The following was taught and prayed through during our 6 a.m. prayer time with Sue DeGroot
1 Tim 2:1-4
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Prayed…
- Father thank You for the name of Jesus. Thank You Father there is power in that name. There is power to save, there is power to heal, there is power to deliver and set the captives free.
- We declare over the nations that Your labourers are proclaiming the name of Jesus.
- Thank You that there are multitudes calling on the name of Jesus. We pray for the harvest today and we cast out the nets of salvation upon the nations. Thank You that You desire that all men come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved.
- Thank you that blind eyes are opening and seeing the revealed Word of God. Ears are unplugged, hearing and responding. Thank You that hard hearts are softened to receive Your Good News. We speak to the mountains of resistance and we say be removed.
- The gospel is running swiftly and is being glorified. Everywhere the Word is being proclaimed You confirm it with signs and wonders. Thank You for those repentant hearts. You are the God of the turnaround. Pour out Your Spirit. None will perish but will have everlasting life. It is the heart cry of the Father and ours too.
- We are Your hands and Your feet. We see what You see, and we hear what You hear. You are guiding us, and we are moving with compassion. Wherever we go forth the Spirit comes upon us and He has anointed us.
- Thank You that the church is getting brighter these last days. Sound doctrine is going forth from the pulpits. The whole counsel of God is going forth. Save now we pray.
- Father thank You for Eagles Nest church’ harvest. We call people loosed from the north, south, east and west. They are hearing and responding. They are coming to this church with their giftings and with their finances. They are coming with hungry hearts. They are coming and being fed well. Their roots go down deep, and they will thrive. Thank You that whole families are coming in. You are the God of the increase and we declare there is increase coming to this ministry. There is increase coming to our finances.
- Thank You that we have prominent people sitting in our congregation. Thank You for the land and building that are reserved and preserved for us. It is loosed in Jesus’ name.
- Thank You that you are ordering Pastor Ric’s steps. He has favour with You and with men. Thank You that he is filled with Your wisdom. Thank You for doors, great and effectual doors You are opening for Pastor Ric and Deborah, and for those divine connections Lord. Thank You for grace for P. Ric and Deborah in this season of transition. Thank You that there is provision for the vision.
- Father we declare over Canada that she is ablaze with Your glory. We declare Jesus Christ reigns over Canada. He has dominion from sea to sea. Thank You that He is not being shut out of government. Thank You that there is righteousness in our government. Thank You for wisdom for our Prime Minister. Thank You that Your will is being done in our election this Fall. There is change coming to this nation for the good.
- Father, we lift the nation of Israel. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We declare in their Fall election You will is being done. We say touch not the man of God. What the enemy brought for destruction, You turn it around for the good and for Your glory. Thank You for wisdom and discernment for Israel’s military power. Strength to them Lord. Holy Ghost inside information to them. Thank You Lord. We praise You and give You all the glory.
Prayer-Life Crisis In The Church
By K. P. Yohannan
I will never forget one of my first prayer meetings in America. I had been in the United States for only a few weeks, and I was eager to meet the spiritual giants and leaders. Even before leaving India, I had heard of one man in particular. He was famous for his uncompromising defense of the Scriptures and sound doctrine.
So on that first Sunday, I hurried to visit his church – one of the most famous in the city. More than 3,000 attended the morning services to hear the talented choirs and outstanding preaching of the Word.
My ears perked right up when the pastor of the church announced a special emphasis at the upcoming mid-week prayer meeting. There were some things “heavy on his heart,” he said. He announced the name of a certain chapel, and I determined to attend.
In other parts of the world, where Christians are often persecuted and attacked for their faith, prayer meetings are the very centerpiece of the church calendar. Everyone attends. Prayer and worship often last long into the night. It is the powerhouse of their faith, and many believers rise before dawn for daily prayer meetings.
Prayer is probably the best thermometer you will ever have to measure your growth in Christ. It drives all that is truly spiritual, both in our churches and personal lives.
On the appointed night I arrived early, fearful that I would not get a good seat – or even a seat at all! Right away I noticed that there was room for only about 500 worshippers, but there was no singing or clapping. The hall was completely empty. I walked all the way to the front and took a seat to wait.
By 7:15 I was getting really worried. “I must have gotten the wrong hall,” I reasoned. I even went outside to check the name above the door to make certain I was in the right place.
Finally, at 7:30 several others came into the huge hall. There was no leader, songs, or worship. People sat and talked about sports and weather.
After about forty-five minutes an elderly man came in to lead the prayer meeting. The pastor was not even there. I counted seven people. The elderly man read a Scripture, made some devotional observations and led a brief prayer.
As the others got up to leave, I sat stunned. Was this it? Were they not going to stay and wait upon God? Where was the worship? The tears? The cries for guidance and direction? Where was the list of the sick, and the poor, and those in need? What about that burden the pastor said was heavy on his heart? Were we not going to intercede for a miracle?
And what about missions? This church supported missions on every continent. Were they not going to pass around the missionary prayer letters and pray together for those facing attacks from Satan on the front lines?
Many set up their churches and lives much like their secular businesses and careers. With or without the blessing and presence of God, religion goes on like a well-oiled machine.
These churches by the tens of thousands have what are called “mid-week prayer meetings.” But it is a shame even to call them prayer meetings. What really happens seldom has anything to do with prayer at all! The people gather. Someone stands to lead some singing. Then one person prays – briefly. Another person reads a list of announcements. Of course, the preacher usually delivers a short homily. In some cases, there may then be a few prayers, but most close having had no real time of prayer at all. How can we call that a prayer meeting?
Nothing reveals the bankruptcy of modern Christianity more clearly and quickly than the current crisis in prayer. It has reached emergency proportions.
I Can Handle It Myself, Thank You!
Many times, I have asked, “Why is it that we as believers in the West do not pray more?” and “Why is it churches do not give more attention to prayer?”
After all, since prayer is the ultimate act of spiritual intimacy with God, should it not be the central activity of our whole lives? It cannot be that we lack teaching on prayer. Few Christians have more books and seminars on prayer than do the believers of North America.
The awful truth, whether we admit it or not, is that we do not pray because in our hearts we do not think we really need God. We do not know how to pray because true prayer can only originate from a life emptied of self-sufficiency.
The church we see today is truly the church of Laodicea described in Revelation 3:14-22. There is no more accurate description of our spiritual condition anywhere in the Bible. Jesus said of this church, “I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (vv. 15-17).
Our prayerlessness highlights our self-sufficiency. This “I-can-handle-it-myself” mindset is the spiritual cancer of our times. It is the root cause of the present powerlessness both in our personal lives and our churches. Because we have not yet comprehended the essence of prayer, we fail to see the arrogance and terrible rebellion of our present state.
We have so much else to depend on today – buildings, machines, money, programs and technology. We spend thousands of hours with consultants in study and planning. Yet there seems to be no time to pray.
Clearly, we have lost touch with the eternal, living God. Instead, we are serving the machines, programs and systems that we have established. But they are an idol, a god that we have created and now control with our own ingenuity. And the message of the Bible on idolatry is clear. Either we will turn from these idols and trust in God, or the Lord Himself will intervene to destroy the work of our flesh. It is dangerous to travel on in this pathway of pride – in our personal lives as well as our church lives.
Waiting for Power from Above
How different our current lifestyle is from the instructions of Christ to the first disciples. After three and a half years of constant example and teaching, what was the only lesson He wanted them to remember? “Without Me you can do nothing!” No wonder He told them to tarry in Jerusalem and wait until they were endowed with power from above, before they went out to fulfill the Great Commission. He wanted them to realize that, in and of themselves, they were headed for disaster. (See John 15:5; Acts 1:4-8.)
Unless we come to this place of total helplessness, we can never understand prayer. This is why Paul says, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). Prayer is nothing more than voicing our dependence upon God. And the answer to every prayer is nothing more than this: God is with us, in all His power and authority, to make up for our human limitations.
Each of us, in our own personal daily walk and work, is led through trials and tribulations. These test our faith and should spur us on to a life of more prayer and deeper dependence upon God.
We have countless opportunities to trust God in the world of missions work. However, even in this realm where it would seem we would want to depend on God the most, it is rare to find leaders moving out in reliance upon the Lord.…
We have time to study anthropology, sociology, theology, marketing and media, but we have not time to pray. It is nothing for our leaders to spend two or three days in continual planning and scheming. Yet you will seldom find these same men and women on their knees for one night of prayer. Why are we not waiting for a revelation of His plan? Crying out for the invisible God to go before us in battle?
Is this not a clear indication these leaders and organizations are trying to reach the lost world without coming to grips with spiritual reality? How can we overcome unseen spiritual forces, cast down evil strongholds and open closed doors unless we are a people of prayer? God’s army always moves forward on its knees.
Taken from The Road to Reality by K. P. Yohannan © 2004. Used by permission of Gospel For Asia
This ‘Great Awakening’
Prophecy delivered by Kenneth Copeland on July 4, 2009
West Coast Believers’ Convention
(Tongues) “This ‘Great Awakening’ that is hanging heavy over the United States even tonight. This ‘Great Awakening’ that’s hanging heavy around the nations of the world but most especially in this country and in Canada. This ‘Great Awakening’ that is hanging there, just hanging there to be realized and to be, to be flowed and released throughout this nation and throughout the nation of Canada, and then in turn throughout the rest of the world.
“The prayer, the prayer, the prayer, the prayer that’s gone forth. The prayer that is going forth, that’s where the power release is. That’s where the trigger to these things is, that’s the way you release them in your church. And thus saith The LORD thy God, “In this hour these churches that are teaching and training people to pray of which are on this list and many others also, those are the churches where the explosion and the Shekinah glory of God will be manifest first.
“The praying churches will walk in it first. And they’ll say, ‘My, revival broke out over there.’ No, answered prayer broke out over there. The ‘Awakening’ will come out of congregations. There is a hunger in this nation for holiness. Holiness—real truth, Bible purity before God—and people will run into houses of worship where the glory of God is residing and hanging heavy. And they’ll say, ‘Clean, clean, clean! Oh to be clean, to be clean.’ And they’ll run into that atmosphere and My blood will cleanse them from the top of their head to the soles of their feet.
“And My WORD will take root on the inside of them, and this nation is headed for a Holy Ghost wake-up call. It is on us now—you rejoice, for we’ll see it before many hours go by.” Hallelujah
We prayed for the Body of Christ to realize the importance of corporate prayer. When Believers come together and pray prayers of faith, power and glory is released.
Prayed…
- Father, we come to You in the name of Jesus. Father we pray that the eyes of their understanding of the believers is enlightened to the truth of the importance of prayer. We pray our prayers be full of Your faith and full of substance. They know as they pray that You hear and respond.
- We pray there is not only an increase in the prayer meetings, but also of those who intercede. Increase is coming in Jesus name. The pray-ers are bringing it to birth. Father forgive the church because we have put no emphasis on prayer and we have let go by. Thank You that the prayer meetings are Your meetings.
- Holy Spirit have Your way. Thank You that people are yielding to tongues and are filled with Your Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. There is power in prayer. Thank You that as Your people pray there is the shekinah glory released. How can we see the manifestation of the glory with no prayer? Thank You for revelation coming to pastors of the importance of corporate prayer. Prayer and fasting.
- Though we dropped the ball, we get back on the wall. Yes, every prayer is a powerful weapon. No more excuses.
- Thank You for those religious prayer meetings that are turning into Holy Ghost prayer meetings. Thank You Lord.