Our Nazarites blog! Here’s an excerpt from what Megan MacQuin wrote about this weekend …

“Right now, I am visiting Barrie Ont. for 4 days…I am joined with Chelsea, Rob, Richard, Michelle, and Iain, where Richard and Rob are teaching a school of prayer in a church called Hi-way, which so happens to be right beside the highway….Go figure.

Soooo…This afternoon Rob taught his students today on how to pray the Bible. As he was putting them in groups, he called Chelsea and I to join. The verse above is the verse my group prayed, and as we were praying, God was bringing to my mind the things of what He has provided for me since being at NHOP…Actually, this verse has been rolling in my mind for quite sometime, but sometimes it takes a few hits to the head to actually understand the fullness of what God is trying to say…He is so patient.”

Want to read more? Go to the Nazarite Call blog to read the rest of Megan’s entry.

 

First Crisis for 40th Parliament

by Richard Long,

  With a potential non-confidence motion coming on Monday when Parliament resumes, we urge intercessors to seek the Lord for insight into how they should pray for every member of Parliament.  You may want to especially pray for all the key leaders in each of the 4 parties.

  This crisis can be averted if cooler heads prevail on all sides and M.P.’s get back to trying to work together to solve our financial challenges.

  Should the government be defeated we will need to pray for the Governor General Michael Jean (who is now away on a trip in Europe) or the Supreme Court Chief Justice Bev. McLaughlan who would need to stand in and make a decision about an alternative coalition goverment or a new election.

School of Prayer – Barrie

by Richard Long,

   I’m blogging from Central Ontario tonight as we kick off an NHOP School of Prayer here in Barrie.  First impression: they have a lot of snow here!  Even more than I got hit with in PEI last weekend. 

  Our team is made up of Rob Parker, Michele Cloutier, Iain Wilson, from our staff, and two Nazarites, Chesea Graham and Megan MacQuin, and myself.  We are here to teach about 12 sessions from our curriculum.  Special thanks to Heather Sutton from Hi-way Pentecostal Church for organizing this for us!

  Interestingly and to our surprise the attendees are from the whole region.  Some from Barrie, then others from Collingwood, Owen Sound, and Stayner to the west, as far east as Fenelon Falls, north to include folks from North Bay and others from closer to Toronto.  We also have someone from Calgary and from Vernon, B.C.

  If you are reading this blog, can I encourage you to take a moment to pray that the Lord will use us to impact this whole region this weekend.

Jack’s Life (another bio on C.S.Lewis)

C.S. Lewis wrote almost a whole book about prayer

by Richard Long,

  My favourite writer is C.S.Lewis, or “Jack” as he was called by all his friends.  So I was delighted to find a new biography about him on sale in a book store recently.  This bio shows a whole other side to this great Christian intellectual as it is written by his step-son Douglas Gresham.  He writes about the man he knew from a domestic position.  It is a very warm hearted account and brings to life C.S.Lewis’ personality.  It also explains where a lot of the Narnian characters came from in the people who lived around their home at “The Kilns.”

  What especially struck me was the description of how the trench warfare of World War 1 powerfully affected both Jack and his brother Warnie.  Those of you who have read the radio talks from the second World War will know that C.S.Lewis had a special affinity for encouraging the troops and eventually the whole British population during those very difficult years.

  Did you know that C.S.Lewis wrote almost a whole book about prayer?  It’s titled “Letter to Malcom: Chiefly on Prayer”.  Here’s some of his common sense advice about how to keep up a life of prayer even when you are very busy …

“My own plan, when hard pressed, is to seize any time, and place, however unsuitable, in preference to the last waking moment.  On a day of travelling – with, perhaps, some ghastly meeting at the end of it – I’d rather pray sitting in a crowded train than put if off till midnight when one reaches a hotel bedroom with an aching head and dry throat and one’s mind partly in a stupor and partly in a whirl.  On other, and slightly less crowded days, a bench in a park, or a back street where one can pace up and down will do.”

Warm Welcome in PEI

by Richard Long,

  Thirty cms of snow arrived yesterday as we facilitated the Island leaders’ retreat in Cavendish.  We were staying at Kindred Spirits, a wonderful Anne of Green Gables-style Country Inn owned and operated by a wonderful Christian couple.  It truly was an honour to spend some extended time with these leaders from across Prince Edward Island.

  So … I got my first shovelling experience of the winter (Fall) in Summerside, helping pastor Andrew Bryce dig out his driveway when we got to back to his place after the retreat.  This morning I had the privilege of sharing in the Summerside Community Church that he and his wife Shirley lead, and tonight we will have an intercessors meeting. 

  It’s a good thing that the natural warm welcome of these friendly islanders makes up for the cold and wintry weather outside.

Obama’s Joshua Generation

by Richard Long,

  In Saturday’s Globe & Mail there was an article titled, “Joshua generation seeks way to promised land”.  Quite a striking statement given the popularity of that phrase in the intercessory movements for the last decade.

Here’s the quote from the president-elect, “What’s called of us in this Joshua Generation?  What do we do in order to fulfill that legacy; to fulfill the obligations and the debt that we owe to those who allowed us to be here today?” he asked. “It was left to the Joshuas to finish the journey Moses had begun and today we’re called to be the Joshuas of our time, to be the generation that finds our way across this river.”

  Take heart if you are a prayer warrior.  Things we have prayed in the spiritual realm are beginning to be fulfilled in the natural.  This is not a time to give up on your prayers, thinking that God is not listening.  The answer may come from a quarter that you never imagined.

  For our American brothers and sisters, we would encourage you, 1 Tim. 2:1,2 is still in your Bibles.  You still need to be praying for your governmental leaders.  We will be praying with you for God to use him to bring about His good purposes.

The Most Important Thing about Praying by Frederick Buechner

by Richard Long,

I love this quote from the book “Wishful Thinking” by Frederick Buechner.

“According to Jesus, by far the most important thing about praying is to keep at it.  The images he uses to explain this are all rather comic, as though he thought it was rather comic to have to explain it all. …

Be importunate, says Jesus – not, one assumes, because you have to beat a path to God’s door before he’ll open it, but because until you beat the path maybe there’s no way of getting to your door.”

24-7 Prayer Movement

by Richard Long,

  As I have written before, the “Boiler Room” prayer movement that originally came out of Reading, U.K. is a growing urban monastic approach to the lifestyle of prayer.  It is commonly referred to as the “24-7″ Prayer movement in Europe, a label that is more often applied to the Kansas City IHOP model in North America.  You can read the whole history of this Third Millenium monastic movement in the book by Peter Griegg titled Red Moon Rising.  Or visit their main website.

There is a “Boiler Room” in Canada based out of Calgary.

Today I want to draw your attention to a wonderful video produced by one of their bases in Germany.  We watched it last night during our evening worship cycle and were very inspired by it.

Here’s the link …  http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=89073545787

Psalm 61 (The Message)

A David Psalm

God, listen to me shout,

  bend an ear to my prayer.

When I’m far from anywhere,

  down to my last gasp,

I call out, “Guide me

  up High Rock Mountain!”

 

You’ve always given me breathing room,

  a place to get away from it all,

A lifetime pass to your safe-house,

  an open invitation as your guest.

You’ve always taken me seriously, God,

  made me welcome among those who know and love you.

 

Let the days of the king add up,

  to years and years of golden rule.

Set his throne in the full light of God;

  post Steady Love and Good Faith as lookouts,

And I’ll be the poet who sings your glory -

  and live what I sing every day.

The Ministry of Intercession is for Everyone

by Richard Long,

   The term “intercessor” has become a special designation in the last few decades.  Certainly it is a biblical word.  It is especially used to describe our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, but it is also used to describe the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

  However, it is not listed as one of the 19 spiritual gifts, and no believer in the New Testament is described in this way.   So … why do we do it in the modern church?  A glib reply would be to blame it on a few modern authors who have included it (without scriptural proof) as one of the spiritual gifts.  But realistically it is more realistic to say that people who feel especially called to a life of prayer like to have a label or category that they can use to describe themselves.  Nothing wrong with that, as long as we keep in mind that it is a category that none of the first century apostles would have recognized.

  Instead, someone like Paul would most likely have challenged all believers that they had a role in the overall ministry of intercession and prayer.  It wasn’t just for professional pray-ers, or those who felt a “call” to do it.  Prayer was second nature. For everyone.

Since Jesus is the great Intercessor and the ministry of intercession is really an extension of Him, then I would argue that whatever gifting you have that gives you a place and a role in the Body, you use that gift as your way of participating in intercessory ministry.

Your gifting and personal uniqueness is going to influence the way you intercede.

For example … if you have a gift of mercy, then your prayers will often be for those whose plight has touched your heart of compassion.  If you have a gift of evangelism, then you will find yourself motivated to pray for those you are trying to win to Christ. Etc. Etc.

Don’t misread what I am saying.  I thank God every day for those who have a call on their life into a life of prayer. Here at NHOP we are surrounded by them!  I don’t even mind calling them intercessors.  But what I don’t think is helpful is to make a special elitist category for “those who do the praying.”  Because that lets the rest of the Body of Christ off the hook and missing out on what should be a natural and primary part of their life as well.