Pray Network Forum

“If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray,  and seek my face, and turn from their wicked way, then will I hear from heaven, and forgive their sin, and heal their land.”

It is important for us to see the promise related to this powerful invitation to prayer. God promises to forgive our sin and heal our land.  

There are a number of modern complications to this promise. We need the illumination of the Holy Spirit to apply it. I am going to make some suggestions for doing so. But I urge you to struggle prayerfully with this concern that God may radically impact the way we pray. Notice I did not simply say, the way you pray. There is an urgency in these days for God's people to join in prayer for our nations. And the depth of your convictions will influence the prayers of many.

Here is the first difficulty. When the Lord gave this promise, His people were the nation. His people were the Children of Israel to whom he had given that land. I remember having a friendly disagreement with my college roommate about whether this promise was for America or the Church in our day. Is God promising heal a nation like America, Myanmar Guatemala or China where most people may not be praying? At least as it applies to specific prayers, times and situations, I do not know. I don't believe we can successfully pray for the "Great Tribulation" that Jesus warned us about, not to happen. But I think we are to pray for our nations. Abraham was invited to intercede for Sodom and Gomorrah. In Jeremiah 29:7 the Lord addressed the people taken into exile and captivity in Babylon. He commanded them to pray for the prosperity of that wicked city.

I believe this means we are to pray for the leaders of whatever nation we live in. That sometimes means praying for people who are enemies of God's people. And this means praying for the healing of social problems. Are you praying and working to bring people up out of poverty? Are you praying for people who are addicted to drugs? Are you praying for wounded soldiers returning from war? Are you visiting and praying for prisoners? Are you praying for health care and problems related to it?

This is moral and spiritual as well as social, political and economic. We need to pray for hearts and minds to be changed. I recently had an exchange with an apologist who was angry at someone who was having an evil influence upon young people. He took offense at my suggesting that we need to love this man and pray for him.

I need to be honest, I am tempted to be cynical about the condition of our world. I want to say, "Leave them alone until Jesus comes back. He will make a new heaven and a new earth." But that is not God's will. It is also true that I will be made new when Jesus comes. Should I give up on trying to become like Jesus because it will not fully happen until we see Him? Just as becoming more like Him now relates to being made like Jesus when He comes, so praying and working to make the world a better place now, relates to His reign after He returns.

watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

We conclude our month of focus on the Persecuted Church with Open Doors (www.opendoorsusa.org), perhaps the best-known of the organizations devoted to believers persecuted for their faith.

The One Thing You Need to Reach the World for Jesus 11/29/2015 0 Comments   I have been a missionary both at home and abroad. I have traveled to dangerous inner-city ghettos and dusty, dirty African compounds. I have sung songs with poor children in the streets of Mexico and built houses for the homeless in the streets of New Haven. And found that there was only one thing I needed. I have been trained in every type of evangelism possible, from “Evangelism Explosion” to the “Four Spiritual Laws” to “Romans Road” to simple John 3:16 evangelism. I have sat on park benches in Michigan sharing my faith with passersby, and preached, awkwardly, on a street corner where no one really listened. And learned that there was only one thing I really needed. I have served to weariness in churches near and far: sharing my testimony, praying, giving, counseling, worshiping, cooking, organizing, leading, following, discipling, and teaching, in the hopes of reaching others for Jesus. And seen that there is only one thing I’ve ever needed: to be with Jesus. The simple truth is that people recognize when you have been with Jesus.

Continue Reading at His Inscriptions

A recent survey showed Psalm 103 to be the second most favorite Psalm in the Bible (following Psalm 23). Few Psalms are more beautiful; few anticipate the New Testament more. There is no mention in this Psalm of war, illness, calamity, sadness, as in other Psalms. Perhaps there is no purer outburst of praise in scripture than Psalm 103. It is a Psalm for the season. One definition of Thanksgiving is “a holiday set aside to remember with gratitude the blessings God has given us” – even with those things that have become synonymous with the day – family in the house, turkey on the table, football on the TV, leftovers in the fridge, etc. But what about gratitude, the attitude of being thankful? Will you find a place in your Thanksgiving schedule for gratitude, Psalm 103 encourages us to be grateful not only for God, but for the benefits we enjoy because of God. I challenge you to read Psalm 103, then, do as I do every Thanksgiving, express your gratitude to a few people who have blessed you this past year. God is giving you 86,400 seconds each day this week. Surely you can use a few of them to express gratitude to someone. I promise it will make your Thanksgiving more meaningful.

Today I would like to share with you about how God used Hannah for his purpose to be accomplished. Jennifer Kennedy Dean writes, “Hannah is not the primary character in the story. Nor is Samuel. Pivotal to the whole story, the central cohesive element, the linchpin, is God himself. Everything else—Hannah’s barrenness, Hannah’s prayer, Samuel’s birth—is the working out of God’s eternal agenda.”¹  

Hannah had been asking God to give her a son, she was barren, she felt hopeless, and she felt God had forgotten her. At the turning point of desperation, she made this vow: “O Lord Almighty, if you will look down upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime” (I Samuel 

1:11).   

After Hannah returned home, God opened her womb, she conceived, gave birth to a son, and named him Samuel. When she realized that only God could answer her prayer, and focused her faith in him, was she willing to give her son back to God was her desire was met.  God needed to shape Hanna’s heart for his agenda; earlier she was ready to be a mother but not the mother of a prophet.   We read in I Samuel 2:35 where God says to Eli, “I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. 

Hannah found herself in a hopeless situation while God was working His agenda. In reality, if Hannah’s prayer for a son had been answered, as she desired, she may not have given him to the Lord as she did. God had to prepare Hannah’s heart to give up her son because he had great plans for her son. God used Samuel in a mighty way; he became a mighty warrior in the battlefield and a prayer intercessor for the Israelites. In addition to Samuel, God blessed Hannah with three more sons and two daughters, answering her prayers more abundantly.

This is a good lesson for us in praying for our grandchildren. When challenges come into their lives and your prayers are not answered according to our agenda, God may be working out His agenda in their lives, which is far greater. When praying for our grandchildren, we need to trust God to work His agenda in their lives.   

Is God preparing your heart before your prayers can be answered

for your grandchildren?   

By Lillian Penner, Nat’l Prayer Coordinator, Christian Grandparenting Network

¹ 2003   The Praying Life, Jennifer Kennedy Dean, Waiting on God. P 98

© 2015 Lillian Penner

I recently finished Tim Keller's Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering - a book I highly recommend for those who pray for and with the suffering.  I'll post a review on the book soon.  The next to last chapter had some thoughts on Philippians 4:6-7 that have stuck with me, and I'll try to do them justice here.

Keller makes the point that the "prayer with thanksgiving" that Paul talks about in Philippians 4:6 is different than the way we tend to think of it.  We tend to think of thanksgiving in terms of thanking God for what he has done; in the context of prayer, thanking him for how he has answered prayer.  But Paul's actual instruction is different.  Rather than waiting for God to answer prayer and then thanking him, Paul tells us to pray and thank God at the same time. 

So what are we thanking him for, if we haven't yet received the answer?  This isn't thanksgiving that presumes that God will do exactly what we asked - this is thanksgiving that recognizes that God is in control and that expresses gratitude for his intervention in our lives.  It's thanksgiving that is answer-agnostic; that is, it's thanksgiving that doesn't know how God will answer this particular prayer, but that recognizes that he acts always for our best in the context of his glory.  We thank him for what he has done, but we also thank him for what he is still going to do.

I can't help thinking of a couple of other passages in this context.  Hebrews 11:6 tells us that "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."  I've usually thought of these "rewards" in somewhat of an abstract sense but I now think of them more concretely.  Faith isn't just believing that God will answer prayer but that he actually is answering prayer.  We're not waiting for God to work; God is actually working - and the time that seems to us like just waiting is really part of the work that God is doing.

Similarly, James 1:6 tells us that when we ask we must believe and not doubt.    I think the "belief" that James is talking about is more than just belief in God in general - it's belief that he is answering our prayer (specifically in this case, a prayer for wisdom). 

Coming back to Philippians 4, I think that the kind of thanksgiving that Paul is talking about - the kind that's not based on receiving a specific answer but that rather is based on our confidence in God's character and his love for us - helps us to recognize answers that are for our best.  (An example of this is 2 Corinthians 12:9) This, I believe, is the secret to the peace that transcends understanding.  Prayer that's focused on receiving a specific answer doesn't bring peace - it brings uncertainty.  Will I receive the answer I want or not?  How many times I have prayed but not experienced peace - because my prayer was all about a specific answer and not about trusting God for the answer.  But the prayer with thanksgiving that Paul talks about here really does lead to peace, because it enables us to pray and leave it in God's hands, rather than continuing to wonder and worry how he will answer.

So I'm learning to try to hold my desired answers with open hands, and to thank God for the work he is doing - work that he will reveal to me at the time he knows is best.  And I'm experiencing peace by relinquishing my need to have things work out exactly the way I want them.

"If my People who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked way, then will I hear from heaven, and forgive their sin, and heal their land. "

Repentance is preliminary to prayer. I do not deny that God may answer the prayer of someone who is still in rebellion against Him. I am certainly not in control over what God chooses to do. But the great problem is with what that person desires. Such persons may ask, even demand that God leave them alone. And He may ultimately answer that prayer. C.S. Lewis noted that the gates of hell are locked from the inside.

Frankly, I am relieved that God can be trusted not to answer prayers that are against His will. All joy, all peace and all blessings are in God's will. Note the word of repentance in this verse. It does not call us to repent of wicked deeds. That is an important part of repentance. But this verse calls us to turn from our wicked way. This is talking about the direction of our prayers and our entire lives.

In this light repentance is also a process. The more time I spend in God's presence, praying, prayerfully saturating myself in His word and obeying what He tells me, the more He turns my heart in His direction. He implants Himself in my heart and mind and will. He changes what I hunger for Him to do in my life and in the world around me.

http://daveswatch.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

With the nations deeply concerned and worried about the threats posed by terrorism to world’s peace and stability, we examine in the light of the revealed word of God how best the church should respond.

In 2 Chronicles 20: 1-29, Jehoshaphat and his people turned to God for help to overcome their enemies. They did not yield to fear and discouragement on account of the vast, approaching enemies but kept faith in the trustworthiness of God the deliverer. They did this by praising God and experienced total victory. Habakkuk kept faith and remained joyful in the Lord in spite of the severe challenges of his time (Habakkuk 3: 1-18). 

Trying times challenge our faith but God requires us to keep faith. Unpleasant things we see, hear or experience can question faith and make thanksgiving unappealing but God requires us to maintain hearts of gratitude and cheerful countenance. We must not stop praising God even if life’s events want to make this to make no sense. The reality is that God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). God’s praise speaks of His glory which He does not share with anyone (Psalm 50:23, Isaiah 42:8).  Hence, He must act to protect and deliver His people who embody or are custodian of His eternal, exclusive praise (Isaiah 43: 7, 21)). God Himself is a man of war and He will fight for His people who delight in the praise of His glory (Exodus 15: 1-5).

A grateful, cheerful heart is what the Lord wants. A heart that trusts and acts with confidence on God’s word is what He wants. He does not a cheerless heart. “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 43:5).

We do a lot of prayer and supplication but less with thanksgiving (Phil. 4: 4-6, 1 Thess. 5:18). On our part at ANPN we are observing a 45 day thanksgiving starting November 23, 2015 to January 6, 2016. We invite you to join us and request that that you spend at least 30 minutes a day to praise God. We have created 45 days thanksgiving guide on our website under resources http://anpn.org/resources/.

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year. God bless PrayNetwork and God bless the United States of America. Our God reigns and Jesus is Lord.

Dr. Martins Akintunde,

Pastor ANPN.

Today I want to share a guest blog by my friend Alexandra. You will be blessed if you read it all the way through. It is an understatement to say that for some people life can be so horrendously painful that you feel as though you spend all or most of your energies fighting to survive the battles that sap your strength.

My life has felt like that in many ways, and even as I talk about it here, it still pains me as I look back and survey the many potholes and washed out roads that represent where I have been, and what I have come through. As I reminisce, I am reminded that there could have been a better way, perhaps I could have lived a different life...if I had a grandparent praying faithfully over my soul as I walked through childhood toward the ever pulling future, wishing that Hope would somehow find me and set me free.

From the time I was young I had a deep desire to be good, to obey and to please, and so I put forth my efforts in that direction, as imperfectly as that was. Now I am not saying that I was a flawless child, but my heart wanted...longed for peace and order so badly that I was practically willing to do whatever it took to be in that space. The problem was, the house I grew up in was anything but that, and the anger that resided there overflowed the walls that held us in and broke hearts as if they were glass. This was a pattern for us kids and it left us scrambling between episodes, wondering what the next trigger would be for the blow up. Whether it was between my parents or laid out upon us kids, molding us against our wills, into people who were afraid and confused and well, broken...wounded and desperate for a place of love and safety.

But those places of safety never came and we were left to try and navigate the anger and the violence as best as we could. But without a Godly intervention, we fell apart while trying to hold ourselves together, and thus began the continuation of this pain as we grew up into adults, marring our perspectives, and keeping us from that peace that only Christ can bring into any one of our lives.

I know that my story, unfortunately, is not an isolated or rare occurrence in this world. I know that there are all kinds of horrific things that happen to many people in all walks of life. I know and understand that it can be so overwhelming as we look on, wringing our hands, desperate for God to fix what we cannot even begin to fathom happening. It's easy for the desperation of others to become our desperation in that deep desire to spare others the pains of injustice, or any difficulties that chafe against those we hold closely in our hearts.

But there is a weapon, and there is hope, and a way to make a difference.... a big one, it's called prayer. I ended up spending my whole life falling into one abusive situation after another, but my compass was broken and my search for that oasis from the pains of life never appeared. My quest to survive was hindered by the fact that I did not think that God could love a person like me. I could not believe that He really wanted me as His own. My life was surrounded by such deep scars and pains that made me feel so ashamed and so unworthy of love no matter who it was from...even God almighty.

Today, I am thankful to say that I have come to know the power of prayer. I have come to see how prayer has totally been the vehicle through which the power of Jesus has been called into my life, making old things new and leading me to that long awaited place of love and mercy that is so amazing and can only be experienced through knowing Jesus as my Savior. He has lifted me out of the darkness and He continues to heal me and strengthen me to glorify Him...and I know beyond a doubt that God began knocking on my door when He placed people in my life that began to pray for me. For me I so desperately needed a miracle.

I have come to know Lillian Penner along this journey, and I have been so greatly touched by her dedication to encourage grandparents to pray for their grandchildren. I am still just a mom, but I see with such great perspective how life impacting it is when we pray faithfully for each other, especially the children. There probably is not a more fervent prayer that those that are planted from a deep love in the heart for those that God has blessed you with...your grandchildren.

I want to encourage you to pray for your grandchildren, pray as though their lives depend on it. (Because like me, someday it just might.) We need to hold them up before our Heavenly Father and stand in the gap for these children so that Satan may not have a foothold in their lives that leads them into paths of destruction. If it was possible for me, a girl who longed to do what was right, but ended up falling into sin over and over again, not only from others against me, but my own sins that were clouded by pain and destruction, then it can happen to anyone. It is life changing when we go to the Lord in prayer, not only for those we pray for, but for us as we seek His power and will to come against the darkness in this life we must live through.

Jesus never promised any of us an easy life, but He did promise us His love and power through the cross. It's time to draw on the greatest act of Love in the history of mankind, by pouring out ourselves for these precious children in prayer, calling upon the power of the cross to do its miraculous work!

Guest blog by Alexandra Perse

"If my people who Are called by name will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked way, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land."

2 Chronicles 7:14

One of the most wonderful commands and opportunities in Scripture is God's invitation to seek His face. Christianity is not simply a collection of rules or guidelines for life. Nor is it primarily a set of abstract truths that we must believe. Christianity is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Hence the heart of prayer is not seeking answers to our requests. In prayer we do not seek God's gifts first. We seek God Himself. He is sufficient to our deepest needs whether or not He gives us what we ask.

Let me give you a picture. Suppose you have a significant inheritance from which you draw a regular income. And you meet and fall in love with a man and marry him. But after your marriage you discover that he is only interested in your inheritance. How would that make you feel? Suppose he discovered that he could not get his hands on your inheritance, so he divorced you as fast as he could. You would feel used, wouldn't you? You might say, "He didn't love me for myself." Are you seeking God or something you can get from Him?

I love the words of the hymn,

"I will arise and go to Jesus. He will embrace me in His arms. In the arms of my dear Savior, oh there are ten thousand charms."

Rightly we hear these words as the testimony of a lost person coming to Christ. But they also describe the genuine romance of prayer.

There is another important facet to seeking God's face. This entire verse is plural. We must seek his face together. We encourage one another, strengthen one another and help one another seek His face.  

In 2 Corinthians 4:6 Paul assures us that we embrace the glory of God in the face of Jesus.

Let's seek His face.

Have you ever wished you could sneak into an intercessor's "prayer closet" with them and find out how they really pray? Maybe see if there's something you've been missing in your own quiet times? I have. I think one of the reasons why the "War Room" movie is so immensely popular for so many Christians is because it gives us a glimpse into what is usually a very private area of someone's life: their personal relationship with God in prayer. 

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting a friend of a friend, someone who - I had been told for years - loves to pray. When I mentioned this to her, she said, "You know, there's just nowhere else I'd rather be than in the Presence of God!" Her statement was far from clichéd. I could tell by the way she said it that she meant every word. I thought: wouldn't it be fun to get to know her better and discover some of her secrets to entering the throne room?

So I called her and asked if she'd do an interview with me so that you could meet her, too. She wasn't sure she had anything extraordinary to tell, but my sense was that the Lord felt otherwise. Her name is Carol. Here is what she told me.  

To continue reading, please click here: His Inscriptions Blog

Are you ready to respond to an emergency? Would you be an effective leader in the midst of a crisis? How are you reacting to the disasters we are seeing on an international scale - would you be prepared to face one in your community?   

As a little girl, my greatest ambition was to become a nurse. Somewhere around age 7 or 8, I had a minor "emergency" of my own. I broke my leg in a biking accident. It was a spiral fracture of the tibia, I think. Stuck beneath my bike wheel, I couldn’t move my leg because of the pain.

I cried for my baby sister (then 3 or 4) to go and get help, but she laughed and kept on biking. She was too little, too carefree, to understand. I cried for my father, who was mowing the lawn at the time and could not hear me for the noise of his motor. After what seemed like hours of yelling at the top of my lungs, I finally convinced my sister to run and get my mother, who was inside the house. By then I was upset, frustrated, and terrified.

To continue reading, please click here: His Inscriptions Blog

I had a dream this morning in which the Lord revealed two strategies of the enemy that keep His people from entering a place of intimacy with Him.  At the same time, God released two prophetic revelations for breaking these strategies: scriptural keys that to help overturn demonic plans. 

In the dream, I saw people being drawn down into the depths of a medieval fortress. Everything in the dream resembled the dark ages. I saw a damp cobblestone street that led into a dreary, medieval town. On either side of the street was a walled fortress, like a long, low palace that seemed to extend forever. The scene reminded me of a rainy day in medieval England: dismal, dreary, and dark.

The fortress, or castle, bore no resemblance to the kind of fairy-tale castles our children dream of. It had only low spires and was made of cold, grey stone. It did not have the height of a picturesque castle, either, being only one or maybe two stories high, and extending lengthwise through the town instead of vertically to the sky. Inside the fortress were dozens of rooms, each laid out next to the other. The rooms were unfurnished, no more than cold stone “compartments” in which to hold people. The entire city was sunken into a valley and seemed to descend lower and lower as I walked along the street.

To continue reading, please click here: His Inscriptions Blog

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Prayer Strategist 101: Lead those you have influence with to see the work of God in prayer related to your focus.

ION Prayer links with many others who have a heart to pray for those who still wait to hear the name of Jesus. . .

What might it look like to be a part of the work of God as a prayer strategist?

Prayer Strategist 101: Lead those you have influence with to see the work of God in prayer related to your focus. 

This morning as I began to pray, asking the Lord, “How might my prayer for this 16th day of Gratitude be focused?  (November the Month of Gratitude)

I was reminded of a dear friend and fellow Prayer Strategist, Milton Monell. Milt leads the Global Prayer Team, in cultivating movements of God-dependent intercessors globally for Campus Crusade (CRU). God used him to play a significant part in our launch as a prayer network. Visit their website: http://globalprayermovement.org ;

I am so grateful for Milt and those like him who quietly serve the body of Christ to equip, mobilize and encourage the intercessors around the globe.

Last month as I was in the CRU bldg. for my Prayer Strategist assignment with a great commission partners group to pray with “eyes open” during their meeting, I was able to slip upstairs to pray at the Great Commission Global Prayer Center for the work of God that happens from this partner group’s headquarters. As I walked and prayed, I noticed a familiar theme… [ 370 more words. ]

Read the full blog here:
http://ionprayer.com/2015/11/16/prayer-strategist-101-lead-those-you-have-influence-with/

As we continue our focus this month on the Persecuted Church, this week's spotlight falls on one of the leading advocacy and outreach agencies for the Persecuted, Voice of the Martyrs.  VOM was founded in 1967 by Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, who was imprisoned 14 years in Communist Romania for his faith in Christ. His story is told in "Tortured for Christ", a featured book on the VOM website.

VOM's five purposes, taken from their website, are:

1. To encourage and empower Christians to fulfill the Great Commission in areas of the world where they are persecuted for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. To provide practical relief and spiritual support to the families of Christian martyrs.
3. To equip persecuted Christians to love and win to Christ those who are opposed to the gospel in their part of the world.
4. To undertake projects of encouragement, helping believers rebuild their lives and Christian witness in countries where they have formerly suffered oppression.
5. To promote the fellowship of all believers by informing the world of the faith and courage of persecuted Christians, thereby inspiring believers to a deeper level of commitment to Christ and involvement in His Great Commission.

On the VOM website, you'll find prayer resources, lists of conferences and events, and many ways to support the Persecuted, including through letter writing and "action packs" to ship overseas.  The prayer page includes both specific requests and a Prayer App available in iOS or Android.  Besides the daily prayer requests in the Prayer App, they also provide an opportunity to sign up for a weekly e-mail of prayer requests.

The site is rounded out by a store with many different resources to both show support for the Persecuted Church and further our knowledge of the "veterans of the faith".

PrayNetwork.org Spotlight by Andrew Wheeler.

See Andrew's website at www.togetherinprayer.net

In 2015, people all over the world prayed the Psalms over the city of Ojai, California, a tiny city with a huge megaphone to the world's ear. Many of those who prayed had never been to Ojai, nor could they pronounce it. (Ojai is pronounced, O-Hi). Ojai is a town of under 8,000, that impacts 50 to 100 million people around the world with cultic influence.

It was once known as the cultic capital of the world.

God is continuing to do some splendid things worthy of His Name in that city. It is still just a cloud the size of a man's hand, however there is a growing list of some great stories.

Crime has decreased in some categories, reconciliation between Christians is happening, young people are coming to Jesus, some churches have seen increased attendance, Nick Vujicic of Life Without Limbs, spoke in the public middle school and high school, (plus two elite private schools), and over 3700 came to hear him at the local high school stadium. Expectation is arising as to what God might do ... it is beautiful to see.

We completed Praying the Psalms in September. As we prayed we felt we were to make this  5 day a week opt in email, open source to anyone wanting to pray over their city, country, hidden people group, or university or school.

It is simple, free and impactful. We'd love to talk with you if this sounds like a fresh approach to praying for your city.

We are thinking that January would be a great start date for other cities, since people tend to be more open to the new, in a New Year.

Just contact us at fawn.parish@gmail.com for more details. 

Our Story-

In 2015, people all over the world prayed the Psalms over the city of Ojai, California, a tiny city with a huge megaphone to the world's ear. Many of those who prayed had never been to Ojai, nor could they pronounce it. (Ojai is pronounced, O-Hi). Ojai is a town of under 8,000, that impacts 50 to 100 million people around the world with cultic influence.

It was once known as the occult capital of the world.

God is continuing to do some splendid things worthy of His Name in that city. It is still just a cloud the size of a man's hand, however there are great stories.

Crime has decreased in some categories, Christians are beginning to reconcile with each other, young people are coming to Jesus, some churches have seen increased attendance, Nick Vujicic of Life Without Limbs, spoke in the public middle school and high school, (plus two elite private schools), and over 3700 came to hear him at the local high school stadium. Expectation is arising as to what God might do ... it is beautiful to see.

We completed Praying the Psalms over Ojai in September, 2015.

We are making this 5 day a week opt in email, open source to anyone wanting to pray over their city, country, hidden people group, or university or school.

It is a simple process, and we've done all the work. We want to make it free to anyone who would find it a fresh approach to praying Scripture over their city or concern.

Contact us at fawn.parish@gmail.com for more details.

Do you know if your grandparents prayed for you? I’ve asked a number of my friends if their grandparents prayed for them. Their response was, “I think they prayed for me, they were Christians and went to church so I assume they did.” Then I asked, “Did they ever tell you they were praying for you? “ The response most frequently was “No.”  

My heart was broken because I feel it is very important my grandchildren know their grandparents are praying for them. Have you told your grandchildren you are praying for them? Grandparents are fond of giving gifts to their grandchildren, but the greatest gift we can pass on to them is the gift of a praying grandparent.   

When we pray for our grandchildren we threaten the enemy (Satan). Our children and grandchildren desperately need our prayers in this morally and spiritually deprived culture in which we are living. 

When was the last time you shared with your grandchildren that you are praying for them?   During this Thanksgiving season it’s an excellent time to send our grandchildren a card or text to let to them that we love them and you are praying for them.

“One generation will commend your works to another;

they will tell of your mighty acts.” Psalms 145:4 (NIV)

The most important assignment for believing grandparents is to imprint our faith in Christ on our grandchildren and their parents. A family’s faith can be lost in one generation; however, we can be defenders of our faith. Life is full of disappointments and crisis. If our children and grandchildren turn their backs on their heritage of faith, they will face these challenges and trials without God in a chaotic world.   

Have your grandchildren heard you pray for them?

Have you told your grandchildren you are praying for them?

Your prayers for your grandchildren and their parents are the greatest legacy you can leave and will live on in their lives long after you die. 

Lord, show me ways to communicate to my grandchildren

that I pray for them and I love them.

In Jesus’ name. Amen

By Lillian Penner, Nat’l Prayer Coordinator, Christian Grandparenting Network