Skip to main content

How MLK’s Dream is Being Fulfilled

Share This article

BOWLS OF PRAYER
A 200-year-old cast iron kettle pot was passed down to Will Ford from his ancestors who were slaves. His family used this bowl during prayer meetings to help muffle the sounds of their prayers. Their slave owners would beat them if they knew they were praying for freedom. After a dream from God, Will felt he was called to help do his part to help fulfill the mission of not only Martin Luther King, Jr.’s heart but also God’s heart to bring healing to our divided nation. He explains, “I realized that I not only inherited a kettle as a memorial from the past, I also inherited a calling to pray for revival today that will impact future generations.” Since 2001, Will has traveled sharing the message of prayer, revival and reconciliation. On one such occasion, he and Matt Lockett met.

Matt had a dream one night about God’s desire to end abortion. He saw a man in the dream that he had never seen before and when he saw Lou Engle for the first time, he was shocked because he was the same man in Matt’s dream. He decided to go to a meeting that Lou Engle was ministering at and that is how he and Will met. They became good friends and eventually decided to travel together, conducting conferences and prayer meetings with the important message that “all lives matter,” including minorities and the unborn.

Both Will and Matt had a desire to know more about their ancestors. After years of research, they discovered something that only God could have orchestrated: Matt Lockett’s family owned Will Ford’s family. Will shares that, “He has joined Matt and me together to war against injustice and cry out for awakening in our generation.” Not only that, but the battle that ended the American Civil War at Sailor’s Creek was fought in the front yard of Matt Lockett’s ancestors. The significant detail of their story mirrors the words of MLK Jr. when he said, “I have a dream that one day... the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.”

Not only do they both have a heart for racial healing but also for fighting for the unborn. Will says that the racist mindset began with abortion. “The underlying influence of where this began is with eugenics, which is merely a sophisticated name for racism,” he explains.  Will admits that he has had to repent and receive forgiveness for paying for his own child to be aborted when he was a young man.

WILL FORD'S BACKGROUND
As a leader in the prayer movement, Will uses this “prayer bowl” ( ) as a catalyst for mobilizing prayer and teaching on intercession, revival and societal transformation. He believes that it was the prayers of a godly remnant of all races—who were revivalists and abolitionists—that brought revival to America and ultimately ended slavery. Receiving their mantle from yesterday, Will is actively training a new generation to release justice to the most marginalized today.

DIVINE DISCONTENT
Matt became a Christian at the age of 15. After college, he had a great career in advertising but his desires began to change when his world was rocked by his father’s sudden death in January of 2004. Life as usual just wasn’t cutting it anymore and Matt found himself trying to figure out what life was really all about. Matt explains, “I now call it ‘divine discontent’ because, in retrospect, I see God was in it. I became very dissatisfied with life as usual, even though I excelled in my career… but my heart was becoming more and more disconnected.” During this time, he started digging deeper into his genealogy, trying to find out where he truly came from.

In September of 2004, Matt had a dream about God’s desire to end abortion. He saw a man in the dream that he had never seen before and when he saw Lou Engle for the first time, he was shocked because he was the same man in Matt’s dream. He decided to attend an event where Lou was speaking and that is how he met Will Ford for the first time. They became friends and decided to travel conducting conferences and prayer meetings together with the important message that “all lives matter,” including minorities and the unborn.

Both Will and Matt had a desire to know more about their ancestors. After years of research, they discovered something that only God could have orchestrated: Matt Lockett’s family owned Will Ford’s family. Will shares that, “He has joined Matt and me together to war against injustice and cry out for awakening in our generation.” Not only that, but the battle that ended the American Civil War at Sailor’s Creek was fought in the front yard of Matt Lockett’s ancestors. The significant detail of their story mirrors the words of MLK Jr. when he said, “I have a dream that one day... the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.”

Not only do they have a heart for racial healing but also for fighting for the unborn. Will says that the racist mindset began with abortion. “The underlying influence of where this began is with eugenics, which is merely a sophisticated name for racism,” he explains.  

MATT LOCKETT'S BACKGROUND
Matt Lockett is the Executive Director of the Justice House of Prayer DC. He leads prayer and intercession in the middle of Capitol Hill.
Matt and his family have been full-time missionaries in the nation’s capital since just after the founding of JHOP DC in 2004. His passion is to help father a young, consecrated generation that will help bring justice to the earth. Matt travels and speaks on the topics of prayer, fasting and governmental intercession.

Matt also oversees Bound4LIFE International, a pro-life prayer movement universally recognized by the red tape worn over the mouth with the word “LIFE” handwritten on it. “It’s not a protest. It’s a prayer meeting."

Share This article

About The Author

The 700
Club

The 700 Club is a live television program that airs each weekday. It is produced before a studio audience at the broadcast facilities of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) in Virginia Beach, Virginia. On the air continuously since 1966, it is one of the longest-running programs in broadcast history. The program is hosted by Pat Robertson, Terry Meeuwsen, and Gordon Robertson, with news anchor John Jessup. The 700 Club is a mix of news and commentary, interviews, feature stories, and Christian ministry. The 700 Club can be seen in 96 percent of the homes in the U.S. and is carried on