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Prayer and Politics

June 30, 2010 by Jim

One of the most challenging things to do in prayer in pray for politics, especially in a group context. There are so many different opinions that can get intertwined in our prayers. Yet as I mentioned in my previous post the Scriptures are clear in commanding us to pray for our political leaders.

There are some fantastic articles and blogs that have been written about this issue. One recent blog that I highly recommend is by Rob Parker of the National House of Prayer in Ottawa on how to pray for government. It is very practical and worth reading.

This past weekend was the Luke 18 weekend of 72 hours of intercession and worship over the G8/20 Summits. (you can read a report on how the weekend went from a national perspective in a blog post by Sara Maynard, who was the national coordinator of the Luke 18 weekend) The main theme for me was the exalting of Jesus as the King above all the other kings of the earth. There was a lot of intercession for justice, wisdom and for each of the individual leaders of the G8 and G20 summits, however I want to comment on this issue of prayers that exalt Jesus above the nations.

Within the book of Psalms there are a grouping of Psalms from 93-100 that are commonly called the ‘kingship Psalms‘. (obviously there are many other ‘kingship psalms as well) These Psalms exalt God as the King that is above all other kings. They are a tremendously rich place from which to pray for government and those in authority.

Why is the theme of Jesus being exalted as the King of all kings so important? One answer is found in Psalm 2:

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One (v. 1-2)

Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (v. 10-12)

This is a prophetic Psalm about the end of the age and the return of Jesus, so there is a futuristic context to these verses. However you understand this Psalm, one thing is clear: the tendency of human kings (Presidents, Prime Ministers etc.) is to exalt themselves and to pursue power for themselves over and against the establish power of the King of kings, Jesus Christ.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, President Barak Obama and all the G8 leaders need us to pray for them for wisdom as they seek to lead and make very difficult decisions. It is also important to pray for them to make decisions that are honoring to God and also pray for the prosperity of our nations. However, the greatest need that they have is to bow down in worship before Jesus Christ and recognize him as the King who is exalted above all kings and who has all authority and power. If they get that one issue right, it will make all the difference. It will connect them to the God of all the universe who has ALL wisdom and understanding and power. I am not saying it will instantly guarantee that all problems will be solved, but no other issue will have more impact on their leadership. The Scriptures makes that abundantly clear.

I strongly encourage you to pray for governmental leaders. Pray for God to give them wisdom and Godly counsel, to protect them and their families. Pray for their own salvation. Pray that Jesus Christ would be acknowledged and worshiped as the King.

As Psalm 2 puts it: “Blessed are all who take refuge in him”

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Why Pray for the G8 & G20 Summits

June 17, 2010 by Jim

On June 25-27, 2010 the leaders of the most industrialized nations in the world will be meeting in the Muskoka area near Toronto, Ontario. The G8 leaders will meet June 25-26 and the G20 leaders will meet June 26-27. These are annual meetings and this year is the 5th time that Canada has been host to this gathering of international leaders. (you can find out more information at the Government website)

In anticipation of this event, God has raised up a national prayer initiative called ‘The Luke 18 Weekend‘ to pray over the G8 and G20 meetings. This initiative is being led by Cityscape Prayer Ministries and there are over a dozen Canadian houses of prayer and other prayer ministries that will be involved from coast to coast. The weekend will consist of a call to 72 hours of continuous prayer and worship in cities and regions across Canada. This is truly an historic event because never before in Canada has there been such a national mobilization of night and day intercession for a single event!

In the context of a western culture that has grown increasingly cynical about government and politics we must understand why it is important that we pray for such an event. It is easy to simply say that the G8 and G20 meetings are ‘much ado about nothing’ and that similar meetings of international leaders rarely change anything.

Today I want to look briefly at some Christian and Biblical reasons why it is extremely important to be involved in the Luke 18 weekend:

The most immediate reason is that as Christians we are commanded to pray for our leaders. The words of Paul in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 are familiar to us:

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority…

It is clear that God’s will is for us to be in prayer for those who are in positions of governmental leadership. Our cynicism does not release us from the mandate to pray for our leaders.

A second reason that the Luke 18 weekend is of tremendous significance is in light of the hour of human history that we are living in and the need to sound a prophetic voice to the kings of the earth. Psalm 2 is a well known Psalm that speaks to the human drama at the end of the age. It gives a powerful declaration in verses 10-12:

Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

The G8 and G20 summits are clearly a gathering of the kings of the earth. To host these leaders in our nation of Canada is an honor that should be taken seriously. As Christians we must also be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is saying through the Scriptures. The great need of the hour is for the kings of the earth to hear the warning of Scripture to respond and honor Jesus Christ, who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the One who is coming to rule over all the nations of the earth!

How will they hear this warning? Will it be through picketing and protests? No, such a warning must strike their spirits and this will only happen by the power of God moving in response to the intercession of His people!

The final and most important reason why the Luke 18 weekend is so critical and why Christian believers across Canada should be involved is this: God desires it. This national prayer initiative is not simply some idea that was cooked up out a desire to be cool and trendy. The Luke 18 weekend is a gathering that the Lord has raised up. God is saying “I want there to be continual worship and intercession over these meetings”. Christian leaders from across the nation have agreed that this is what God is saying and Christians are responding to this call to continual worship and intercession for this important event.

Here in Edmonton, there will be 72 hours of continual prayer and worship hosted by House of Prayer Edmonton. More information about how to become involved can be found on the HoPE website. For people in other regions of the country, more information can be found on the Cityscape website.

It is time to put our words into action and gather together and pray!

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Posted in Intercessory Prayer, Prophetic Prayer | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Chariot of the Holy Spirit

June 10, 2010 by Jim

Paul Cain once said that “the chariot the Holy Spirit enjoys most is the Scriptures.”

Many people approach the Bible in a couple of different ways: the Bible can be studied in an academic way where the emphasis is primarily analytical or it can become essentially God’s manual for life; a book that shows us how God wants us to live our lives. Both approaches are valid and have their benefits.

One of the most powerful ways to read the Scriptures is more a ‘devotional’ approach and this is an approach that is often neglected by many Christians. What we need most is not more information about God; what we need is a revelation at a heart level about the character and nature of God. Knowing God on a heart level is where intimacy with God is developed.

Jesus once spoke of this to the religious leaders of his day:

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.  -Jn. 5:39-40

Certainly Jesus was speaking to the Jews about the understanding that the Old Testament prophesied about him as the coming Messiah of Israel. However these verses also speak to us as Christians and the way that we approach the Scriptures.

There are also growing numbers of Christians that are experiencing a deep inward groaning to know God more deeply and pray diligently that they would know God more. I believe that Jesus would call us to a greater reading and meditation on the Scriptures that testify and give us the revelation of what God is like. That is what Paul Cain meant when he said that “the chariot the Holy Spirit enjoys most is the Scriptures”

A ‘devotional approach’ to reading the Scriptures is essentially about turning the Bible into an ongoing prayer dialogue with God. It involves less analysis and more personal reflection, regularly pausing to meditate on what it is saying and to pray and listen to the Lord.

Let’s look at a famous passage from Exodus 34:

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation’.  -Exodus 34:6-7

Here are a few steps you can use to allow the Holy Spirit to breath greater revelation into your spirit:

  1. Read over these verses a couple of times. Take your time. Don’t rush through.
  2. Pray in agreement with what God has said about himself. Thank God that he is slow to anger, abounding in love, etc.
  3. If one part or phrase stands out to you, stay with that phrase and use your own words to express how you feel about it.
  4. If a part of phrase doesn’t make sense to you, ask God to speak to you about it. Often the Holy Spirit will bring another passage of Scripture to your mind to help fill in the picture of God that is being revealed. When that happens, look it up, write down the reference and bring those verses into your dialogue with the Lord.
  5. Pray and ask God to soften your heart to know who he is and then to become more like him. We are made in the image of God and are designed to reflect the glory and character of God in our lives.
  6. Finally, make a point to spend several days in the same passage of Scripture. Our tendency is to move on too quickly. When you choose a passage like Exodus 34, stay there for 2-3 days or a week. Dialogue and meditate and allow God time to work in your heart.

I hope that this will aid in your times of devotional prayer and in growing in the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus!

Posted in Devotional Prayer, quotes, Spiritual Disciplines | Leave a Comment »

Growing in the Attitude of Christ

June 7, 2010 by Jim

This past week I have been spending quite a bit of time focusing on Philippians 2:5-13. This is a well known passage in which Paul exhorts us to have the same attitude as Jesus Christ. It then describes some of the major pillars of that attitude, such as humility, obedience, and a servant heart.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:                                                                                                                                     Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

These verses have become so familiar to most Christians that that staggering impact of what Paul is saying can often be lost on us.

To have the same attitude as Jesus Christ? Talk about a lofty goal! When you slow down to look at each phrase of this passage the full weight of the words and the height of the glory of who Christ is becomes more clear. What also becomes clear is the critical role of prayer in order to grow in the same attitude of Jesus Christ.

I have been taking the different words and phrases that describe the attitude of Christ and praying over them, asking God to grow and develop these aspects of the glory of Christ’s attitude in my attitude.

The other aspect of this passage that has really encouraged me has been verse 13: “for it is God who works in your to will and to act according to his good purpose.” This is another familiar passage that we apply in many circumstances, however Paul is writing it in the context of growing in the attitude of Christ. Paul understood how massive a concept he was unfolding in telling the believers to have the same attitude as the eternal, perfect, sinless Son of God, Christ Jesus. He grasped the challenge of growing in this attitude and becoming conformed to it.

He reminds us that it is God who works in us! It takes the work of God the Holy Spirit to work in us to accomplish this stunning work in our hearts. We have not been left to figure it out on our own. There is a promise of God’s enabling power (what the Bible calls grace) to see this transformation of our fallen attitudes become reality. There is the promise that it is God’s idea (his ‘good purpose’) that weak, fallen human beings like us who have said yes to Jesus Christ, should grow more and more to have the same attitude towards life and daily circumstances as Jesus did.

This has created in me a boldness in prayer and a faith to ask God to fulfill his good purpose in me, that my attitude should be transformed this week increasingly into the attitude of Jesus Christ.

I want to encourage you to look at this passage this week and begin to include these verses into your personal prayer life.

Posted in Devotional Prayer, General Discipleship | Leave a Comment »

Prayer is Good Time Management

May 20, 2010 by Jim

A number of months ago I was in a prayer meeting with a good friend of mine and the prayer focus was on Psalm 1. The Psalm begins as follows:

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (v. 1-2)

At one point my friend read from v. 2 and the phrase ‘and on his law he meditates day and night’, and he prayed, “God, this is good time management”. I remember being struck by the unusual choice of words. One of the reasons it stood out to me is that for quite a while I have had an interest in learning more about effective time management. In our society today money is the preoccupation of many people. Money is essentially a ‘renewable’ resource but time is a non-renewable resource. Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good! Therefore it is critically important that we learn to effectively use the resource of our time.

When we spend time in prayer and worship we are engaging in an activity that will live on into eternity. God will remember every moment that we spend in prayer and worship. Since prayer and worship are activities that build the Kingdom of God, they are investments of time that will pay ultimate dividends!

One of the greatest obstacles to spending time in prayer is the feeling that we could be doing something better with our time. There are so many other things that we could be doing with that time! Many of us have mental ‘to-do’ lists either written out or in our minds and we end up thinking about all the other things that we could be getting done with our time.

Psalm 1 continues to speak about the benefits of sitting before God in the place of prayer and worship:

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. (v. 3)

The person who invests their time in prayer and worship will be more effective and productive in the end. There is the promise of God’s divine provision of strength and supernatural fruitfulness in life.

Today I want to challenge you to consider prayer and worship as good time management! Look at your schedule make the bold decision to carve out time for prayer and worship!

Posted in Devotional Prayer | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

Daily Prayers to Strengthen the Heart

April 14, 2010 by Jim

Well, it’s been an extremely long time since my last post. I am very sorry about that. I have been rather overwhelmed by a large number of activities lately and thus my writing time has really suffered.

I recently read an article by Justin Rizzo who is a worship leader at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. He wrote about a series of five short prayers that can aid in our communion with the Lord. I was in the midst of preparing to do some teaching at House of Prayer Edmonton on the topic of growing in intimacy with God and decided to adapt the ’5 prayers’ that Justin wrote about.

So today I want to offer these five short prayers (phrases really) that you can include in your daily life, that will dynamically strengthen your sense of connectedness to God:

‘Thank you God that you are my Father in Heaven’ – We agree and acknowledge God as our Father. We express with our words the desire to be children of God and to receive the love that the Father lavishes on his children (1 Jn. 3:1)

‘I set my mind and my heart toward you Jesus’ - There is power in our choice to set our thoughts and emotions on God (Col. 3:1-2)

‘Thank you that you are with me today Jesus. Help me to know your Presence.’ – Our great need to to become more aware of Jesus’ presence with us. In seeking this we are ‘abiding in the vine’ on a daily basis. (Jn. 15:4-5)

‘Jesus help me know that you love me today’ – Jesus drew strength from hearing of the Father’s love for him. We need to experience and sense the love of God for us on a regular basis.

‘Strengthen me today Holy Spirit’ - We gain strength from God. He supplies it and it comes through spending time with him. (Isa. 40:29-31)

These prayer statements are designed to be included into your regular routines of life. You can pray them in the car, on a walk, at work, mopping the floor or even cleaning the bathroom! The point is to have a practical way to intentionally connect with God while doing normal life.

I would suggest taking at least one of these prayers and choosing to pray it quietly for a minute or two at least twice a day (more if possible). It takes a short amount of time but if you will do it consistently you will be surprised how it will strengthen your heart and make you feel more of the Presence of God in your daily life.

Posted in Devotional Prayer, General Discipleship | Tagged , | 1 Comment »

Intercession and the Lord’s Prayer

March 10, 2010 by Jim

The Lord’s prayer is almost certainly the most well known prayer in the Bible. It is recorded for us in Matthew 6:9-13:

This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

Much has been written on the Lord’s prayer and many people have commented that not only is it a prayer that can stand alone but it also is a series of themes or topics that Jesus intended us to explore in prayer. It is good to pray the actual prayer but it is also good to pray about such themes as the holiness of God, the provision of God, forgiveness, and spiritual protection.

The Lord’s prayer is most often prayed in a devotional way: meaning that we pray it in terms of our own lives. Yet this is a powerful ‘table of contents’ for intercession: praying on behalf of somebody else.

Let’s look at an example of how we can move through the themes of the Lord’s prayer in praying for the Church in a specific city or geographic area:

“Our Father in heaven, holy is your name” – ask God to reveal his character and his holiness to the Church in your city. Pray that the name of God will be honoured and lifted high.

“your kingdom come, your will be done..” -pray that all the programs and plans and strategies of the local churches in you city would be in full alignment with God’s will and that they would further establish God’s kingdom on earth, in your specific geographic region.

“Give us today our daily bread” -pray for all those who are in need; those who struggle to have enough food, shelter and clothing, etc. Also pray for God to provide spiritual bread; we live not only by bread alone but also by the Word of God.

“Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us” -this is a big one: pray for a spirit of forgiveness to move within the church. Ask God to speak to people about areas of unforgiveness, bitterness and resentment in their lives. Don’t get too specific. Keep this one general and make sure that you pray for yourself in this regard. Pray that God will strengthen people to forgive, through the power of his forgiveness of our sins.

“lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one” – pray that God would lead believers in your city or region away from temptation. Ask God to change circumstances and situations so that they are led away from the temptations of the devil. It is also critical that we pray for the spiritual protection from the evil one. We must pray this for ourselves, our families and the churches in our city/region.

Jesus intended us to use the themes of this prayer regularly in our prayer life, both for ourselves and for others. There are different ways to do this, but I’ve looked at 5 different areas that you can easily develop in your prayer life. It doesn’t take long and it gives a helpful framework for your prayer time.

I want to encourage you to take the next week and begin to intentionally include a framework like this from the Lord’s prayer. Give it a try and see how it impacts your times of prayer!

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If you enjoyed this post I would LOVE for you to subscribe to this blog. Then you’ll be notified each time there is a new post. Just look at the right hand column to find out how.

Posted in Intercessory Prayer | Tagged , , | 1 Comment »

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