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December
2005 Update: |
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As
we approach this last month of 2005 it is with gratitude
to the Lord and those of you who write and pray
with us each month. With this month we have been
ministering on the Internet for four years. It was
December of 2001 that we wrote the first prayer
request and it was published in 2002 on this site.
I want to thank all of you who have responded. You
have experienced, along with us, the awesome joy
of praying as the Lord would give us a word and
watch it unfold in current events somewhere on our
planet. So when the Lord reminded me to pray prayers
of thanksgiving this month, and also reminded me
about our prayers for Europe, and especially France
(you can look on this page at the month of June
and July), I was somewhat concerned because that
was the same pattern that we saw Him give us during
this past summer, before France (and some small
portions of Europe) were up in flames and the other
catastrophic events unfolded around other parts
of the world. While 2006 might reproduce some of
the same events, we can all be thankful for our
lives. I am immensely thankful to the Lord that
the car burnings and other uprisings did not extend
throughout Europe, as they almost did. I know Germany
and some parts of Belgium experienced some minor
rioting, but thankfully the bulk of the destructive
behavior remained in France. I believe God answered
prayer in that respect. Yet I don't think our prayers
for Europe are done. It is with fondness that I
remember the many different countries in Europe
that celebrate Christmas and their specific traditions
that fill ones heart with wonder and joy this season.
In fact, many of those traditions were brought to
America in order to celebrate our Lord's birth.
So I have a sense that the Lord wants us to pray
for evangelism and for the churches throughout Europe
(especially England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg
and Germany) to be infused with an excitement and
a strategy for sharing the Gospel. They need a Holy
Ghost battle plan like never before to evangelize
their specific regions. The Lord has already given
many in the American church a new strategy for our
areas (though it is not being talked about on the
Christian media or in the mainline churches---yet
it is being talked about on the secular news stations---Praise
God). I believe He is doing so for Europe and I
believe it is a plan that will target their specific
needs among the different regions. Believe it or
not, as unique as their holiday celebrations for
Christ are, is as unique as their specific strategy
will be to reacquaint and win their specific region
back to Christ. I also feel the need to pray for
the secular governments in Europe that they learn
the lessons that the Lord wants them to learn from
this past summer's events. There are many lessons
to be learned, although not all of them are the
Lord's. Join with us and pray to bind any blockages
from God's will and plan that the enemy would set
up for them and loose the Holy Spirit's plan for
their specific region. As always pray for the peace
of Jerusalem and for the troops to be home from
Iraq in bulk by the end of 2006. I have a real burden
for America and Israel this month, yet a real feeling
of joy and faith for Europe to be turned back to
their roots in Jesus Christ. Again, a very Merry
Christmas to all of you and we pray a safe and prosperous
New Year. Thank you for joining with us in prayer
these past four years. Joined together we all form
the body of our Lord in substance here on earth.
It has been a joy to pray for your needs as well
as the words the Lord has given us. Please continue
to email your prayer requests and answers to prayer.
I also want to thank those of you that download
these requests and share them with the group of
believers that you pray with. If any others of you
would like to do the same thing, you will be blessed
of the Lord. I only ask that you email me back if
the Lord shares any insight with you concerning
what we pray about. In this respect we then continue
to pray His will as we join together in prayer.
God's blessings as you pray. |
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October
2005 Update: |
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During
August of 2003 the Lord warned me that a crack (actually
a split or divide) would come, almost on a global
level in the economy, and definitely on a national
level because of fuel, or gasoline in particular.
We have been praying about this ever since. It was
not until this month that He has allowed me to release
this request in a broader public way by asking you
to also pray concerning this need. I do believe
that He wants to move us away from using petroleum
byproducts and develop new technologies and clean
ways of using energy for our planet. Please also
pray that America does nothing more to force Israel
to give up any more land. Please review the archive
on this page for 2003, looking specifically at October
and November's prayer requests concerning Israel.
Also please take a look at the 2004 archive, specifically
the months of January, February, June, July, August,
October (see both articles that month) and November
concerning catastrophic events that could take place
and warnings of judgment that the Lord told us about
in advance to pray for. Please pray according to
the Holy Spirit for these needs. I truly believe
that there is redemption in all of this, even though
it looks bad. Israel needs a fence, at least for
a time and a season, while she gives up no more
land. No more pressure needs to be put on her to
do so, for all of our sakes. We all need to turn
toward Jesus and away from situations that could
cause judgment. When we do this we will live in
a better world. Making progressive strides towards
cleaner energy sources or sources that up-cycle
instead of just recycle will make our foreign military
strategies easier and protect us in the long run
from nations with more oil, or larger nations that
will suck us dry from energy sources, thus exposing
us to takeover. I know this is a serious request
this month, but frankly, I am happy that the Lord
finally allowed me to share it with you. It has
been something our family has prayed about for a
long time. There is one last item that I sensed
the need to pray for this month. Please pray for
Christians and Jews in Russia. I sense a place where
God will deal harshly with the 'powers that be'
both on a spiritual as well as governmental level
in that country in an effort to make life easier
for His people living in Russia. You can still email
your prayer requests. Bless you as you pray. |
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September
2005 Update: |
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It
was back in May and June that I knew we would
be praying for Israel and asking all of you to
pray for them during this update. If you have
been reading or seeing the news, what more can
I say? Pray as the Holy Spirit leads you. There
is so much more to pray about that I wanted to
share with you, but the Lord was specific to pray
for Israel this month. We still pray for your
needs as you let us know what they are. You can
email them to us. Be blessed as you pray. |
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July
2005 Update: |
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I
was
amazed last month with God's prayer request for
us and the daily news events that unfolded. I had
no idea that Europe would be voting on their constitution
or that France would be leading the nay votes. I
also had no idea when I wrote the prayer request
for China that we would be seeing our missionaries
to China in person. It also surprised me to see
the media talk about China in print and on the news.
So it was with some wonder this month that I felt
the Lord say to pray prayers of thanksgiving. I
do feel a burden, as always to pray for the peace
of Jerusalem and for our troops that find themselves
in harm's way. But this month like no other I just
simply sense the Lord wants us to give Him thanks,
as the Psalm we studied in the feature article exhorts
us to. As always we continue to pray for your prayer
needs. Be blessed in Christ as you pray and give
thanks. |
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June
2005 Update: |
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There
are three urgent prayer requests that I feel led
to ask the Lord for this month. They are not new.
I wish that they were. The fact that I feel led
to ask you to pray concerning them again, just reinforces
my opinion that there can be success in these areas.
The first request is for our troops in Iraq to be
home by 2006, and for their safety now. Obviously,
this is a continuing request since before 2002 (before
major deployments). So what's new now? I'm not quite
sure. We have prayed about this same situation not
long ago. What I do sense is an intense desire from
the Holy Spirit to bring them home during that year.
The second request, not in order of importance,
but just because I had to make a list this month,
is for the Palestinian as well as the Israeli people
to receive Christ and work out their differences,
whether by a cease fire or some other Godly solution
to their crises. Instead of peace, I am sensing
that if we do not pray, an escalation of violence
will take place. I sense a real desire among the
common people on both sides of this issue for peace.
That desire is led by the Holy Spirit. Not all peaceful
solutions to this problem are from God. Nevertheless,
I sense a deep longing from the Holy Spirit for
the safety and salvation of both Israel and the
Palestinians. This desire coincides with the request
from the Lord in Psalm 122:6 to pray for the peace
of Jerusalem. I've always found it amazing that
there is not a time frame placed around this request
by the Lord, just a request for us to pray and a
promise of blessing for those who do. The last request
this month is not last because it is less important
than the previous two, but just because I place
it in that order. It is for the salvation of two
different groups of people. One I don't think I
have ever mentioned on this site before, though
we pray regularly for them. The two different groups
are China and Europe. During this month I have sensed
the need to pray for China's salvation as never
before and also during this month I have sensed
the on-going idea that now is the time again to
pray for the return of Europe (especially the French)
to its roots in the belief of Jesus Christ as Lord.
This month though I have felt to pray also for the
broader European base, far-flung countries in the
north, south, east and western borders of the continent.
I thought that might have been because of the immense
size of China as a part of Asia, but as I ponder
why I've been thinking of remote portions of Europe
as well as China, the only explanation that I know
to be true is because I sense it from the Holy Spirit.
These three requests are so strong that sometimes
I can't even speak them. It is as Paul talked about
in Romans 8:26. I can only pray in the Spirit. As
in all requests made on this site, pray as the Holy
Spirit would lead you to. We pray for your requests
as soon as you email them. We look forward to praying
with you concerning these subjects and for you and
your needs. Blessings in Jesus' Holy Name. |
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May
2005 Update: |
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This
month I sensed very strongly from the Lord to pray
for unity in the United States and in the church
abroad. Come in agreement with the Holy Spirit in
your neighborhood to see souls unified to Christ.
As that takes place we will see less division (the
so-called blue, red state issue that we see in the
United States). It is a short prayer request, but
a powerful one. Not long ago we prayed for Europe
and today, even this very hour as I finish this
request, Catholics have elected a pope from Europe,
hopefully in an effort to bring Europe back to the
cross of Christ (as opposed to one denomination
or another). This is the only way that we will see
unity in mankind. I don't expect people to believe
in every passage of Scripture in the same way, but
to believe that Jesus is the Christ and the only
way to the Father. This will unify us more than
any other belief system. It will bring healing to
a divided world and life to many lost souls. As
always we look forward to praying for your needs.
Be blessed as you pray. |
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April
2005 Update: |
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We
regularly pray for peace in the Middle East (and
Jerusalem), America and the body of Christ worldwide
on this site. But this month I sense a need to share
with you what we have be praying for many, many
years concerning the body of Christ in America.
We have so many immoral things going on in this
country, from a runaway judiciary to regular people
committing horrific acts that we could get mired
in defeatist prayer through a lack of faith. That
is not where I want to go. In Jesus' day people
had a similar concern for the need to pray for society.
Jesus said, in a response to that unspoken need,
"The poor you will have with you always."
(Mark 14:7) Similarly, I think we will always have
those that desire to commit sin and use and abuse
their positions. While they need prayer, and we
need to cry out to the Lord to represent us when
some part of government goes awry, the greater burden
that I sense is to pray for the one force that can
make a difference.
In
America we recently saw a computer technician,
who lost his way and while in the courthouse on
charges for his offenses, he murdered several
law enforcement officials. While on the run from
authorities he encounters a young Christian woman
whom he takes hostage. No one knows this situation
is going on. During the seven or more hours that
she is held captive, the Lord uses her to reach
out to him, bringing him to the cross of Christ.
The Holy Spirit in her does in a few hours what
an army of law enforcement officials in a state-wide
manhunt hadn't been able to do in twice that time.
And now, if Brian Nichols prays through and remains
in Christ, even though he is facing severe punishment
for his crimes, he has a hope that thousands of
other Americans, who have never so much as received
a traffic ticket will never have---a life of freedom
in Christ and an eternity of hope. Even though
behind bars, he will have a life full of meaning
by reaching many others in prison. My question
is this, why did it have to come to this? Why
did the Lord have to show the church and the American
media what he can do with an ordinary handmaiden
of the Lord? If we would spend less money on Christian
media and more on 'ordinary handmaidens' going
out into their individual communities we may never
even have to grieve for the Brian Nicholses and
the people they wound. If we would spend less
money and time and effort in sending the pastors
around the country to preach in churches and on
TV and spend more time and effort in teaching
and releasing the 'regular' body of Christ to
evangelize and appropriately preach in their individual
spheres of influence, there may actually be a
secular media that has nothing bad to report about
on TV. Okay, maybe I'm dreaming a little, but
before anyone wakes me up, pray and ask the Lord
to redirect the body of Christ to focus on what
is really important. If we reach everyone that
we can on an individual basis, and we train those
to reach others that need the training, our judges
would have to think more than twice before they
overreached their authority and dictated public
policy from the bench thereby overriding the will
of the voters.
I've
spoken to many in the body of Christ that have
gotten this message and are going out into their
communities making a difference. Last month on
this website we asked you to pray for women in
the body of Christ and this month we, here in
America have seen the difference that one Christian
woman can make. Yet I'm still listening to 'big
name' preachers getting on TV and telling people
that women cannot lead in the church. How about
this: Why don't we let Jesus lead the church and
we pray for everyone that He uses? All of us as
leaders (male and female) need encouragement through
prayer to train and teach and get out in our communities.
We need the encouragement as we pray and counsel,
especially with some branches of our government
trying to stop us. We've been seeing God answer
miraculously for people when we reach out to them.
He has been showing up and doing things like healing
the sick, tending to the emotionally wounded like
no other counselor can do. All the leaders in
the body of Christ need to do is release the body.
They will see the sick recover and the wounded
healed and the poor fed. Instead of building colossal
structures to house folks in order to listen to
one person preach to them one day a week, how
about we build people up so they can preach to
at least one person a week. More people will hear
about Jesus and then get to see Him do miracles
than what we are doing in our present systems
by putting people to sleep each Sunday so that
they forget what was preached and can't even form
two sentences about Jesus and what He did for
them. I usually don't get this verbose with these
prayer requests, but this need in prayer has been
building in my spirit for many years as we have
been praying about this particular need for the
body of Christ. It just seemed that this month
the Lord allowed me to release it to you. As always
all we do is ask that you pray according to the
Holy Spirit and how He leads you. We pray for
you regularly and continue to pray until we hear
back from you. We thank God for all the answers
to prayer that we have received. As always, you
can email your prayer requests. Blessings in Christ
as you pray.
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March
2005 Update: |
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This
month I sense the need to pray for women leaders
in the body of Christ. The Lord recently showed
me a vision of women in a circle. In the center
was only what I could explain as the glory of God.
It wasn't like I saw God on the throne, but I knew
He was there in the middle. These women ministers
and leaders of churches were leaning in toward God,
but some were being made weak in the knees by an
unrecognized attack. In the vision the Lord had
me put my arms up under the woman next to me on
each side. As I did, strength came back into their
knees and they stood upright and strong. The Lord
said to me, As the strength they received was somewhat
unrecognized as coming from you as another minister
in the body of Christ, so this attack that is unrecognized
is also from other ministers in the body of Christ.
As soon as the vision was over I realized immediately
that the Lord wanted us to pray specifically for
women in the body of Christ that are leaders over
churches and ministries. I doubt we realize how
important it is that we do not lose half of the
body of Christ. Sometimes we ignore female leadership
and only focus on the men in different congregations
as important leaders. If we continue to do so, we
will lose half of the next generation, not to mention
half of what we could see accomplished in our own
time frame. We continue to pray for your needs.
We thank God for all the different answers to pray
that we have received. Many blessings in Christ
as you pray.
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February
2005 Update: |
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This
month I sensed three different items to pray for.
In 2004 the Lord exhorted us to pray that pipelines
for food and resources be kept open in disaster
or war torn areas. We can now see the wisdom for
that when we see the demands that different governments
are making on relief organizations in the areas
struck by the recent tsunami. It's important that
the people who need relief get it, as well as opportunities
for ministering the love of Jesus. The next item
I felt led to pray for was the cessation of the
encroachment of Islam in Christian nations. The
word I heard was the cessation of the influence
of Babylon, especially in America, but elsewhere
as well. (This actually encompasses much more than
Islam itself.) The third item was a word I had received
from the Lord in 2001-that our warfare times could
take 3 days, 3 months or 3 years. My responsibility
was to share this word with different Christians
to pray that it would only take 3 days. During that
time period of prayer for different skirmishes,
the Lord would let us know how long it would take.
While praying concerning this present Iraq war,
the Lord let me know that many in the body of Christ
were not in agreement with the 3-day or 3-month
plan and that it was going to take longer. Recently
I sensed it time again to share this word. It's
hard for me to know if the time period starts with
the onset of war or the onset of the real war with
the insurgents. If we settle on the whole of 2003,
that takes us to 2006. What I sense is to pray that
all our troops are home before 2006 is over-that
they all celebrate Christmas 2006 here in the States
with friends and family. |
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January
2005 Update: |
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About
a month before the horrendous earthquake and tsunamis
in the Indian Ocean, the Lord reminded me of a word
from last December and gave me a prayer request
for this January. Since the occurrence of these
catastrophic events, the wisdom of this prayer is
now apparent to me. Before I write our prayer request
for this month, I'd like to offer up a thanksgiving
for our brethren who were spared in the Indian Ocean.
July of 2003 was a blessed month for us at the ministry.
Our first-born nephew was married, the book Beyond
Strongholds had been nominated for a Retailers Choice
Award and I got the awesome blessing of traveling
to the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
They are an awesome people with many churches doing
a great work for the Lord. After we heard the news
of the earthquake and tsunamis I had peace that
the brethren in Mauritius were okay. Two days later
the U.S. news mentioned the wave hit the Seychelles
and Somalia. That worried me because Mauritius is
not far from the Seychelles. I emailed the brethren
and to our great relief and heartfelt thanksgiving
to God we found out that they are okay. By the time
the wave hit Mauritius it was small and not a real
threat. As the sadness and pain has hit us that
so many are lost and wounded, it is with great thankfulness
that our brethren in Mauritius were spared. We join
with so many Christians worldwide in prayer and
petitions for our brethren in the Asian-Indian Ocean
region that were devastated by these catastrophic
events and ask God for His mercy in keeping the
survivors and restoring what was lost to them as
only He can.
Sometime
in late November, early December of 2004 the Lord
reminded me of the experience I had had in the
Spirit on December 19, 2003 of planets colliding
and hearing Islamic-type language and four 'prophecies'
and opportunities being created to minister the
Gospel and expand the kingdom of Christ. He also
specifically reminded me about the California
earthquakes as the confirmation for that word.
Since I felt what was written for the December
2004 prayer request was from the Lord, I believed
what He now asked would be for January of 2005,
so I did not change the December update. After
the earthquake and tsunamis I realized the relevance
of both the January 2004 prayer request He had
for us and now this one a year later in 2005.
(Please take a moment to read the prayer update
for January 2004) When He reminded me of last
year's prayer need just recently, the need to
pray for opportunities for the Gospel was especially
relevant and extremely strong. Last year's prayer
concerning the loss of life was strong and this
year the request to expand opportunities to minister
to the lost and hurting while ministering the
Gospel is urgent. We can all see the need for
this now. As we have seen over the last two years,
the Lord has us pray for many things months in
advance of them occurring. While the loss of life
has been great, we give a thank offering to those
that were spared. The majority of souls in the
region affected by these catastrophic events are
Muslim, with many different dialects of language
(see the 01/04 update). The next groups are Hindu
and Buddhist. No one wants to see loss and death,
but unfortunately it does happen. When that takes
place, sometimes people are more open to the Gospel.
Please come in agreement for open doors of opportunity
for many Christians to help physically and spiritually
in these regions. The American news reported that
this earthquake caused the earth to shift on its
axis, shortening the day and that certain mountains
in Indonesia are no more, while there is now land
where there had been ocean. These are certainly
cataclysmic events. After reading our January
update from 2004 and remembering the vision the
Lord gave of planets, etc., colliding, we can
believe Him when He said that great opportunities
to minister would unfold. I can't stress enough
to pray for those able to communicate the Gospel
in that region to receive the fullness of these
opportunities. Even if you can't go or send help,
pray for those that can. As always you can email
your prayer requests. It is a joy to lift you
up before the Lord. We bless you in Christ and
bless what He is doing in your lives.
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