From a prayer letter sent to European intercessors: ‘The British Empire once believed “the sun would never set” based on a firm belief that God was with us because of our faith built on Christian values. The Church can no longer say, “British values are Christian values”. To be British is no longer to be Christian. UK’s leaders increasingly move us further away from the Biblical values that once underpinned both our democratic and legal systems, which were envied by much of the world. I paint a gloomy picture of the nation I love, but if we are to pray effectively in the current worldwide pandemic, I believe nations should be questioning their values and morals. Do we first love God and secondly love our neighbour as ourselves? The future of the UK depends on the next few months. Pray for the national day of prayer currently being proposed. Pray also that the European Union of Prayer meeting will still be allowed in London from 26 to 30 October with current Covid 19 restrictions. May God make a way with a reduced number of participants.’

Greetings!

We are pleased to bring you IPC Connections for October 2020.  

Last month, we reported a sudden throng of events around the globe focused on calling the church to identificational repentance, nation by nation.  We shared how leaders have been led simultaneously to draw the Church together to pray concertedly in the spirit of ‘If my people…’ (2 Chron 7:14) for the healing and renewing of each of our lands.  We have seen numerous online events and initiatives take place during September and spilling into October.

One of our colleagues listed just some of the larger events… Lou Engle's 40-day global Jesus fast, The Return, The Franklin Graham March, The Reset, As One Rally, 50 Days of Blessings, National Day of Prayer, 10 Days of Prayer, Sara's 50 Day Siege and One Cry.  Then there have been Trumpet Call to the Nations on 911, World Prayer Together on 19^th September and the forthcoming US National Prayer Assembly on October 13-15 that some of the IPC team have been involved with planning. 

As this season continues, let’s be praying that our Heavenly Father hears our heart-cries from Heaven and heals our lands.  There are replays of a number of these events for those who have not been able to log-on at the time. Some are listed in this email.

Our Editorial article this month, and three lead articles, are focused on prayers for America as we face perhaps the most important Presidential Elections in our history on November 3rd.  Please be in prayer for ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done’ as our nation considers who they should be voting for.  We sincerely thank IPC’s friend and colleague, David Kubal for contributing our October editorial article entitled ‘America Needs Your Intercession’.    

The Covid-19 pandemic has now affected 33.4 million people worldwide with over a million now losing their lives.  We bring you up to date information on this along with prayer points and links to various resources.  

Thank you for continuing to partner with us in mobilising and informing united prayer across nations, denominations, movements, and generations for the fulfilment of the Great Commission.

May we express grateful thanks to Andy Page and the IPC Editorial Team who put this email together each month.

Wishing you His continued blessings,

Jason Hubbard - Executive Coordinator
John D Robb – Chairman
International Prayer Connect

Please use this link if you would like to sow in to our ministry with a donation

By David Kubal, Intercessors for America President/CEO

I am deeply humbled and blessed beyond measure by the prayers of the nations for America. For 47 years, Intercessors for America has been praying for godly government.

I want you to know how very much I appreciate the prayers of people outside the United States for our nation. It lifts our spirits and encourages us in our own intercession.

In this election season, I ask for your prayers for American values, our church, and for our government.

Values

Protection of Life. Nothing is more precious to God than life. From conception to natural death, God desires life to be protected. (Ps 139:13)

Pray for the value of life to be embraced by candidates and in their platforms.

Protection of the Family. Our society and our Supreme Court have embraced tragic views that grieve the heart of God and allow a diversity of what a legal family looks like based upon individual, personal beliefs about gender, attraction, and more. Although no belief or court opinion will ever have the power to redefine that which God has defined, efforts to change what family is have nevertheless wreaked havoc on our lives. (Gen 1:27, 28)

Pray for the strengthening and upholding of the family in America. Pray for healing where there is harm and brokenness and for a true understanding of identity to flourish.

Protection of Religious Freedoms. Attack on religious freedoms is the reason many of the early immigrants to our nation came to America. They sought the freedom to be able to worship their God! We need legislators and elected officials who have a heart to protect all faiths. This protection would in turn allow the Church to be the Church and give us the opportunity to be salt and light in our nation. (Ps 19:7)

Pray for elected officials and judges at all levels to protect the free exercise of religion. Pray that laws infringing religious freedom would be overturned. Pray for our leaders to uphold and honor the fundamental right of religious freedom.

The Church

The Church is designed to foster our spiritual lives, and the government our civil lives. Even so, the Bible indicates that the Church should guide our morals as well as our civics.

Government is not the source of spiritual revival. Though we desire our elected officials to be god-fearing, trustworthy, and full of integrity, we do not look to them as spiritual leaders.

The Church should influence government indirectly through the moral training of leaders and diplomats, but it is not to seek authority or validity from governments. God established the Church. And the Church stewards the nation, not the other way around. The Church is commanded to influence government through prayer and intercession, cooperating with the will and plan of God.

Pray for the American Church to arise and shine, bringing the Gospel message to every community in America.
Pray for the American Church to have a profound and lasting impact on the United States and this election.

Government

And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. Moreover, you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. (Ex 18:20-21)

Through divine wisdom, the ancient Hebrews were the first to create a representative republic based upon law. This was the blueprint for the republic we now enjoy in the United States.

This element of the divine blueprint, “Moreover you shall select from all the people,” is the most important because those who are selected have the opportunity to affect everything. Scripture is clear that those to be selected are to be able, God-fearing, truthful, and content. These are the values we are to look for in candidates. Those of us with biblical worldviews must go beyond the rhetoric and discern candidates’ hearts and values.

For months, Intercessors for America has been praying for literally millions of potential voters across the nation, by name. We are praying that Christians will vote their values--  for candidates who reflect the heart of God for the leaders of the United States.

Pray strategically for the Body of Christ to be salt and light in the civil arena.
Pray for the many Christians running for office and serving in government to be strengthened in grace and truth.
Pray for the election of leaders who will govern in fear of God, truth, and hating covetousness.

More Resources and Election Prayer Guides at: https://ifapray.org/

Seeking God's Face for the Destiny of America

Dear Praying Friends,

Ephesians 2:14-16 "He himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility...His purpose was to create one new man...and reconcile both of them to god through the cross."

If you have a heart to pray for America please join us via Zoom, October 13-15, 2020, for three power-packed, interactive days of hearing fast-moving, expert presentations, followed by anointed times of united prayer on the most crucial issues confronting our country.

It will be a profound season of Seeking God's Face for the Destiny of America as our theme describes.

We will also enjoy stirring worship along with quiet waiting and reflection together in His presence in order to hear His voice and pray out His heart for our nation.

Further details about the NPA along with the Zoom link will be sent to those who have registered. The registration cut-off will be October 6th so please register ASAP.

Prayer focus: Corporate sins, revival, and restoration | Government and elections | Terrorism and immorality | Children and youth | Economy and human life | The lost, truth in media, occult | Poor and unity and strength for prayer movement

Watch the invite video

REGISTER HERE

Please plan to join us at this critical time in history!

Yours in Christ,

Conveners

Dave Kubal, President/CEO, Intercessors for America

Lisa Crump, Vice-President, National Day of Prayer

John Robb, Chairman, International Prayer Council

Why did America need The Return and a day of prayer and repentance on the National Mall, but also live-streamed throughout the land Saturday?

America is a nation that started in covenant with God 400 years ago this year to glorify Him and spread His gospel to the whole world. But the country's spiraled down to legislate immorality, call evil good and good evil, throw God and His commandments out of the schools, and kill its own unborn children.

As "The Return" organizer Jonathan Cahn put it, "We drove God out of our hearts, out of our government, out of our ways, out of laws, out of the education of our children, out of the public squares. Out of our businesses, out of our media, out of our culture, out of our lives. And as we drove Him out, we opened up a vacuum into which came a flood of other gods."

Remember Who You're Talking to

How do we stop the spiral downward? As Cahn would put it, "Repent and return." And appeal to the one true God.

"When you pray, remember that you are appealing to the highest authority there is," said Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Billy Graham. "Nobody can go over His head. He is the highest authority we can appeal to. What he says, is so."

'We Deserve Judgment…But We Ask for Grace'

Prominent Christians came to the stage one after another to plead with that highest authority.
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council asked God, "Return our love of You to us that we'll stand fearless in the face of evil."
Former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann declared, "We deserve Your judgment, Father, but we ask for Your grace. We ask for Your mercy."

President Trump Speaks of 'Our Lord & Savior'

President Trump took part in the event, sending a message from the White House to be read to The Return crowd. He stated, "On this inaugural National Day of Prayer and Return, the First Lady and I join millions of Christians here in the United States and around the world in prayer, as we turn our hearts to our Lord and Savior."

And he spoke of the nation's Christian heritage: "Following in our ancestors' footsteps we continue the 'firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence' that provides us enduring strength and reassurance in our times of need."

CBN's Gordon Robertson and his father CBN founder Pat Robertson joined in, with Pat crying out, "Lord, this is your world, this is your land. We ask that You'd come and heal our land and take charge. For, Lord, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."
Many Tens of Thousands Came to Pray

At the same time, Franklin Graham led a Prayer March starting at The Lincoln Memorial and going down the entire 1.8 mile long National Mall.

Tens of thousands of prayer warriors showed up before the March began, packing every inch around the Lincoln Memorial and down each side of the Reflecting Pool.

The first thing Franklin Graham did was introduce a surprise prayer-participant - Vice President Mike Pence. He thanked the massive crowd for doing the best thing they can for their country: lifting it up to God. Then he prayed and blessed the efforts of all there.
There were prayer goals for each stop along the way — like the World War II Memorial and Washington Monument. But the throngs were so huge that there was no way for everyone to actually listen to one specific person praying.

Prayer Broke Out Everywhere

Up and down the Mall, groups broke up into small circles to pray.

That accomplished one of Franklin Graham's goals: that people wouldn't just listen to him, because, as he put it, "My prayers are no more important than yours." But that each man and woman who'd made the effort to be there would lift up their individual voice and make their particular petitions known to God.

At the World War II Memorial, where the emphasis was on praying for soldiers, police, and safety in the nation, Steve Morgan of Chesapeake, Virginia prayed out as he laid hands on a soldier marching with his group.

"We bless our military, we bless our police officers, those who secure peace, not only for our land, God, but lands far away," he said.
Morgan told CBN News, "I've been praying that the blessing will transcend the gathering here. But that really there'll be a tangible blessing, a kind of an earthquake of blessing, if I can put it that way, that'll be like tremors that the whole nation will feel as a result of the oneness and prayer that's being experienced today."

These events and efforts taking place all over the National Mall were all to the same purpose: bringing America back to its first love and repenting before a holy God.

Watch the REPLAY: https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2020/september/be-a-part-of-the-return-a-national-and-global-day-of-repentance-friday-evening-and-all-day-saturday

Resources: Click to access a Return Prayer Guide, Church Activation Kit and More! https://thereturn.org/resources/

More at: https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2020/september/the-return-and-prayer-march-bathe-nations-capital-in-prayer-and-repentance

Towards the end of August, two prayer leaders, one Indonesian and one American called me within a few days of each other, both saying they were deeply stirred by the current plight of the USA with growing lawlessness and rioting gripping many cities here.

Their calls came as a confirmation to me since I was already feeling that America was in a fight for survival as the free society we have known and appreciated her to be. Under the guise of racial justice protests, Marxist agitators working through Antifa and Black Lives Matter as well as other communist-inspired organizations have been trying to burn down U.S. cities and throw the country into revolutionary chaos as they have long planned.

The November 3 national election will be the most important one in our national history because it will determine whether the USA will become the willing tool of these oppressive forces or continue to stand for Judeo-Christian values, freedom, and human rights within this country and throughout our world.

We in the American prayer movement were so glad to hear that our Indonesian brothers and sisters in Christ wanted to rally the global Body of Christ to pray for America during this crucial time.

On September 11^th, Indonesian and American prayer leaders co-hosted a global online prayer call via YouTube called “Trumpet Call to the Nations: Global 9/11 Prayer for America”. You can see the full video on this link https://youtu.be/F7pmkOXhBSs It begins with a moving video called “Praying for America”, a splendid aerial video of the country set to the lovely, worshipful music “As One We Stand” by Terry and Barbi Franklin who are both worship leaders and intercessors. (That video has since been adapted for churches and prayer groups to use as a prayer video with specific concerns for the nation now and is attached below for your use.) 

Daniel Pandji, the Indonesian leader who mobilized prayer in his country and around the world for the USA, and Frank Amedia, a prophetic pastor who leads a prayer ministry for the US government, both shared their provocative visions about the extreme danger facing our country and the need for us to be midwives in securing deliverance through united prayer at this crucial time.

Rick Ridings and Succat Hallel gave us an encouraging prophetic word from Jerusalem. After David Demian with two Chinese leaders asked forgiveness for those nations that have resented and cursed America, DC prayer leaders received those confessions and blessings and then led us in prayer for the three branches of the US federal government.

From there we embarked on an extended prayer tour to a dozen American cities for a continued time of repentance and prayer with worship led by both American and Indonesian ministry leaders. What a marvellous and moving time to be in the presence of the Lord together, with such unity in spite of our cultural diversity! 

We as Americans are so very grateful to the Indonesians and other brothers and sisters in Christ who took the time to be with us and lift America to His Throne of Grace. May we see His breakthroughs come as a result in the coming weeks and especially during the November 3^rd election!

John D Robb – Chairman

International Prayer Connect

More than 10,000 followers of Jesus from 123+ different countries joined us for the World Prayer Together call on Saturday 19^th September.

The theme of the 4 hour gathering was ‘Repentance, Reconciliation, Revival and Reaching all with His Gospel.’

This GO2020 partnership event launched a special season - 10 Days of Prayer www.10days.net (during the “Ten Days of Awe” from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur), September 18-28, as well as a movement of repentance called The Return www.thereturn.org  (See previous article)

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. 2 Chron 7:14

Thirty four church and ministry leaders representing 10 world regions “stood in the gap”, identifying and confessing major corporate sins that characterize their regions as those from other regions empathized and prayed for revival and mission breakthroughs for each of those regions.  Worship was led by teams from Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, The Ukraine and North America.

In case you missed this significant event, it is available on YouTube Playback.  A full listing of the programme with links to each video clip is available here.

Thank you for joining us for this act of ‘John 17’ unified prayer for our world. 

Jonathan Friz, 10 Days of Prayer, www.10days.net

Grant Berry, Reconnecting Ministries, www.Reconnectingministries.org Jason Hubbard, International Prayer Connect www.ipcprayer.org
John Robb, International Prayer Connect www.ipcprayer.org

Excerpts from our full October prayer report looking at Covid-19 Hot Spots, Flattening the Curve, Hopes for a Vaccine and Prayer Points with Links to Resources:

As of 30^th September, the total global figure for people infected by Covid-19 stands at 33.4 million according to Johns Hopkins University. In addition to this, the death statistic has risen above the unwanted milestone of 1,000,000.

Covid-19 hot spots

The US continues to be the country with the highest numbers confirmed cases and deaths related to Covid-19 globally with figures at around 7,300,000 and 210,000 respectively. The daily infection rate has remained stable over the past month at around 40,000 new cases per day and new deaths have consistently been above 700 according to Worldometer.

India is currently experiencing the highest rate of new coronavirus cases per day reaching its own 24-hour high of 97 thousand on 16^th September, and also the highest rate of deaths with an average over 1,000 per day throughout most of September. India has also overtaken Brazil for the spot of the most cumulative cases and is on track to soon overtake the USA for the top spot. This comes as the Taj Mahal reopens at quarter capacity in the northern city of Agra after being closed for 6 months.

Latin America continues to suffer with over 9.2 million cases of Covid-19. Brazil and Argentina, in particular, are observing tens of thousands of new cases each day and hundreds of deaths. Some of these deaths may even have been preventable as reports speculate corruption among politicians to take advantage of the pandemic chaos to line their own pockets with inflated contracts for ventilators and other medical supplies in high demand.

Many European countries are seeing second waves of infection within their borders. The likes of France, UK, and Netherlands are showing increasing case numbers beyond their first spike. This does not necessarily mean that this wave is currently worse than the first, however, since testing was not widely available at the beginning of the pandemic so only the most serious cases were confirmed. In areas with the highest rates of infection there are local lockdowns in place and restrictions on bar & restaurant opening hours across England. The Netherlands are facing their first strict restrictions after largely avoiding any serious impacts previously. It will now be recommended to wear masks in shops and social gatherings will be limited to three people. Russia remains the worst affected country in Europe with over 1.1 million cases without any sign of a significant decline in transmission rates.

Africa seems to be seeing an overall decline in the prevalence of Covid-19 with a reduction of positive test results and an increase in testing over recent weeks and months. The pandemic seems to have impacted the continent less severely than the rest of the world partly due to a younger population, low population density & mobility. Other countries around the world struggling to contain the virus include Indonesia, Iran, and South Africa, where the numbers of new cases and deaths remain high.

Has the curve flattened?

The initial intention of flattening the curve was to reduce the rate of infection enough to keep hospital admissions below maximum capacity so that everyone who needed medical treatment could receive it. This was a particular issue early on in the pandemic since many of those infected and impacted by the virus were more likely to be older and therefore more likely to need hospitalisation, with particular issues in care homes.

Many of the newer infections have been among young people, and mass migrations of students to universities have been partially to blame for this. Young people are naturally more at risk of infection regardless of universities since they are more likely to be working in retail and hospitality where interaction with customers is highly likely. Furthermore, government schemes such as the UK’s ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ or France’s restaurant vouchers encouraged socialising and patronage at these establishments to boost the economy. Finding the balance between keeping the economy as strong as possible and minimising infection has been the factor to decide whether a country has handled the pandemic well or not.

In some countries around the world where good social distancing has been practised, masks worn where necessary, efficient testing and quarantining has taken place, and test-and-trace systems have been implemented, the rate of infection has been shown to fall, and in some places, reduce to 0. This has been fully enacted by small countries and island nations and has seen positive results from larger countries such as Taiwan, and Iceland where the virus was once prominent.

In other countries, there has been impatience during lockdown, not waiting long enough for case rates to fall before reopening. This prevents a reduced rate of transmission, which doesn’t work towards the eradication of the virus. Through further restlessness and more easing of lockdown restrictions, the rate of transmission has increased again producing additional waves of infection as shown by the recent dramatic increase in cases in the Netherlands or Israel.

The efforts that have been put in place by countries all over the world have reduced the impacts of the virus, though. Without the measures such as travel restrictions to and from zones with high case rates and social distancing designed to reduce transmission, the new numbers of cases would likely not have dropped, and the death toll would have been much higher by now.

Vaccine update

Vaccines are currently being developed by teams all over the world in the race to find a solution to the pandemic. 43 of these are currently in human trials, and 93 are in animal trials, to prove that they work as intended and are safe for wide-spread use.

A vaccine developed by the University of Oxford with AstraZeneca has been shown to trigger an immune response creating neutralising antibodies and T-cells in the recipient after a single dose in 90% of participants, although not without possible side-effects such as fever and headaches. Larger trials have been taking place in Brazil, UK, South Africa, and USA where exposure to Covid-19 is high to ensure the vaccine is safe and effective, and then 2,000 volunteers from Britain and 37,000 worldwide will take part in “challenge trials” where they will be deliberately infected with coronavirus to observe the vaccine’s response. There was a pause in the phase 2 efficacy trials due to safety concerns which have since resumed 6 days later in the UK and South Africa and then Brazil. The US is yet to continue their branch of the trial over calls for more transparency.

Over 150 countries equivalent to 64% of the world’s population have pooled efforts and resources to set up the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, otherwise known as COVAX. The benefits of this are that all member parties can take advantage of successful vaccines produced from their collective library so that everyone will have access to a working product in the shortest time frame possible. In the event that a country’s own vaccine plans fall through, they will have a backup option in COVAX. Notably absent from this coalition are China and USA.

COVAX have now announced a plan to fairly distribute working vaccines around the world going first to front-line workers and then to those at highest risk. However, funding to provide vaccines to lower income countries is not yet sufficient as only $800 million of the $2 billion required has been raised.

Read the full report for September with more prayer pointers on our website

Let’s Pray…

• Let us continue to declare that the novel coronavirus is defeated by the blood of Jesus.
• We pray for divine intervention and for God's name to be glorified even as each nation and government tries its best to flatten the curve, prevent and lessen the impact of second spikes and finally arrest this epidemic. 
• We release wisdom, skill, and integrity upon our leaders. 
• We pray for protection, wisdom and strength, for those working to bring treatment and comfort to the sick and their families.
• We pray special grace and help for the vulnerable and lesser-developed nations.
• We pray for refugees and displaced peoples. We pray against domestic violence and other crimes that have become rampant during lockdowns.
• We pray for a safe, effective, and affordable vaccine to be released soonest but without including aborted baby cells in its creation or neglecting proper testing protocols.
• We continue to release faith, hope, and love over the peoples of the world. May the Church seize this opportune time to manifest Jesus our Lord and Savior to those who are seeking answers and peace.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have defied calls for a ceasefire after the worst fighting in decades between the two over a disputed territory.  The US, France and Russia jointly condemned the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, in the southern Caucasus.

But Turkey - an ally of Azerbaijan - dismissed demands for a ceasefire.  Nagorno-Karabakh is officially part of Azerbaijan but governed by separatist ethnic Armenians. Years of negotiations have never resulted in a peace treaty.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a war in 1988-94 over the territory. Armenia backs the self-declared republic but has never officially recognised it.  Heavy shelling persisted overnight in the region's main city, despite mounting international concern.

At least 100 people have reportedly been killed with hundreds wounded in the latest flare-up.

More at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54366616

Pray for the hostilities to cease and for a return to negotiations.

Pray for the safety of civilians living in the disputed regions.

Pray that external interference will be brought to light and that this war does not escalate.

This message was received from a German humanitarian/prayer organization:

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

We would like to inform you that from 27.09.2020 until today, 29.09.2020, the attacks of Azerbaijan troops, which are supported by Turkey, do not stop. Azerbaijan troops have been bombing not only armed forces but also villages and towns. By the grace of God, our armed forces are still able to guard the borders and prevent the enemy troops from invading and destroying the civilian population. At the moment we already have 84 casualties among soldiers who gave their lives for their country.

Our church, along with other churches, fervently prays to God, and thanks to God that He hears our prayers and protects our country from an adversary that several times is larger in number and armor. A state of war has been declared in our country as well as general conscription.

There are also brothers from our church who are currently in the army, and some have either been conscripted or went as volunteers. We also try to support our army with financial and economic means, as well as to help families who moved from Artsakh, which is Nagorno Karabakh. Right now we are making food for families who are standing before hospitals whole day long because their relative soldier is wounded moved to a hospital.

Please, earnestly pray for the people of our country, so that God's peace may descend on the borders and reconciliation may be established between the neighboring fighting countries.