anyone with dreams like the Together movement that took 10 years of prayer and five years of planning, according to Hall.

“For the people that have a burden and vision from God, I just encourage people — don’t let go,” Hall said.

“There’s a million people that will tell you it can’t happen. … God is looking for people who are listening to him and willing to do what he says. … When there’s a heart that’s willing to say ‘yes’ and willing to put feet to their faith, anything can happen. The National Mall can be booked.”

For more information about attending Together or volunteering at the event, go to reset2016.com.

Tiller is the social media manager.