Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. Therefore, when he had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. (John 2:19-22)
Holy Spirit, please help us remember Jesus’ words to us and believe him and those words. Thank you.
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested me, tried me, and saw my works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.’ so I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” (Hebrews 3:7-11)
Father, we have rebelled against you and hardened our hearts. Please help us fix our thoughts on Jesus and return to you and your ways. Thank you.
“Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you. It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.” (Deuteronomy 9:4-6)
Jesus, please help us remember that it is only your mercy and grace, your righteousness, that enables us to go ahead in this diocese. We have no righteousness of our own. Cover over our sins each day with your precious blood. Thank you.
A word received: My people are waiting, but I AM waiting on them. Pray for my people to answer my call to them.
Tuesday: 45 * 47, 48; Deuteronomy 9:4-12; Hebrews 3:1-11; John 2:13-22
Wednesday: 119:49-72 * 49, [53]; Deuteronomy 9:13-21; Hebrews 3:12-19; John 2:23-3:15
Notes from the Front Line
***** Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011
From: Noel Dawes
Subject: Welcome Home Initiative, 10th Retreat, March 28-30, 2011. Please Pray!
To All Our Prayer Warriors Who Intercede for the Welcome Home Initiative:
The next and 10th Welcome Home Initiative Retreat begins in just two weeks, March 28-30th, 2011.
At this time enrollment is encouraging but we are not certain of overall numbers. We may be able to accept more combat Veterans and their spouses but they need to discuss their registrations with Sandra (contact details at bottom of page). Current registrations are 18 Veterans, 4 spouses and 1 daughter, totaling 23. Of this number we have no names for 10 Veterans (being brought by their Chaplain, who are coming from the Brooklyn Veterans Hospital, NYC. Pray that the Holy Spirit will draw everyone attending. Pray their all our hearts will be very open and prepared to be healed. Pray each of us will come to the Retreat fully expectant that through it, God will do far more than we can ever ask or imagine, according to the power that works within us (Eph 3: 20).
Lift up the Leadership Team for this Retreat– Fr. Nigel Mumford, Bishop Dave Bena, Noel Dawes and Sandra Lester. Pray for the Ministry Team of mental and behavioral health and very experienced prayer intercessors. The Team is made up of combat Veterans or close family members of combat Veterans who have attended previous retreats. Pray for our ongoing liaison with the Veterans Center in Albany. Pray for all the Christ the King (CtK) Spiritual Life Center (SLC) staff and other volunteer helpers, who are involved in administering the Retreat in one way or another, fine-tuning the details of the Retreat behind the scenes.
Pray for safe travel for the Veterans. Some are traveling considerable distances. Pray for good, seasonal weather. Pray for safety, especially on the emotional/mind perspective. Pray provision for the Veterans families whilst they are away from home, Pray that the recreational activities and entertainment offered to draw the combatants closer during session breaks will have a powerful healing effect.
Pray for a supportive community set in reality-based love to be built in the short time of the Retreat (in effect, a type of Band of Brothers and Sisters). Pray for excellent bonding and openness between participants and team in the sessions where memories are revisited and shared. Pray for the release of emotions bound up in traumatic memory. Pray for the balm of the Holy Spirit to pour out and heal the wounds, sometimes newly re-opened.
Pray for discernment and compassion on the part of all the team. Pray we will truly listen (to the Lord and each other), love and pray; Pray we will all be flexible, adaptable and mutually accountable under the circumstances of this particular retreat. Pray we will be alert to the particular challenges of abreaction in traumatic memory and for our mental health professional on the team.
Pray for the ministry to the 4 wives and 1 daughter coming. Pray for support, encouragement and tools to be offered to these brave women who are the frontline of their husband’s reintegration back into ordinary society.
Pray Veterans and their families will be honored for the sacrifices they have made. Pray for effective reintegration into ordinary society even 66 years after the end of WW2. Pray the Holy Spirit will cause our War Fighters and their families to be resilient in the face of adversity and tribulation. Give praise for their continuing sacrifice even though their formal service may be over.
Pray for to the several military Chaplains who participate in this program, who have some concept of the depth of the spiritual wounds of combat trauma, that tools may be imparted to them which can aid in their spiritual support to our troops.
As in past retreats, join us in the Welcome Home Closing ceremony on Wednesday, March 30th. We gather in the Great Hall at Christ the King Center at 10:45 a.m. to pour out love and thanksgiving upon these men and women who have sacrificed so much for our country. Pray that God will give our very eminent closing speaker, MG (USA, Ret) Bob Dees exactly His right words to say, presented in a Godly encouraging, kind, supporting, resiliency-building way. Pray for Bob’s wife, Kathleen, who will be accompanying him. They are a powerful and experienced ministry team in their own right.
From previous retreats we know that healing does take place through the Welcome Home Initiative. We rejoice at the evidence of the Holy One in our midst. We rejoice that He sets the traumatized free. We have witnessed the miracles that God can bring about in just three days time! Pray with us that our mighty God will visit us again March 28-30 with healing in His wings.
If you know of any veterans who might benefit from this program, have them contact Sandra Lester at (518 ) 692-9550, ext 202. For more information, see our web page at http://www.christ-the-king-center.org/WelcomeHome/index.cfm
Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. And after two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we might live in His presence. (Hosea 6:1-2)
Noel Dawes
For the Oratory of Christ the Healer, Christ the King Spiritual Life Center, Greenwich, NY 12834
Albany Intercessor
