How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? Romans 10:14
Many millions of people are on the move across the Middle East and Europe. While their plight may have dropped down the news agenda, they continue to arrive in huge numbers. Many of them are now living in camps or communities far from home; some are living in the UK, perhaps even in areas near your church.

All too often, the stories of these migrants and refugees are reduced to a bewildering array of statistics. While the numbers are huge, bare figures mask the reality of individual lives torn apart by the horrors of war and economic deprivation.

Very few of the refugees and migrants know Jesus Christ or the eternal hope he offers. Very often, they are asking profound questions of their inherited faith. While many of these people are facing great hardship, their single biggest need is to know Jesus Christ – and that is why the #HowWillTheyHear campaign has been launched.

#HowWillTheyHear is a collaboration between Serving In Mission UK and several other agencies. It is designed to mobilise prayer and people to ensure migrants and refugees are told the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The initial focus of the campaign is on our 10:14 prayer initiative. We understand the all-important role prayer has to play in ensuring this vital gospel work can press ahead. We have produced this prayer guide to help you think through and pray through some of the major issues involved in sharing the gospel with migrants and refugees.

Inspired by Romans 10:14, we would love you to join with us in praying for the refugees and migrants for 14 days, starting on October 14. From then on, would you consider setting an alarm for 10.14am, so you can remember refugees and migrants in a prayer every day?

As the prayer campaign gets underway, we will also be helping people move into direct mission work with refugees and migrants. We have placements in UK churches, in European churches and in Middle Eastern churches, all ready to be filled by gospel workers with a heart for this ministry.

For more information about the campaign or to sign up for the 10:14 prayer initiative go to www.howwilltheyhear.net

Fifteen years ago, Stoke-on-Trent came 134th out of 134 places in a survey of the best places to live. Our friend Lloyd Cooke, a proud Potteries lad was distressed. “This happened on our watch”, he told the church leaders.

They started to run citywide prayer events to pray for change and improvement. They invited local politicians and civic leaders to work with them and gradually started to see change, whilst significantly strengthening church unity in the city. Alongside this they began to explore what input the church was making and found the work with the elderly was four times bigger than the work of Help the Aged. The churches work with children, young people and families was essential to the city. The church now has credibility and a shared responsibility for the good of Stoke-on-Trent. Alongside this Beacon House of Prayer act as watchers for the city, praying for Stoke, and people to come to Christ.

The Stoke story is mirrored across the country. In Bristol, churches have repented of the cities role in slavery, held large prayer gatherings and seen a very active Christian become their elected mayor. They have started to get prayer into every aspect of the city, because they believe Jesus is Lord of Bristol’s politics and arts, its business and its children and education, its health and its communities.

In Liverpool, the passion for the city is tangible with many people coming to Christ after concerted prayer for the city. This prayer has seen large drug imports exposed, a thousand Iranian and Iraqis come to Christ and the obtaining of justice for the 96 Hillsborough victims.

There are many more stories from across the UK. The whole Turning movement, which has seen thousands come to Christ, is based on working with places where the church is already praying and working together. God is shouting a very clear message to us – He cares about our place and He wants to redeem it. Whether it is the tiniest village or a thriving city, Jesus is building unity and a shared passion for mission.

On 6-7 October the Movement Day conference takes place in Westminster Central Hall. The national, denominational, and city leaders will proclaim this is the time for unity in the Church, for the Church to bring unity to the nation and for us to refresh our commitment to take the Gospel to the nations. The conference will be a launch pad for increased prayer and mission across our large towns and cities.

It joins a global movement. Houston, Texas is responding fast to the devastation that has hit them because the church has built strong supportive relationships.

Mumbai in India sees the churches working together to rescue and restore child slaves, outreach to the prison and prayer walk the boundaries of this 22 million strong city.

Lloyd Cooke has a deep and very obvious passion for Stoke-on-Trent. He loves his place, he has seen what can change when the church realises it is better working together than standing alone. We can follow Lloyd – praying with expectations for our place and working with others to bless it.

We will feedback from Movement Day but please keep it in your prayers and go to www.movementday.uk for more information.

Ecclesiastes 3 tells us “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” WPC believes we have entered a new season – a time of turning. Ecc 3:17 talks of “a time to judge every deed”. The key message for this season is – turn away from sin and seek God. The vast majority of people will not see the need to repent and far less the need to seek God. Jesus says “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” John 8:32. He continues “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin….. You belong to your father the devil…he was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” This season of turning is also a season of intensified spiritual warfare. We are fighting the father of lies and praying for a revelation of the truth across our nation.

In this new season, we want to encourage a new approach to prayer. Our starting point is ourselves. Many of us are crippled by lies. The enemy attacks our self-worth, he picks at the scars of our disappointment, and he wants to stop us praying effectively. We often fail to engage in spiritual warfare because the enemy has told us it is not needed. We want to turn away from those lies, which weaken our effectiveness. We turn to Jesus, wanting to spend more time in His presence and listen to Him. We continually ask “how do you want me to pray Lord?” We are “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Heb 12:2).
This season of turning will include:

• A strong focus on praying for this powerful move of God to turn our nation around. Join us at our Prayershift and Watch and Pray gatherings as they step up a gear.
• Strategically, this is a time to pray for prayer. We have accepted prayer being a minority interest for too long. We believe God wants to mobilise His whole church to pray for and see a turning.
• We will be encouraging you and providing tools and resources to pray for this turning.
• We will be working with prayer and mission organisations and churches to encourage a shared call to pray and work for turning.

Date for your diary 12-14th March. Our next national prayer conference at Swanwick will focus on Time 2 Turn. We expect to see significant change in our nation when we gather together. Book online and take advantage of the early bird offer.

We are praying about what God is releasing – watch this space for more info on prayer events.

BOOK ONLINE NOW

With prayer, 'one size doesn't fit all'!  There are many ways to pray and our Flourish blog will be featuring some prayer styles and ideas for you to try and find what suits you best.  Once you find what works for you, you can connect with God in a more intimate way.

Breath prayer is a short petition, repeated in the space of one inhalation-exhalation cycle, that acknowledges the natures of both the Lord and the petitioner.

1. Sit comfortably with your back straight and close your eyes.
2. Pay attention to your breathing. Focus on breathing will probably exaggerate the intake and output a little. Wait until a comfortable rhythm has returned.
3. Ask Jesus to be present, to lead, to guide, and to protect. Invite him to draw you into the community of the Trinity.
4. Wait silently until you feel ready to begin praying.
5. When you are ready, pray in your breathing rhythm.
   Inhale: Lord, Jesus Christ,
   Pause: Son of God,
   Exhale: have mercy on me, a sinner.
   
   
6. Use a prayer rope, touching one knot or bead for each repetition. A typical prayer rope is strung with a sequence of one large bead to every ten small ones. The small beads remind one to focus on the prayer. The large one allows for a pause. You may simply touch each of your fingers in succession. Through the first ten repetitions, you might pray aloud, considering the words of the prayer. As distractions arise, gently return your concentration to the words. (Suggestions for dealing with distractions can be found under Lectio Divina/Practice/4.)
7. When you reach the large bead on the prayer rope or your tenth finger, pause. With the first pause you might converse with the Lord about any sin that has risen to your mind. You might tell him about distractions.
8. Begin the next ten when you are ready, praying silently, attending to the flow of air and how it merges with the words. Perhaps on the second pause, a person or situation may come to mind for whom you wish to pray, “have mercy.” Perhaps “on me” will shift to “on us.” Maybe you will appropriate the significance of the words to a particular concern of your own, or the plea for mercy will become a praise for mercy obtained. Take time to share these with God.
9. As you begin the next ten repetitions, listen for the Lord speaking in your heart. Perhaps on the next rest, you will pause to let his words flow.
10. As the prayer repetitions begin to move from your head to your heart, you may feel a desire to still even the echo of the words and to sit quietly with the Lord in peace. When you are ready, you may begin the prayer again or move on to other disciplines of the day.
11. When the silence is gathered and before you move on to the day’s tasks, write down anything that particularly stood out to you during your meditation. It may be that the prayer returns to you throughout the day with this nuance. The next time you practice the breath prayer, perhaps this will function as a starting point in your move to stillness.
12. Exercises other than breathing may also provide a physical rhythm that can fuse with the repetition of the prayer. You may wish to try an uninterrupted walk or bicycle ride in a quiet place, reciting each phrase of your prayer with every step or pedal-pump that you take.
13. Other short petitions in Scripture or some personal breath prayer may be used instead of the Jesus Prayer, for example “Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you” (2 Chr 14:1) or “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on me” (John 1:29). As you regularly practice breath prayer, it will eventually enter into other daily activities like a song you cannot get out of your head. If the repetition becomes annoying or void of meaning, return with intention to the words, retaking them as a prayer for the moment.

Source: TenWaysToPray.com

In a world of uncertainty our new prayer guide is written to bring hope, encouragement and faith.

Just last week a reader told us that this was very helpful during the loss of a loved one.

We want this resource to be a blessing to everyone who reads it, and a vital tool in times of emergency.

What to pray when Crisis happens in life.
Whether it's loosing your job, ill health, sudden loss or a terrorist attack, this comprehensive prayer guide will give you practical direction on what to pray when things go wrong.
Split into easy to follow sections this prayer guide is 40 pages long and full colour throughout, written by Rebekah Brettle, the founder and director of Neighbourhood Prayer Network.

To order the Emergency Prayer Guide, CLICK HERE.
There are options for single copies, bulk packs for Churches and a discount for larger Church orders.

Some of the topics covered (in no particular order) are :-
• Bereavement
• Church Disappointment or Hurt
• Depression and Anxiety
• Fire - Major Incident
• Financial Crisis
• Homelessness
• Infertility or difficulty conceiving
• Marriage Problems
• Missing Child
• Persecution for being a Christian
• Miscarriage and Ectopic and Still Birth
• Victim of Rape
• Rejection or Betrayal
• Shock Diagnosis
• Suicide
• Sexual Sin
• Emergency Surgery
• Terrorist Attack
• Aftermath or a Terrorist Attack
• Terminal Illness or Facing Death
• Unemployment

Each section is broken down into subsections and has a Biblical emphasis to the suggestions for prayer made.
Drawing on years of experience as a Doctor of General Practice and experience through A&E, Rebekah provides insights to prayer that we might not have thought of ourselves.
This is a great resource for individuals, prayer groups and Churches alike.

One of the most well-known and probably most frequently told stories of the Old Testament is that of the battle between David and Goliath. The battle is set like many other historic battles; Israel was perched on one mountain ridge and beyond the valley on the other side is the Philistine army. There is a ‘standoff’ as the Philistines best man, and he’s quite some man, takes the valley floor. Goliath challenges the leaders of Israel to send their best fighter down to meet him. Whoever wins in the proposed hand to hand combat wins the war! Simple, but who have Israel got that is an equal match to an experienced and extremely strong champion warrior whose physical and military stature is of massive proportions?

You will recall the story I am sure, the youthful David takes him on but without armour, without a sword or a spear and slays him with a stone from a sling. He takes Goliaths sword and chops his head off. This is the sort of stuff that films are made of!

So, if I asked you where the real battle of this story was fought you’d look at me quizzically and either think me stupid for asking the question or perhaps feel I’d lost the plot! You’d probably say “It’s in the valley, between David and Goliath of course”. But is that the real battle? What territory is being fought for here in this battle? We are perhaps too quick to hail David as the victor and hero of the story. Sure, he’s been extremely bold, but even he says that his victory is not his!

The real battle being fought here was for the hearts and minds of God’s people - Israel. The battle ground was in fact an internal one; this was not simply just a fight between our hero David and the evil Goliath.

David say’s in 1 Samuel 17:46-47 that it is the Lord who gave Goliath into his hands, the battle isn’t David’s it’s The Lords, and not just that, The Lord is the true victor. The Lord seems to have set up this battle for a purpose! But, if He has, why has He? Look at these verses, David speaking to Goliath said “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands.....that all the assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lords.......” The ground that is being contended for is not simply, Israel’s land or Saul’s sovereignty over Israel. The land the Lord is trying to occupy is the hearts of His people. The issue at stake is one of trust! Where is God’s people’s trust? Is it in the might of the sword and the spear or in the name of the Lord?

The battle ground is one for the hearts of His people. Nothing changes! The true battle ground is always internal. Do we place our trust in our own might and strength, our own types of swords and spears or do we place our trust in the Lord. Maybe the battle that you thought you are fighting is in fact not the real battle!

Adrian Lowe

We are launching our new 'Prayer Power Points' which are in PowerPoint slide or PDF formats with prayer points that can be downloaded by individuals, churches and groups to use in your prayer meetings. 

We realise that we are all busy so we have done the work for you.  We will produce PowerPoint slides on various topics which we feel God is leading us to pray for. This will help anyone struggling with prayer to know what to pray for.

We will also provide Prayer Power Points after our gatherings so you can join with us in prayer.

Prayer Power Points from our recent Prayershift gathering. Click image below to download PDF and download Powerpoint here.

Here's our first to download from our recent It is Time! gathering. Click on the image below to download a PDF file and Download powerpoint here.

At the end of May, the churches in Walsall in partnership with the Turning team from Reading went out on the streets of Walsall using the ‘The Turning model’ of evangelism.

At 10.00am every morning, we met at the Rock Church for worship and training and in the evenings at a couple of local churches for worship and testimonies.

After the training session in the mornings, we would then go out in pairs on the streets, parks and market place. We followed a script that tells people of God’s love for them, briefly outlines the Gospel and ends by inviting them to accept Jesus. For everyone that prayed that prayer, we asked for contact details so that someone from a local church can follow them up.

Our first day was Bank Holiday Monday and over a hundred people turned up to go out on the streets. At the back of everyone’s mind was ‘will this really work’, ‘will God show up will He use me’. The answer was a resounding YES!

At lunchtime when we gathered back, everyone had an amazing testimony. There were some rejections but with those that made a commitment, it was so easy. Some people only got as far as saying ‘God loves you’ and people burst into tears.

A number of us witnessed whole families giving their lives to Christ, old people who were very near the end of their lives wanting assurance that they would go to heaven when their time comes. Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims came as well as people of no faith.

Young people and one man told of an accident he had had 10 days before in which he had an out of body experience where he was told that it wasn’t his time and that in 10 days time he would be told what to do. It was exactly 10 days when he was approached by two of our team and gave his heart to the Lord.

I could go on with testimony after testimony. God was definitely moving on the streets of Walsall.

Walsall will never be the same again, the churches will never be the same again and neither will I. As the great hymn writer says, ‘My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!’

Sheila Hendley
Academy for Life

A weekend to make God’s love known to those around you. On your street, in your community, with your prayers. We believe that local people praying for their community can change lives. The idea is simple. The National Prayer Weekend is an opportunity to gather prayer requests from people in your local area and introduce them to a God who loves them through the power of prayer.

Jesus clearly commissions us to love those around us, He tells us to love our neighbours and the National Prayer Weekend is a direct response to His command. We want to show God’s love to everyone around us. We know that God can do immeasurably more than we can even imagine and are been really excited to be hearing from Christians all over the world who are joining in with the National Prayer Weekend 29 September–1 October 2017.

The following testimonies were sent in from people who took part in the National Prayer Weekend last year and prayed for people in their local communities:

‘I visited the little shops, hotels and businesses in our village and handed out prayer requests. I went back a few days later and collected the prayer request. I am delighted to say I was received well by all who I spoke to.’

‘The National Prayer Weekend has inspired us to consider making this a more regular offering to our community.’

‘It was great to know that here in our small community of around 5,000 people in the South West corner of Australia that we were sharing in prayer with thousands of others across the world.’

Do you want to join in?
Visit www.national-prayer-weekend.com to sign up. Access free resources, to help plan your prayer weekend, get your pin on the prayer map and make your mark on your local community for God’s glory.

SPREAD THE WORD:
Follow the National Prayer Weekend on Facebook and Twitter to add your voice to a worldwide praying community sharing stories, pictures and prayer ideas.
We believe that local people praying for their community and neighbours can change lives. One life, one street, one community at a time.

Here is an excellent three-minute video that describes the impact of the Moravian prayer and mission movement from Herrnhut where a number of global prayer and mission leaders met for a consultation in June 2017. 

Here are the three main emphases I believe we need to keep our hearts, minds, prayers and actions wrapped around going forward:

1) Reaching the unreached with the Gospel - Pray for the effective linking and coordination of prayer and mission efforts for finishing the task, adoption of every unengaged unreached people group in prayer and mission in the coming 5-10 years. Let’s pray especially for the “Finishing the Task” event in early December that will bring together hundreds from the mission agencies along with a significant group of prayer leaders for the first time. You can find out more about specific unreached people groups needing to be adopted at https://joshuaproject.net/ Please adopting one yourself as your own assignment to cover that group in prayer until they are reached.

2) Raising up the “now generation” of youth and children to find their unique missions in life and impact generations to come for Christ and His purposes. Pray that in the coming decade, we will see children and youth prayer movements develop, be connected, and strengthened in every nation on earth (they are probably going in one-third of the nations so far). The Children in Prayer movement and the international team coordinating this effort and the UPRISING youth prayer movement with their team are both extending this crucial vision for the raising up of the Now Generation vision. Please pray for His provision, guidance, unity and wisdom for the leaders of both these movements.

3) Transformational prayer for breakthroughs in the socio-political realms (global institutions like the UN, “Seven Mountains” cultural spheres, regional summits, national initiatives, wars and human suffering, authoritative prayer efforts for territorial deliverance). Please pray for prayer leaders and ministries targeting those challenging socio-political issues and institutions affecting life in our various nations and world. Pray for clear discernment, guidance and power from on high to pull down strongholds and drive out forces of spiritual darkness in His authority for atmosphere-changing breakthroughs that open peoples to the Gospel and bring about major transformations in favor of Kingdom values.

Source: IPC Prayer