30 Friday Nov 2018
When Huw Humphries wrote this sumptuous song, I love the fact that he wrote lead us on rather than just lead me on. It makes it so much easier to align ourselves with the Lord and His people everywhere!
May it bless deeply and become part of the rhythm of our prayer as we seek to draw close to God’s heart ‘right across the board’ – in His joys and sorrows as well as our own.
30 Friday Nov 2018
With both sides in the Brexit situation seemingly on the edge of despair at the terrible things which will happen if it goes the other way, here is a refreshingly encouraging contribution that was sent to me. I am not familiar with Jennifer Abigail Lawson-Wallace and the Quiver Prayer Movement, but this prophetic word provides a positive reminder of Who is on the throne, without pushing any particular viewpoint. It feels like a timely reminder. As a friend said who I sent it to, “My only reference point on that is the reminder that even though God had promised the return from Babylon it was still necessary for the intercessor to take hold of the promises and to pray them through until all was fulfilled. Whatever promises we may feel are given regarding the state of our country, there is still a clarion call for intercession at such a time to see His purposes fulfilled in the Earth.” Continue reading
22 Thursday Nov 2018
Posted in Flashpoints, Insights, Prayer Focus for the Nations, World Watch
At a conference in Westminster on Tuesday, the Lord spoke to Linda about His desire for restoration rather than ruin – effectively for a profound remodelling of Britain – not just in terms of our relationship with Europe but in His concern for the poor in this land. There is so much in the UK that cries out to the Lord in a cacophony of noise and chaos that is anything but attractive to Him. Can we sing a song that draws and attract the Lord to us again?
As Linda put it, it is not just that God wants restoration for us rather than ruin, but that in every crisis there is also opportunity. The clay is in the Potter’s hands as it were and it is for us to pray that the shape we finally become as a nation is pleasing to Him. May we come before the Lord, sitting, standing, kneeling or prostrate calling upon Him to find reasons to intervene to make a way forward.
Brexit is a game changer that has dominated political affairs to an unparalleled extent in British history – so much so that we have been effectively unable to play any meaningful role on the world stage in recent years. We explored in our previous edition that that when we bring matters to the Lord in prayer, we give Him the opportunity to draw our attention to the reasons behind events. In this case we may well conclude that much of the chaos and dissension currently at work in Britain is actually the consequence of deliberately pushing the Lord out of one realm after another of our national life.
What can the righteous accomplish
when truth’s pillars are destroyed and law and order collapse?
Yet the Eternal One is never shaken—
He is still found in his temple of holiness,
reigning as Lord and King over all.
He is closely watching everything that happens.
And with a glance, His eyes examine every heart.
For His heavenly rule will prevail over all.
He will test both the righteous and the wicked,
exposing each heart.
Remember this: the Righteous Lord loves
what is right and just, and every godly one
will come into His presence and gaze upon His face! (Ps. 11:3-7 TPT)
No two ways about it, the ‘pillars of truth’ have been shaking in the furore and division that Brexit has stirred up – which is itself a reflection of wider turmoil. In America, for instance, politics have become an undisguised vehicle for the President to exercise his own will with but the scantiest respect for traditions right up to and including the American Constitution, and the nation remains divided right down the middle. So too in Brazil in the aftermath of the election of the ‘Trump of the Tropics’. And we in the UK are now facing a pivotal moment, whether to approve the draft declaration to leave the ‘one size fits all framework’ but to remain closely linked. Even making the big assumption that Parliament accepts this, (thereby effectively endorsing Theresa May’s long standing efforts), many of the key matters such as fisheries will remain to be negotiated.
I found myself comparing our situation today with that of Israel in Isaiah’s day. There was so much that was wrong in both the nation and the world then, too, and the Lord was looking for those who would set up a godly standard and raise their voices for Him. At that time, only a small handful of exiles had returned from Babylon, and although the temple had been rebuilt, the walls had not – and even the temple was anything but ‘shining in glory’. In all the people’s very considerable distress, the Lord too was distressed. (Is. 63:9). Yet still God found ways to be gracious:
For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption (or ‘the year of My redeemed’) had come. (Is. 63:4 ESV)
Only the Lord can speak of intense distress and such opportunity in one breath! We can surely pray that out of the increasing distress and shaking will come a humbling that prepares the way for reconciliation between the Lord and His beloved people. We have seen this happen in Argentina, where defeat in the Falkland’s war led to a sense of humiliation across the nation – something that played a massive part in softening hearts and souls, and which effectively proved to be the unlikely touch paper that lit what has turned out to be the longest running revival in history!
Likewise, earthquakes that occurred thirty odd years ago in Romania and Armenia played their part in paving the way for a considerable spiritual harvest in their aftermath. How wonderful that God can even use horrendous shakings to achieve positive good.
When London was struck by two earthquakes in the late eighteenth century, the Church saw them as a serious warning and as a call to repentance. It is a sad reflection that we in the West no longer heed the Power behind ‘natural’ events. Yet since Scripture is clear that there are many significant earthquakes to come in the days ahead. (Revelation 11:13; 16:15-21, Isaiah 29:6,f Joel 2:10, and Zechariah 14:4-5) it is so important that we recover our recognition of God’s hand at work behind events rather than attributing everything to climatic and ‘rational’ explanations.
How can there not be shaking when sinful deeds and attitudes meet the holiness of God? Rather than being taken aback we should redouble our prayers for people, especially in the West, to humble their hearts so that God can bring good things out of the continuing shakings that assuredly lie ahead. Here is a hope can fuel our prayers for something better than merely being forced to choose between ‘the lesser of two weevils’ – to quote the appalling pun in Patrick O’Brian’s masterly Master and Commander!
Assuming that Theresa May does indeed remain for some time in office, the Parliamentary vote on the draft Declaration will presumably establish whether she will be in real power or merely ‘nominally’ in office – effectively as the leader of a minority government.
Things will doubtless continue to develop on a daily basis and take pundits – ourselves included! – by surprise. Will a hi-tech solution way be found to solve the outstanding issue of the Irish border? And what of Spain’s long standing concerns about Gibraltar? Not to mention its sudden decision to support Scotland rejoining the EU post Brexit? Frankly, this squares poorly with its own high-handed treatment of Catalonian separatist wishes. As for President Trump’s increasingly blatant placing of self-interest above human values is this not just giving strong autocratic leaders around the world carte blanche to do whatever they like with and to their own people?
How good it would be to hear the Lord saying, “For I am ready to set things right, not in the distant future, but right now! (Isaiah 46:13 NLT) We are no doubt far too proud for Him to say such a thing, but we know that in His time He can move swiftly to accomplish so much ‘suddenly.’ See, for instance, this powerful song by Godfrey Birtill.
Btw, you may find it helpful to revisit this prayer we sent out for the future shaping of Britain and Europe.
22 Thursday Nov 2018
Posted in General, Insights, Prayer Focus for the Nations, World Watch
Political decisions are important because they will ultimately affect our lives profoundly – but what happens in the depths of people’s hearts is still more important. Let’s be sure not to forget those who are in prison and facing interrogation and great deprivations.
The writer to the Hebrew Christians reminds us to remember and “Identify with those who are in prison as though you were there suffering with them, and those who are mistreated as if you could feel their pain.” (Heb. 13:3 TPT). The Aramaic can be translated “as if you were people who wear their bodies” (vulnerable to their pain). What a powerful concept.
A recent judgement sent Christian pastors to prison in Iran for “spreading propaganda against the regime.” In an ominous move, it is written into the verdict that for Christians to claim that Jesus is Lord, and that the Bible is their final authority, can be perceived as an attack against Islam.
The word of God is continuing to spread powerfully in Iran through the courageous witness of believers, but the cost remains very high.
We used to pray in infant school ‘for those in peril on the sea.’ This is a prayer for all who are currently detained for their faith, or who are being pursued by people with violence and vengeance in their hearts for no ‘crime’ other than that of loving the Saviour of the world, who gives freedom in this world and the next.
Join in this prayer that the power of God may surround and strengthen each one by the power of His Spirit.
Concerning the first piece of music that I wrote recently for two cellos, when Sally Mowbray first heard it she felt that it spoke of deep mourning- but that the light was still able to shine through. For that reason the picture she chose to accompany this is of darker clouds but with the sun shining through, bringing a sheen to the pebbles below.
The music is played for us by Corinne Frost, to whom I dedicated the piece.
Praise God for those who are attempting to free western prisoners who are being unjustly held in countries such as Iran, but let’s remember and “Identify with those who are in prison as though you were there suffering with them, and those who are mistreated as if you could feel their pain.” (Heb. 13:3 TPT). The Aramaic of that verse in Hebrews 13 can be translated “as if you were people who wear their bodies” (vulnerable to their pain).
We used to pray in infant school ‘for those in peril on the sea.’ This is a prayer for all who are currently detained for their faith, or who are being pursued by people with violence and vengeance in their hearts for no ‘crime’ other than that of loving the Saviour of the world, who gives freedom in this world and the next.
Jesus You call Your people to endure in faith. Be with every single person who is currently detained for their faith, some of whom will be being interrogated even as we pray. May they remain clear headed and strong under the pressure.
Be too with those who are being interrogated pursued by people with a spirit of ill will and vengeance in their hearts.
By the power of Your outstretched hand grant strength dispel fear and bring Your focused power.
Do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say when you are delivered into the hands of persecutors – for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it will not be You speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (From Matthew 10)
Grant supernatural wisdom as well as strength. Protect others by Your mercy as a result of information extracted during interrogations.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next,(Matt. 10:23) Let people know when that moment comes that they must depart in haste, even as You were with Mary and Joseph in Egypt and rescued Saul from Damascus.
Surround those who have been detained in the past and who are suffering in mind as well as in their bodies as a result of the stresses and strains they endured during their incarceration. Deliver them in body mind and spirit – especially those who are well aware that they could well be rearrested at a moment’s notice.
Let the power of Your mercy brood this day over those in extreme need: whether in Iran India; Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, North Korea or China, or wherever else the Spirit of God leads you now in prayer.
Music only
01 Thursday Nov 2018
Posted in Insights, Prayer Focus for the Nations
At around the time of the referendum, I had a sense that a Leave result was very likely. It almost felt like a spiritual earthquake taking place! On the night before the vote, our church home group was treated to the most spectacular rainbow over Poole harbour – truly memorable and one of the most beautiful I’ve seen. I took this to be a reassurance from God that He was watching over us for our good. But since then, we have been plunged into a crucible of pain and confusion over Brexit. The promises seem to have been all but forgotten, whether the [often dubious] ones made by the Leave campaign, or the spiritual promises that I along with many others believe that we received. Continue reading
01 Thursday Nov 2018
The 1911 prophecy I referred to in the article A twin pronged Call to Women to pray briefly mentioned a number of countries, rather as many of the oracles in the Old Testament frequently referred to Edom and Moab and so on.
Concerning the nations specifically mentioned in this prophecy, Italy has certainly endured a great battering of natural disasters. We will each have our own interpretation and understanding of the measure of divine displeasure we are seeing worked out in nations such as Italy. Continue reading
01 Thursday Nov 2018
Back in 1980, at a time when we were being called as a small community to deepen our life of prayer for the nations, Martin Charlesworth wrote this powerful call from Lord to rise up as intercessors for Him. With Megan singing it for us, this is a really beautiful as well as a powerful call from the Lord that you will want to hear more than once to take the words, as well as the melody, deeper into your heart.
11 Thursday Oct 2018
Posted in Insights, Prayer Focus for the Nations
I have often referred to the extraordinary way by which Rees Howells and a dedicated company of intercessors were led to pray during the Second World and which mightily influenced the course of the war. See particularly chapters 33-35 in this free to read version of Rees Howells, Intercessor by Norman Grubb.
These were spiritual campaigns mounted by a battalion of experienced intercessors, but unlike in our own generation, the whole nation was invited to participate. Most of you will have heard of the national day of prayer that was held on 26 May 1940 at the height of the Dunkirk crisis that led to the miracle of being able to rescue 300,000 soldiers from the French beaches. You will not be surprised either to know that another such day of prayer preceded the miracle that occurred during the Battle of Britain in September 1940.
Fewer people are aware that the King and Parliament combined to call the nation to five further such days of prayer in the course of the war, all of which were followed by significant developments.
Seven times all the churches were filled, even by those who had not been to church in years or indeed ever.
Crossrhythms reproduced notes on all seven of these days, based on the notes that Dr Viktor Pierce made in his book Miracles & Angels.
Whilst some of the ‘results’ that some claim as a consequence of these days may have been circumstantial, other developments have a highly authentic ring to them.
For example, it was immediately after the day of prayer on 21st March 1941 that Yugoslavia, which had surrendered to Hitler, changed its mind, and, refusing to allow nationalist divisions between Serbia and Croatia to prevail, started to organise highly effective resistance, thereby seriously checking Hitler’s progress in the Balkans.
Ethiopia’s Christian Emperor had firmly resolved to put his cause into God’s hands, and this paved the way for Ethiopia’s final liberation from Mussolini, As Hitler’s future co-partner, Mussolini had been so passionate about developing an empire that he made extensive use of poison gas in his unjustified conquest of Ethiopia prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1947, Italy agreed to pay $25,000,000 in reparations, including the loss of 2,000 churches. wikipedia.org
Haile Selassi himself, who had met with Rees Howell, accepted the title Defender of the Faith, and declared to the nation on the launch of a new version of the Bible:
Today man sees all his hopes and aspirations crumbling before him. He is perplexed and knows not whither he is drifting. But he must realise that the Bible is his refuge, and the rallying point for all humanity. In it man will find the solution of his present difficulties and guidance for his future action, and unless he accepts with clear conscience the Bible and its great Message, he cannot hope for salvation. For my part I glory in the Bible.
Significant Events after the Fifth National Day of Prayer
The fifth National Day of Prayer was on September 3rd, 1942, marking the third anniversary of the outbreak of war. The next day at Palermo in Sicily, significant elements of the Italian fleet were sunk. Most important for us, just over a month later the Eighth Army under General Montgomery saved Egypt (and therefore Israel) from being invaded by Hitler’s commander Rommel in the second battle of El Alamein.
Italy Surrenders
The sixth National Day of Prayer was held a year to the day later on September 3rd, 1943 on the fourth anniversary of the outbreak of war. Italy surrendered to the allies that very night – although the news was kept secret for five more days to allow the Allies to consolidate their position in Italy.
In the spring of 1944, the seventh and last Day of Prayer was called by the King
The launching of D-Day was delayed several times by the Supreme Commander G. Eisenhower owing to the terrible weather. At last Eisenhower had to make the agonising decision whether to give the go ahead or miss a possible opportunity altogether. Eisenhower reported later:
The Germans believed an invasion was impossible as a result of prevailing weather conditions and their own weather forecasts, but a significant coming lull was identified by courageous weather forecasters, enabling Eisnhower to give the order to proceed despite the stormy conditions. Had the Allies delayed until later in June, they would have encountered the worst weather in the English Channel in two decades. history.com
Eisenhower later wrote,
“If there were nothing else in my life to prove the existence of an Almighty and merciful God, the events of the next 24 hours did it . . . The greatest break in a terrible outlay of weather occurred the next day and allowed that great invasion to proceed, with losses far below those we had anticipated…”
Services of dedication were held on the eve of D-Day in which all in the army were urged to pledge themselves to God. Senior padre, Canon Llewellyn did not merely urge ‘religion’ on them: he called them to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Let an army and a people learn what God stands for, and then they will know when they are for, or against, His purpose. They will then support or oppose with confidence as His commissioned servants. It is not enough for an army or a nation to have a vague faith in God. It is not enough for us to rest content that our own commanders are godly, and that God’s flag is publicly flown.
“Faith in God is useless until it governs action. What does God want done? We believe in God – as what? As a nonentity, content to be recognised, and then ignored? As a vague power, meaningless, purposeless, inarticulate, and therefore unfit to command a platoon, let alone a world? . . . we believe in God who wants, and means to have done, all that Christ embodied, taught and lived out . . .
“That is where the solid toil of consecration comes in. The character of Christ must be known; His goodness perceived and loved; Himself accepted as Master. No special effort thrown off in an emergency will accomplish that; and there is no short cut.
“So the chaplains are going forward with the forces preaching the simple Gospel of Christ, the Author and Finisher of all the fine qualities of men. There is no ideal of character better than the one God sent to us again in Jesus Christ our Lord. Read the New Testament!”
Viktor Pierce records that the nation did not turn out for prayer on this occasion in the same overwhelming numbers as on previous occasions. Perhaps this was because the fear of defeat had vanished. Earlier in the war, everybody understood the hopelessness of our situation and fled to God for deliverance. Even newspapers had given tips on how to pray. Here is an example of the RAF praying in 1942: click here
It is so easy to pray when your back is to the wall; but the Lord is looking for people who will press forward to gain and secure victories for Him.
May we play our small part in this by making opportunities to lift matters of moment to the Lord whenever we find ourselves with likeminded people – or when in a position to introduce the concept of doing so to God’s people.
04 Thursday Oct 2018
Ros and I love the imaginative news analysis programme in Beyond 100 Days on weekday nights on the BBC News Channel. A few months ago, the team presented two sharply contrasting scenarios of what we could wake up to in Britain on April 1st 2019 immediately following the Brexit deadline. One scenario proceeded serenely well, whilst the other was a catalogue of setbacks and worse. Continue reading
30 Thursday Aug 2018
Prejudices and abuse are not confined to institutions, and certainly not to any one religion, denomination or political stance.
When Ros and I travelled around Pakistan in the 1980’s we were saddened by the suffering of the large number of ‘bonded labourers’ (effectively modern day slaves) who were ‘employed’ in making bricks, but who can never escape their indebtedness to their employers.
See the important work that Barnabas Fund is doing in combatting this, together with an opportunity to contribute towards helping to ransom such a worker. Continue reading
