Displaying items by tag: prayer

The G20 results will influence the world. It is the first time that leaders like Trump and Putin will unite and attempt to create a major shift to nationalism and individualism with regards to hunger, climate, war, terror, and refugees. All kings and powers are installed by God and we, the body of Christ, have the responsibility to intercede for our leaders. Will you join us to pray while our political leaders meet together? The presidents of China, Japan, Korea, India, Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia will be there. Danger is also coming from international protest movements. Anti-fascism, anti-capitalists, militant socialist, Marxists, communist, militant Kurds and people against President Trump are preparing to block the summit and bring violence and chaos to the streets and infrastructure. Nearly all of Hamburg's denominations and prayer movements will be praying in churches and on the streets. We also need your prayers for peace.

Religious leaders have achieved a truce between rebel groups in the Central African Republic through a ‘spiritually inspired’ method.

JUNE 20, 2017 —One of Africa’s worst conflicts may have finally ended through a rare type of diplomacy. On June 19, more than a dozen armed groups in the Central African Republic signed a peace accord. Yet they did not do so through an official negotiator. Rather a religious group in Italy used what it calls a “spiritually inspired” method – building empathy and compassion – to help forge a truce.

This diplomatic feat was achieved by the Community of Sant’Egidio, a Roman Catholic lay group that works quietly and discreetly around the world to end conflicts. It puts prayer at the heart of its mediation. Its efforts have been so successful that the United Nations formally signed an agreement on June 9 to cooperate with Sant’Egidio in ending other conflicts. Its president, Marco Impagliazzo, says the group’s success lies in being seen as a neutral party that relies on patience and shared values to create trust between foes.

A Dutch scholar, Gerrie ter Haar, explains such faith-based diplomacy: “Bringing the spiritual dimension into the peacemaking process can create access to the more deep-seated, affective base of the parties’ behavior, enabling them to examine critically their own attitudes and actions.”

The conflict in the Central African Republic erupted in 2013 when the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels took power, triggering violent reprisals by militia groups that are nominally Christian. As many as 6,000 people have died. From the start, however, local religious leaders – Islamic, Catholic, and Protestant – played a key part in protecting civilians and initiating talks. They described their “weapons” as “prayer and dialogue.”

As fears of genocide grew, however, the UN, France, and the African Union sent in troops to quell the fighting. This allowed the election of a new president last year, although his influence barely extends beyond the capital. When fighting erupted again in May and more than 100,000 people had to flee, Sant’Egidio was able to bring 13 rebel groups to Rome for talks and reach a deal.

Many details of the pact still need to be implemented. And victims of the violence await the establishment of a commission to document the atrocities and achieve a level of justice and social reconciliation.

But the country, which is one of the poorest in Africa, is now rebuilding. And that is due in part to a type of conflict resolution that uses spiritual qualities to transcend divisions and end wars.

Let us rejoice that united prayer can be used of the Lord to heal conflicts and begin to pray for those areas of the world where there are ongoing conflicts.

We need you prayers at this time here in Australia. Please pass this important Call for Prayer & Fasting 1 – 3 July 2017 for Australia and for the preservation of Marriage in Australia.

YouTube Video with Ps Tim Edwards:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmFs3ioT4D0

Facebook Video with Ps Tim Edwards:  https://www.facebook.com/warwick.marsh.9/videos/10211311607844398/

Much Love

Warwick Marsh 

MEDIA RELEASE

3 Days of Prayer & Fasting: 1 – 3 July 2017

International Prayer Request for Australia’s Government Leaders

On Thursday 29 June, Australian Prayer Leaders, during a national teleconference, confirmed a proposal to call the Christian churches in Australia to pray and fast from 1-3 July 2017 for the nation of Australia, its leaders and government. It is also a call to pray that marriage in Australia will remain between a man and a woman, as it always has been. This prayer call was initiated by an Indigenous Elder working in partnership with a Catholic Christian leader in our nation’s capital, Canberra. 

Ps Tim Edwards, an Indigenous Christian leader, said, “I am deeply concerned about the state of our nation and our government and the revelations that have become known in the last few days. The call to prayer for our nation, our government and for the future of marriage in Australia has been in part motivated by a secret speech  recently given by senior cabinet minister Christopher Pyne MP to the ‘Black Hand’ (left wing) faction of the governing party. He claimed that the left-wing faction is 'winning' and that same-sex marriage could be legalized 'sooner than people think.' This call for prayer is on very short notice, but in a spiritual battle you have to move fast!”

Rev Matt Ransom, Deacon in the Catholic Archbishop’s office in Canberra said, “The biblical precedent for this call to prayer and fasting for Godly government and for our leaders and our broader populace to find Christ as Lord and Savior is found in 1 Timothy 2: 1-3: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

Jenny Hagger, Australian House of Prayer for All Nations, said, “A scriptural precedent for this nation changing three day period of prayer and fasting is found in Esther 4:16. Queen Esther’s call to prayer changed history. This prayer and fasting is above party politics because the church must take responsibility for our nation. We as the church need to engage in a deeper level of repentance for this period of prayer and fasting for our nation to be truly effective.”

David Rowsome, Canberra Declaration, said, “It is great that Australia is able to join with Canada, our sister nation in the British Commonwealth, who is celebrating Canada’s first National Day of Repentance, Prayer and Fasting on the 1 July 2017. The foundation for any national call to prayer and fasting is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14, ‘If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land”.

Warwick Marsh, National Day of Prayer & Fasting team said, “Tim Edwards and I have been greatly disturbed by the malicious persecution of Ps Margaret Court, one of Australia’s greatest sportswomen and a world champion tennis player. She has been publicly vilified very unfairly for her stand for the biblical truth of marriage between a man and a woman. Australia is in desperate need of Godly leadership and that is why we are requesting prayer support from around the world.

JUNE 29 - JULY 2    TIPSPORT ARENA, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

“Even though it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world outwardly, to my heart it seemed like Nineveh, caught in the valley of decision - not knowing where to go. There are many cities like it all across Central Europe and now it's the church's time to enter the valley and show them the way out.

Since then we have been praying as a team daily for this and we found out this year (2017) will be the 500th year anniversary of the Reformation through Luther. It will also be around 600 years since the Czech Apostle Jan Hus was martyred, and l have personally been gripped by God that it's now time for a NEW REFORMATION.
This Reformation won't be one that divides us though, but rather unites us for the purpose of our cities turning back to God. Sure we could have more conferences - more training - but at some point what we are learning has to affect our nations' future and cause thousands to turn back to God. We don't need to wait anymore, we need a move of God right now. 

Luther said: "If I don't pray for 1 day, I feel it. If I don't pray for 2 days, the church feels it. But if I don't pray for 3 days the whole nation feels it". That's exactly where we are at. It's not the time to be asleep, but to be gripped with prayer and to bring mass outreach into this continent.

At this event you will be trained to go back to your nation and city and reach it for Jesus. There will also be a huge emphasis on bringing the lost into the stadium as we call them home to our loving Father. Well known speakers and bands are flying in from all over the world. Men and women of God and churches from all around Europe are bringing bus loads of people to see a NEW REFORMATION this year. The hunger is astounding to us.

We are calling you, too! In fact we need the strengths you carry. Let's once again believe for God's people to be filled with life and for our cities to be shaken by heaven. If Luther and Hus can see it happen, then why can't we? From Charismatics to Catholics, let's move together as a united force from all denominations and bring the power of heaven to Prague, a city in great need.
 

With a burning heart and many tears over Europe,

Ben Fitzgerald 

AwakeningEurope.com

Please join in prayer for a mighty work of the Spirit in the city of Prague, the Czech Republic and throughout Europe, bringing His revival and breakthrough so that indeed there may be a “New Reformation”!

Activists descended on Westminster for a ‘Day of Rage’ protest on 21 June, as Theresa May set out her legislative programme for the next two years in the Queen’s Speech. The demonstration, organised by Movement for Justice by Any Means Necessary (MFJ), saw protesters marching to Downing Street, with the aim of ‘bringing down the Government’. Mrs May became the first prime minister in decades to lay out a legislative programme without a guaranteed House of Commons majority, as the Conservatives have yet to reach a deal with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party. The MFJ said the protest was in reaction to ‘brutal austerity, cuts and anti-immigrant attacks’, and last week’s Grenfell Tower tragedy in which at least 79 died. Some condemned the protest for politicising the anger, or thought it was inappropriate. A different approach was taken by London City Mission and the Message Trust, who organised a day of prayer and fasting in Kensington.

Like so many of us at this time I have been asking the Lord, "Why are these horrific violent, deadly and disastrous things happening in our nation?"

I believe the Lord has shown us that a door has been opened through the recent two elections and Brexit referendum where sadly many Christians were dictating how people should vote. There have been so many people who have verbally attacked others who have different opinions. This has opened a door for a political spirit to come into our nations which brings division, disunity and so much wickedness. Let me be clear this is not saying people should not be involved in politics but that we are to be led by God and not a wrong spirit.

Kris Valotten recently said, "The Signs of a Political Spirit"

1) The political spirit always needs an enemy! This spirit is more concerned with winning an election than with solving a problem.
2) The political spirit demonizes anyone who doesn’t agree with them. In other words, we don’t just see them as wrong on an issue, we view them as evil.
3) The political spirit imprisons our minds and reduces us to partisan opinions. This spirit separates people into two categories; winners and losers. In this environment, straw polls replace practical wisdom and success is measured in media bits rather than real solutions.
4) True governance is displaced by political polarization in which, people are expected to support a party rather than legitimate answers. This political spirit replaces national patriotism with loyalty to a party. This attitude creates a culture where we don’t have permission to think for ourselves but it’s “decision by affiliation.”

We need to repent where we have done that, where we have grumbled about our government and not prayed for them. We need to make a decision to seek God for the best for our nations at this difficult time.

1 Timothy 2:1 is a clear mandate to us, "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."

Wherever we are let us choose to pray FOR the government the electorate chose to hear God for the strategies to take us forward.

We need to pray for the media and those who have agendas to disrupt and increase the chaos. Please pray this week as the Queen's Speech takes place on Wednesday to signal the start of the Parliamentary year. There are many aiming to cause trouble and there are many hurting angry people who can be easily mobilised without realising they are being manipulated.

Let us pray that God will refresh Prime Minister Theresa May, those in government, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, the Police, Fire Service, Ambulance Services and Health Services who must all be completely overwhelmed and exhausted by all that has happened.

Please pray for your community and let us join together to pray for London at this vulnerable time. Pray that every plan and scheme of the enemy will be exposed and stopped in it's tracks before it comes to fruition.

Let us turn our eyes upon Jesus, the HOPE of the world and watch to see what He is doing in our nations at this time.

Jeremiah 29:7 "Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

God bless you mightily as you stand before God for our nations.

Source:  Coastlands & Gateways

When we pray, ‘Come, Holy Spirit’ we don't immediately think of Mary! Yet, when we reflect on Luke 1:35 it reminds us that praying ‘Come Holy Spirit’ will bring all sorts of changes and disruption into our lives! It is through Mary's welcoming of God's Spirit that transformation on a global, even cosmic scale was enacted.

(written by Lynn Green, general secretary, Baptist Union)

During the Herrnhut Consultation, we had a strong focus on praying for revival in Germany and Europe. Here is an encouraging word. Eric Metaxas notes some trends that point to an increased spiritual hunger among Europeans and asks: “Has the demise of Christianity in Europe been greatly exaggerated? There are some encouraging signs of life.”

“It’s become customary to refer to Europe as “post-Christian.” But this is an overstatement—and it obscures large differences in religious practices across the continent: For instance, Poles are far more likely to attend church on a weekly basis than Scandinavians—and even more likely than Americans. Still, it’s difficult to dispute the idea that Christianity’s influence in Europe, on both a personal and societal level, is in decline.

But a pair of recent stories suggests that this may be changing.

The first story was a column in the U.K.’s Telegraph newspaper. The headline read “Our politicians are more devout than ever—so it’s time we started taking their faith seriously.”

In it, Nick Spencer, whose just-released book is entitled “The Mighty and the Almighty: How political leaders do God,” notes that rather than European politics becoming a “God-free zone,” one of the “most striking trends of the last generation or so is how many Christian politicians have risen to the top of the political tree.”

Whereas in the thirty-five years following the end of World War II, only one Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, could be described as “devout,” since then, at least three of his successors—Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, and now Theresa May—could be described that way.

And it’s not only Britain. As Christianity Today recently told readers, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christianity is “deep,” “genuine,” and “important” to her life.

Even in France, the country that invented and institutionalized modern secularism, what the French call “laïcité,” Catholicism has become a kind of “X Factor” in the upcoming presidential elections.

And that brings me to the second story. In the most recent issue of the Jesuit magazine, America, Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry told readers that a few years back, he noticed that “Whenever I was less than five minutes early for Mass, I had to go to the overflow room.” His church “was filled to the gills every Sunday, with young families and children most of the time.”

He decided to see how widespread this phenomenon was, so he visited parishes all over Paris and found the same thing: Sunday high Mass is packed in most parishes in Paris. The same is true in France’s second largest city, Lyon. It’s even true, albeit to a somewhat lesser extent, in his family’s home village.

What was once a revival that “you could fleetingly smell in the air,” has become more tangible, nowhere more so than in the movement called La Manif Pour Tous, “protest for all.” La Manif got 200,000 people in Paris alone to march in protest against legalizing same-sex marriage.

This in turn spawned other Christian movements in a country that supposedly had moved beyond that sort of thing. What these movements share is an opposition to liberalism, which in the French context means “a drive for ever-greater individual liberty.” As Gobry writes, “Liberalism, in this view, is responsible for sexual depravity and the culture of death,” and “leads both to abortions and to quasi-slaves in third world factories making disposable consumer items of questionable worth.”

While French Christianity still has a ways to go, what Gobry describes brings to mind the “cloud as small as a man’s hand . . . rising from the sea” Elijah’s servant saw in 1 Kings 18. Secularism has left Europeans “in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Let us pray that God sends much-needed rain to both sides of the Atlantic.”

Eric Metaxas, Breakpoint Daily, May 2, 2017

“Two people were reportedly killed in Afghanistan and another abducted from a Kabul guesthouse late Saturday, the BBC reported citing a spokesman for the interior ministry.

Among the two people dead, are a German woman and an Afghan guard. The woman abducted meanwhile is reportedly from Finland. This comes after an Australian aid worker was kidnapped in the capital of Afghanistan, last November…

Afghanistan, which is in the grip of an ongoing insurgency by the Taliban Islamist militant group, has witnessed several foreigners kidnapped in the past few years.

The British government have warned of a high and constant threat Westerners face of getting kidnapped in Afghanistan. About 100 people have been kidnapped since 2001, reports said…

“The threat of kidnapping and hostage-taking continues to be very high,” the embassy said in a statement posted on its website. It added that the attempted kidnapping targeted several expatriates, including an American citizen, who were riding in an aid group’s vehicle…

The Afghan police believe the purpose behind the majority of the kidnappings of foreigners is ransom, and these are carried out by criminal gangs. It is feared these criminal groups could sell their hostages to extremist organizations,the New York Timesreported.

International Business Times, May 21, 2017

Please continue to pray for an end to the Taliban insurgency that is causing such widespread harm to the nation and that these wicked, violent Islamic terrorists will be defeated and brought down. Pray for the protection of the humanitarian community working with great love at the risk of their lives to serve the Afghan people. Pray that those still being kept as hostages will be liberated quickly, especially this young Finnish woman that was kidnapped only several days ago.

Just received news of a terrible bombing in the diplomatic area of Kabul that has killed over 80 people and injured hundreds. Pray for His peace and deliverance for this tormented nation and that the Afghans will turn to Christ through these horrors.

During our time in Herrnhut, some of us met with a former Tibetan Buddhist monk from the Himalayan nation of Bhutan that we will call “K”. K has come to Christ and has a deep burden to share the Gospel with other monks back home. Please pray for him and others on his team as they conduct a prayer walk around their beautiful but spiritually dark country for 10 days, starting from August 17-26 and also again in September 11-20. Next year they hope to do the same.

They invite people who are really interested to pray for the Buddhist world to support this initiative. He writes: “We really want to see nation change by power of prayer. Bhutan need lots of prayer. Please join us.”

With love from your brother in Christ,