Archive for the ‘Praying for our nation’ Category
If My People . . .
Posted in Praying for our nation on April 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Is God On Our Side?
Posted in Our Christian witness, Pondering Biblical Truth, Praying for our nation on November 12, 2012| 3 Comments »
Guest post by CCWC & GPCWC Faculty Member, Rick Marschall
The recent election sees half of America crowing in jubilation, and half disappointed. Nothing new, there. For once the media has it right, when headlines proclaim that we are a 50-50 nation. Generally, conservatives and many Christians populate the corps of those who despair. But everyone lives to fight another day – sometimes, they itch to fight; sometimes they grow weary of what democracy has become.
I have the feeling that once the dust settles – the debates, the analysis, the what-ifs, the recriminations, the second-guessing, and such – many people will recognize that 2012 was more of a “consequential” election than any of the prophets could have foreseen. Forget the negative ads, the “ground games,” the media bias. This was the year that America went off the cliff – not only a financial cliff, but a social one.
The resounding, and fateful, votes across America were on the “undercards.” State ballot initiatives OK’d homosexual marriage, legalized recreational marijuana, and censorship of political speech; i.e., contra Citizens United – two approvals of each matter, spread across various states.
No longer can traditional conservatives and Christian patriots direct their complaints at small court majorities or legislatures that might have been influenced in one way or another.
The people are speaking. The rejection of traditional values goes hand-in-hand with the dependency culture, a society that enables various form of vice. In the name of “welcome,” “acceptance,” and non-judgmentalism, we are calling evil good. America will never be the same: throughout history, societies that so self-destruct seldom hit the rewind button.
I try to reconcile the traditional concept of “the Divine Right of Kings” with the democratic age. God does not SEND leaders to peoples in every case; He “allows” leaders and situations and consequences. Which is to say, we get the leaders we deserve. This is axiomatic. What we do to deserve them, and how we cope with consequences, is neither axiomatic nor automatic.
Those whom I gather under the umbrellas of cultural traditionalists and Christian patriots with me would do well to stop complaining about media bias, cynical campaigning practices, and pandering to voting blocs, however true and pernicious those factors are. The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.
WE have let a generation slip away. WE have allowed churches to dilute the message of the gospel so they preach a feel-good, enablement gospel that leaves people without moral compasses. WE have allowed the entertainment media to pollute the sensibilities of audiences. WE have stood by while the educational-industrial complex has gutted schools of the Bible, traditional morality, and nationalism. WE have supported the news media while the commercialization of subversive concepts rolls along. WE have overseen the destruction of the traditional family, the spread of a drug culture, the erosion of personal responsibility.
It is almost ridiculous that, having watched, and often failed to resist, all these trends, that we regard an election whose results we regret and blame politicians or even other voters. Our actions – our inaction – has brought this to pass. How can it be otherwise?
What could we have done, what can we do? A lot. It involves “hurting other peoples’ feelings,” a cardinal sin these days. But Christians have come to the place where they don’t mind offending God, as long as our sinning and suffering neighbors are not offended. It involves yelling out our thoughts at more than our cats, our spouses, and our TV sets – getting in the face of those whom we see as negative influences, from school board candidates to presidents. It involves acting like we love the past, hate the present, and care about the future.
It involves doing what cultural traditionalists and Christian patriots have done through history. Work, sacrifice, fight. And pray, because this is a spiritual crisis more than an electoral contest.
On this Veterans day, with Election Day just behind us, we have a special set of role models before the eyes of our conscience. It always strikes me that many armies in history have been fueled by hatred, but the US military, invariably, suits up and reports for duty in order to liberate, aid, and serve.
“Greater love hath no man than this, than to lay down his life for his fellow man.”
Lamenting the drift of our civil culture, and pausing to honor our veterans, reminds me of the old hymn, “Onward Christian Soldiers.” Its chorus does NOT say, “marching to war,” but “marching AS to war.” Traditionalists and Christian patriots should not necessarily make war, but march for biblical values as if girding for battle.
Abraham Lincoln once said that our concern should not be whether God is on our side, but that we are on God’s side. In the battles to come – and there will be many; there SHOULD be many! – this should be our concern too.
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A moving rendition of the classic hymn that can be an anthem of renewal for citizen-battlers in the fight to reclaim our culture:
Click: Onward, Christian Soldiers
Reprinted by permission from Rick Marschall’s Monday Morning Music Ministry blog. I encourage you to subscribe to his blog for important and insightful articles.
God’s Call and Our Responsibility Hasn’t Changed!
Posted in Called to write, God's promises, Our Christian witness, Praying for our nation on November 7, 2012| 6 Comments »
Whether you feel exhilarated or disappointed by the results of yesterday’s election, one thing is certain–God is continuing to call His people to humble themselves and pray, to seek His face, and to turn from our wicked ways. And His promise is also certain. He will hear. He will forgive. He will heal our land (2 Chron. 7:14).
Many prayer initiatives for our nation have been a hallmark of this election season. I’m praying they will continue and that our resolve to address biblical issues will not fade. “Make the most of your chances to tell others the Good News,” the apostle Paul wrote. But he also said, “Be wise in all your contacts with them. Let your conversation be gracious as well as sensible” (Col. 4:5-6 TLB).
Our nation is bitterly divided by harsh words from both the right and the left. Will you work to bring healing that our nation again will be “one nation under God”? That doesn’t mean compromising what we believe, but rather waiting on the Lord for His answer (Hab. 2:1) and then speaking and writing His truth in love.
Years ago Dennis Rainey asked, “What causes you to pound the table and weep?” Will you commit to write about those things? Whether you write for the editorial page of your newspaper, your blog, your church newsletter, or incorporate your heart burden into a novel as C. Hope Flinchbaugh, Kathi Macias, and Jeanette Windle (all who have served on CCWC and GPCWC’s faculty) so powerfully do in their issues fiction, God can use you to make a difference.
In Him – Marlene
P.S. Click here for a free Bible study handout, “Called to ‘Write His Answer.’”
I encourage you to visit Hope Flinchbaugh’s blog and read today’s post, For God, Family, and Country, the Day After.
What’s Most Important?
Posted in Our Christian witness, Praying for our nation, Uncategorized on November 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »
I just read op-eds on CNN written by Romney and Obama about their vision for the future. Both, of course, are focused on the economy. I too am concerned about the economy. It’s certainly impacted us as a family. Our son was out of work for almost a year. Praise God he’s working again but in South Carolina instead of Delaware. I hate having him and our daughter-in-law 13 hours away. Our old house was on the market for more than two years before it finally sold at close to half of our original asking price.
But as much as I’m concerned about the economy and the national debt that puts us in such a precarious position, I’m even more concerned about biblical issues that cannot be ignored. The powerful ad the Catholic church produced has been redone with Mike Huckabee narrating. I hope you’ll watch it and pass the URL on – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eV0OipvkZE.
Focus on the Family Citizen Link says “it is absolutely critical that we all understand where our candidates stand on the issues that matter to us. See CitizenLinkVoter.com for information on candidates in your state.
Dr. Billy Graham says in a full page ad in many newspapers, “I believe it is vitally important that we cast our ballots for candidates who base their decisions on biblical principles and support the nation of Israel.”
Franklin Graham says, “This Could Be America’s Last Chance” in his October 22 letter.
In a stirring and challenging message Dr. David Jeremiah also urges everyone to “Vote Your Values.”
Father, help us not take for granted our freedom to choose our leaders or to believe the lie that our one vote doesn’t matter. Please draw our nation back to You.
The Danger of Complacency
Posted in Our Christian witness, Praying for our nation on October 26, 2012| 19 Comments »
Have you seen the “First Time” ad that compares a vote for Obama with losing virginity? It’s an attention getter for sure, but a positive one? I hope not!
Our nation is in a moral free fall that is accelerating as we’ve cast aside the biblical principles that were our foundation. We’re like that frog in the kettle of water that has adjusted to the increased temperature and now is close to boiling to death.
In our complacency we’ve adjusted to calling abortion “women’s health care” (including allowing babies born alive in late-term abortions to die). Same-sex marriage, clearly condemned in the Bible, is now acceptable and, in a growing number of states, legal. Religious freedom is in danger of being lost. The national debt continues to spiral out of control and threatens to destroy our nation.
And then there are all the questions concerning Benghazi where our ambassador and three other Americans were killed. “Stand down” CIA operatives were told when help was requested more than once. In today’s “real-time” world, how could the White House not been aware of what was happening?
I cannot be complacent or silent even though I know I risk losing friends. I did not vote for Obama four years ago and will not vote for him now. Yes, I know Mitt Romney is a Mormon, but we are electing a president not a high priest. He and Paul Ryan support the biblical values that I believe are critical if America is to survive.
Father, please help Your people to carefully and prayerfully examine the issues before they enter the voting booth. And please give us the courage of our convictions to say and write what we believe You are calling us to say and write before it’s too late.
Time to Take a Stand
Posted in Our Christian witness, Praying for our nation on October 1, 2012| 5 Comments »
I recently completed a series of 12 devotionals for God’s Word for Today, each based on one or more chapters from Jeremiah 25 – 52. Without a doubt, it was one of the most challenging assignments I’ve ever written. It also was one of the most timely. Jeremiah’s message speaks clearly and powerfully to the need for today’s Christians to take a stand.
In Franklin Graham’s October 1 newsletter entitled “Our Nation Has Lost Its Way” he writes:
One party affirms a belief in the sanctity of life. The other party does not. One party supports the traditional, biblical definition of marriage between one man and one woman. The other party enthusiastically endorses and promotes same-sex marriage.
I will not—cannot—vote for a candidate, regardless of their political affiliation, who supports same-sex marriage and advocates abortion. God will judge our nation if we continue down this path.
Here in Charlotte near our headquarters building, the Democrats held their convention and made a clear choice to leave God and Jerusalem out of their platform. They caught so much criticism from around the country that they moved to reinsert the words but needed a two-thirds majority to make the change. The mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, who was presiding at that time during the convention, asked all in favor to say “aye.” Many voiced their approval. But when he asked all opposed to say “no,” I watched in horror and absolute disbelief at the deafening roar as delegates rejected including any mention of God’s Name. After the mayor called for two more votes, each with the same result, opponents shouted in protest as the mayor wielded his gavel and declared it approved.
I appreciate those delegates at the Democratic convention who stood up by saying “aye.” They were the minority, with the majority clearly rejecting any mention of God. This all happened on national television, and it sent goose bumps up my spine and shock waves across America. When the Prophet Jeremiah warned the Judeans of impending Babylonian captivity, he repeatedly reminded them that their exile would take place because they had forgotten God (Jeremiah 2:32; 3:21; 13:25; 18:15).
Does your vote count? You bet it does. Now is the time for people of faith to stand up for clear biblical standards and for our freedom to live by those standards.
Click here to read all of Franklin Graham’s letter.
Yes, I know there are many challenges facing our nation and there are no easy/quick fixes. So many Americans are out of work. My heart breaks for those who no longer qualify for unemployment checks and whose homes have been foreclosed. But I believe we need to look to the Lord and trust Him. We must not be closet Christians who allow the pressure to be politically correct to silence us from being biblically correct.
There are a number of prayer initiatives leading up to Election Day including http://www.ifmypeople2012.org. I urge you to sign up, to pray daily, and to study the platforms of all the candidates (local as well as national) in light of God’s Word. Will you take your stand? With holy boldness will you write and speak His answer?
Addressing the Issues
Posted in Called to write, Our Christian witness, Praying for our nation on September 25, 2012| 9 Comments »
I’ve watched this youtube video several times. Each time I am deeply stirred. I believe it is one of the most powerful and important videos ever produced. I encourage you to watch it and to ask Father how He wants you to respond to its message.
To keep in mind: Webster’s definition of catholic is “of, relating to, or forming the church universal; relating to, or forming the ancient undivided Christian church.” I respect my Roman Catholic brothers and sisters and join with them in taking a stand for life, but I also challenge all followers of Jesus Christ to remember that it is by our love the world will come to know Him.
Below is an article I wrote over 20 years ago that was published in Standard, Vista, and Lookout.
What About the Mom?
“More than one million abortions are performed in the United States each year!”
The young woman continued, with compelling conviction, to speak of the rights of the unborn child—the child created in God’s image. She cited Scripture and historical documents to prove her points and to show how, until the last two decades, the church had stood against abortion.
I was glad my church was taking a stand and that the pastor had invited this young woman to speak. I agreed with everything she was saying, but my heart cringed at the way she said it. I looked around trying to read the faces near me, but in my mind’s eye I only saw the face of a dear friend. I remembered the haunted look in her eyes.
“Can you have lunch with me?” she asked after the close of one of the weekly Bible studies I led. “I need to talk to someone.”
For the past few weeks Linda* had been unusually quiet and pale. I had been worried about her.
“I’d love to,” I replied. “But please don’t fuss.”
I didn’t need to worry. When we got to her house, I was amazed at the clutter. Linda always had been a fastidious housekeeper.
“What’s troubling you, Linda?” I asked. “You haven’t been yourself for weeks.”
Her eyes became even more haunted. “I—I haven’t told this to anyone,” she said. “Please promise me you won’t repeat it. I feel so awful for what I’ve done.” She began to sob.
I took her hands in mine. “Nothing you have done could be that awful,” I said.
“But it is! God will never forgive me. I’ll never forgive myself.”
Haltingly she told me how she hadn’t been feeling well. When she went to the doctor, she learned she was pregnant.
“After Susan* was born, Tom* and I decided three children were enough. We were taking precautions to prevent me getting pregnant again. But—but I was, and the doctor said it wasn’t a normal pregnancy. He recommended an abortion.”
I waited in silence as Linda struggled to control her sobs.
“I didn’t want to have one, but the doctor kept saying it was for the best—that my own health was being endangered. It was awful. Not just the physical pain, but the feeling that a part of me was being ripped from me. It wasn’t easy like he said it would be and—and it’s never going to be easy again. I can’t live with myself during the day or sleep at night. I want to die.”
“No, Linda. No you don’t,” I said trying to comfort her. “This time will pass. You’ll see.”
Linda just shook her head as tears continued to stream down her cheeks.
“You did what the doctor recommended. God knows that. He isn’t condemning you.”
“I killed my baby,” she sobbed. “How can God forgive me for that?”
I prayed with her and tried to assure her of God’s forgiveness. We talked for another hour but I’m not sure anything I said helped.
Linda never again mentioned the abortion. I could feel her shame and embarrassment. It was obvious she wished I’d just forget what she had told me. Eventually she moved and I lost touch with her. But I never forgot her.
My thoughts flashed back to the present. Were there other Linda’s in the congregation—women who had made the decision to abort based on a doctor’s recommendation? Were they still struggling with the guilt that had nearly destroyed Linda? And what of the ones who were victims of rape or incest? Or those who had been frightened unwed mothers?
I’ll probably never know how those words affected the women who were listening that day, but I do know how they affected me. I saw how I was guilty of using the same strong rhetoric as the speaker. In my crusade to save the lives of unborn babies, I had undoubtedly inflicted pain on the mothers who had aborted them. Instead of ministering comfort and hope, I, too, had spoken words of accusation and condemnation.
“God, forgive me,” I prayed. “Help me to care not just about the unborn baby but also about the mom—to love her as much as You do.”
_________________
*Names have been changed.
As Election day approaches, I believe it is critically important that we not be silent about the issues that concern us. Father, give us a holy boldness to be “biblically” rather than “politically” correct. Help us to speak and write words that are “gracious as well as sensible” (Col. 4:8 TLB) and that will draw our nation back to you.
Check out America for Jesus, “a national solemn assembly” in Philadelphia, September 28-29 – http://www.afj2012.org/
Burdened for Our Nation
Posted in Praying for our nation on August 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »
“Our society strives to avoid any possibility of offending anyone—except God. Yet the farther we get from God, the more the world spirals out of control.” – Billy Graham
If you’ve not read Billy Graham’s July 24 prayer letter, “My Heart Aches for America,” I urge you to click here.
When Craig von Buseck asked at this year’s Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference how many believe our culture is in peril, most every hand was raised. The question now is, “What would Father have us do?”
I’m often reminded of the words of a dear friend who grew up in Switzerland prior to the start of World War II. She said, “The church in Germany saw what was happening, but the church in Germany was silent.”
For such a time as this I believe it is critical that we “humble ourselves and pray.” But as Craig asks in his book, Praying the News, how do our prayers become effective? “First of all,” he writes, “it is through having a daily intimate relationship with Jesus—by what He called ‘abiding in the Vine’ that we bear much fruit for the Kingdom. . . . To try and pray and minister apart from an intimate relationship with Jesus is to have a ‘works-oriented’ ministry, which Jesus calls a ‘dried-up branch.’ This striving in our own power and effort will bear little eternal fruit.”
Lord Jesus, please help us to make our relationship with You top priority. Save us from complacency and stir us to action. Please help us to “write Your answer.”
In Him – Marlene
Important P.S. – limited number of copies of Craig’s book, Praying the News, are available through Write His Answer Ministries on a first-come basis for $10 (one-third off the retail price of $15). I’ll be glad to include a CD of Craig’s keynote address, “Praying the News,” plus the two CDs from “A Culture in Peril” Thursday Special that Craig led for an additional $7 – a total of $17 (postage paid) for the book and three CDs. PA residents please include 6% sales tax. Make your check or money order payable to GPCWC and mail to 951 Anders Road, Lansdale, PA 19446.
A sense of urgency
Posted in Called to write, Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Our Christian witness, Praying for our nation on July 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Please make time to read Joel Rosenberg’s blog. Below is just a portion of his July 23 post that so resonates with what I believe Father has been speaking to my heart.
I am deeply concerned for our nation and feel such a sense of urgency that we must “write His answer” – now while the doors to print and distribute Christian literature and the Internet are still open. It’s why I continue directing the Colorado and Philly Christian Writers Conferences even though I am old enough to retire. J But I can’t and won’t retire from the work Father is calling me to do or turn people away because they can’t afford to come.
If you’re already registered, please pass this on to your friends.
If you live within a couple of hours of Langhorne, PA, please tell your friends and church family about our Thursday Specials that are for ALL concerned Christians – not just writers. The issues they will address are critically important.
It you’re not yet registered, it’s not too late. Walk-ins are welcome, and I will waive the additional $15 walk-in fee if you bring a copy of this email or blog. Come just for a day if that’s all your schedule allows. Or for one of the morning or evening keynotes that are free of charge. You can register online.
And pray!
Please pray for the people of Aurora and the testimony of God’s people to bring hope and comfort.
Please pray for the August 1-4 conference and for our faculty and staff.
And please pray for our nation!
From Joel Rosenburg’s July 23 blog:
Is this evidence of the early stages of cultural implosion? I believe it is. As I note in “Implosion: Can America Recover From Its Economic & Spiritual Challenges In Time?”, “Alarm bells are going off all around us. Lights on the dashboard are flashing, Warning! Warning! Yet America is sleeping through the alarms, blind to the warning lights. And tragically, for the most part, the Church — God’s chosen instrument to bless individuals, families, communities, and nations — is asleep as well. I shudder to imagine where we are heading if we don’t wake up soon, plead for the Lord’s forgiveness, and ask Him to use us to love our neighbors and revitalize our country….”If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:145)….America is on the brink of collapse. We desperately need God’s mercy. Without His grace, we will implode. It’s not a matter of if but when. Thus, now is the time we must urgently ask the Lord to give us a sweeping series of spiritual revivals in every part of our nation that will culminate in a Third Great Awakening. Whether God decides to say yes is up to Him. But let us not compound our many national sins by failing to get on our faces before Him and implore Him to pour out His Holy Spirit and save us from disaster.”
Looking to Jesus, the only answer – Marlene
Praying the News
Posted in Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Our Christian witness, Praying for our nation on July 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Why? Why would a twenty-four-year-old enter a theater in Aurora and begin shooting?
Oh Father, show me how to pray . . .
Impacting Our World Through the Power of Prayer
Donna Brennan interviews GPCWC keynoter Craig von Buseck
It’s easy to become fearful, angry, or cynical when watching the news. It can make us want to retreat from the larger world or to stop watching the news altogether. But Craig von Buseck, Director of Ministry for CBN.com and one of the Keynoters at the August 1-4 Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference, offers us another option: intercessory prayer.
As he shows in his new book Praying the News: Your Prayers are More Powerful Than You Know, co-authored with Wendy Girffith of CBN News, prayer can change people, transform communities, and solve problems facing our world. By praying to impact headlines, we impact more than just the way the news is reported – we impact the actual events that make up those headlines.
I contacted Craig to ask him questions about his book and his Keynote Address, “Praying the News,” Thursday, August 2, at 7:30 pm in Chatlos Chapel on the campus of Philadelphia Biblical University in Langhorne. (The community is welcome to come free of charge.) Here are his answers.
Question: What do you mean by “praying the news”?
We live at a time in history when it is critical for the Church to learn to be led by the Spirit in prayer. God wants to raise up a company of intercessors to pray the news – which is to watch, read, or listen to the news, then to intercede for God’s will to be done in the issues we face today. God desires for His people to be so in tune with His Spirit that we are actually praying His will in advance of world events. By cooperating with God in prayer, we are actually helping to shape those events in the spirit realm. God is seeking prayer warriors who will agree with Him in faith to make an impact on the course of history through their intercession by walking in the Spirit. The apostle Paul wrote of the privilege and importance of the believer to live in the Spirit in Romans 8: “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14, NASB)
Far too often, the Church has been reactionary in our prayers. A tragedy or a disaster happens and believers react with ‘catch-up prayers.’ But we serve the God who sees the end from the beginning. He desires for us to become so in-tune with His Spirit that we are praying His perfect will in a circumstance before it ever occurs in the natural. But this sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit only comes by maintaining a daily, intimate relationship with our Father and our Lord.
Question: I’m just one person. Can my prayers really make that much of a difference in political decisions, crime levels, and major weather events?
Yes, they can! As we say in the subtitle of the book, “your prayers are more powerful than you know.” Scripture says, “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results” (James 5:16, NLT.) Throughout the book we give numerous examples, both from Scripture and from modern times, where individuals prayed fervently in faith and they saw the headlines change as a result.
Question: If I pray for one kind of result and my neighbor across the street prays for a different result, aren’t our prayers just canceling each other out?
All prayer comes under the sovereignty of God. We don’t dictate to God. Instead, we pray as Jesus taught us: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done.” When we take an issue to God in prayer we leave it in His hands and He decides to answer that prayer in His way and in His timing.
Question: What are some important components of intercessory prayer? Does your book suggest concrete ways to do this?
As we put the First Commandment first; to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength – He then empowers us by His Spirit to fulfill the Second Commandment; to love our neighbor (and our city, our nation, and this world) by being led by the Spirit in intercession.
Judson Cornwall writes of the importance of Spirit-led intercession that flows from us as a result of abiding in God. “There are times when we desperately need to know more than what God is doing and saying. We need to know God, for He works according to His nature and will, and only an understanding of that nature and will enables us to be involved with Him before His actions are demonstrated. We do not need to have great knowledge of God to know what God is saying if He is saying it publicly, but if God chooses to withhold communicated knowledge and yet we know the heart of God, there will be an intuitive or spiritual understanding that gives us knowledge out of relationship with God, not too unlike the understanding that develops between a husband and wife who have lived in a loving relationship for many years.”
It is this kind of heart that God is seeking in His people today – a heart that cries, “I want to know You, God. And I want to serve You, my Lord.” By walking in this type of love relationship with God, we position ourselves to be used by God on the earth. This is especially true in the realm of intercessory prayer.
Question: If I’m not a pastor or a prophet, what authority or right do I have to pray these intercessory prayers and expect results?
God has chosen to use every individual in the Church as His tool to communicate His love to the world. The apostle Paul speaks of our role as individual ministers of reconciliation and God’s ambassadors: “…who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20, NASB).
That is why we pray, “Thy kingdom come.” By doing so, we are placing ourselves in agreement with God’s plan for the earth. By praying the news, we stand up in the Spirit and declare, “thy will be done” in every issue that we face. C. S. Lewis referred to this kind of intercessory prayer as being “God’s fellow-worker” in the world. When we enter into the ministry of praying the news, we become “God’s fellow-worker” in this ministry of reconciliation. Lewis explains that to enter into intercession is to go from being a suitor – one who prays on his own behalf – to being a true servant of the Lord. “…the vast majority of the time, Jesus, who is our example, plays the part of the servant, interceding for others.”
This intercession is part of the Priesthood ministry of Jesus that continues to this day: “But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them”(Hebrews 7:24-25, NKJV). God invites us to join with him in this ministry of reconciliation. And we too have a role to play as priests before God – standing as representatives of fallen man, crying out to heaven for mercy.
Question: Can I “Pray the News” from the privacy of my own home? Or does it sometimes require something more?
Scripture directs us to “…pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17, NASB). Does this mean that we have to stop all human activity and just pray all the time? No, the Apostle Paul is encouraging us to always be ready to pray when the Holy Spirit moves on our heart to do so. The Bible says, “Your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left” (Isaiah 30:21, NASB). That is how the Holy Spirit leads us in prayer. So it doesn’t matter where you pray – just be obedient to intercede as the Holy Spirit directs you, and you will see God move as a result.
Question: In your recent book, Netcasters: Using the Internet to Make Fishers of Men, you talk about ways to reach others for Christ through the internet. Can some of these same methods be used to find fellow prayer warriors to join together in prayer?
Absolutely. The Internet has become a 21st century Roman road. But it is also a worldwide marketplace, a theater, front porch and backyard fence, and an office water cooler. The World Wide Web can be like an electronic train terminal connecting you to intercessors around the world and providing the crucial means for people to agree together in prayer.
One of the most powerful aspects of praying the news is the power of agreement in intercession. Jesus declared, “If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you” (Matt. 18:19, NLT). As people watch or read the same news story around the world, then pray for God’s will to be done in that situation, tremendous spiritual power is released. The Internet can aid in this process, first by bringing awareness to news stories, both through traditional news outlets and through person-to-person contact, then as a communication platform allowing people to agree in prayer.
Question: Of course we all know stories of how prayer impacted events in Biblical times, but what are some examples of ways prayer has made a difference in newsworthy events in recent years?
During one of the darkest moments during World War Two, in May of 1940, the Nazis had trapped 400,000 British and French troops between the cliffs and the sea at Dunkirk on France’s north coast. If those troops had been killed or captured, Britain would have fallen to the Germans. All of Europe would have been under the iron rule of the Nazis before the United States even entered into World War Two. At this critical time, God raised up a man named Rees Howells of the Bible College of Wales to lead intercession in Britain. Howells took the initiative to organize nightly intercessory prayer meetings with his students. He instructed them: “God will not do a bit more through you than you have faith for. … You are more responsible for this victory today than those men on the battlefield.” He added, “I feel tonight that whatever the Nazis do, they cannot escape the Holy Spirit.” Soon prayer meetings were being held across Great Britain in response to Howells’ leadership.
Howell’s group poured their hearts out to God for hours every day, and soon much of the nation joined in. Parliament recognized the need for God’s intervention and called for a national day of prayer. Suddenly there was a change in the course of the war. Instead of wiping out the troops as he could have, Hitler held his army back, content to bomb Dunkirk instead. During that time, ships, yachts, and even rowboats evacuated 338,000 troops across the English Channel – as the water remained miraculously calm. Hitler’s behavior made no military sense. It was clear that God intervened in response to the prayers of believers.
We also share a more recent story in the book of how God changed the town of Manchester, Kentucky, as a result of united prayer. Community leaders had enough of their city being overrun by drug dealers, so they called for the people of the community to come together to march through town to intercede. On that day, several thousand citizens marched in prayer, singing hymns and praise songs. In what many believe was the key to the success of that march, pastors from every denomination stopped in the city’s park and repented. They asked God to forgive them for being more concerned about their buildings and programs than the Kingdom of God and the people. “Lord,” one minister prayed, “as pastors, as churches, as Christians and citizens, we have too long hid our heads in the sand and not stood up to the evil and the poison of drugs in this county and this community.”
The moment the pastors and people repented, something in the Spirit broke in Manchester, Kentucky that changed that community forever. Drug arrests went up by 300 percent in the first year. Drug dealers started getting saved and coming to church. Corrupt politicians were arrested or voted out of office. The story of Manchester aired on The 700 Club, inspiring other towns with the same problems to hold their own marches. Thousands of people e-mailed, called, or literally showed up at Community Church in Manchester saying, “This is where I heard I can find hope.” Suddenly, the town that had been hopeless was giving hope.
We share many more stories of people who prayed the news like this and literally saw the headlines change.
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Craig will also be teaching a 2-part workshop on Narrative Nonfiction on Thursday and Friday, August 2-3, at 1:00 pm. This exciting new genre lets your true story read like a novel. This is the style Craig used when writing his upcoming narrative biography on Holocaust survivor, Nina Morecki.
For more information on the August 1-4 conference and to register for the workshops (the keynotes are free of charge), please visit www.writehisanswer.com. Mention this blog when you register online or at the door and take $10 off the price that increases July 22. And please consider coming to the Thursday Special, “A Culture in Peril,” from 10:00 am to noon, August 2. Rather than a traditional lecture, this is a forum where we will grieve for our nation’s ills and encourage each other as God’s warriors to defend biblical principles
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