(A presentation given at the North American Prayer Summit, August 21-24, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada)
The nature of Mexico’s problems, such as narco-trafficking, worship of dead, etc. go back to its idolatrous and occult roots. At Tepeyac, near Mexico City, sacrifices were made for centuries to Tonantzin, the Aztec serpent goddess who some think continues to be worshipped as the Virgin of Guadalupe since that is where the apparition appeared in 1531. Dec 12 celebrates the birth of this goddess and it is now the patroness of the nation.
Some also think that it was the mass human sacrifice and idolatry in the 15th century and 16th centuries that brought about the invasion of the Spanish conqueror, Hernan Cortez, and through that, God’s judgement on the murderous Aztec civilization. Half the population of that area was rapidly eliminated through disease and over time 97% died off. The current problems they have in Mexico today could be the result of these events. Pray for liberation of the Mexican people from the idolatrous Virgin of Guadalupe cult that has captured "the majority of the population and government officials. It has been said that the flip side" of this cult is the worship of Santa Muerte (Saint Death) that millions of additional Mexicans and increasing numbers in the USA pay obeisance to.
Now there is rampant corruption, drug addiction, youth suicide, vandalism, as well as child abuse, and even infanticide to keep children from such a life of suffering. Nevertheless, there are some hopeful developments such as the governor of Chihuahua who has decided to fight corruption. Pray for those Christian leaders who are working with him. May this become an open door to change the atmosphere and culture of the state.
During October in Michoacan, the “soul of Mexico” where the constitution was written, Pastor Martha Valdoviezo is going to the center of city with other pastors to pray for three days day and nights- a time of repentance for the sin and pain of Morelia. Pray for His strong anointing on her and the other ministry leaders- that God will unite and give them clarity for the transformation of their city and state.
Mexico City is surrounded by three states (8.5 million population but with the surrounding area included there are 24 million living in that area). The mayor opened up to Scientology recently and gave them a permit to locate a central office for Latin America there. They want to build 10 centers now. Pray that this decision will be reversed and that the false teachings of Scientology will be rejected by the government and the people.
In 1976, the Santa Muerte cult began in Mexico City. It is still growing and going after influential people. Pray with His authority and faith for the overthow of these and other false cults and that the Mexican people will serve the one and only Lord.
Mexico’s future economic prospects look hopeful due to the number of youth and children in the population and a good growth curve. Conversely, the USA and Canada may face a future economic downturn since population growth curve is not as good. Pray for the health and growth of the Mexican economy and that the big hindrance of corruption will be dealt with effectively.
The Church needs to have the opportunity to influence Mexico’s children for the Kingdom of God. Pray for real freedom from government control for Christian schools to give children and youth the knowledge of the Lord.
Mexico’s national election will be held next year. Pray that a man or woman of God will be able to run and win the election. Lopez Obrador, the socialist, currently has lots of support. Pray that he will not get in because his socialist policies would destroy the nation.
A new movement of prayer has arisen in the country that is connecting the Body of Christ in new ways and has lots of youth involved. Pray for such efforts to prosper in the land and for the real unity of the prayer movement and the leaders of its various streams.
Pray for the current NAFTA renegotiations- that the USA will undergird Mexico and that each nation will benefit.
Presented by one of the NAPS participants who comes from Mexico City
Approximately 90 leaders of prayer ministries and networks from Mexico, the USA and Canada met in beautiful Newfoundland and enjoyed deep times of prayer and sharing in the Lord as well as a lot of fun together! It was a time of rebuilding and strengthening our relationships and the connections between our national prayer movements as well as praying for some of the current issues that affect our continent.
From the very beginning, as we let “God be God and the Body be the Body”, we sensed that because of Newfoundland’s history there is a portal or gate (both vertical and horizontal) through which the Holy Spirit wants to flow into the rest of North America. We prayed a number of times about this, including on Signal Hill overlooking the city: “Welcome Holy Spirit, come! Welcome into North America. Launch a new Great Awakening!”
We also reaffirmed our unity in the Spirit that even transcends our national cultures and boundaries as members of His “eternal family”. One participant saw our national delegations as acrobats, standing on each other’s shoulders, pulling one another up, so that each nation finds its deeper destiny as part of a whole, integrated North America.
One prayer leader shared his dream of leaders in celebration, full of victory and joy. There was nothing but victory as if they had just won the Super Bowl. All were receiving gold rings. The global prayer movement is now in prime time, establishing its new authority as God’s sons and daughters to exercise governmental authority. “I am looking to position my people from Heaven’s perspective.” We should not react to things around us, but since He is the Captain of this team, we need to huddle around Him and then execute His plans. Sure victory will result. This is the season to release victory throughout the world.
We prayed for all three nations and for the continent as a whole, especially that the current NAFTA renegotiations to benefit all three nations. It needs to be stronger because of China! We were inspired by the presentation on how God has transformed Juarez, Mexico through a movement of united prayer and action led by Pastor Poncho Murguia.
An expert on Islam warned us to pray about the threats posed by the Islamic jihad to subvert and conquer North America, Europe and other currently non-Muslim areas of our world. (You can read his more detailed assessment of what their strategy is in another article in this Connections edition.)
Jerry Tuma, a “prophetic economist from Texas” spoke to us about how humanism has gotten a stronghold in our cultures and thinking about population growth, which is what God has always wanted. “Be fruitful and multiply” has never been rescinded. Paul Erlich’s Population Bomb, is full of assumptions and outright lies. Satan has used such thinking to steal human lives. More than 57 million US children have been aborted partly because of this erroneous scarcity mentality. Now an entitlement crisis is coming. Humanists have influenced our nations, but God is not lacking and there is no lack of resources. "The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof." There are still enormous resources, and prosperity is associated with growing populations. Jerry told us we need to return to biblical economics. We need a transnational entity connecting the three nations. True collaboration is needed so let’s continue to be in prayer for the NAFTA renegotiation.
Some of the Common Issues Identified and Prayed About
We need to continue praying about these things in all three nations:
Identity – gender and ID in Christ
Unity in the church
Identity for the church – stewardship of the culture
Pornography
Homosexuality and redefinition of families
Churches’ apathy and lack of involvement
Lack of fear of the Lord
Lack of love to children
Adultery
Trafficking
Drug use
Family redefinition and sexual perversion
Public corruption
Homelessness
Lovelessness/lack of forgiveness
Lack of prayer in church leadership
Bloodguilt for indigenous people
Breakdown of family
Sexualization of society
Church is asleep
Church too much like the culture
Antisemitism
Focusing too much time on giant issues – not enough on Jesus
Broken covenants
Euthanasia
Growing legal persecution of churches/ministries
Homosexuality
Healing
Younger generations out of church
Lawlessness
Evangelism lacking
Lack of conflict management
Lack of fear of the Lord
Attack on Truth
Family issues
Abortion and Sanctity of life
Justice being twisted – inequities
Radical feminism
Freedom of speech eroding- political correctness affecting society e.g. Canadian law re. speaking out against Muslims, LGBT, etc.
Proliferation of drugs
Drugs/addictions rather than Christ
Church shirking duties – need to speak Truth to overcome deception
Have unity in church (John 17) – appeal to heaven to bring it
Tolerance in the church instead of Truth
Love of Father God – express Truth in love – to heal hearts
Death and violence
Greed
Idolatry
Witchcraft and occult connections and influence in government
Untimely death and culture of death
Lack of principled values
Distraction of social media – rebellion
Hidden agendas in schools – homosexuality, drugs, racism
Churches focused on inward vision rather than mission
Orphan spirit
False spirits in media and perversion of truth
Student debt
New media – standard of truth lacking
No discipleship in churches
Continental immigration vision
Freedom of speech
Religious liberty
Islamic deception
Economy
Wicked political leaders
Unity of the prayer movement
Prayer Needs for the USA:
Jason Hubbard- “One Church, One Day” initiative is building canopies of united sustainable prayer over communities. America Prays- every state will be covered in 24/7 40,000 local churches taking one day per month. Being launched during the Awaken the Dawn prayer effort on the DC Mall on October 7.
Jonathan Friz- “10 Days of Prayer” initiative. God wants to raise up movements of John 17 unity in our cities. City-wide churches, not separate kingdoms. 10 Days is a strategy to see it happen in our areas. Fasting, mourning and repentance. Jonathan had a vision of it going many places around the world and this year 34 cities in USA and Africa will take part. Please pray for the success of these and other new movements prayer led by younger leaders.
Jon Graf from the U.S. National Prayer Committee urged us to pray for the National Day of Prayer and its new leadership to become a movement, not just one day per year and that a national rhythm of prayer for the next Great Awakening will take shape.
2 Also that it will become a multi-generational, multi-denominational and multi-ethnic movement of prayer. Many of largest prayer ministries will merge into it or significantly partner.
3Pray for Unity and Wisdom as massive changes in the leadership of prayer movement happen. Every revival happened at times of political and social desperation.
Prayer needs for Canada:
1Progressivism creeping in regarding criticism of Muslims and LGBT.
2 Need prayer for French-English division.
3 First Nations see English colonization as a tragedy and do not celebrate Canada Day. Native kids were forced into residential schools. Still a deep rift needing healing.
4 Gateways in Vancouver and St. John’s, Newfoundland. Send a mighty move of God through these cities!
5 Quebec- wants to be loved and accepted as they are. Great revival as result!
6 Unity of the church and prayer movement. At the150th anniversary of Canada, July 1st- “WE ARE ONE!”
Mexico’s Prayer Needs (please see the separate article in this Connections attached below)
Australia
Jamie Pryor, a prayer leader from Australia, told us about the unity of the prayer movement in Australia. Their leaders are praying every week together and building familial relationships. They don’t try to become one organization but follow the same values in unity. They believe such an approach will help ready us for persecution. He asked that we pray for Australia that the plebiscite on homosexual marriage will be defeated.
Some suggested next steps for the North American Prayer Summit:
1 Lack of intergenerational transference- how to accomplish this? Sobriety re. lack of discipleship of the next generation. Children and youth- we have not included the kids thus far. Can we bring them into the NAPS? Bring one youth each next time? National prayer summit aimed at youth?
2 We need a strategy to take action. Make NAPS more diverse ethnically, generationally. Sacrifice time and resources to bring youth and other ethnic groups.
3 Building unity- how do we come together in unity as prayer movements and prayer leaders? We have different gifts and need to draw them together. We are family and need to stay in communication to pray what is from His heart. Use teleconferencing or Zoom. Respond to issues and intercede. Focus on the positive and what He is doing. An email prayer alert would help.
4 God wants to raise up a movement of prayer across the three nations. Come together once a year. Pray for each other’s nations. How about triplet prayer on the phone with a Canadian and Mexican once per week or month? We need each other.
5 It is time to rise up. Work and pray for a transnational identity. Incorporate worship and prayer together. Develop an app with categories for use so we can call each other and pray.
6 Promote a Kingdom mentality and get beyond our own groups. Use the Moravian model for intercessory unity. Prayer in cities and involve the pastors. As the Church operates in unity through love, the city can be transformed. Loving our cities.
7 Love the Muslims and speak truth in love to them. Pray for the children of Islamic world.
We sang out the prayer song “You Said”: Ask and you will receive…I’ll heal your land…your glory will fill the earth..the harvest is here,the Kingdom is near… ask and I will give the nations to you.. distant shores and the islands will see your light as it rises on us.” (Psalm 2:8) Pray that we in North America will play our part in praying for and reaching the still unreached peoples of the earth, that transcendent call of God known as the Great Commission.
This excellent video on NAPS by Eric Teitelman covers the NAPS prayer tour we took to pray for our continent from its easternmost point https://youtu.be/dHOY5FYgid0
Our vision as Jesus followers is way too small! Let’s be honest. We mainly focus on ourselves and our families, with all our problems and needs. We may at times pray for our own church, and if we are keeping up with the news and big-hearted enough, we may also remember to pray for our community and nation from time to time. However, the Lord’s vision and heart are for the whole world. Indeed, in and with the Messiah, He wants to give us the peoples of the earth as He promises in Psalm 2:8: “Ask of me and I will make the peoples your inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth your possession.” What an expansive calling and possibility through prayer and mission flowing out of prayer!
This focus on the peoples reaffirmed centuries later in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:20 was also on Jesus’ lips on the cross. While torturously gasping for air, he recited Psalm 22. That psalm starts with the anguished cry “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and concludes with the assurance that “all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him.” (Psalm 22:1 and 27). This must have been in the Lord’s mind as He looked beyond His immediate suffering. In spite of His awful agony, He peered into the future, by faith seeing the peoples of the earth turning to Him one day.
PraThe Moravians grasped that same vision after the Spirit fell upon them at Herrnhut, Germany, in 1727. This impelled them to begin a 100-year plus 24/7 prayer chain to pray for the distant peoples, that they might have the opportunity to come into the relationship with Christ they themselves had discovered. The Moravian example should inspire us with what God can do with even a few who are committed to persevering, united prayer. Though only a couple hundred believers first began this 24/7 prayer chain, ultimately thousands over those years took part. And from that small village these intercessors sent out missionaries that impacted an estimated 5000 locations on earth. These were the first Protestant missionaries. It was also the Moravians and their example of prayer wedded to mission that deeply stirred the two Wesley brothers, John and Charles. So England underwent a great revival that also spread to the USA and around the world through a multiplication of prayer and mission efforts in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In May of this year, international prayer and mission leaders came together at Herrnhut, where 6000 of these faithful Moravian intercessors and missionaries are buried. During our time together, we were stirred by the fact that over 1500 of the remaining unreached ethno-linguistic people groups still have no known missionaries or exposure to the Gospel. This is probably because no one is praying for them specifically, which is the first step to reaching them. Praying to the Lord of the harvest is a supernatural partnership with the One who can raise up those who are specially called and gifted to go and share the Good News with them. Without such prayer, there is no effective or sustainable mission outreach.
It is unthinkable that on our watch these people groups would not have the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ and to become part of His eternal family. Would you, therefore, please pray for the following?
- That churches and prayer groups in your nation and around the world will each adopt at least one UPG until they are reached with the Good News of the Gospel. The definition of “reachedness” is that there is an indigenous community of believers established who are capable of evangelizing the rest of their people group.
- Pray also for these important upcoming prayer and mission events to be used of the Lord to catalyze this adoption of the unreached for prayer and mission engagement:
- The Zero Gathering, Oct. 13-14, in the Dallas area, including the birthing of the Vision 2025 initiative to pray until every UPG has the Bible in their own language. 1600 participants are expected to gather with many others participating through live-streaming. Our focus will be on the 1671 Bibleless peoples that even by 2025 there might be zero peoples lacking access to Scripture.
- For the Finishing the Task initiative and gathering of 700-800 mission people, Dec. 5-7, in Mission Viejo, CA. It will be the first time a prayer track will be included.
- For the UPRISING youth national assemblies for prayer and mission happening around the world during the coming year, that the youth will be challenged to adopt and pray for UPGs, and then once again at the culminating global youth event in Indonesia in October 2018.
Please keep these upcoming efforts in your prayers that they will be powerfully used of the Lord to get every UP adopted and covered with ongoing intercession. To find out more about how you and your prayer group or church can adopt an unreached people group and for resources on praying for them, please visit Joshua Project www.joshuaproject.net. Prayer cards and profiles are available to download and use.
Thank you for your prayers. The Lord will surely use them in a supernatural way to bring about the reaching of those still waiting to hear of His love and truth.
John Robb
Chairman, International Prayer
Bravery as Texas floodwaters rise
01 Sep 2017
Hundreds of thousands of people have been rescued as devastating floods continue to ravage Texas. Many people are refusing to allow it to crush their spirits. Instead, they are courageously choosing to join relief efforts. A Houston pastor took it upon himself to check vehicles stranded on what had been Texas State Highway 288. Although it was dangerous, he waded out to vehicles looking for people trapped inside. ‘He wanted to make sure those cars were empty’, said Brian Roberson, who witnessed the pastor’s bravery. ‘It was so powerful to see first-hand.’ Another man drove his jeep around roads looking for flood victims to save. Many other stories of bravery and the undefeatable human spirit are emerging, even as the floodwaters continue to rise. Good Samaritans are offering boats, water and food to those trapped in flooded homes. See:
Answered prayers: holiday hunger bill
01 Sep 2017
In July, Prayer Alert readers prayed for an end to children going hungry in school holidays - see . On 31 August the media reported that a plan to stop holiday hunger for children has been welcomed by over a hundred MPs. The School Holidays (Meals and Activities) Bill was backed by MPs John Woodcock and Tim Farron and presented to parliament. The Bishops of Durham and Liverpool also supported the bill, which would require local authorities to ensure that free meals and fun activities are provided for youngsters who would otherwise go without during the holidays. Mr Woodcock said that foodbanks have grown in recent years and hunger is a real issue in parts of our communities, often due to government cuts and benefits sanctions.
Friday Focus: hope for those on the margins
01 Sep 2017
We rejoice to see the many Christian charities in our towns and cities that have sprung up over recent years, reaching out to serve the marginalised in our communities. Surely our hearts’ desire is to see these broken needy ones welcome Jesus to be Lord in their lives.
(Linda Owen, Speak Life)
Intercessor Focus: Brexit trade deals
01 Sep 2017
New trade deals struck between the UK and third-party countries will depend on what Brexit secretary David Davis negotiates with Brussels. Pray for God to use him to shape and establish a Godly future for Britain’s commerce and industry. A free-trade area (FTA) is the region encompassing a trade bloc whose member countries have signed a free-trade agreement. These agreements involve cooperation to reduce trade barriers of import quotas and tariffs, to increase trade of goods and services with each other. Britain’s international trade minister is Liam Fox. Pray for God to strengthen him with wisdom as he seeks both international and EU trade deals. Britain could have to wait until Brexit is finalised to strike a deal with the USA, as Donald Trump has been ‘advised to wait and see’ what effects Brexit will have on the US economy. Pray for God to put His words in the mouths of the president’s advisors.
(Linda Digby, Prayer Alert team)
Christian child to live with Muslim grandmother
01 Sep 2017
A family court judge has ordered that a five-year-old Christian child, who had been placed with strict Muslim foster-parents, should live with her Muslim grandmother. A leaked internal document from Tower Hamlets council said the child was ‘very distressed’ after her foster-parents had taken a necklace with a Christian cross from her and banned her from eating bacon. Judge Khatun Sapnara made this decision at Tower Hamlets’ request. The Children's Commissioner, Anne Longfield, said her office would contact Tower Hamlets with questions regarding placing a Christian girl with two Muslim foster families within six months. Media reporting on the case has been criticised by the Muslim community, who said the family dispute had been seized upon in an effort to demonise Islam.