Praying for the Supreme Court

by Richard Long,

  We took our Nazarites on a tour of the Supreme Court this week.  It gives us a chance to pray in the building and get a sense of what is currently happening.

  We learned that on Friday (today) that a very important case would be heard.  You may have read about this in the news.  The young prisoner of war, Omar Khadr, is having his repatriation status discussed at the highest level.

  This gives us lots to pray about.  We prayed onsite for him that despite the years of sitting in Guantanamo Bay, that the Lord would redeem the years of his life.  For some, this is a case of pure and simple of a “child-soldier”.  For others it is about terrorism.  Both are issues that need our intercession.

  Another key issue is the relationship between our top court and the current government of the day.  Can the courts intervene in foreign policy and force an elected government to do what they deem constituitional?  We need to pray for that concern.

  All of this might become a moot point, because the American government has finally announced today that he will be tried along with some others in their court system.  That will need our prayers too.

 

More Memories of Remembrance Day

by Richard Long,

  We were so blessed yesterday!  The Lord allowed our team to set up right across from the arrival area at the red carpet at the National War Momument.  This is ground zero when it comes to the centre of the action.  In the picture, which was taken by one of our Nazarites – Bill Mintram, you see Prince Charles getting ready to get out of his limo and the Governor General Michaelle Jean with her consort and her daughter, getting ready to welcome the royal party.

Both the Prince and the GG were in their matching military uniforms.  She looked very tiny beside him. 

A few minutes earlier we had seen the Prime Minister and his family pull up in their limo.

For me it is always the Scottish regiments that touch me deeply.  My grandfather fought and was wounded in WW1 as a member of the Scottish infantry.  I used to watch him march in the Veteran’s Day parade in Toronto and was very proud of the sacrifice he was willing to make for our freedom.

No question, there was something deep going on yesterday.  People watching on TV at home, or those of us who got to be right in the middle of things; we all felt a “sacredness” to the ceremony.  I loved that Amazing Grace was played on a soliltary bagpipe at one point, and at another point the Chaplain-General prayed a wonderful prayer in the name of Jesus.

 

Praying in the Streets of Halifax

by Richard Long,

Here’s a great report from a bunch of folks in Halifax who are taking prayer to the people.

From 24-7 Prayer Canada

Church amongst the People

  Jesus got downright venomous with religious leaders who put obstacles between people and God.  I believe that He would be cheering on loudest those who make a point of connecting people on the outside with Him. 

 “What are you doing out here?”

 Late Saturday nights in Halifax, Nova Scotia now sits a corporate type tent in the middle of the city’s public square with a few beach chairs, some lights and a sign that says “How can we pray for you?”  The time and place are strategic as the city is well known for abundant night life, with partiers starting at the bottom of the hill, on the harbour, working their way up the hill, from bar to bar, as the evening progresses.  Parade Square sits in the middle of the progression, within earshot of one of the most notorious of the bars.  It is nicknamed the Liquordome.  No kidding.

 My house shall be called a house of prayer

 There at the tent are a team of volunteers.  Not a big team, mind you,…  … but a handful of volunteers ready and willing to pray for matters trivial and weighty.  Each prayer made at the request of a passerby includes not only the matter at hand, but also a petition that God would reveal Himself to the person in their life and through the situation.  Their act of requesting prayer taken and offered as an invitation for God to work in their life.

 Read the rest of the report …

Praying for the Byelections

by Richard Long,

  Thirteen months ago we were all engaged in praying about 308 electoral races as we faced a general election.  No less important are 4 ridings which will be making a decision via the ballot box this coming Monday.  Let us pray for God’s will to be done in each of these key regions.

New Westminister-Coquitlam in the outskirts of Vancouver

Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley in Nova Scotia

Montmagnyl’Islet-Kamouraska-Riviere-du-Loup on the south east shore of the St. Lawrence in Quebec

Hochelaga a riding in the centre of Montreal, Quebec

If you would like to read an article about how the races are shaping up we suggest checking out the analysis of L. Ian McDonald in the National Post today – titled Highstakes Byelections.

 

Canada Ablaze

by Richard Long,

The team from More Than Gold has been hard at work getting ready to mobilize the Church to show “radical hospitality” during the 2010 Winter Oympics in Vancouver.  They also have launched this weekend a great resource website to help Christians all over Canada to do some praying and outreach as the Olympic Torch moves across the nation.  It’s called “Canada Ablaze”.  Being we are such huge piece of geography, it will last 106 days and start on Oct 30th at the end of this week.

Check out the More Than Gold website for all the resources.

National Prayer Leaders’ Retreat

by Richard Long,

   Terry and I have the wonderful privilege of representing NHOP this week out in B.C. at Camp Stillwood.  We are here at a retreat hosted by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.  We spent Monday getting reconnected, praying for each other’s ministries, and just worshipping Jesus.  We also heard a report from the More Than Gold team who are coordinating the outreach during the upcoming Olympic Games. Today we spent more time praying about how we could moblize prayer coverage for the radical hospitality that the Church in Vancouver is going to offer to the 300,000 guests who are coming in 2010.

  Camp Stillwood is in an amazing spot just a mile north of the American border and looks out over Cultus Lake.  A great place to get aside to meet with God and with each other.

Shana Tova – Happy Rosh Hoshana

by Richard Long,

   Well my Jewish friends tell me it is now the year 5770.  It seems very fitting (and intentional) that tonight all over Canada there will be the official launch of the documentary by Marnie Blom – From the River to the Ends of the Earth.

 

Hopefully wherever you are located in our nation you have access to a showing.  Go here to find a showing in your area.   Here in the Ottawa region, there are about 19 venues in local churches and home and centres like NHOP.  My wife – Terry also had the opportunity to show the trailer on Parliament Hill today to a couple of different groups that meet at the East Block Chapel on Fridays.

  The prayers that will be stirred up today for the destiny of Canada, seem a very appropriate way to begin the Jewish New Year.

On a ministry level, it is also the night that our new Nazarites and Prayer Missionaries are being launched into their 3 month program with us.

Are you using our Parliament Prayer Post?

by Richard Long,

  At the beginning of this year we launched an extra resource to help you pray for our Parliamentarians.  Maybe you already use it.  If not, please consider using the RSS feed to get it sent to your email every day.

  Today’s selection is an important one at a time when election fever is growing in advance of Parliament returning next week on Sept. 14th.

Here’s an excerpt …

Michael Ignatieff is the leader of the Official Opposition and the Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Etobicoke – Lakeshore, Ontario.  He is the leader of the Liberal Party and this is his 2nd term in Parliament.

During the 1960’s he was active within the Liberal Party.  He volunteered with Lester B. Pearson’s campaign and traveled with Pierre Trudeau as his national youth organizer.  Yet following these early years he left the political scene to pursue the world of Academia.  He attended the University of Toronto and moved to Harvard to attain his Doctorate.  He has held teaching positions at Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, the University of California and the University of London.

Read the rest of the Parliamentary Prayer Post including some prayer points.

Pastor Bob: A Statesman of Prayer for Canada

by Richard Long,

   I was sure I had blogged about Pastor Bob Birch sometime in the last couple of years, but my search turned up nothing.  So to remedy that major oversight …

Pastor Bob

   Most of us in the prayer movement in Canada in the 21st century owe our momentum to a man who prayed for almost 100 years.  Pastor Bob Birch passed away on Dec. 4th 2007 just a few weeks short of 100 years of age.

  In an article written for the Christian Week by Rev. Ed Hird to mark his “graduation” to the heavenly throne rooom, this is what was noted, “For most of his ministry years, he never missed his 2:00 to 6:00 a.m. morning prayer time. Even men one third of his age could not keep up with Bob Birch’s prayerfulness throughout the night watches.”

  One of my life’s greatest blessings was to sit at his feet in the Spring of 2005 and have him lay hands on me to pray for the work God had called me to.  He hit the nail on the head as he prayed into my life calling and purpose.  Some of the other men around me that day are now leading the major prayer ministries of our nation in this hour.

   So do you want to know more …  There is a great biography written by Beth Carson that covers his life journey.  I refer to it regularly, because it some ways it is the history of the prayer movement in Canada as well.  It’s a “must-have” for any Canadian intercessor. 

You can get a copy of “Pastor Bob” here.

Sabre Rattling Again

by Richard Long,

  Politically tuned Canadians, which of course includes all readers of this blog, know that the occasion of the Liberal Caucus meetings at the beginning of this week in Sudbury, Ontario has brought the possibility of a Fall election back onto the frontburner. 

  How does one pray in this atmosphere?  We at the National House of Prayer are non-partisan.  We seek wisdom from a higher source of Government.  We try as best as we can to discern the will of God for our government and the parties that make it up.  We recognize that we see through a glass darkly, so we try to stay open to all points of view that come from other godly sources.

   So it is my opinion that it would be nice to have some stability, even though we are in a decade of minority governments, so that good legislation has the time to be created, discussed and passed through both Houses.  Even though we had an election less than a year ago, we have had an even shorter time when Parliament sat to do business, due to the Coalition Crisis last November. 

   We see some important bills that are still being debated and worked on by both Commons and Senate Committees.  Good work is underway. 

   So … we are still praying that the rhetoric will be minimized on all sides and the M.P.s will settle down to work again when they get back here in Ottawa on Sept. 14th.