Dipping our toes in prayer for wider matters – then going deeper!

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David Watson, Praying for big topics

Ankle deep, up to our waists – then swimming freely! Extending our prayers from the particular to the wider

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you . . . (Col. 4:12-13)

Something I have found helpful over the years as a ‘way in’ to praying for ‘wider’ topics (especially I have been feeling somewhat dwarfed by the sheer size of some of them) is to start by focusing on one or two people or situations, and taking them as being ‘representative’ of a profession, community or even nation.

So if, for example, the thought of praying for education seems too big a task to contemplate – start by praying for someone you know who goes to school, or who teaches in one. As we identify with these dear ones they become our starting point, from which we move on to pray for all who – in mathematical terms – fall into their {sets of} schools, nurses businesses and so on. Suddenly, and almost without effort, we realise that we have gone from ‘ankle deep’ to waist deep and now are swimming freely in the gift of praying for education! We can do the same for the NHS, or for any big issue, organisation or even nation.

This seriously moving brief clip (from CBN.com) of Josh Kezer, who was sentenced to sixty years imprisonment for something he hadn’t done, serves as an excellent prompt to pray for those who are the innocent victims of allegations – as well as a powerful testimony of reaching out with grace to those who are not innocent!

Is it fair to expect God to answer ‘generalised’ (as opposed to personalised) prayers? I think it is. When I was at Oxford, David Watson led a major mission to the university, accompanied by a team of assistant missioners. The Lord told this group that if they were prepared to make sacrifices at night and pray, He would raise up a harvest of souls. They were faithful to that calling – and one hundred and fifty of us students  gave our lives to the Lord during that memorable week – including, quite separately, my flat mate.

That was back in 1976. Within two years at least eight of us were in ‘full time’ service for the Lord. Only the Lord knows how many have come to know Jesus over the course of these forty plus years through the witness of those who came to faith then. But behind their example lie the faithfulness of those who were prepared to toil in prayer for people they would never know by name – in this world at least. May we be ready to respond as the Spirit of prayer stirs within us.

The dilemmas that Russia is posing the world

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cyber warfare, Gavin Williams, Russia, Winston Churchill

This overview follows on from our recent article (To Russia with love, and further dimensions to the cyber-threat) on the risk posed by Russian to global internet cables. You may well find some of the details here disturbing. I have quoted historical precedents for showing why it is important to pray for western politicians and defence chiefs to respond appropriately and to make adequate preparations. What I am sharing is very much at an earthly level: our real warfare of course is at a spiritual level against those mighty beings without bodies – and, to a very great extent, on what the Lord Himself decrees.

Chinese Harvest

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China, Prayer for China

No short prayer or summary can even begin to do justice to the full complexities of all that China is, let alone all that the Lord is doing there, but we pray that these simple thoughts may prove a worthwhile offering . . .

Spirit of God, breathe new life into this vast and ancient land. Praise You that You are raising up Your servants in every stratum of society – from those who work on the land right up into the echelons of the communist party itself. Let your Holy Spirit flow into places where it has long been frowned on to speak openly of anything that is not endorsed by the State.

Focus for Friday prayers

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Hallowe'en, Pray for America, Pray for the Uk

Continuing our sequence on praying for wider matters on Fridays, particularly between 1 and 1.15 . . .  The Lord will surely lead you into the prayers He has in mind for you to pray but here are just a few starter suggestions you might like to follow through on . . .

Jesus, we remember how Pilate’s wife tried to warn her husband to save You from being crucified . . . (Matt. 27:19) She did not succeed but we ask You to raise up prophetic voices who will have the courage as well as the wisdom to intervene when and wherever evil is taking root – to warn and show a better way.

Raise up a people for Your own possession in positions of influence, even as You raised up Martin Luther to spearhead the campaign against the sale of indulgences.

It is so important to remember those whom God specifically appoints and raises up to high profile positions in society. [This is an opportunity to pray specifically!]

Father, You are the God of the whole world and not just of the Church. May we live in the

Brother Andrew’s expectations that God is going to move in North Korea

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Brother Andrew, Kim Jong-Un, North Korea, Pray for North Korea

I recall Brother Andrew declaring two or three years ago that he expected things to change dramatically in North Korea. “Our prayers can go where we cannot. There are no borders, no prison walls, no doors that are closed to us when we pray.”

Prophetic Dream about North Korea

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North Korea, Pray for Korea

Jonathan Welton recently had a dream in which he saw three immensely strong demons whispering in the ear of Kim Jong-Un, the North Korean dictator. These demons all had names beginning with the letter A: Arrogance, Autarch (which means absolute supreme ruler) and Ancestral momentum. All three were pressing in on King Jong-Un, seeking to goad him into action.

In the dream

Can war be averted and a nation be changed?

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Can a nation be born in a day, North Korea

Can a land be born in one day or a nation be delivered in an instant? (Isaiah 66:8)

Will God break through for North Korea – or will things merely progress still further along the lines they are currently doing, heading towards ever greater mess, suffering and even destruction? We certainly can’t afford to be naive or presumptuous but there are stories and examples we can take heart from to fuel our prayers . . .Think how swiftly things changed just after the Second World War, for instance, when Israel again became its own nation.

Prayer on a national level

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Day of prayer, National Day of Prayer

Making Friday September 8th a day to focus in prayer for the nation and on wider concerns

It is only a few weeks since we played an active part in supporting a day of prayer and worship for the nation, but another call for such a day of prayer has been sent out. I am obviously out of the country myself on this date, but it is important to keep the sequence and rhythm of wider prayer going. I will be seeking to make it as much a day of prayer for France as for England!

Praying for the media in a post-truth era

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fake news, Post truth, pray for media, Pray for truth

“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” (1 Tim. 2:1-3, cf Heb. 13:7).

An obvious aspect of being watchmen for the Lord in a post-truth generation is to pray for our political and spiritual leaders – but let’s remember too the many who shape and influence our thinking through the media.

The Singing Revolution – Pray for Estonia

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Estonia, Oleviste worship Choir, singing revolution

Recent tensions with Russia in the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) have propelled the name of Estonia to the fore many times over the past couple of years. Most of us probably don’t know much about this country, whose total population is little more than that of Birmingham, and which recent reports indicate is one of the least religious countries in Europe, if not the world. As far more reputedly believe in folk lore spirits and ‘life force concepts’ than in Christ, I thought this would be a good opportunity for us to feature Estonia in this edition.).

Estonians acknowledge that years of prosperity had led to a high degree of complacency, but that they are now feeling decidedly vulnerable to Russian aggression – and anything but reassured by the outrageous claim made by a veteran Republican, Newt Gingrich, that, so far as he is concerned, Estonia is ‘just a suburb of St Petersburg’.

Occupied in turn by the Soviets in 1939, then by the Nazis, and then by the Soviets again, Estonia experienced profound trauma and turmoil during the Second World War. By the end of it, a horrifying 25% of the population had either been sent to Siberia, fled the country or been killed.

Music has long played a special part in sustaining the spirts of the Estonian people, especially during the years of upheaval involved in seeking to become an independent nation, free from Soviet control.

I recently heard about an extraordinary event which played a particularly powerful part in this process bringing about this release. It has become known as the Singing Revolution, in which an unbroken chain of two million people held hands over 600 kilometres.

Until very recently this is a story that has not been told outside Estonia, but now a film has been made about it: “The Singing Revolution”  This is a story worth sharing!”

See also

Especially in the light of Russia’s apparent interest in regaining control of these countries, where a fair percentage speak Russia as their mother tongue. (We saw in a previous edition, in Revived Russian Imperialism how this has served in the past as an excuse for Putin to intervene militarily in a region.

Like Ukraine, the Baltic States have been on the receiving end of serious cyber attacks. They are very concerned at how incredibly swiftly military exercises could switch to full blown invasion. It is surely right for to keep this matter in prayer!

Years ago my book Praying Together was translated into Lithuanian, which gives me some highly tenuous second hand involvement in the region.

May the Lord touch the hearts of the Estonian people at this time, and bring about a spiritual awakening that breaks through the complacency – and may He use the power of spiritual music in this process!

I was struggling to find Estonian worship on the web, but you might find it helpful to join with this Estonian choir that was worshipping in Christ Church Jerusalem

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