QP

by Richard Long,

  Around the National House of Prayer we schedule the middle part of our day around QP.  QP is Question Period.  We try to have some of our team (and often the visiting prayer teams) up in the Gallery from 2 – 3 every Monday to Thursday.  The M.P.s now expect to see us there.

  Today was a very encouraging day in this regard.  Standing in line with us waiting to go up to QP was our visiting team from TACF (Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship), a day team from DOC (The Dominion Outreach Centre here in Ottawa) and also the Josiah Team members who are here in Ottawa with the My Canada effort.

  Once we were up in the Gallery I also saw that Mel and Susan Finlay from NAP (Nation at Prayer) were in attendance as were Gerry Sherman and his team mate Darlene from The Christian Embassy.

  We had them surrounded in prayer today!

 

The Real Thing – Miranda Suddards

by Miranda Suddards (from the Nazarite Call Blogsite)

There have been a few things washing around in my spirit lately. Five weeks as a Nazarite, and I am wondering what “intercession” really is. We’ve had a level of teaching, which is a privilege to receive. I’ve learned more about government than I have ever known. We have had so much fun – more than I could imagine.  Shrieked with laughter and been moved to tears by friendships.  We have become family – built up a spiritual house of living stones, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 

And yet what are those ‘acceptable sacrifices?’  How do we ‘do’ intercession?  I’ve never liked the word – it always seemed slightly pompous to me. My construction upon it probably, but I think Jason Upton gives us a stream of truth through his songs.  For me, he catches it.  I don’t think its about  us talking to God about what we want to pray about.  Its not even God talking to us about what He wants to pray about, although, this is better than the first. I think its about being willing to come to Him empty and weak.  With nothing.  Unable.  Knowing, as Marc Dupont says, that God is the great I Am, and we are the great are nots.

Read the rest of this blog …

Wakefield, QC

by Richard Long,

  We have a tradition with our Nazarites and Prayer Missionaries that we do every Fall.  Some of the most spectacular fall colours are in the Gatineau Hills north of Ottawa.  There is an amazing little village of Wakefield which you can drive to or take a steam train up alongside the Gatineau River that is nestled in the valley looking up on all sides to high multi-coloured walls of autumn leaves.  A covered bridge straddles the river just a little further upstream.

   So this afternoon, we took a break (since Parliament isn’t sitting this week) and headed up into Quebec.  My big highlight was to meet an Algonquin story-teller in one of the native shops, whom Terry and I had met and taken pictures with a couple of years ago during the Vanier Maple Sugar Festival.  At that festival he goes by the name Joe Maple.  I love the mix of French and Native culture that he embodies and which we stepped into as we entered the shop in Wakefield.  It was an environment of laughter and warmth.  Not specifically “Christian” but very definitely “human”, reflecting the glory of God in the image of man.  Just like the beauty of the Quebec countryside reflects his glory in another way.

  If you ever get to Ottawa, its worth the extra 30 minute drive to Wakefield.

40 Days for Life

by Kirsten Harty

The fall campaign for 40 Days for Life is back in full swing. This will be the campaign’s third season in Ottawa, with six other Canadian cities participating. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada is showing their support for the event as well.

By choosing to be a silent, prayerful witness, you are a voice for the unborn:  the vulnerable, the voiceless….

Prov. 31:8 – 9  ”Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.  Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Here were the events for Day 1.

Vigil guidelines can be found here.

See you there.

NHOP as Community

by Richard Long,

   We are in the middle of our first two weeks of “Boot Camp” for our new Nazarites and Prayer Missionaries.  It’s an intense time where they are brought up to speed with all our teaching, philosophy and practice of prayer, and the dynamics of being a ministry that hosts guests every week.

   One of the most important topics we cover is the fact that they have come to live in a prayer ”community” for 12 weeks.  The hothouse environment of living in a busy, intense environment causes all of us to be challenged and to grow in the area of relationships.

Here’s what one experienced writer has to say about the value of living in community …

Creating Communities of Caring
Elizabeth O’Connor

The primary purpose of the disciplines, structures of accountability and mission of the Church is to build life together, to create liberating communities of caring. To each of us is given a gift for the building of a community of caring, a community in which we can learn to embrace our pain and to overcome all those oppressive inner structures that would keep us in bondage and make us protective and anxious for our own futures.

Source: The New Community

Time for a Retreat

by Richard Long,

You may be saying to yourself.  “It isn’t the right time to retreat, what with all the election talk going on, and Parliament resuming today, surely it is time to advance.” 

Well in terms of covering our government in prayer, we certainly do need to step up the prayer.  We need to pray about what get’s said in public through the media, but also more importantly what is being talked about behind the scenes.  We need solutions and compromise so that this minority government would continue to do its work.

But for our team at NHOP, we have just finished a great couple of days on “retreat”.  We have been getting ourselves focused on the work we have in front of us this Fall, and the new Nazarites and Prayer Missionaries who will be arriving later this week.  So our entire Board and our team all took time to come apart and seek the Lord together.

Now we are ready to advance.

Preparing for the Fall

by Richard Long,

   We’re back!  Terry and I have taken the last 3 weeks off, so we are grateful to Jeremiah and Megan,( interns here at NHOP) for keeping this regular blog going.  By the way, all our staff are grateful for your prayers in the summer, because getting rest, relaxation, and re-creation is critical to the year-round effort.  In fact, please pray for Rob and Fran Parker who are now on a bit of a break.

Around NHOP there is a lot of thinking and planning going on as we prepare for new Nazarites and Prayer Missionaries this Fall.  We could have 12-14 new folks around here by the looks of it.  We still have a few more days before our application deadline closes on Aug. 31st and there are always some last minute surprises.

Our incoming residents are busy getting their funds together, lining up prayer partners back home and making their travel plans to get here by Sept. 18.  Please pray for them.

Feeding the Hungry

by Richard Long,

   We have had an incredible group of volunteers feeding folks over the last few days here at NHOP.  Ruth Sowerby, her husband Harold (local pastors in Ottawa) and her band of kitchen and dining room helpers looked after 75-80 hungry leaders for the last 6 days.  The eaters were at first the worship team for the Watchmen Gathering and the dance troupe from Alliance Et Vie church.  The last couple of days it was the international guests who came from over a dozen nations to observe and debrief about the experience.

  They all were effusive in their praise for the beautiful presentation and the wonderful taste, quantity and variety of food on the menu.

   The real miracle is that so many meals could be provided out of our small kitchen.  We still have only a 4-burner stove and a couple of ovens.  We’ve begged and borrowed fridges and freezers that line the walls.  If you have ever been in our kitchen you know it really needs an overhaul.  Actually we are praying about how and when to do so.  We estimate that it will take at least $25,000.  Just another project that we get to watch the Lord provide the funds for and bless us and many others along the way.

Open House this week

by Richard Long,

  With all the visitors in town who have come to attend The Promise Gathering, we knew we would have many people wanting to drop in on us.  So starting yesterday, we have been doing open houses each afternoon from 3-5 PM this week.  We love doing this.  Today we probably had a hundred visitors.  This means we get to see old friends and meet many new ones.  The kind of person who is drawn to a Watchmen for the Nation’s event is the exact profile of the type of person who tends to come to NHOP. 

  We also love telling the story about how the Lord provided our magnificent facility and to tell the story of how government is being affected by the prayers of average Canadians.  Well nobody that prays for Canada is average, but you know what I am saying.  We aren’t superstars.  God loves to use normal people to display his glory.

If you are in the area this week, we would love to have you drop by and share with us the faithfulness of the Lord.

NHOP Coffee

by Richard Long,

  Ok, time for a change of pace.  The hundreds of guests who have now stayed with us at the National House of Prayer often remark on the excellent coffee we serve.  So time for a plug …

We get our delicious coffee from good friends of NHOP, Craig and Amber Hall who have a wonderful coffee roasting and distributing service based in the nearby town of Almonte.  His company – Equator Coffee Roasters, purchases Fair Trade and Organic coffee beans and then roasts them to fresh blends that we savour.  Their coffee and tea are found in all the best restaurants and hotels in the Ottawa region.

Here’s the good news.  You can purchase it online!

At the same time you can learn a wealth of information about coffee, tea and cocoa on their website.  You can even read their blog.  Equator Coffee Roasters