The Cost of Restoration of a Nation

Posted by Dale Hardy on November 28, 2012 at 11:33

The Cost of Restoration – Hosea 3

Introduction: In this chapter Hosea compares his own marriage to the marriage of Israel (any nation) to the harlot known as idolatry (secularism, etc.)

God tells Hosea the following things that will be the cost of seeing the land restored.

First, you are to love her again even though she has lived in adultery. In fact she has worshipped the idols of the nation and eaten the raisin cakes. (Raisin cakes were used in temple prostitution.) This means that she (the nation) has loved the ways of the world and has tasted the fruit of materialism. She has been drawn to the desire to have more. (v. 1) Restoration of a nation will be done by a people who love the nation unconditionally.

Second, you are to redeem her for whatever the price is. Hosea had to pay 15 shekels (about 6 ounces) in silver and a homer and a half (about 430 pounds) to redeem (pay the price of taking her out of the life of prostitution). To Hosea this was a heavy price and likely took all that he had to redeem her. This is the same kind of price that a nation will have to pay for the redemption of the nation. (v. 2) Restoration of a nation will exact a heavy price for those wanting to see it restored.

Third, after she has been redeemed Hosea told her that she could not be a harlot anymore and that he would not have sex with her. After redemption the participants will have to give up the very thing that they love most for a time. This is fasting. (v. 3) Restoration comes when His people give up what they love best by fasting it.

Fourth, when the restoration process is going on, the nation will be without leadership. (King or prince) This will be a most difficult time for the nation. Yet it is necessary. (v. 4a) Restoration of a nation comes after a time of leaderlessness because God wants to rise up the leaders.

Fifth, in the restoration process there will be no formal religious things. (Hosea says there will be no sacrifice or sacred pillar or ephod or household gods.) In other words all objects of religion will be gone. This is so that God can start with a fresh slate. (v. 4b) Restoration comes with a time of the lack of formalized and centralized religion. A take on this will be that the house church will become prominent and that there will be limited or no central church structure. (A prophet friend of mine told me this.)

Sixth, after this time of no national leadership or religious leadership the people of the nation will return to God. Not in a half-baked way but with a deepness. The will seek Him. Seeking God means that they will have an active and continuous pursuit of God until they find Him. (v. 5a) Restoration will come when there is national repentance.

Seventh, the people of the nation will come to God with trembling (quaking, fear, guilt, etc.). Then God will supply them with His goodness until the end of days. This implies a great revival in the land. That would be a third great awakening. (v. 5b) Restoration comes after a national repentance and revival.

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY PRAYER BULLETIN NOVEMBER UPDATE plus Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Zimbabwe

Posted by Ron Clough on November 28, 2012 at 2:35

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 187 | Wed 28 Nov 2012

by Elizabeth Kendal

WELCOME to the intercessors who have joined the list this month.

'For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.' (Romans 8:38,39 ESV)

NOVEMBER 2012 UPDATE - During November we prayed concerning . . .

* EGYPT (RLPB 184), where Salafis (hard-line fundamentalist Muslims) are kidnapping Coptic girls for forced conversion and marriage to Muslims. Surely this is every Christian parent's and every Christian girl's worst nightmare. Please pray against this evil.

UPDATE: Morning Star News (MSN) reports on another trend of Islamic fundamentalist women wearing niqabs (a black face covering, with only a narrow slit for the eyes) attacking Coptic girls and women on trains. MSN knows of three incidents in the past month. In one attack, a 16-year-old Coptic girl was attacked on her way to school by two niqab-wearing women who cut off her hair. About a week later, a 13-year-old girl was attacked in the same way. Then on 10 November two of these women attacked Nareman Smoul (30) as she was travelling to collect her daughter from an evangelical school. After abusing her as an 'infidel', the Muslim women pushed Nareman to the floor, cut off her hair and then kicked her off the train causing her to break her arm. Of course the criminals cannot be identified because they were wearing niqabs.

* ERITREA (RLPB 185), after another Christian prisoner died in custody. We also prayed for Christians caught up in the refugee-trafficking crisis.

UPDATE: On 21 November Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported that Philemon Semere (22), an practising Christian Eritrean refugee, was abducted by traffickers in Sudan while en route to Israel. Philemon is being held by Bedouin traffickers in one of several purpose-built torture-extortion centres operating with impunity in the Sinai. He is being beaten and tortured by captors who are demanding US$25,000 ransom while threatening to take a kidney from him if the money is not forthcoming. According to CSW, 'When payments are not forthcoming, vital organs are illegally harvested in unhygienic conditions, generally resulting in the death of the person concerned.' Pray that Egypt will be forced to stamp out this obscene criminal activity. (Pray Isaiah 59:15b-19.)

* SUDAN (RLPB 186), where President Omar el-Bashir is waging a genocidal jihad against the predominantly Christian Africans (non-Arabs) of the 'new south' (Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile). This obscene genocide, which employs aerial bombardment, ethnic cleansing, government-engineered famine and denial of humanitarian aid, attracts virtually no international attention. It is quite unbelievable that the international community can stand idly by while this Islamist and racist regime bombs and starves its citizens, killing tens of thousands and displacing hundreds of thousands. Pray for God himself to intervene directly. (Pray Psalm 10.)

UPDATE: Between 20-22 November the Sudan Air Force bombed civilian targets in South Sudan's northern Bahr El Ghazal State, killing at least seven people. According to Persecution Project, 16 people were killed and many more were wounded. Sudan Tribune reports that thousands of terrified civilians have deserted their villages and are fleeing towards the state capital, Aweil. Whilst Khartoum denies bombing the South (witnessed by Reuters journalists) it has not responded to the South's accusation that Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) troops are massing along the border near Raja in Raja County in Western Bahr el Ghazal. The SAF may well be ethnically cleansing the area ahead of a military incursion aimed at capturing it. South Sudan's army is on high alert.

NOVEMBER 2012 ROUND-UP - also this month . . .

* KENYA: TERROR ESCALATES

On Sunday 4 November Islamic militants launched a grenade at 10 am into the church in the Administrative Police compound in Garissa. The grenade hit Chaplain Julius Mukonzi in the head, exploding and killing him instantly. Eleven others were injured, three critically. Police suspect militants from Somalia's al-Shabaab are responsible. Morning Star News reports: 'The Garissa Pastors Fellowship released a statement saying that more than 20 Christians in the city have recently lost their lives to Islamic terrorist attacks.' On Sunday 18 November a bomb filled with ball-bearings exploded on a bus in Eastleigh, the commercial centre of Nairobi's ethnic Somali population, killing nine. Almost immediately ethnic Kenyans were rioting, attacking ethnic Somalis in the street, accusing them of being aligned with al-Shabaab. Security is deteriorating and tensions are soaring.

* NIGERIA

KADUNA: TWIN CHURCH BOMBING KILLS ELEVEN

On Sunday 25 November a bus and car drove into the Jaji military barracks in Kaduna, after convincing the guards they were conveying equipment to the church. The bus drove up to the wall of St Andrews Protestant Church and exploded just as the service was ending; there were no casualties. Ten minutes later, however, as worshippers gathered around the bombed-out bus, the car exploded nearby, killing at least 11 people (possibly as many as 20) with some 60 wounded. The church, which serves military personnel and their families as well as civilians in Jaji, is about 40km north of Kaduna City. Morning Star News adds that Rev. Titus Sambo and Israel Olaleye, both students at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Kaduna, were amongst those killed.

KANO: A MISPRONUNCIATION LEADS TO RIOTS

On 22 November an Igbo tailor working in the town of Bichi near Kano in the north, mispronounced the Hausa name for a popular garment. [Igbos are southerners and mostly Christian.] The Hausa [northern Muslims] who heard it were incensed and rioted claiming it was a blasphemy. The Igbo tailor was macheted to death and then seven churches, eight businesses and a house were torched.

* PAKISTAN: ACCUSED OF BLASPHEMY WHILE PREACHING

Morning Star News reported on 9 November that Karma Patras (55), an evangelist from Nankana District in Punjab Province, has been languishing in prison since his arrest on 13 October over a gospel message that offended Muslims. Patras was addressing a Christian funeral gathering when some Muslims in attendance objected to his reference to the sacrificial death of Christ. [Islam not only maintains that Jesus was not crucified, it states that Jesus, when he returns, will wage war against those who say he was. http://quran.com/4/157-159 ] Patras narrowly escaped being beaten but was arrested at his home later that day. A Muslim mob subsequently besieged the Sangla Hill Police Station, demanding that Patras be turned over to them so they could lynch him. However, Patras had already been transferred out of the area. Due to death threats, Patras' extended family, which includes many children, has been forced to flee.

SOMALIA: YET ANOTHER MARTYR

On Friday 16 November Al-Shabaab militants publicly beheaded Farhan Haji Mose (25) after accusing him of being a spy and leaving Islam to embrace the 'foreign religion of Christianity'. According to Morning Star News, Mose had converted to Christianity in 2010 during time spent in Kenya. Pray for the church in Somalia.

ZIMBABWE: GOD BREAKS THROUGH

Harare's Anglicans returned to their churches on Sunday 25 November after the Supreme Court ruled that the excommunicated pro-Mugabe bishop Nolbert Kunonga, who had seized control of the properties by force some five years ago, must return the properties to the Anglican Church. For background and details see 'Zimbabwe: let justice roll on' (Religious Liberty Monitoring, 20 Nov 2012 http://elizabethkendal.blogspot.com.au ). Anglican spokesman Mr Precious Shumba said they had not met any resistance from most priests aligned to Kunonga. Some renegade priests even expressed repentance and have sought re-integration into the Anglican Church. This will require a process of truth, reconciliation, re-education and re-commitment. Kunonga had incurred bills amounting to some $300,000. The legitimate Bishop of Harare, Bishop Chad Gandiya, praised God for this breakthrough. Let us also give thanks!

To view this RLPB with hyperlinks, go to Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog at http://rlprayerbulletin.blogspot.com

We usually provide a summary to use in news-sheets unable to run the whole of an RLPB. As a summary is not practicable with this monthly update posting we suggest one or more of the above items be used instead.

For more information, updates and helpful links see Elizabeth Kendal's blog 'Religious Liberty Monitoring'

http://elizabethkendal.blogspot.com

Previous RLPBs may be viewed at http://rlprayerbulletin.blogspot.com

This RLPB was written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (AEA RLC) by Elizabeth Kendal, an international religious liberty analyst and advocate, and a member of the AEA RLC team.

Elizabeth is Adjunct Research Fellow in the Centre for the Study of Islam and Other Faiths at the Melbourne School of Theology.

For Critical Prayer Requests (CPR) for the nations, see http://criticalprayerrequests.blogspot.com.au/

If this bulletin was forwarded to you, you may receive future weekly issues direct by sending a blank email to

<join-rlpb@hub.xc.org>.

Pastors Loving Politicians - Bridging the "Separation" Divide

Posted by Eric Neale Moore on November 27, 2012 at 16:08

Pastor Loving Politicians - Bridging the "Separation" Divide

By Eric Neale Moore

(Please ask your Pastor to read this!)

His name was Bob and he didn't know what to make of me at first.

Bob was the city manager for the Detroit suburb where I lived. Even though I had been pastoring in this community for several years we had not met. I was a little nervous when I called his office and asked for an appointment with him. When his secretary asked the purpose of the meeting, I fumbled some answer about wanting to talk about some issues going on in the community.

What I really wanted was to get to know him and find out how I could pray for him. I didn't know if he would meet with me if I said that was the reason. I was just some young pastor who was disconnected from the local political scene. But something deeper was going on with me that compelled me to call to set up this meeting.

A Deeper Thing Growing Within Me

For a few years I had been studying the spiritual history of my community. What I learned changed the way I prayed. I learned about patterns of sin and conflict, and about leaders, both political and church, that set unhealthy examples. I could see old patterns continuing to repeat themselves. So I set myself to praying for the breaking of these patterns and for new healthy ways to be established in our community.

In my studying I learned about sacred assemblies. The Biblical idea of a sacred assembly had been practiced frequently in American history. A sacred assembly is a gathering of a community or nation in which they corporately confess and repent of their community's sins. These assemblies happened frequently in American history whenever a tragedy occurred - a murder, a rape, a devastating storm. The community would come together to confess, to ask God for mercy and to heal their community. It sounded to me like a very practical application of II Chronicles 7:14.

I led my church to do a sacred assembly. WOW! Let me say again, WOW! We really prepared ourselves for that day. Fasting, preparing our hearts, thinking and talking about what needed to change in us and in our community.

The evening of the sacred assembly changed me forever.

I had never felt the presence of the Lord like that - so real, to the point of overwhelming. I knew that we had done something that had touched the heart of God. Humility, confession-these were keys that that invoked the loving presence and grace of God. These Biblical principles were becoming my experience - for real! Life changing, ministry altering realities.

One of the things that shifted in me during this time was that I now saw myself not just pastoring a church, but also pastoring a community.

Shifting What Was Developing In Me to the World Around Me

That was going on in my heart, mind and spirit when I set up an appointment to meet with Bob. I KNEW Bob needed my prayers. He couldn't do his job the way God wanted it done without the prayers of pastors and Christians aiding him. That's why God gave us I Timothy 2:1-4. The spiritual battle in our community was real and God had not left us without weapons capable of winning!

When Bob and I met it was a very cordial meeting. I shared with him that I was there because I wanted to honor him, thank him for his leadership, and to find out how I could pray specifically for our city. AND I didn't want anything (that always throws a government leader off guard, LOL!).

He answered my question in non-specific terms about some financial challenges the city was facing and some leadership shifts happening in the police department. I could tell that he genuinely appreciated my visit and the moral and spiritual support I was offering. I could also tell that he was a bit guarded and that trust would have to be developed with him over time by being consistent and committed and honorable with him.

That was the first of many meetings. Bob and I developed a safe and delightful relationship. Trust and ease marked this friendship. I would drop by his office and get the latest items to pray for, and it was not too long before I felt comfortable to pray with him right in his office.

Two events that stand out from that season shaped the way that I love leaders and pray for government

We had a guest speaker come to our church for a series of meetings. During the day on Friday we had some free time so I scheduled four business and governmental leaders to come to our facility to be prayed for. Bob was one of them. He sat in a chair and we gathered around him and laid our hands on him. For about 15 minutes we prayed and God gave us very specific things to pray and to speak into his life and leadership. When we finished Bob looked up with tears in his eyes and said, "wow". We had touched the core of his heart and had spoken to issues that had great concern for him.

I learned that day a poignant lesson about loving government leaders by inviting them into a powerful place of love and God's presence. Our leaders need that. But they will probably only venture there with someone they know and trust.

Please listen to me, pastors! You have the opportunity to affect the lives of government leaders. Your position as PASTOR creates a door of opportunity that no one else in your community has. Government leaders will return your call. They see you as they see themselves - leaders in the community! They just don't know the power of God you can bring them when you will love them and pray for them.

Please, pastors! Set an appointment to meet with your mayor, or state representative, or state senator. Begin a relationship in which you invest in them and authentically relate to them. Then invite them to your church (after the election, not before) so you can honor them, thank them and pray for them.

How would Lansing be different if all our 110 state representatives and 38 state senators went to work next year having been to one of our churches where they were prayed for by the people of God?

One Last Part of the Story

God let me experience the power of prayer. A significant tension was brewing in our community. A Hatfield-McCoy type feud existed between two newspapermen. Our suburb had five newspapers!! Two men were using their newspapers to attack and malign each other. It was really ugly. Neighbors were putting up signs in their yards saying essentially, "Don't put that paper in my yard".

People were aligning themselves with one side or the other. The city commissioners were up for re-election. One side of the feud created a slate of four candidates running for the offices. If they were elected it would take the tension to a whole new level.

A handful of leaders and I from our church began to pray in earnest that these four would not be elected and that the tension would end. We prayed for several weeks. I would walk through the downtown area stopping to pray in key locations - outside buildings where the trouble was brewing.

During that time I read REES HOWELL, INTERCESSOR by Norman Grubb. Rees was an amazing man of prayer that led a ministry school in England during WWII. On four key occasions Rees and his students prayed specifically for God to intervene and turn the direction of the war. They wrestled in prayer for hours, even days, until they knew the victory was won in the heavenlies. God would lead them to stop praying even though the physical victory was yet to be realized. Rees and the intercessors would begin celebrating. Within a day or two, the Nazis would lose a major battle or miss a key opportunity. Historians call these four events -Hitler's Blunders! Key events of WWII turned on the prayers of God's faithful prayer warriors!!!

Well, I had a Rees Howell moment! The day before the election I began my usual prayer walk through downtown. I sensed the Lord saying to me, "Stop praying. The battle is won". Because I was new at this I doubted what I was sensing, so I kept praying. But the prayer had no power. The Lord kept telling me the victory was won. After several false starts at trying to muster up conviction to keep praying. I finally decided to agree with what I sensed from God. So I got in my car and did a victory lap around the downtown area - Yelling and praising like I had just won. A day later the results of the election proved God to be true!!!

The rest of the story is that these leaders moved away, the tension evaporated and the crisis has become a distant memory.

Pastor, you are a bridge across the "separation" of church and state. You can lead the way for a proper, honorable relationship between church and state. When we approach government leaders in a non-partisan, no agenda, loving, life giving way, we give the true, essential, powerful nature of the Church to serve government. That helps government flourish so they in turn can function in a way that frees the Church to operate in a quiet and peaceable environment, which pleases God who longs for everyone to be saved. (See I Timothy 2:1-4).

I can see it...

Eric Neale Moore

Founder, Culture of Honor

http://www.cultureofhonor.org

Restoration of a Nation

Posted by Dale Hardy on November 27, 2012 at 10:57

This is a powerful passage of Scripture that tells us what will happen to a nation that repents and returns to the Lord.

A Flow of Events:

First, He will draw the nation into a wilderness experience. He will allow the desolation (see chapter 1:2-11 to see what the desolation will be) of what has happened to draw to a place where He can speak His love to

the unrepentant nation. Specifically when the nation comes to the end of their ability to cope, He will draw them to Himself. (v. 14)

Second, He says that He will restore the crops to the valley of Achor (land of trouble). When the crops begin to grow again this will give a little hope to the nation. In other words it will be a miracle that crops will grow again. (v. 15)

Third, the nation will sing like they did in the days that they began. In other words the nation will return to their first love. For America we began as a nation that wanted to worship God as they saw fit. That will become the call of the heart of the repentant nation. (v. 15b)

Fourth, when the joy of the Lord returns after repentance the Lord will return for His bride. We will call Him our husband because that is what we were meant to do. We are therefore submissive to Him as the bride of Christ. That means that we will no longer call Him Baali or master. We will not treat Him like an evil god but your own God. (v. 16)

Fifth, when the believers return as the bride to the husband, the Lord will remove all of the Baal’s (false masters) from her mouth. This means that the treasure of evil that is stored in the heart will be exchanged for the treasure of God. It will be exchanged for Intimacy with the Father. On this day the sin of hoarding evil in your heart will be overwhelmed by the Lord. Intimacy with the Father is the only way to do this. (v. 17)

A thought: The return of God to a nation requires them to be intimate with Him. God’s people need to move in the direction of intimacy with the Father instead of intimacy with the things of the world. We are in the world but not of the world.

Sixth, when a nation repents the Lord will give the people a covenant (a promise) to live in safety before Him. The beasts of the field, the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground will live in harmony with the repentant nation. (v. 18)
Seventh, He will abolish the weapons of war so that everyone can sleep in peace. (v. 18b)

Eighth, He will make that nation His bride and it will last forever. It will be a marriage that is based on righteousness, justice, love and compassion. These are the four greatest things to have in any marriage. The Father will give us these things because He is the perfect husband. (v. 19)

Ninth, this marriage will be based upon faithfulness. In other words the bride will “know” the Lord. This experience of knowing comes from intimacy that is based upon obedience to Him. Obedience is obtained from being righteous. (You can’t be righteous without being owned.) Righteousness comes from giving up your own personal rights and preferences and accepting His preferences. What breaks the heart of God breaks your heart. He always responds to a repentant nation. (v. 20)

A thought: God promises to deliver any nation who repents. He will respond with love. (21a)

Here are the specific things that God promises a repentant nation:
First, He will speak to the skies and rain will fall to the earth. (NCV) v. 21b

Second, grain will again begin to grow. (v. 22a)
Third, the arbors will again grow for making wine to drink. (v. 22b)

Third, the arbors will again grow for making wine to drink. (v. 22b)

Fourth, the olive trees will again grow olives for the purpose of eating, for cooking and for light. (v. 22c)

Fifth, then much will grow in Jezreel. Jezreel was Hosea’s son name has two meanings. First in chapter 1 it means God scatters and here it means that God will scatter seed that will grow. This is the first response of God to the sin of a nation who repents. (v. 22d)

Sixth, then He will sow himself in the land. This is in response to Lo-Rahamah whose name means I have no compassion. Because the nation repents He will again have compassion. This is the second response. (v. 23a)

Seventh, He says that he will again call us His people. Lo-Ammi, Hosea’s third child name means you are not my people. Because the nation repents, He will again call us His people and He will be our God. This is His third response. (v. 23b)

A thought: God will undo his terrible judgments for a truly repentant nation. What a powerful promise.

BTW: We are still calling for a 21 day fast to begin on January 2. If you would like 2 page data sheet describing this fast, I am asking you to send me a message with your email address and it will be sent to you.

Post-Thanksgiving Praying

Posted by Dan Crawford on November 26, 2012 at 7:30

Back to complaining. We’ve now entered the post-Thanksgiving days. For 364 days each year many people complain to God that roses have thorns. On Thanksgiving Day, they thank God that thorns have roses. Why do we do that? Why do we not thank God all year around for everything? I read the other day about a man who complained to God because his car was slow starting one morning, making him late for an appointment. The reply was that the car starting slow was delayed because God was preventing the man from being involved in a twelve car pile-up on the freeway. I remember missing a flight from Florida to New Orleans a few years ago because the person driving me to the airport was slow and uncertain of all the correct turns. While I was waiting on the next flight and telling God how upset I was, I learned that the flight I missed had run off the run-way during its landing in New Orleans, injuring several passengers. Now, listen to Paul talk about a 365 day thanksgiving prayer, “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers” (1 Thessalonians 1:2). Thanksgiving prayers have now been voiced. Keep it up!

Read more of Dr. Dan's Monday Morning Manna at www.discipleallnations.org/blog.

Strangers in a Strange Land

Posted by Jim Buchan on November 24, 2012 at 21:30

What posture should believers take amid America's frustrating cultural war?

Many of my Christian friends are in despair over the results of the recent election, wondering if America will ever be the same as the great and godly nation they grew up in. The cultural winds are increasingly blowing against Biblical values, and today’s political correctness is clearly at odds with God’s view of correctness. Only half joking, some believers talk about starting a revolution or perhaps just leaving the country.

As much as I understand these concerns, I think our frustration largely stems from forgetting that there’s an inherent difference between God’s kingdom and the kingdoms of this world—even the American kingdom. Having been seduced by the myth of cultural Christianity, we forget that we are “foreigners and exiles” in this world (1 Peter 2:11). Other translations say we’re sojourners, pilgrims, aliens, or temporary residents.

Is it possible that God will use the election results to remind us that, as His Word has always taught, we are basically called to be strangers in a strange land? Could it be that we had grown too comfortable living in America?

If you’re like me, Jeremiah 29:11 is one of your favorite promises in God’s Word: “‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

However, as I pondered our current cultural situation recently, the Lord reminded me that we usually take this great promise totally out of context. No wonder we’re often caught off guard when His plans for us seem unexpectedly difficult.

Picture yourself in this frightening scene, which is the backdrop of Jeremiah 29:11: Your city is invaded by a fierce enemy army. You and many others are taken captive and forcibly removed to the capital city of the invading nation. But you are proud and independent-minded people, not willing to accept this fate without a struggle. Should you join together to try and overthrow the government that is oppressing you? Should you devise a plan to escape one night, either returning to your homes or finding some faraway land where you will be safe?

God has plans for His people, even at such times as this. But not everyone who claims to speak for the Lord has truly heard from Him.

In the distressing situation Jeremiah describes here and in the book of Lamentations, various people claim to have a word from God. Most advocate some form of rebellion or escape, but Jeremiah is the lone prophetic voice who offers this unthinkable advice:

Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper (Jeremiah 29:5-7).

At such advice, you might have protested, “What! Are you saying we should just accept our captivity? And why in the world would we want to ask God to grant peace and blessing to our captors?”

Sensing that your complaints are getting you nowhere, you make one final argument: “But what about all the prophetic people who are urging us to overthrow this evil civilization we find ourselves in? They certainly seem to be in the majority!”

Again, God speaks through the lone prophet: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them” (Jeremiah 29:8-9). God goes on to say that His people might as well enjoy their time in the foreign land—for they were destined to remain there 70 years.

You see, we live our lives—our “70 years” (Psalm 90:10)—in a foreign land. Of all the nations on earth, I’m surely glad to live in America, but I need to be reminded that this country is not my true home. I’m a citizen of heaven and one of heaven’s ambassadors to a world that desperately needs to be reconciled to God (Philippians 3:20, 2 Corinthians 5:20).

So, what should be our attitude toward our leaders and the country where God has placed us to live? Will we be smugly aloof, trying to keep ourselves unstained by the evil values we perceive in our society? Will we be angry and condescending, projecting an air of superiority to unbelievers? Or will we just give up and surrender, trying so hard to be accepted by the world that we end up imitating its values?

Hopefully we’ll display the same attitude as Jesus displayed during His days on earth. Instead of staying aloof from unbelievers, He was known as “a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners” (Luke 7:34). He was able to be in the world without becoming absorbed by it. That’s why He prayed for His followers, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15).

Like the Israelites who were in exile in Babylon, we are living in a foreign land. But that should not be grounds for rebellion, escape or anger. Rather, we are called, as Jesus did, to take the posture of a servant. Laying aside our garments of superiority, we are to pour water into a basin and “wash the feet” of our society (John 13:1-5). And let’s not forget to pray for our nation’s political leaders—whether we voted for them or not (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

Eddie and Alice Smith's 52-Week School of Prayer Now in ONE BOOK!

Posted by Eddie Smith on November 24, 2012 at 18:33

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God bless you!
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Developing a Dynamic Prayer Life

Posted by Debbie Przybylski on November 21, 2012 at 15:02

Developing a Dynamic Prayer Life

"To the average Christian the command "pray without ceasing" is simply a needless and impossible life of perfection. Who can do it? We can get to heaven without it. To the true believer, on the contrary, it holds out the promise of the highest happiness, of a life crowned by all the blessings that can be brought down on souls through his intercession. And as he perseveres, it becomes increasingly his highest aim upon earth, his highest joy, his highest experience of the wonderful fellowship with the holy God."

God passionately desires that we partner with Him in prayer. We have a dynamic role in determining the measure of the quality of our life, because God opens doors of blessing when we pray. But we have to rise up in prayer and partner with Him or we will not see these blessings. It is wise to develop a dynamic prayer life. God seeks for those who will stand in the gap and pray (Ezekiel 22:30).

Why does God love our prayers? It seems to be a mystery, doesn’t it?

Prayer and intercession draws us into intimacy, and at the same time, humbles and transforms us. When we bring our needs to God in prayer, we interact with God’s heart. He loves when we verbalize our prayers. He wants us to ask in order to receive (James 4:2). He even withholds blessing if we do not ask. God will answer and be gracious to us if we pray and ask (Isaiah 30:18-19).

When we pray we are in governmental partnership with God, and we are changed on the inside as His Word abides in us. We are filled with His heart, and our effectiveness in prayer increases. We then decree His decrees with power from on high (Job 22:27-28). Wrong things are made right, the sick are healed, those bound in sin are freed, and revival is released in geographical areas. It’s marvelous!

God initiates prayer by declaring His will in His Word. We respond by praying His Word. Then He answers us by releasing His blessing because of our prayers. Our prayers are actually very powerful even during those days when we feel they are very weak. Prayer and intercession cause us to internalize God’s Word because when we speak His ideas back to Him, our minds are illuminated and our hearts are touched. His Words impart life (John 6:63). His Word builds us up and delivers us (1 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 4:12; Acts 20:32; James 1:21). God’s mind then dominates and saturates ours, renewing us as we pursue Him in prayer.

I love to hear stories about Charles Finney because my husband comes from New York. Charles Finney was a lawyer from New York in the 1800’s whom the Lord used greatly to bring about revival. He soon quit his law practice and went into times of prayer and fasting. In 1857, in just eight weeks, 500,000 people came to the Lord through his ministry, and 80% of them continued on with the Lord. That was a large number of people in those days.

What was the secret of his spiritual success?

Daniel Nash and Abel Clary were two men who believed in prayer. They would go ahead of Finney to the cities where he was going to preach, and they would cry out to God in prayer for those cities. Within three months after Nash had died, Finney’s traveling ministry stopped, and he became a pastor.

These amazing results were because of prayer!

In the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8, Jesus exhorts us to cry night and day. We must learn to be steadfast in prayer with great endurance. Satan’s warfare against us is to undermine our faith by tempting us to lose heart and confidence in prayer. The Bible promises us that we will reap if we do not grow weary (Galatians 6:7-9).

If we look at Jesus’ disciples, their request was not to have a big ministry or great fame. They asked Him to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1). They saw that everything that happened in Jesus’ ministry was because of His prayer life. Throughout the Bible we see that those who God used greatly were men and women of prayer.

“Christ, who in this as well as in other things is our example, spent many whole nights in prayer. His custom was to pray much. He had His habitual place to pray. Many long seasons of praying made up His history and character. Paul prayed day and night. Daniel’s three daily prayers took time away from other important interests. David’s morning, noon, and night praying was doubtless on many occasions very long and involved. While we have no specific account of the time these Bible saints spent in prayer, the indications are that they devoted much time to prayer, and on some occasions long seasons of praying were their custom.”

Action Plan for Your Prayer Time

It’s good to have a prayer action plan. This will help you stay focused and will keep your mind from wandering. Realize that you are speaking to a real person who loves you. Be attentive, and focus your mind on the Father who sits on His throne (Revelation 4). Let’s look at some ways we can develop a dynamic prayer life:

Have a personal Bible plan. Daily read several chapters in the Bible or whole books of the Bible. There are several Bible plans. Find one that is helpful for you.
Pray the Bible. Pray the apostolic prayers and other biblical prayers. Pray phrases from the Bible during your prayer time.
Have a prayer list for others. Include specific places (cities, nations) and people (friends, ministries, unsaved, governmental authorities, etc.).
Pray for strategic social issues. Pray about current disasters and social crises. Pray regarding the issues of abortion and homosexuality, etc. Pray for Israel and human trafficking.
Have a personal prayer list. Pray for your personal circumstances such as your physical, financial, and relational situations.

-Pray for your own heart (intimacy, fear of God, purity, speech, a spirit of prayer).
-Pray for your mind (your understanding of God’s purposes, a spirit of revelation of God’s emotions, will for your life, and end-time purposes).
-Pray for your ministry (anointed hands and words, contending for God’s purposes, authority and conviction in your words, insight into the secrets of God’s heart, fruitfulness).

Pray for wisdom. Here at the IHOP, Mike Bickle encourages us to pray for the following:

-Revelation of God’s personality and Word with wisdom to walk out the practicality of love and humility (Ephesians 1:17).
-Knowledge of God’s love for me (Ephesians 3:17-19; 1 John 3:1).
-Revelation of God’s will for my life (Colossians 1:9).
-Revelation of God’s end-time purposes (Daniel 11:35; 12:10).
-Personal revelation of eternity (Psalm 39:4-6; 90:12), the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21), the Judgment Seat (1 Cor. 3:11-15), the resurrected body (1 Corinthian 15) and hell (Revelation 20:11-15).

When we draw near to God, he will draw near to us (James 4:8). As we spend time with God, we get to know His love for us in a deeper way. We grow in confidence that God loves us, and we discover His heart for us. God’s light drives out darkness and energizes our spirits (Luke 11:36).

Our spiritual capacity is enlarged when we pray. We experience the supernatural impact of God’s light in our lives. We then turn away from sin, and we come to the realization that I am my beloved’s, and His desire is for me (Song of Solomon 7:10). We delight in God and His Words, and He delivers us (Romans 7:22-25). He washes us with His Word. The devil can’t get us with his accusations and condemnations (Revelation 12:10) as we spend time in prayer. We can learn to live in victory and wisdom.

Let’s pray and ask God for His light to enter our hearts (Psalm 43:3). Let’s pray for His Word to grip our minds (Psalm 119:18, 105, 130; Colossians 3:1-3) and help us to make quality decisions to walk in righteousness daily (Psalm 24:3-6; 119:11, 32). May His Word empower us to obey His commands and daily set our hearts on wholehearted obedience.

God’s end-time strategy is day and night prayer. He is calling us to believe and develop a radical prayer life. It will be costly and sacrificial, but it will be well worth the effort (Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 8:1-5; 1 John 3:16-18). We are celebrating the life of Jesus in prayer. We are standing for justice and freedom for mankind. The end-time prayer movement will be full of the Spirit and the Word of God. Our prayers will not be lifeless, but they will have power to change nations and cities. As you come to Him in prayer:

Picture what God wants to do in and through your life.
Picture with the eyes of faith what He wants to do in your city.
Picture the answer in your mind, and pray towards that vision.

Your prayers will influence those around you in a powerful way. Developing a dynamic prayer life is the wisest thing we can do with our life. Nothing will happen without it.

“They may start from different points, and travel by different roads, but they converge to one point: they are one in prayer. To them, God is the center of attraction, and prayer is the path that leads to God. These men do not pray occasionally—not a little or at odd times. But they pray in such a way that their prayers enter into and shape their very characters. They pray so as to affect their own lives and the lives of others, and to cause the history of the church to influence the current of the times. They spend much time in prayer, not because they watch the shadow of the dial or the hands on the clock, but because it is to them so momentous and engaging a business that they can scarcely quit.” Quotes by E. M. Bounds

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Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer (IHOP) KC Staff
deb@intercessorsarise.org
www.intercessorsarise.org

WHO CARES ABOUT GENOCIDE IN SUDAN?

Posted by Ron Clough on November 21, 2012 at 2:18

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 186 | Wed 21 Nov 2012

SUDAN: WHO CARES ABOUT GENOCIDE?

by Elizabeth Kendal

Sudan has been shattered, impoverished and torn apart by systematic racial hatred and religious intolerance. The Islamist, Arab-supremacist regime of President Gen. Omar el-Bashir has little concern for 'infidels' and 'blacks', especially those who oppose and resist Islamisation and Arabisation.

The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended Sudan's civil war mandated that, if South Sudan seceded, the three disputed border regions of Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile would each have the right to a referendum to determine whether they would be part of Sudan or South Sudan. Though geographically linked into the north (Abyei less so), they are culturally and politically aligned with the South because they are predominantly non-Arab and non-Muslim. The regime in Khartoum desperately wants the oil reserves in Abyei and South Kordofan and the water of Blue Nile. What it does not want is the oppositional 'infidels' and 'blacks' who live there to exercise their right to self-determination. Bashir launched his jihad before the secession even took place. Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) ethnically cleansed and occupied Abyei in May 2011. For this crime, Bashir was rewarded with impunity; even UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon refused to call it ethnic cleansing on the grounds that the people might return.

Emboldened, Bashir expanded his jihad into South Kordofan. In early June 2011 SAF-allied Arab militias invaded Kadugli, the capital, having been instructed to 'sweep away the rubbish' (i.e. the Nuba, the 'blacks'). After weeks of terror on the ground in which tens of thousands were killed, the aerial bombardment began. Hundreds of thousands of predominantly Christian Africans were displaced as homes and farms were bombed. Again, Bashir was rewarded with impunity. Further emboldened, he expanded his jihad into Blue Nile. By means of massive population displacement along with systematic destruction of crops and denial of humanitarian aid, the regime is effecting a final solution: the elimination of oppositional 'infidels' and 'blacks' from the resource-rich 'new south'. [When the genocide is complete, Bashir will doubtless organise referendums to be lauded by the West as evidence of his transition to democracy!]

According to the anti-genocide Enough Project, 81.5 percent of families in the Nuba Mountains survive on one meal a day and three percent are classed as having Severe Acute Malnutrition (meaning in the absence of medical intervention they will soon die). These statistics are moving upwards. Local church groups are struggling just to keep the population alive. Agreements concerning humanitarian aid have been signed but never implemented. Why is this behaviour of Khartoum tolerated? Furthermore, refugee camps just over the border in Unity and Upper Nile states, South Sudan, are struggling greatly to host more than 200,000 refugees. Driven by starvation in the displacement camps, some Dinka Ngok have recently returned to Abyei only to find that everything has been destroyed, even their boreholes.

As reported by Christian media agency Morning Star News (MSN), aerial bombardment of Christian towns across South Kordofan has increased considerably over the past month. MSN cites NubaReports, a network of local citizen journalists committed to providing credible coverage of the atrocities being committed against the Nuba in South Kordofan. It was established by an American aid worker who remained when his Christian aid organisation was forced to evacuate. The reports are shocking and include lists of towns bombed in recent weeks, along with names and ages of victims. Due to the absence of medical aid, many of the injured will ultimately die from infection. Why is the 'International Community' so indifferent to this genocide? Is it because the victims are predominantly Christians and Christian deaths are less economically and strategically significant as they do not increase the risk of regional sectarian war? Why is the media not interested? Is it because the media is only interested in those conflicts from which they can get sensational ratings-boosting live coverage? Is a double-barrelled racism in play: the victims are black, diminishing interest; the perpetrators are Arab-Muslims, diminishing expectation? But the West, if it is to claim any morality, must care about African genocides and demand more from Arab Muslims. One major problem is that the US and much of the West have 'de-coupled' Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile from Sudan policy. This means 'engagement' with Sudan can proceed without reference to these crises. However, if the West keeps treating Sudan's threatened non-Muslims and non-Arabs as if they do not exist, then it will not be long before they actually do not exist! So much for 'never again'!

Prayer for Sudan: Psalm 10

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL -

* arise and lift up his hand (Psalm 10:12) and intervene for his threatened people, bringing the wicked el-Bashir and his evil regime to account (v15) so that the righteous might be spared and the wicked might 'terrify no more' (v18).

* fan into flame the faith of his people, so that they will look to the LORD for all things, trusting in him and witnessing his provision and deliverance. '. . . a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.' (Isaiah 42:3 ESV)

* stir up moral indignation and courage so that the West will act against this evil regime according to the will and directions of the Lord of Hosts.

* fire up brotherly love and spiritual fervour in the Church, so that Christians will not rest from intercession until God intervenes and brings peace.

SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE

WHO CARES ABOUT GENOCIDE IN SUDAN?

Sudanese president Omar el-Bashir's genocidal jihad continues unabated against the non-Muslims and non-Arabs in the 'new south' of Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile. The Islamist, Arab-supremacist regime in Khartoum wants the oil and water in its 'new south' but it just does not want the 'infidels' and 'blacks' who live there defiantly opposing Islamisation and demanding basic human rights. According to http://www.nubareports.org/ , aerial bombardment of Christian towns has escalated in recent weeks, famine is spreading and there is still no humanitarian aid. The most shameful thing in all this is the indifference of the West. Why does the 'International Community' - especially the 'moral' West - not care about this genocide? The Church must care! Please pray for God to intervene in Sudan. Pray Psalm 10.

To view this RLPB with hyperlinks, visit the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog at

http://rlprayerbulletin.blogspot.com

For Critical Prayer Requests (CPR) for the nations, see http://criticalprayerrequests.blogspot.com.au/

We suggest that churches and fellowships using the above Summary might also provide a copy of the listed prayer points to be used in their worship by people who are leading in prayer.

For more information, updates and helpful links see Elizabeth Kendal's blog 'Religious Liberty Monitoring'

http://elizabethkendal.blogspot.com

Previous RLPBs may be viewed at http://rlprayerbulletin.blogspot.com

This RLPB was written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (AEA RLC) by Elizabeth Kendal, an international religious liberty analyst and advocate, and a member of the AEA RLC team.

Elizabeth is Adjunct Research Fellow in the Centre for the Study of Islam and Other Faiths at the Melbourne School of Theology.

If this bulletin was forwarded to you, you may receive future weekly issues direct by sending a blank email to

<join-rlpb@hub.xc.org>.

IPC November Connections prayer letter is out!

Posted by International Prayer Connect on November 19, 2012 at 19:40

Due to a problem with allowing me to update the IPC website and add the currently prayer letter, please email with your address, and I would be happy to send you a copy. office@ipcprayer.org

Cheryl Sharps, IPC Administrator

INTERNATIONAL PRAYER CONNECTIONS

November 2012

“Globalizing Prayer, Transforming our World”

IN THIS EDITION

Reflection on the Election
A Report on the New Wave Strategic Prayer Consultation (October 24-27, 2012, Hong Kong)
Sierra Leone’s National Election
Un-Lock North Africa Strategic Prayer Initiative
Crucial Situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan to Cover in Prayer
North Korea
Iran Nuke Talks Again – Please Pray for a Breakthrough!
Pray for Religious Freedom in the Muslim World
Egypt
United Kingdom
Tibetan Buddhist Lamas Are Building Sand Mandalas at Two Sites in Southern California
Mexico’s Drug Violence Ebbing!
Brazil: Strategic Prayer Event
Historical Review of the World Prayer Movement
Ten Things the Spirit of God Will Make You: A Message for Prayer Leaders
World Prayer Assembly and IPC Videos Now Available
IPC Events Calendar
The IPC Website
About International Prayer Connect (IPC)
Donating to IPC through PayPal
Contacting the IPC Office

CHRISTIAN PRISONERS & REFUGEES SUFFERING UNIMAGINABLY IN ERITREA

Posted by Ron Clough on November 13, 2012 at 23:21

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 185 | Wed 14 Nov 2012

ERITREA: CHRISTIAN PRISONERS & REFUGEES SUFFERING UNIMAGINABLY

by Elizabeth Kendal

Eritrea, in the Horn of Africa on the Red Sea coast, has one of the most brutally repressive dictatorships in the world. The population is equally divided between Christians (90 percent Eritrean Orthodox) who live mostly in the highlands and Muslims who live mostly in the coastal lowlands. Eritrea won its independence from Ethiopia in 1991 and Isayas Afewerki has been the president since independence was declared and internationally recognised in 1993. In 2001, in the wake of a two-year border war with Ethiopia (1998-2000), Afewerki began cracking down hard on anything that could be viewed as a threat to national unity. He cancelled elections and closed all independent media. Opposition figures - politicians, activists and journalists - were removed, mostly to underground 'secret prisons' for the 'disappeared'.

In May 2002, reportedly at the behest of the Eritrean Orthodox Church (EOC), the government began cracking down on 'foreign' and 'non-traditional' religion. A Biblical revival and renewal movement had exploded within the EOC. While some priests accommodated or even embraced the movement, others resisted, forcing those desiring a more evangelical Christianity to leave the EOC for Protestant fellowships. The exodus has caused great angst in the hierarchy of the EOC. Now only state-sanctioned Muslim, Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Mekane Yesus (Evangelical Lutheran) denominations are legal and worshipping in a Protestant fellowship is a criminal offence. However, by mid-2005 the authorities were oppressing the EOC as well, specifically those EOC priests supportive of the renewal movement and protesting religious persecution. When EOC head, Patriarch Abune Antonios, complained about the persecution of his priests, Afewerki had him deposed, placed under house arrest and replaced with a government administrator.

By the end of 2010 an estimated 3000 Eritrean Christians of all denominations (mostly Protestant) were incarcerated purely for their faith; today the number is estimated at around 1500. Whilst most prisoners are held in shipping containers in desert camps, some are kept in underground cells. The conditions are inhumane: children and the elderly are amongst the prisoners sharing skin diseases, dysentery and other horrors in confined, unventilated spaces. Torture is routine. Amnesty International has reported on the tortures suffered by Christian prisoners. Several Christians have died in custody and others have perished in the desert trying to escape.

Because Eritrea has no independent media, news of persecution is difficult to obtain for it must be leaked at great personal risk. Open Doors (OD) reports that on 30 October a Christian by the name of Adris Ali Mohammed (31), a Muslim convert from the town of Tesenai, died in custody. Adris had spent almost two years in a suffocating dungeon located in Eritrea's Aderset Military Camp, where some 100 Christians are believed to be detained. According to sources, Adris had stood firm through two years of terrible suffering and systematic torture aimed at forcing him to renounce his faith. According to OD, 'Military officials secretly buried Adris outside the camp.'

The repression has created a refugee crisis with many Christians amongst them. In July The Guardian reported that the Eritrea military runs a business kidnapping Eritrean refugees out of refugee camps in Sudan and trafficking them into the Sinai where they are sold to Bedouin gangs 'who use starvation, electrocution, rape and murder to extort up to $40,000 from relatives in the Eritrean diaspora for their release'. According to Strategic Policy magazine (4, 2012) Maj-Gen. Tekle 'Manjus' Kiflai has been identified as the 'co-ordinator of the human smuggling operation' which reportedly serves as 'a major revenue source for the PFDJ', the ruling People's Front for Democracy and Justice. This very powerful Maj-Gen. Tekle, an ethnic 'Christian', is rumoured to be a possible successor to Afewerki. Eritrea also funds, arms and trains anti-Ethiopian forces across the region, as well as rebels fighting against the Government of South Sudan.

But change is looming. For many years Afewerki had been funded and propped up by Gadhafi (Libya) and Mubarak (Egypt). With these two backers now removed, Eritrea's principal ally is US-allied, Islamist Qatar which is fully occupied trying to orchestrate regime change in Damascus, Syria. Furthermore, Afewerki is so unwell that when he disappeared in March, rumours circulated that he had died. Eventually he quelled those rumours by making an appearance on State TV on 29 April. Afewerki allegedly has a liver complaint for which he has received medical treatment in Qatar. Whilst Eritrea is ripe for change, the rot runs deep.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL -

* interpose himself in Eritrea to bring deep and radical change; may he bring judgment on all who trade in suffering and terror and bring an end to belligerence and repression. May he open the door to a new era of justice, liberty and peace, to his glory.

'In my distress I called upon the LORD . . . and my cry to him reached his ears. Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. He rescued me, because he delighted in me.' (Psalm 18:6,7,19b ESV)

* have mercy on his sorely persecuted Church. Lord, comfort and protect them, sustaining them in body and soul, especially prisoners and refugees. Lord, provide all their needs, fanning their faith into flame so they may not lose hope; may their trust be in you.

* redeem this era of intensive persecution by refining and unifying the Eritrean Church and use their stories of faithfulness to soften the hearts and open the eyes of multitudes.

SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE

CHRISTIAN PRISONERS & REFUGEES SUFFERING UNIMAGINABLY IN ERITREA

Eritrea has one of the most brutal dictatorships worldwide and the repression has created a refugee crisis. Since May 2002 Christians have been severely persecuted and an estimated 1500 are suffering torture and appalling prison conditions today, simply for their faith. With no independent media, news is extremely difficult to obtain. Open Doors reports that on 30 October a Christian Muslim convert, Adris Ali Mohammed (31), died in custody after two years of systematic torture aimed at forcing him to renounce his faith. Christians in refugee camps are no safer as the Eritrean military runs a lucrative operation on behalf of the government, trafficking them to Bedouin gangs in the Sinai. Please pray for Eritrean Christians and that God will effect deep and radical change in Eritrea.

To view this RLPB with hyperlinks, visit the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog at

http://rlprayerbulletin.blogspot.com

For Critical Prayer Requests (CPR) for the nations see http://criticalprayerrequests.blogspot.com.au/

We suggest that churches and fellowships using the above Summary might also provide a copy of the listed prayer points to be used in their worship by people who are leading in prayer.

For more information, updates and helpful links see Elizabeth Kendal's blog 'Religious Liberty Monitoring'

http://elizabethkendal.blogspot.com

Previous RLPBs may be viewed at http://rlprayerbulletin.blogspot.com

This RLPB was written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (AEA RLC) by Elizabeth Kendal, an international religious liberty analyst and advocate, and a member of the AEA RLC team.

Elizabeth is Adjunct Research Fellow in the Centre for the Study of Islam and Other Faiths at the Melbourne School of Theology.

If this bulletin was forwarded to you, you may receive future weekly issues direct by sending a blank email to

<join-rlpb@hub.xc.org>.

A Ray of Hope on a Day of Lament

Posted by Jim Buchan on November 10, 2012 at 12:00

If you’re feeling bummed out about the direction of your nation right now, I can relate. And so can the prophet Jeremiah.

Yet as Jeremiah wept during the devastation of his beloved city, Jerusalem, his initial reaction was not to blame the Babylonian invaders for his agony. He blamed God, concluding that his nation’s afflictions had come “from the rod of God’s wrath” (Lamentations 3:1-20 TLB).

You have to admit, this was a very logical conclusion. The Lord had promised to defend and protect His people if they walked in His ways. So the Babylonians weren’t the real problem—it was an issue between God and His people.

As Jeremiah witnessed the troubling events befalling his nation, he reasoned, “[God] has turned against me…and surrounded me with anguish and distress.” And he also was baffled by the fact that “though I cry and shout, he will not hear my prayers!”

Jeremiah was having a very bad day. Perhaps you can relate.

To make matters worse, there seemed to be no quick or easy solution: “He has walled me in; I cannot escape.” Perhaps you’ve wanted to just leave the country in your frustration. But escape is not the answer.

And while Jeremiah knew that God promises freedom to His people when they trust and obey Him, he must have been horrified by the realization that “he has fastened me with heavy chains.” How traumatic!

But the chains of the Babylonians were not much different from the chains of debt we now find ourselves in as a nation. One estimate says that every baby born this year will immediately owe $250,000 as their share of the national debt. Chains of bondage, don’t you think?

Jeremiah probably once had a plan for his life, but now everything had changed. Instead of getting closer to his destination, just the opposite seemed true: “[God] has filled my path with detours.” Perhaps you’re one of the thousands of people who’ve had to defer your retirement plans because of “detours” in the economy. I can relate.

If you find your lamenting today, you no doubt feel a need for comrades who understand and sympathize. But Jeremiah wasn’t given this luxury. He felt very much alone, even rejected: “My own people laugh at me; all day long they sing their ribald songs.”

Hmmm…sounds like a cultural war is going on, doesn’t it? While Jeremiah lamented, the people around him laughed. Seemingly without a clue about the destruction they were facing, people mocked God’s prophetic message and chose to flaunt their worldly ways. Jeremiah must have faced opposition from leaders who, like some today, belittle godly people for “clinging to their guns and religion” instead of embracing cultural trends.

Recognizing peace and prosperity as two key pillars of every nation truly blessed by God, Jeremiah was disturbed to realize that both were slipping away: “All peace and all prosperity have long since gone, for you [God] have taken them away.”

As Jeremiah surveyed this dismal situation, he made another quite logical deduction: “The Lord has left me…All hope is gone.” And who could blame him for feeling melancholy, even bitter?

Fortunately, this wasn’t the end of the story. Jeremiah went on to describe how the Lord broke through the dark clouds of disillusionment and gave him a sudden ray of encouragement:

Yet there is one ray of hope: his compassion never ends.

It is only the Lord’s mercies that have kept us from complete destruction.

Great is his faithfulness; his loving‑kindness begins afresh each day.

My soul claims the Lord as my inheritance; therefore I will hope in him.

The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him, to those who seek for him (Lamentations 3:21-25 TLB).

What an incredible change in Jeremiah’s perspective! From his gloomy place of lament, he saw an amazing ray of hope. From the pit of despair, he saw the Lord’s compassion and faithfulness. From an attitude of blaming God for his anguish, he ended up praising God and declaring His goodness.

So what about you? If you are experiencing a time of lament today—concerning your own life, your loved ones, or your nation—may the Lord break through the clouds and give you a fresh glimpse of His faithfulness.

Like Jeremiah, the apostle John faced some frightening times when he wrote the book of Revelation. Yet everything changed when he saw “a throne in heaven and Someone sitting on it” (Revelation 4:1-2). Praise God, He is still faithful, and still on the throne.

An Open Letter to Christians Disappointed in the Election Result

Posted by Will Davis Jr on November 9, 2012 at 12:15

My Dear Brothers and Sisters, I greet you today in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I know that many of you are very troubled by yesterday’s election outcome and even more by the overall direction our country appears to be taking. You, like I, care deeply for this country and know that its ultimate hope lies in a set of values and beliefs that we appear to be rejecting as a nation. You view President Obama’s reelection as even further indication that the country we love is becoming something other, something different, something, quite frankly, you don’t respect as much. I understand that.

But I feel compelled to remind you today that what you and I do right now is very important. I feel this compulsion, in part, because I share some of your frustrations, but also because I have been quite frankly shocked at some things openly confessing Christians have said and/or written about our President over the last few days. It has not been a good reflection of the Christ we serve.

Our Lord described us as salt and light. He said that we are to be the preserving and directing forces in our culture. He said that it would be our love–not our theology, our religious performances, and certainly not our political persuasions–that would be our greatest gift to our society. But he also warned that if we ceased to be salt, if we ceased to be light, and if we ceased to love, then we would become ineffective and lose our right to serve in his name.

I am afraid that we are getting dangerously close to becoming like the gripy Israelites who God left to die in the desert, or worse, the churches in Revelation who were dangerously close to losing their holy lampstands.

Perhaps we need to be reminded that God never promised us a certain way of life, or that the pursuit of happiness is an American, not a biblical virtue.

Perhaps we need to be reminded that for two thousand years Christians have lived under oppressive, repressive and even hostile governments and yet were still commanded to pray for their leaders.

Perhaps we need to be reminded that the vast majority of believers around the world live hand-to-mouth, sleep on the ground or in extremely rough, impoverished and unsafe settings, will never own a Bible, will never go to college, don’t have retirement accounts, don’t own or drive cars, don’t play golf on weekends or go on spontaneous shopping sprees, don’t have air-conditioned and heated church buildings, and never have to decide what they are going to wear out the next day. Americans, even in the economic challenges of the last several years, still have far more wealth and enjoy far more freedom than any nation in history.

And to all of that Jesus would say, to whom much is given much is required.

Christian brothers and sisters, we have work to do. It is the Church (believers in Jesus), that are the thermostat of a nation. Whatever we are set on is what our nation will become. If we are troubled by the direction our nation is going, then perhaps we need to compare our American Christianity to biblical Christianity, and adjust our thinking so that we are more of the latter than the former.

The future of our nation depends on it.

Reflections on the Election

Posted by Bob Fox on November 8, 2012 at 16:30

I thought it best to reflect a bit on the elections America has just held in order to give some biblical perspective to what has been a consuming event for our nation for months.

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Many believers rejoiced today to see the results of the elections. Many other believers did not.

Whichever camp you may find yourself in, it would be good to remember that

no politician is our enemy …and

no politician is our savior.

Only God can make America prosperous.

Only God can protect America from its enemies.

Only the Church can move God’s hand to do either.

God is not waiting for Congress to act or the President to sign a bill or the governor to change the laws. He’s waiting on the Church.

The rise and fall of nations lies mainly in God’s hands. He alone determines how long a nation is prosperous, safe and remains a nation.

God is waiting for His people to humble themselves, call upon Him and repent from sin so he can heal America and restore the blessings of prosperity and safety we once knew.

America is full of sin and so is the Church of America.

Elections mean nothing to God compared to what he sees in the hearts and lives of His people.

Listen again to what God told King Solomon just after fire came from heaven and God’s glory filled the new temple in Jerusalem.

2 Chron 7:13-22

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.

13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

17 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’

19 “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them,20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say,‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’22 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”

We have a better covenant and therefore are more accountable to God than the Jews were. We know God better than they did. Listen to the tender, gracious heart of God in this passage and also hear the stern warning from God. He is both: incredibly gracious and incredibly stern when He is forsaken by His people.

Dear friends and fellow followers of Jesus, please do not be consumed with politics. It is important to elect good people to office but they cannot fix what America’s sin has broken. Only the Church can. Please pray for the followers of Jesus in America. They hold the future of America in their hands…in their prayers of repentance.

Let’s live for God passionately, turn from sin relentlessly and pray for God to awaken a sleeping, sinful American Church so America can be saved. God’s Father heart longs to be gracious to America again but He is waiting on His Church to partner with Him through repentance.

Culture – will it Fail to Survive or Revive?

Posted by Dale Hardy on November 7, 2012 at 10:36

This past weekend I had the privilege to go to Lowville, NY where I conducted a prayer experience. It was an awesome time of the outpouring of the Spirit of God.

While I was there the name Daniel Nash came up, so along with a great friend we went to view his grave and memorial. The experience left me a little staggered as I realized what his life was about. In brief he was one of the two or three men who went into a town or city 3 or 4 weeks before Charles Finney was to come.

Daniel and Abel Clary would often go to the place and fall on their faces before God and pray with groans too deep for words. In other words they bombarded heaven for the needs and sins of the location. When Charles Finney showed up the town was ripe for a revival. Finney stated that he could not preach repentance without the prayers of these men. This was the lead in to the Second Great Awakening.

When I got home I read in 1 Kings (14) about three of the kings of Israel (northern kingdom). Each of them did evil in the sight of the Lord. Each of them had God’s justice meted out on them. The nation of Israel in each case followed the model of the king and did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Then, as is my habit, I went over to one of the prophets; in this case it was Hosea (2) and read what he said about the nation of Israel. He told the nation that they were like prostitutes with their flirty and sexual innuendo way of life. In an easy to understand symbolism he told Israel that they had set up a society where no one was sure who the father of the children being born was. He also said that the fathers were not taking their responsibilities as fathers. He concludes with the concept that when a nation has the practice of no sexual boundaries that that nation is in decline and judgment can’t be far behind.

Finally, I read in Matthew 14 where Jesus heard that his cousin, John had been beheaded because of an overtly sexual dance that was spawned by jealousy because John had called Herod out because he had taken his brother’s wife.

Jesus took this opportunity to go to a private solitary place where He prayed. It is likely that He prayed all night for comfort. He also likely prayed for the people of Israel because the next day when they showed up after walking all night He had compassion on them and healed the sick.

What do these last three things have to do with each other? They all describe a nation that has heavy cultural issues. They are all about the decline of morality in the area of sexuality. When a nation or culture loses its purity in this area the nation will face the judgment of God.

This is all drawn together in the life of Daniel Nash. He had been voted out of his church after leading them in two revivals that brought many people into the kingdom. Then he contracted a serious eye infection. He could not stand light. For 3 or 4 months he did nothing but stay in a dark room so that he could recover. During this time he could not read or write. It was in this time that he learned how to pray. It totally transformed his Christian life. For the next 7+ years he did nothing but travel ahead of Charles Finney and prayed and fasted for a month for a spiritual breakthrough.

He was serious about seeing his culture recover. He said about his prayer life: “Considering the souls being saved and the very culture of the area being changed in such a revival, it should be no surprise that persecution came to these laborers.”

Did you see that, he prayed for the culture of the area to be changed?

It is now time for those who call themselves by the name of Christ (Christians) to rise up and pray for our culture to change. Without this prayer the culture will continue to decline and can the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah be far behind?

Daniel Nash’s final words were: “Say, if you please, that I die in the faith of the Son of God. Of myself I am nothing. I trust alone in the merit and death of a crucified savior for pardon and acceptance.”

So will you join me in prayer and fasting for our nation and ask the Lord to revive our Christian culture? It’s time for the Third Great Awakening.

Culture – will it Fail to Survive or Revive?

Posted by Dale Hardy on November 7, 2012 at 10:35