Israeli tensions

From Times of Israel: On Thursday, Naama and Eitam Henkin were shot to death in a Palestinian terror attack in the West Bank. Israel has carried out a number of raids in the West Bank since the attack in a bid to catch the couple’s killers, who gunned down the two on a West Bank road in front of their four children. Operations in Nablus and Jenin over the past two days have sparked clashes with local Palestinians.
On Saturday night Palestinian Mohammad Halabi carried out a stabbing spree in Jerusalem’s Old City, killing Nehemia Lavi, 41, and Aharon Banito, 21, and wounding Banito’s wife and 2-year-old baby, police said.
Hours later, Palestinian Fadi Aloon stabbed an Israeli teen near the Old City’ Damascus gate. Both Halabi and Aloon were shot and killed at the scene.
The Israel Police announced Sunday it would limit access to Jerusalem’s Old City and the Temple Mount compound, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, over the next two days.

Psalm 26:3a (AMP)
For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes

Our Father in heaven,
There is so much hatred in the world today. We look to You. Your lovingkindness is before our eyes.
You know the needs of the Palestinian Muslims far better than we. They are shackled to a false understanding of who You are. Yet, are they not created in the image of God?

O Jesus, Prince of Peace,
Unlock the shackles that restrain them from stepping into the identity that the Father has designed for them. May they hear the good news through friends and media. Visit the Palestinians in supernatural ways, through dreams and visions, that they may come to see You as Savior. The ones who come to You, Jesus, You will most certainly not cast out.

If there are external financial forces driving the militant Palestinian violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem, we humbly ask that the financial incentives to violence be severed. If there are voices of hate that are inciting the Palestinians, we humbly ask that the platforms under these voices be pulled down and the power sources cut off.

Oh, that the Palestinians would bind unto themselves the knowledge that they are, by the grace of God and the blood of Christ shed for them, Your beloved children. Oh, that they would loose their orphan spirits. It is Your good pleasure to give them the kingdom. Amen.

319! 319! 319!

ABRAM AND HIS 318 MEN DELIVER LOT AND HIS FAMILY (Genesis 14; 319 warriors)

DAVID’S TABERNACLE OF PRAISE (1 Chronicles 25-26; 3 seers + 288 musicians + 28 gatekeepers=319 worshippers)

BIBLICAL RECORD OF TRUMPETS IN WAR
I. The Israelites execute the Lord’ vengeance on Midian–presumed two trumpets
Numbers 31:6
And Moses sent them to the war, 1,000 from each tribe, together with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, with the [sacred] vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets to blow the alarm in his hand.

This passage doesn’t say how many trumpets Phinehas took to war, but an earlier passage in Numbers gives a clue:
Numbers 10:1,2,9 (AMP)
And the Lord said to Moses,
Make two trumpets of silver; of hammered or turned work you shall make them, that you may use them to call the congregation and for breaking camp. . . .
When you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresses you, then blow an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.

II. The fall of Jericho–seven trumpets
Joshua 6:4 (AMP)
And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns; and on the seventh day you shall march around the enclosure seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

III. Ehud kills the King of Moab and the Lord delivers the Moabites into Israel’s hands–one trumpet
Judges 3:27 (AMP)
When he arrived, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down from the hill country, with him at their head.

IV. Gideon conquers the host of Midian–301 trumpets
Judges 7:16-18 (AMP)
And he divided the 300 men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets and empty pitchers, with torches inside the pitchers.
And he said to them, Look at me, then do likewise. When I come to the edge of their camp, do as I do.
When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, For the Lord and for Gideon!

V. Saul calls Israel to war against the Philistines–one trumpet
1 Samuel 13:3 (AMP)
Jonathan smote the Philistine garrison at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear!

VI. Joab calls Judah to stop pursuing Israel–one trumpet
2 Samuel 2:28 (AMP)
So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight any more.

VII. Joab calls David’s servants to stop fighting Absalom’s servants after Absalom is killed–one trumpet
2 Samuel 18:16 (AMP)
Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained and spared them.

VIII. Sheba calls Israel to rebel against David, and Joab calls off his pursuit after Sheba’s death–two trumpets
2 Samuel 20:1,14,15,22 (AMP)
There happened to be there a base and contemptible fellow named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite. He blew a trumpet and said, We have no portion in David and no inheritance in the son of Jesse! Every man to his tents, O Israel! . . .
Joab went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah, and all the Berites assembled and also went after [Sheba] ardently.
And they came and besieged Sheba in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they cast up a siege mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the men with Joab battered and undermined the wall to make it fall. . . .
And they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and cast it down to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his own home.

IX. Israel ambushes Judah
2 Chronicles 13:14-15 (AMP)–presumed two trumpets
When Judah looked, behold, the battle was before and behind; and they cried to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets.
Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as they shouted, God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
The number of trumpets is not recorded. Based on Numbers 10, I am surmising two.

X. Nehemiah prepares to fight the Arabians, Ammonites, and Ashdodites while the wall is being rebuilt–one trumpet, never sounded
Nehemiah 4:18,20 (AMP)
And every builder had his sword girded by his side, and so worked. And he who sounded the trumpet was at my side. . . In whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.

The sum of the record of trumpets in war is 319.

O Lord, may there continuously be 319 intercessors warring for the establishment of Your kingdom in the United States as it is in heaven! Amen.

Continuing to Pray for Muslims beyond Ramadan

Today continues the ‘Eid el Fitr celebrations throughout the Muslim world to mark the end of Ramadan 2015.  Ramadan has ended, but hopefully our prayers for Muslim peoples and nations will continue.

Yesterday OM published some suggestions on how to continue praying for Muslims:

As we close up the month of prayer for Ramadan, we want to continue to seek God to do great things in the Arab world. We pray that Christians in the Arab world would be able to love their neighbours and that that love would flow from Believers in Jesus to the Muslims around them. Pray that God would work in a supernatural way in the hearts of local Christians and put His love in their hearts. Also pray that God would give them peace each day, rather than a spirit of fear.

And finally, there are Christian workers all over the Middle East and North Africa, sharing the love of Jesus with their Muslim friends. Pray for them. Pray that the Lord would keep them safe, that He would bless their ministries and that many hearts would be transformed by the Gospel. Pray also that God would raise up more workers to minister in this part of the world.

The Mahabba Network also had a helpful graphic with dates of other upcoming Islamic holidays which can be times to offer focused prayer for Muslims:

Further dates for 2015 when you can be praying for Muslims #lovefast #30daysofprayer pic.twitter.com/dQCYL6Km2k

— Mahabba Network (@MahabbaNetwork) July 17, 2015

 

September 21 – 26 comprising the Pilgrimage to Mecca and the ‘Eid al Adha (the feast of the sacrifice) is an especially significant time.

May the Father continue to reveal Jesus to many Muslims and draw them to Himself.  May they seek Jesus and find Him!

Jerusalem

A few weeks ago, handbills were passed out on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount (and left in other parts of “East Jerusalem”) warning Christians that they will be targets of destruction if they do not leave before the close of Ramadan, which is today.

Psalm 146:5,9b,10 New Living Translation
But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God.
The Lord frustrates the plans of the wicked.
The Lord will reign forever.
He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations.
Praise the Lord!

Our Father in heaven,

We pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
May all who love this city prosper.
O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls
and prosperity in your palaces.
For the sake of our family and friends, we will say,
“Peace be with you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
we will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem.

O Father, You will be to Jerusalem a wall of fire all around and the glory in her midst. You, Lord God Almighty, frustrate the plans of the wicked. We bless Your holy name. Amen.

Psalm 122:6-9, Zechariah 2:5

Excellent article on Prayer & Fasting (Justin Taylor / John Piper)

I tweeted about this earlier today, but think this is a really important article, deserving of a blog post.   In the wake of the brutally horrifying video exposé of Planned Parenthood’s butchery of babies to sell their body parts, Justin Taylor at the Gospel Coalition has posted a great call to prayer & fasting, reminding us of the role of spiritual warfare in the face of such evil.  There are battles in our culture that we cannot win by logical argument or legislative effort.  The battle against the evil of abortion may well be one of them.

His article largely draws upon writings from John Piper’s great (must read!) book A Hunger for God.

 

“Fasting,” Piper writes, “comes in alongside prayer with all its hunger for God and says,

We are not able in ourselves to win this battle.

We are not able to change hearts or minds.

We are not able to change worldviews and transform culture and save 1.6 million children.

We are not able to reform the judiciary or embolden the legislature or mobilize the slumbering population.

We are not able to heal the endless wounds of godless ideologies and their bloody deeds.

But, O God, you are able!

And we turn from reliance on ourselves to you.

And we cry out to you and plead that for the sake of your name, and for the sake of your glory, and for the advancement of your saving purpose in the world, and for the demonstration of your wisdom and your power and your authority over all things, and for the sway of your Truth and the relief of the poor and the helpless, act, O God.  […]

I appeal to you to seek the Lord with me concerning the place of fasting and prayer in breaking through the darkened mind that engulfs the modern world, in regard to abortion and a hundred other ills.

This is not a call for a collective tantrum that screams at the bad people, “Give me back my country.”

It is a call to aliens and exiles in the earth, whose citizenship is in heaven and who await the appearance of their King, to “do business” until he comes (Luke 19:13).

And the great business of the Christian is to “do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31), and to pray that God’s name be hallowed and his kingdom come and his will be done in the earth (Matthew 6:9-10). And to yearn and work and pray and fast not only for the final revelation of the Son of Man, but in the meantime, for the demonstration of his Spirit and power in the reaching of every people, and the rescuing of the perishing, and the purifying of the church, and the putting right of as many wrongs as God will grant.

I join Piper in commending this practice to you. What looks foolish to the world (forgoing food to pray for the protection of the unborn) may look utterly foolish to the world, but it will be pleasing to the God who sees and rewards in secret.

Please read it all, and please pray in the face of the present darkness in our culture and world.

Prayercast: Pray for the USA

Anyone who follows the L&B (@AnglicanPrayer) Twitter feed knows we follow the Prayercast ministry (@Prayercast)  which publishes short video prayers for almost every country of the world.  We’ve been daily re-tweeting their #RamadanPrayerChallenge posts for Muslim countries each day recently.

Lest anyone think Prayercast only focuses on unreached countries in the 10/40 window, they also have produced a prayer page and video for the U.S.A.  It seemed great to post it for this July 4th weekend.

Apologies that I can’t seem to find a way to embed the video.  You can watch it here:  http://www.prayercast.com/usa.html

You can download it here (Hi-res, Lo-res)

Here are the prayer bullet points for the U.S.:

• Pray for Godly leaders to arise in churches, government, and society.
• Pray for national repentance of sin, immorality, and selfishness.
• Pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church, bringing another Great Awakening.

A note about Ramadan Prayer posts…

Hi all,  I apologize that I’ve not posted any recent Ramadan Prayer Roundup posts.  A bunch of other things, including the Supreme Court marriage decision and the Episcopal Church General Convention (and their vote in favor of same-sex marriage liturgies and changing the official definition of marriage according to the church canons) have taken up my time online.

However, anyone who looks at our Twitter feed, either by following @AnglicanPrayer or just scrolling our tweets displayed in the sidebar on the right side of the blog will see that almost every day we’ve still been tweeting Ramdan-related prayer resources.

So please continue to pray for Muslims during Ramadan, that they will hunger for Jesus, seek Him and find Him.

In case it’s helpful, I’ve put together a Twitter Feed list “Ramdan Prayer” which focuses on the tweets of 13 Twitter accounts that are daily posting good Ramadan-prayer resources.  I’ve also come across a few excellent new resources to share re: Ramadan prayer which I will post more about next week…. stay tuned!

Ramadan Day 5 – pray for Somalia

The PrayerCast Ministry’s Ramadan Prayer Challenge has begun today.  Today’s focus country is Somalia:

#PrayercastRamadanChallenge Day1:SOMALIA. 99% Muslim. Many die for faith in Jesus. Pray: http://t.co/IqplcsNYWb pic.twitter.com/DFtEg6v6Df

— Prayercast (@Prayercast) June 22, 2015

You can find the prayer page for Somalia here

Please find a few minutes today to pray for God’s work in this country!

  •Pray for the believing minority who suffer great persecution and martyrdom.

 • Pray for courage and strength for those who are boldly sharing their faith.

 • Pray for safe fellowship and encouragement for isolated believers.

Ramadan Day 3: Prayer Roundup

June 18 – July 17, 2015:  I hope all our readers will commit to spending 5 or 10 minutes before or after your evening meal during these 4 weeks to pray for Muslims’ spiritual hunger to be satisfied in Jesus. 

***

A few points to spur your prayers today for Muslims during Ramadan.

A prayer included in Garrett Kell’s excellent blog entry “How Christians Can Pray for Muslim Friends During Ramadan”

Father, we pray that as they set their hearts to worship their god Allah, that You might make them to “know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Help them see that Jesus is Your eternal Son through whom they can have eternal life.

***

From the excellent new resource produced by Frontiers – PrayforIsis.com, an excerpt from their Day 3 entry:

As Saul lay blinded before the Lord, he was awed and humbled by God’s holiness. This firsthand encounter with God transformed Saul’s life and mission.

And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. – Acts 9:6-7

Pray that members of ISIS would be stilled before God and awed by His presence. Pray that their ears would hear, their eyes see, and their hearts receive Him.

And he said [to Elijah], “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. – 1 Kings 19:11-13

Pray that ISIS members would be able to hear God’s voice. Pray that the voice of the Lord—whether loud or very quiet—would be heard clearly and that members of ISIS would obey. Pray that God would speak to them in the specific way that they need, just like He did to Paul and Elijah.

***

Adapted from yesterday’s entry at the Global Prayer Resource Network Ramadan Prayer Guide (Week 1)

Pray  for  the  opportunity  of  our  brothers  and  sisters  in  Christ  living in Muslim countries throughout Central Asia to  demonstrate  the love and  grace  of  Jesus  to  Muslim neighbors.

***

From Arab World Media

Praying Scripture over the Arab world during Ramadan

Today’s verse is for victims of war who are bereft.

Revelation 21:4: He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

Ramadan Day 2: Prayer Round up

I hope most days of Ramadan to post a brief entry here highlighting some of the prayers posted at various sites focused on praying for Muslim peoples & countries each day of Ramadan.  I can’t predict what time I will be able to post every day, but certainly will aim to post usually by 4 p.m. Eastern, (usually earlier).    I hope all our readers might commit to spending 5 or 10 minutes before or after your evening meal during these 4 weeks to pray for Muslims’ spiritual hunger to be satisfied in Jesus. 

Thank you!

***

Here are a few prayers that caught my attention today:

Excellent prayers for several countries in North Africa:

Via OM, excellent prayers for the neighboring countries of Morocco & Mauritania:

For Morocco:

As Muslims are praying and fasting during Ramadan, we pray for them.

Christians across Morocco are sensing more openness among their friends in the last 12-18 months, with more of them open to discuss their faith in light of recent world events. Small numbers are open to hear the Gospel. Ask God to bring a great harvest in Morocco during 2015.

We ask God to open the borders between Algeria and Morocco. We pray that more Algerian Believers will be able to come and minister in Morocco. Ask God for fruit to come from these opportunities, especially among the Moroccan Berbers.

Pray for a victory over a spirit of fear among all Moroccan Believers. Ask God for breakthrough and freedom in this area. May God strengthen each Moroccan Believer to be bold and courageous, wise and mature, so that the church can be built. Praise God for those who are reaching out to other Moroccans boldly.

 

For Mauritania

As Muslims are praying and fasting during Ramadan, we pray for them.

Slavery still exists in Mauritania, so justice is a real need in this nation. Pray for abolitionist movements within the country. Also pray that all peoples (including Arabs, Berbers, Haratine and Afro-Mauritanians) would be free to worship Jesus, as persecution of Believers can be very severe. Ask God to pour out His courage on them, causing them to grow in faith and works.

Pray also for the local church as they’re seeking divine appointments with those who are interested in knowing more about Jesus and are willing to bring family members and friends along for the journey. Pray that local Christians will be bold in living out their faith so that more people of Mauritania would come to know the Lord.

 

From PrayNorthAfrica, a great short prayer for Tunisia:

Almighty Father, blow your Holy Spirit over country in this time. Cause the people to realise that idols are useless and worthless and turn to follow you. (Jer.18:15)

 

Here is today’s Scripture & pray focus from Arab World Media

Praying Scripture over the Arab world during Ramadan

Today’s verse is for victims of war, living in fear.

Psalm 46:1-3: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

***

Update:  Don’t miss Jerry Rankin’s fantastic article at the online edition of Christianity Today:  “How Christians Can Observe Ramadan” He writes from his first-hand experience of work in Indonesia and outreach to Muslims there.

During Ramadan, we found our Muslim friends were more open to talking about spiritual things. We would ask them about their practice, why they were fasting, and what they hoped to gain by it. It was surprising to them when we shared our own practice of fasting from time to time to seek God. We do not fast to get something from God but out of a desire for God himself that exceeds our desire for food. Wonderfully, God does meet our needs and answer our prayers, but we should not fast presuming by our piety we are obligating God to do something for us.

While most Muslims observe the fast because they are commanded to and believe there is merit to be gained, many do it as a perfunctory obligation. Some want to avoid the condemnation from more pious family members. However, for the devout, the Muslim month of fasting is actually for the same purpose that we as Christians may occasionally fast: the desire to know God in a deeper more intimate relationship.

[…]

What if Christians fervently prayed during the month of Ramadan that God would reveal himself to Muslims in this time of seeking? What if we covered millions of fasting Muslims with 30 days of intense intercession that something would happen in their spiritual search? Believing in the power of prayer, could we not expect God to respond to our heartfelt burden for the lost millions of the world? […]

Join me this month in praying for Muslims in our own communities as well as those around the world. Pray that they would truly seek God and be open to revelation that would lead them to the truth. In seeking Allah, an impersonal deity that is aloof and cannot be known, may they find a loving, compassionate God who revealed himself through Jesus Christ and died for their sins.

We have a responsibility to observe Ramadan also, to pray for those who are far from the kingdom and for generations have been locked into the bondage of sin and futile religious traditions.

After all, Christ died for them, too. God loves them. Shouldn’t we?

AMEN!

Ramadan Resources – help in praying for and reaching out to Muslims

This post will remain at the top of the blog during Ramadan.  Look for new entries below.

Ramadan has started today for most Muslims around the world.  It is a month when even many non-devout Muslims devote themselves to greater prayer and study in hopes of earning God’s favor and drawing closer to him.

I invite all our readers to also pray earnestly in this month – to pray for spiritual awakening among Muslims.  That the eyes of their hearts would be opened to the truth of Jesus Christ and that their hearts would be softened to repent and choose to follow Him.  May the scales fall from their eyes, and may the lies of Islam that bind them be broken. 

Pray too for Christians reaching out to Muslims during this month, for obedience, discernment, fruitfulness, and protection, as for Christians living in Muslim lands it can be an intense and very draining month.

Below are MANY great resources to help you pray for Muslims during this month.  I’ll update this from time to time as I find additional materials.

We’ll hope to post quite a lot of prayers for Muslims throughout Ramadan.  You’ll find all those entries with the Ramadan 2015 tag

Prayer for the General Election in the UK today

From the Global Prayer Resource Network, these suggestions on how to be praying for the UK:

Praying towards the General Elections in the United Kingdom, 7 May 2015 

“It’s not about them. It’s all about you. Not them. You. About you because a general election is one of those rare times when your voice counts as much as anyone else’s voice does. About you because you have the chance to help choose who represents you and your community in Parliament. About you because you can influence who will run the country for the next five years and, therefore, help shape what sort of country you live in. Rarely has there been a choice so wide or one with an impact which could be so dramatic.” So writes Nick Robinson Political Editor of the BBC.

To those within the UK: we have the responsibility of standing guard in prayer over the whole process that will now roll out to Election Day on 7^th May and beyond – what a privilege!  Use: 1 Timothy 2: 1-3; Ephesians 3: 10-12

To those in other nations around the world, please pray for the Election process in the UK as you read this.  The outcome of these elections will have an impact on all of us.

Let’s continue to worship Jesus as Lord; thank Him for His goodness; seek His forgiveness; release the blessing of Father, Son and Holy Spirit into the whole process and pray for His Kingdom to come and His will be done.

Praying for:

• God’s mercy on the UK  – we have done much to grieve God’s heart
• God’s plans and purposes for the UK to be fulfilled
• Safety from terrorism – up to and beyond The Election
• Honesty to mark the final days of campaigning by the party leaders and those standing locally.
• God to call new Christians into our assemblies, parliaments  & in local government
• Wise & unbiased reporting by the media
• Many people to turn out and use their votes wisely – in England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland (James 1:5)
• Wisdom in the formation of new government in Westminster and in the Assemblies in Northern Ireland and Wales and Parliament in Scotland (Prov.14:34; 11:14)

Source:  World Prayer Centre

 

Also, here’s the prayer published by the Church of England for today’s elections:

Lord, we give thanks for the privileges and responsibilities of living in a democratic society.

Give us wisdom to play our part at election time, that, through the exercise of each vote, your Kingdom may come closer.

Protect us from the sins of despair and cynicism, guard us against the idols of false utopias and strengthen us to make politics a noble calling that serves the common good of all.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

National Day of Prayer in the U.S.

image credit: nationaldayofprayer.org

The theme for the 2015 National Day of Prayer is Lord, Hear Our Cry, emphasizing the need for individuals, corporately and individually, to place their faith in the unfailing character of their Creator, who is sovereign over all governments, authorities, and men.  To further highlight our theme, we’ve chosen I Kings 8:28 as our Scripture for this year:  “Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day.”

Here’s the prayer for today’s National Day of Prayer in the US, written by the National Day of Prayer Chairman

Heavenly Father,

We come to You in the Name that is above every name—Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Our hearts cry out to You.

Knowing that You are a prayer-answering, faithful God—the One we trust in times like these—we ask that You renew our spirits, revive our churches, and heal our land.

We repent of our sins and ask for Your grace and power to save us. Hear our cry, oh God, and pour out Your Spirit upon us that we may walk in obedience to Your Word.

We are desperate for Your tender mercies. We are broken and humbled before You.

Forgive us, and in the power of Your great love, lift us up to live in Your righteousness.

We pray for our beloved nation. May we repent and return to You and be a light to the nations. And we pray for our leaders and ask that You give them wisdom and faith to follow You.

Preserve and protect us, for You are our refuge and only hope.

Deliver us from all fears except to fear You, and may we courageously stand in the Truth that sets us free.

We pray with expectant faith and grateful hearts.

In Jesus’ name, our Savior.

Amen.

– 2015 National Prayer by Dr. Jack Graham

 

For more resources:

Web: http://nationaldayofprayer.org

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/NationalPrayer

(also hashtag:  #NDOP)

 

 

 

May 7th is the National Day of Prayer in the U.S.

Thursday May 7th is the National Day of Prayer.

I’ll be posting some resources later this evening.  Interestingly, the resources for the National Day of Prayer sent out by the Global Prayer Resource Network, to which I subscribe, also included suggestions for how to pray for the upcoming elections in the UK.  So I will post those prayer points as well…  stay tuned….

Brand new song from Selah: The People of the Cross; and Honoring the Martyrs (part 2)

[Scroll down for new song from Selah – it’s SO good, Wow!  But the intro is inspiring, important and relevant…]

Last week I posted an entry about the Ethiopian, Kenyan and Egyptian martyrs: Lifting High the Cross: How the Martyrs Exalted Christ by Their Deaths (part 1) I have an additional entry I planned to post as a followup, but a very busy workload in recent days kept me from completing that draft.  Today I found myself with some unexpected free time between meetings and I was browsing Twitter catching up on various prayer needs and current events around the world…  Two posts on Twitter related to the martyrs killed by ISIS grabbed my attention, and I felt it very important to post them here.  So what was going to be a two-part series, will now be a three-part series.  I’ll hope to post the third entry on Thurs. or Friday.

The first tweet related to the martyrs today was posted by the famous Catholic monk and musician John Michael Talbot:

Coptic Christians in praise of Jesus before the uprising of recent persecutions by fanatical Islam. This is the… http://t.co/xUgln2dUcm

— John Michael Talbot (@JMTalbot) April 28, 2015

The full text of what he wrote was:

Coptic Christians in praise of Jesus in 2011 before the uprising of recent persecutions by fanatical Islam. This is the strength that gets them through the persecution today. Do we have the same?

I watched the linked video from the great Middle Eastern Christian channel SAT-7 (over 2 million views for this video!)

Here are excerpts from the lyrics in English – they utterly astound me in light of ISIS actions killing our brothers from Egypt & Ethiopia on the grounds that they were PEOPLE OF THE CROSS.  It is almost as if this song was written to prepare the church in Egypt for the time of testing to come.  INCREDIBLE.

Increase your praises to Christ, lift up the Lord with your tunes
Call out the heroes, His heroes, who walk with the cross before you
Increase your praises to Christ, lift up the Lord with your tunes
Call out the heroes, His heroes, who walk with the cross before you

Say that He has risen and death has no authority
And there is no forgiveness except through His blood
Say that He has risen and death has no authority
And there is no forgiveness except through His blood
And the light of the Gospel is increasing
[…]
Say that He has conquered darkness and its authority
He has lit up our days and given them color
And the light of day is increasing
[…]
Call out the heroes, His heroes, who walk with the cross before you
Say that He is He is defeating his foes
We’re winning with His testimony and blood
And our heritage is increasing
[…]
Call out the heroes, His heroes, who walk with the cross before you
Live the joy of heaven, joy, joy
Satan will wear the clothes of one in mourning
[…]
Increase your praises to Christ, lift up the Lord with your tunes
Call out the heroes, His heroes, who walk with the cross before you

No sooner had I finished watching that, then I glanced back at my Twitter feed, and the VERY FIRST tweet I saw was this from We Are Worship USA:

Powerful new song from @SelahOnline written with @jennieleeriddle: "People Of The Cross" http://t.co/zuTVSNo5Ud #peopleofthecross

— We Are Worship USA (@weareworshipUSA) April 28, 2015

So, I went straight to YouTube to watch this video. This song People of the Cross was just released today – it’s on iTunes and other music download sites.

So powerful.  May this be true.

We are the People of the Cross.  We choose Christ and count all else as loss.  We won’t be shaken.  Hope won’t be taken. We are the People of the Cross.

May this be a rallying cry to the Evangelical Church in the West to truly live as People of the Cross, following in the footsteps of the martyrs from Egypt, Kenya and Ethiopia who have counted the cost and shown that Christ is worth dying for.

Go buy this song and keep listening and keep praying for the church around the world that we may not shrink back in the face of suffering and persecution….