During a visit to Germany and preparations for the Berlin Prayer Initiative in 1997, I had an unusual visionary experience during the night in which I saw pin pricks of light approaching amidst great darkness. As they got closer, I could see that they were warriors with burning swords that began to cut through the dark canopy overhead. I then heard the words, “These are the intercessors” and afterwards “New Reformation.” A few days later, I received a communication from a mission leader that had also visited Europe, in which he was calling Christians in Europe to pray and work for a “New Reformation”! As you must know, 2017 is the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and there are a number of celebrations and observances being planned there and elsewhere. Why don’t we pray for a New Reformation, not just for Europe but for our whole world?
Two years ago, a German prayer leader friend and I visited Herrnhut, the small village in SE Germany where Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians began a prayer chain in the 18th century that went on for over 100 years and sent out about 300 missionaries. They were the first Protestants to go to the ends of the earth with the Gospel for the unreached. Herrnhut means “The Lord’s Watch”, an identity that was dusted off and revived a few years ago when some local believers there started up a 24/7 prayer chain once again!
During our visit, we joined the local church for their Sunday service and as we worshipped, I noticed lovely young children dancing so freely and un-self consciously in the presence of the Lord directly in front of us. Putting aside his own sermon, the pastor asked my colleague and me to share and pray fatherly blessings over the whole congregation. I felt moved to pray that from this fabled place a new and great revival would flow out to Germany, Europe and beyond.
A couple of the Moravian descendants later took us to the local cemetery where we stood amongst the 6000 graves of Count Zinzendorf and the godly saints who prayed in "the Lord's watch" from 1727 for 100 years. I was deeply moved to hear about the children of that day who went out in the fields in the night and cried out to the Lord. Adults in neighboring homes tried to get them to shut up; however, they were irrepressible and kept on praying! These same Moravian children who cried out to God in the fields at night later went out as the first Protestant missionaries, many of them never coming back to their homeland but laying their lives down for the Lord among the unreached peoples. Others returned and are buried here. The women who were guiding us around showed us those graves and those of Zinzendorf and his family.
I felt the Lord stirring me that this ground still has powerful, earned spiritual authority, so that like the ancient prophets did, they could pray, speaking out things that the Spirit puts in their mouths for the revival and transformation of nations and it will happen. Adding to this conviction, I was told that in 1989 a prayer gathering in Herrnhut with hundreds of German intercessors had proclaimed with faith and authority the end of the Berlin Wall. It obediently came down soon after they were praying this! Indeed, as one theologian affirmed, history belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being!
Germany has been an engine of periodic revival in its history, not only as the home of the Reformation in the 16th century but also the great Pietist revival that swept through the country in the 17th century. Count Zinzendorf was the product of Pietism, an awakening focusing on prayer and Bible study in home gatherings that brought many dead Lutheran churches to life. Prepared as he was by one revival, Zinzendorf welcomed the persecuted Moravians to his estate and became the vehicle for another one that impacted the rest of the world so deeply from such a small rural village. Wow!
Could it be that in our day the Lord is getting ready to unleash another awesome revival through united prayer that will impact the world in social transformation and mission breakthrough like the one that flowed out of 18th century Herrnhut? New united prayer movements have arisen in recent years within Europe and globally, and I believe we are all asking God to do that very thing. The role of the children and youth will of course once again be crucial; therefore we need to support and empower them in every way we can so they can take their places in both the prayer and mission movements in every nation on earth.
Towards the end of seeing such transformational revival and mission breakthrough in the nations, we in the IPC along with other prayer and mission leaders (about 120) will meet in Herrnhut, May 8-12, to pray, deliberate and strategize together. Would you please join with us over the coming weeks and during those crucial days we will be together in that historic place of prayer, revival and mission. Would you please pray that our world will be blessed once again with a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit that affects Germany, Europe, and beyond?
The Lord stands ready to transform not just individuals but also nations, regions, indeed our whole world, when His people pray with faith and expectation that He will answer. “According to your faith, it will be to you”, He said.
John Robb
IPC Chairman
The Church of Ireland has launched a new resource on supporting asylum seekers and refugees in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The 14-page document summarises how the Church has supported asylum seekers and refugees, and highlights opportunities for church members to become more involved in this area of ministry and service. Rt Revd Patrick Rooke, Chairman of the Republic of Ireland Working Group, said: ‘This is an excellent resource for all those who want to be informed about the refugee crises.’ Rt Revd Ken Good, chairman of the Northern Ireland working group, said, ‘It is clear that public awareness of the plight of asylum seekers and refugees fluctuates considerably, depending on the emotional impact of media coverage. This resource seeks to provide helpful information to keep before us the scale of the human need while also acknowledging people’s fears and concerns.’
Wall of Answered Prayer will go ahead
24 Mar 2017
In April 2016, we prayed for a Kickstarter account that was set up for a Wall of Answered Prayer made of a million bricks - each brick telling the story of how Jesus answered someone’s prayer. This wall will now go ahead and be built as a national landmark in the UK. It will lead people to consider and reflect the worth of prayer, through people sharing stories of how God answered their prayers. It will become a source of inspiration. The project is being led by Christian entrepreneur Richard Gamble, former chaplain to Leicester City FC. A person can pledge £5 and get one brick, which will be linked to them and their unique story of how Jesus answered prayer. A corresponding website will be created to give details of the answered prayers. It will be like a ‘database of a million prayer testimonies.’
Friday Focus: pray for five neighbours
24 Mar 2017
Loving your neighbour begins with sacrificing time to pray for them. Bringing five neighbours before God regularly, praying for them to become Christians, will lead to people getting to know Jesus for themselves. Neighbourhood Prayer Network can testify that this has already happened on a number of streets across the UK. Will you join many others praying for their neighbours?
(Rebekah Brettle, Neighbourhood Prayer Network)
Westminster terrorist attack
24 Mar 2017
On Wednesday a British-born man, Khalid Masood, drove a car along the pavement on Westminster Bridge, knocking down, injuring and killing pedestrians. He then ran towards Parliament and fatally stabbed an unarmed policeman. Armed security police killed the terrorist. The police and MI5 had investigated him years ago, but he was ‘peripheral’ and not part of the current intelligence picture. Eight arrests in London and Birmingham followed Wednesday's attack. The murdered policeman was PC Palmer, to whom Mrs May paid tribute by saying, ‘He was every inch a hero and his actions will never be forgotten’. Others killed by the attacker were Aysha Frade, who worked at a London college, and Kurt Cochran. an American tourist. Seven of the injured are still in hospital in a critical condition. A further 29 have been treated in hospital. Pray for comfort and support for all who are grieving and / or suffering physical and mental injuries.
‘Passion for the Nation’ circulated this prayer yesterday, in response to the terror attack at Westminster: ‘Lord, we speak Your healing, comfort and strength to every person injured in the Westminster attack and to the relatives of all those killed. In the Name of Jesus, we declare that a spiritual watch will be increasingly established in our land, and we call the Church to a new level of watching and prayer. May God’s watchmen be positioned over the high places of our nation, over our cities, borders, streets and all high-profile locations. We declare an increase of divine connections to civil authorities in this season. God’s plans are for good and not for evil, so in the Name of Jesus we pray for God’s plans for peace, mercy and hope over and against every plan and purpose of Satan to bring fear and division into our land.’ For the full declaration, click the ‘More’ button.
Scotland’s unprecedented times and division
24 Mar 2017
Nicola Sturgeon has called for 'indyref2'; Theresa May indicated it wouldn’t happen in the time frame. Holyrood’s debate on Wednesday, with a vote scheduled for 5:30 pm to ask the UK Government to agree to a second independence referendum, was suspended after the terrorist attack outside Westminster. The debate and vote will now continue next Tuesday. The following day, Wednesday, formal 'triggering' of Article 50 will start negotiations to leave the EU. Many Scots are once again taking up the deep-rooted positions which divided communities and families during the last independence campaign. Others are confused and anxious about the future.
MSPs snubbed calls to terminate their debate on independence after the terrorist attack at Westminster. At 3.30pm Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser asked for the debate to be suspended, prompting groans from the SNP benches. His request was turned down by deputy presiding officer Linda Fabiani, who said MSPs must carry on with ‘business as usual’. An hour and 20 minutes after news of the attack emerged, presiding officer Ken Macintosh finally announced a close to the debate ‘because the events were affecting the contribution of members’ (MSPs were watching Westminster events unfold on their devices). When this happened, environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham said it was a ‘disgrace’ that Scottish business was being suspended, allegedly adding, ‘This is because you didn’t want to talk about independence.’ For a moment it looked as if something quite serious was going to kick off between the two opposing positions on the vote, but fortunately it didn’t.