"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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land".~ 2 Chronicles 7:14
FLOODS
In 2010 Pakistan recorded the worst flood on record, with over half of the country covered in water. The UN said, "more people were affected than the combined total of 3 other major catastrophes - 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake."
Punjab the largest province (meaning land of the 5 rivers) where the most people live is experiencing even more devastating floods than in 2010. So far over 1.8 million people have been affected; 700+ villages have been wiped away; 10,000's of livestock have been lost; the military has evacuated 4,000+ people by helicopter and boat; and over 4,000 people are still marooned. Roads and infrastructure are being washed away; food and drinking water are needed. Many are living on dikes and are being asked to leave as these dikes are being blown up to divert floods away from major cities. The monsoon rains are still continuing as the floods move south carrying destruction in their path.
PRAY
For people who have lost everything.
For aid to reach these people. ( The Taliban and Al Qaida are the ones giving the most aid. Last time they did this to further their cause and get people to join them.)
May Christians be able to mobilize help.
May people see that Christ is the true savior and the one who loves them. May they realize that their god is not a god of help but one of destruction and death. May Pirs and demonic places be wiped out in the wake of the flood.
DEMONSTRATIONS.
Demonstrations are still continuing by the same two parties demanding that the government be overthrown. Last week they were even saying the government of Musharraf was much better. (In the last 40 years more progress was made during his time than any other government.)
PRAY for a righteous and just government.
TERRORISM
The Pakistan military has been bombing and carrying out heavy raids against the Taliban along the Afghanistan border. A group called the "Punjab Taliban" has broken away from the TT and said they are "ending their armed struggle within Pakistan." PRAY this may continue. The Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP - a very ruthless group) are having internal struggles with groups like the above breaking away, and fights over leadership. A new leader has just been named.
Thank you for your intercession
Pr4Pak
May I ask for your prayers for the National Prayer Assembly that those God is calling, a Gideon's Army of ministry leaders and intercessors, from America and other nations will be assembled for this crucial time of intercession for the USA at the end of next month? Also, if the Lord moves your heart to take part, you are invited to register on the website noted below.
Thank you,
John Robb
IPC Chairman
National Prayer Assembly: Seeking the Face of God for America, October 29-30, Pentagon City Sheraton, Arlington, VA.
The National Prayer Committee, Mission America, Intercessors for America, Jesus Alliance and International Prayer Council are cooperating to call together people with a heart to pray for an all-out time of prayer for the nation just before the congressional elections. We sense that the country is at a crucial point in its history with many dangers and threats from without and within that need to be confronted through getting on the Lord's wavelength with others from across America. As one theologian put it, "History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being!"
In the Missionary organization in which I was working, namely Friends Missionary Prayer Band, we found from the beginning that prayer is the spiritual strategy for transforming people groups along with what is done by evangelists and missionaries. Psalm 2:8 says, "Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession." We focused on 300 people groups with a target time. We took all the stronghold details (religious blocks and barriers for the Gospel, social blocks and barriers, cultural hindrances and all bad customs and habits among the people). We started thousands of prayer groups to pray all kinds of prayers such as one-day prayer group prayer, fasting prayer on Wednesdays, 3 days full fasting prayers, all night prayer and other special prayer initiatives. The Lord of the Harvest really granted our prayer requests, doing great things in all the mission fields with signs and wonders.
FMPB was able to plant 1157 churches, 6607 congregations with 614,834 believers. The Government of India in their research found that wherever there is Christian missionary work in progress, there is no Naxalite (communist guerillas) or terrorist activity.
Sometimes it takes time for separate parts of complex situations to fit together. God knows the perfect time to give maximum results. The Anti-Conversion bill in Tamil Nadu, the state where I live, was removed after two years of prayer by many believers in the churches throughout the state. God took two years to put the complex political situations in line to remove the anti-conversion bill. Normally it is impossible to remove such an ordinance by the Government.
Sometimes it takes time for God to prune our negative attitudes, wrong habits, values on possessions and spiritual idols, which will be normally hindering our prayer life.
Sometimes He requires massive prayer to make a breakthrough in the devil's hold and fortresses. The Tamil Nadu Highways department planned to demolish the Arcot Pentecostal Church building, which was on the Vellore Chennai High Road. The whole church prayed through chains of prayer day and night. The Lord answered their cries and the Tamil Nadu Highways department changed the road laying plan to the opposite side of the church. The church premises was safely spared and now it is a growing, witnessing church.
There is always a mystery in the timing of God's answer. It is a mystery to us because we cannot see as God sees. If we see as completely as God does, we would understand what God means by "the proper time." "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9).
Sometimes the answer is delayed because the devil is strongly possessing a people group or a situation or a place. Jesus taught that some cases of demon possession required more prayer and fasting than others. Spiritually sensitive people have sometimes been aware of greater spiritual darkness and resistance in certain geographical areas. Satan seems more entrenched, particularly in areas where there has been much Satan worship in its various forms, occult practices, or idolatry. It often requires prolonged prayer or amassed prevailing prayer before spiritual breakthrough comes in such places.
The following model of prayer practiced in Sandola village is a radical example of how persistent and continuous prayer can change a dark village into a Christian village. The tribal people of Sandola village which is in Jharkhand state used to sacrifice cows, goats, buffalos and hens for their gods. If their gods were displeased with such sacrifices, they used to do human sacrifice also.
A few missionaries went to lead this people to Christ in the year 1987. The village people stopped them from entering the village. Missionaries, evangelists and believers prayed for that village with a great sense of burden. After 7 years of prayer and perseverance, a few women from Sandola village came and asked us to teach them songs of Jesus. As per their request, we proclaimed Jesus in Sandola village through songs in the year 1993. As a result, 64 persons (60 women and 4 men) took baptism in the month of October 1994. The women who took baptism said: "We pray for our husbands with fasting. They too will accept Jesus Christ". God honored their faith and they participated in the Christmas service as families. The next day, all the village people took baptism. From that day onwards, they stopped their animal and human sacrifices and began offering the sacrifices of praise joyfully to the Lord Jesus. A church was built there, and the people are worshipping God. Hallelujah! So perseverance is a very important component of the intercessory prayer to receive answers from God in His sovereign time.
Ezra Malto, an evangelist in Jharkhand prayed with a great passion and with fasting to ask the Lord to give one church in each of 76 villages of Hiranpur Taluk. On the 4th day of his fasting he fainted. When revived, he was asked to take some food. He refused to take food, saying unless the Lord answered his prayer he will not stop his fasting prayer for Hiranpur Taluk. By the Lord's grace, he completed 7 days of fasting prayer successfully. Then, a real spirit of prayer broke out among his church elders and believers. Many continued to join Ezra Malto and prayed and did continuous outreach in all the 76 villages of Hiranpur Taluk. Now, there are churches in each of the 76 villages of Hiranpur Taluk. 60 villages have become totally Christian villages. This is another example of importunate, persevering prayer.
Having served 22 years in a missionary organisation, the Lord enabled us to network prayer and organize many united prayer initiatives such as 12 hours of fasting prayer, 24 hours, or 72 hours. Such united prayer efforts have ignited movements of prayer in places wherever we practice this regularly. United prayer increases unity and faith among the praying people and churches in the area or state where we practice this continually. Powerful strongholds are pulled down by the Lord's answers to united prayer. We still have freedom to preach the Gospel and plant churches in those areas in spite of opposition due to the arrogance of Hindu majority-ism.
But after attending World Prayer Assembly from 14 - 18 May 2012, Jakarta, Indonesia, we from India felt that what we do in India for prayer is very less compared to what is happening in Indonesia, Korea and China and other nations
M. Patrick Joshua
Director of the National Prayer Network of India and IPC Leader
This letter which contains much wisdom from J. John, a British evangelilst, was forwarded by Leighton Ford to a friend of ours
"My son asked me last week, 'How should we pray for ISIS?'A good question and one that needed pondering for a few days! It is hard not to feel very strongly about the rise of ISIS in the Middle East and the brutal and very public barbarities it has carried out. This all raises many questions for the Christian. How should we respond? And what should we pray: 'Lord, destroy them!' or 'Lord, forgive them!'?
There is no doubt that some sort of intelligent military action is necessary. This is a merciless organisation whose destruction of Christian and other communities in the Middle East tells us that it cannot be allowed to continue. Yet there are real dangers for us all here. The first danger is that we adopt an arrogant self-righteousness. The meteoric rise of ISIS - or whatever it calls itself now - is actually no unexpected wonder. It draws its support from a widespread dislike and contempt for the unjust and corrupt political systems that have long dominated the region. Yet these are regimes that, despite knowing fully what they did, the West was very happy to support as long as they supplied us with oil, bought our goods and didn't oppress our people. So in our praying we must admit at least some responsibility for the present state of affairs.
A second danger lies in having a coldness of heart. In our praying and our actions we must be concerned for the many in the region, of every religion and of none, whose lives have been turned into tragedies by current events. We need to pray, 'God have mercy!', but as we do so let us also be prepared to be the answer to that prayer.
The third danger is quite simply that of hating those who fight for ISIS. Let me suggest three reasons why this is wrong. The first is that we believe in a God who judges. We know that at the end of time the Lord will call all men and women to account before him for what we have done. Knowing that our enemies face such a prospect should transform any temptation to hate them into compassion.
The second reason why hatred should be avoided is that we who are Christians are under orders not to hate but to bless. In the Bible we read this: 'Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing' (1 Peter 3:9). There is a profound psychological logic here. Hatred only breeds more hatred in response; in contrast, grace and forgiveness can end it. Let's have the courage to pray that these people might encounter the true and living God and abandon their evil deeds.
The third reason why I believe hatred must be shunned is not primarily theological but actually tactical. Something that the media has largely failed to understand is that the public and deliberately shocking nature of such acts as the beheadings of journalists and aid workers is a deliberate strategy to make us hate the perpetrators. Their goal is to create a situation in which Islam and the West find themselves in a bitter and bloody war. They want us to hate them, and I suggest that we are wise not to fall into that trap. Indeed, the greatest of all dangers is that the Christian Church so demonises the forces of radical Islam that our religion of grace and love is extinguished under the weight of wrath. Under such circumstances the Church would cease to be the Church. In a bitterly ironic triumph of evil we would have simply become the mirror image of our enemies.
These are perilous days, but God is great and prayer can achieve what armies cannot. Let us pray and if, as we do, fine phrases fail us, we can always pray those simple wise old words, 'Lord, let your Kingdom come and your will be done."
During the first two weeks of September, one of our colleagues whose name is Sam (last name not included for security reasons) was able to facilitate two prayer seminars for Iraqi believers in Erbil, Kurdistan and in Baghdad. Here is his account of what happened and some continuing prayer concerns:
"It has not been easy for the believers to raise up in faith to pray for their nation. One night a believer - lady and her family were robbed at gun-point through 8 gunmen, during those days of prayer. This really discouraged believers again, after the major bomb-blast I mentioned before, the evening before I arrived. Anyway, I kept encouraging them, challenging the inner - circle of the church to increase their prayer - commitment and taught them with plenty of testimonies, how prayer changes cities & nations.
We finished well with several active prayer-times, standing in cross - formation, facing in the directions of IS etc. and once for the young generation & their future. Prayed against evil and corrupt & wicked politicians to be removed, for God to tear down the wicked high places and for the march of death by Shias to stop etc.
In the final meeting, I challenged them on bringing a real expression of their faith into society by worship, intercession, prayer-walking and blessing the nation and the majority people. We finished with a ministry time for many, many individuals, where God touched some people very deeply and they couldn't stand anymore. One lady was shaking for hours through the power of God.
Praise God for these things:
- France has started their air campaign in Iraq against IS. Note from editor: 5 Arab nations have also joined with about 60 nations willing to assist now.
- Kurdish forces have advanced against IS in Northern Iraq and Syria.
- Believers in Baghdad have started praying for their neighborhoods and see positive changes.
- One lady doctor is committed to lay her hands on the hearts of her patients while doing check - ups and praying for them, blessing Muslims etc.
Please keep praying for the following for Iraq (and Syria). Here are some requests from Sam with some addtions from the editor:
- Iraqi believers to take responsibility for their nation in prayer and to receive a fresh boldness instead of fear (many struggle with depression, fear, hopelessness).
- Church leaders to get a strong burden & love for their country and lead the believers into prayer instead of leaving (quite a number of churches are already been closed down).
- The international alliance of nations against IS to effectively fight IS and to continue a successful campaign against the terrorists. Formation of an international expeditionary force to be rapidly deployed wherever radical Islam and terrorists operate.
- The government in Baghdad to be strengthened and the old revengeful politicians to be stopped since they cause havoc through sponsoring bomb-blasts and killings. Pray for Prime Minister Haider to be strong, honest, non-sectarian. He recently received prayer by a friend in Baghdad. So did some Peshmerga military leaders for their actions against IS in the north. May many political leaders in the nation come to know and pray to the Lord for the healing and transformation of their nation!
- For peace for Iraq, development, foreign investment, rebuilding of the infrastructure etc.
- That all places that have been conquered by IS / ISIS / ISIL / Al Qaida will be taken back by the Iraqi & Kurdish forces.
- For Christians in Iraq and Syria and other places affected to faithfully persevere; for their protection, provision for their basic needs and that they will boldly proclaim Jesus
- For the influence of the demonic forces and evil alliances to be broken and destroyed.
- For extremists/jihadists to meet Jesus Christ as their Saviour and as the Prince of Peace. (Percentage wise more radical/jihadist Muslims are coming to the Lord than any other group amongst Muslims.) Remember the man Saul a radical Jew who became Paul the greatest missionary of all time.
Concerned governmental sources have called for prayer over information they just received that ISIS sleeper cells in the United States are organizing in a coordinated effort to attack active US military and their families.
A confidential government source called BridgeBuilders' President Hal Sacks on Saturday night with the news and plea for prayer.
He told Sacks, "We were briefed last night by the Air Force that 3 or 4 days ago ISIS put out a call to all of the "sleepers" or underground ISIS members in the United States to start an organized attack against the active duty military and their families."
As Christians we must take this threat seriously! God can thwart this and any terrorist threat against our nation if we will fervently call upon Him (2 Chron. 7:14).
PRAY:
- Pray for President Obama like never before!! He is president during one of the most dangerous times for America and the world and needs our fervent prayers every day.
- Pray for wisdom and strategy for the US Congress, Homeland Security, and the US Military
- Pray for the Exposure of ISIS plots
- Pray protection over our US Military personnel and their families.
- Pray for the protection of US Military bases.
BridgeBuilders International Leadership Network, Phoenix, AZ.
Remember to pray for the yearly Hajj: 2-4 October 2014.
We encourage you to ask people to pray also for the yearly Hajj - 2-4 October 2014. Between 2-3 million Muslims will visit Mecca during this time. The following two links will give you some information on the Hajj and how to pray about it.
Oct.ober 29 - 30, 2014 Washington, D.C.
The National Prayer Committee, Mission America, Intercessors for America, Jesus Alliance, IHOP and International Prayer Council are cooperating to call together people with a heart to pray for an all-out time of prayer for the nation just before the congressional elections. We sense that the country is at a crucial point in its history with many dangers and threats from without and within that need to be confronted through getting on the Lord's wavelength with others from across America. As one theologian put it, "History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being!"
Calling for a Gideon's Army of Prayer Warriors for such a time as this!
Are you sensing a call of God to a time of intense intercession for the United States? At this time of growing crisis in which our nation seems to be have lost its direction morally, spiritually, politically and economically, a number of Christian leaders have heard that call and are inviting you to Washington DC, October 29-30 for a National Prayer Assembly. Scheduled just one week before our national elections, it comes at a crucial time in our nation's life. It is not a time for politicking or posturing, but for passionate prayer for a fresh move of God for the transformation of our nation. Our prayer focus is on repentance, reconciliation, and revival in the spirit of God's great promise for national restoration in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
This gathering is being sponsored by America's National Prayer Committee, The International Prayer Council, IHOP, Mission America Coalition, Intercessors for America, and Jesus Alliance.
The venue will be the Sheraton Pentagon City in Arlington, Virginia near Reagan National Airport. A registration fee of $55 helps us secure the gorgeous meeting room overlooking all of D.C. and provides coffee, tea, and water for the two days of praying together. The hotel is located close to the Metro and allows us easy access to visit significant sites in the City for onsite intercession. The registration site is: www.nationalprayercommittee.com Additional details can be found there, including information on reserving your rooms at the hotel. If you would like to stay at the Sheraton, the hotel number for reservations is: 1 800 325 3535. There are less expensive hotels a few minutes away in Alexandria.
A Billion Hours of Prayer and $1 Billion by the Year 2020
The 10/40 Window region is home to 3 billion Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus, the vast majority of whom remain with little or no access to the gospel in their language and culture. Over 90% of the world's least-reached people groups are in this region, among which 50,000 people will die each day without Jesus.
One answer to this spiritual darkness is a new initiative called Light the Window, which aims to equip 10 million believers around the world to pray and give sacrificially to reach 365 influential people groups in the 10/40 Window region. These 365 groups represent over 2.5 billion individuals who are the least-reached and least-evangelized people in the world. Mission strategists refer to these large groups as "gateway peoples" because if a breakthrough happens among them it may have a huge impact on the surrounding peoples, who are often related linguistically and culturally to these larger groups. In one way or another, most of the world's unreached peoples are influenced by or connected to these gateway peoples.
At its core, Light the Window is a strategic list for prayer and priority giving. Around this core are many related components which will equip the body of Christ for united impact in the 10/40 Window. Among these are monthly concerts of prayer, an online prayer exchange, a global strategic fund, and a service network. These four components are briefly described below.
Concerts of Prayer
Each of the 365 gateway peoples on the Light the Window list are grouped into one of 12 cultural regions, one for each month (see table). For example, in November the focus will be on Central Asian Muslims and in April the focus will be on Hindus of North India. Each month Light the Window participants will be encouraged to organize and gather in a "concert of prayer" for the particular region in focus. The concept of "concerted" prayer relates to two important dimensions of intercession: corporate unity and specific purpose. This is based on the principle which Jesus gave the church, "If two on earth agree about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven." (Matt 18:19, ESV). Thus the purpose of a "concert of prayer" is not so much to mobilize or spread awareness about the 10/40 Window (though that will certainly happen), but it is more to enter into agreement as the corporate body of Christ in order to receive the authority God desires to give us to reach the nations.
Prayer Exchange
One of the major purposes of Light the Window is to equip intercessors around the world with prayer updates from the field, and to make these available in every major language with a significant number of evangelicals. To facilitate this field/intercessor connection, an online prayer exchange is being set up that will enable field practitioners to upload updates that will then be translated by volunteers in every country. In addition to this, a Light the Window app for smart phones is being developed which will allow participants to log their prayer participation and receive live prayer feeds from the 10/40 Window for the people groups they are following. Each year, these field reports will be edited and coalesced to update an annual Light the Window intercessory guide, which can be used in print or digital form.
Strategic Fund
If Light the Window achieves its goal of equipping ten million participants around the world, the potential for giving to fund strategic projects is enormous. Using "crowd-funding" technology and concepts, participants will be encouraged to give small regular contributions to fund big projects. Crowd-funding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo are raising hundreds of millions for funding commercial ventures through large numbers of people working together. The time has come for the global body of Christ to leverage its enormous giving power to finish the task of reaching all peoples with the gospel. By faith, Light the Window is aiming to raise at least $1 billion dollars from 10 million participants to fund strategic projects in the 10/40 Window. (This comes to just $10 on average per participant each month.) With an estimated 800 million evangelicals in the world, it is reasonable to assume that at least 10 million believers will have the capacity to participate in this strategic fund.
PRIME Teams
In addition to prayer and giving, participants in Light the Window will be encouraged to join service teams, which are being called PRIME teams, that serve the ongoing field work among unreached peoples. PRIME stands for prayer, research, innovation, media and engagement. PRIME centers will also be established on the field that will serve full-time as coordinating hubs for PRIME teams, with a focus on a specific gateway people or people-cluster. These teams and centers will be linked together through a network of organizations and ministries which specialize in one or more of the five PRIME areas.
Participation
Light the Window and PRIME are networks which are owned by the entire body of Christ and mission community. Any ministry, church or organization committed to the Great Commission under the Lordship of Christ can participate in these initiatives and incorporate them into their existing ministry platform. They are free gifts to the global church with no strings attached (or to put it in tech-speak, they are "open-source" programs that can be freely deployed and adapted for multiple platforms). Light the Window and PRIME plan to officially launch in 2015. Those interested in participating in Light the Window can help beta-test the program by registering at www.ltw2020.org.
You may also write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information
