Early next month, the Middle East Prayer Assembly will gather Christian leaders from across the region to pray for His peace and healing in Syria, Egypt, Iraq and other nations that are currently in tumult. The following month, in mid-November, hundreds of ministry leaders as well as praying youth and children will gather at the United Nations to pray with ambassadors and UN officials for this most powerful human 2! institution on earth. Why are we doing this? Many would say that the Middle East will always be in conflict and that the UN is corrupt and anti-Christian.
The reason we in the IPC are arranging these and other such prayer initiatives is that Jesus said His followers are to be the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world”. Salt is a preservative from corruption, and light helps people to see clearly the way ahead. We as believers in Christ are the temple of God by His Spirit, carrying the salt and light of His presence into a world that is liable to become corrupt and darkened. Where we go, through united, faith-filled prayer, we invite His transforming power into any situation we face.
I have written to you in the past about the prayer initiatives in over 50 nations in which we so often saw the hand of the Lord changing impossible situations of war and human suffering. Unexpected breakthroughs of peace and governments of national unity between former enemies came about as Christian leaders gathered in desperation to call on the Lord together. In 2007 and 2009, it was also our privilege to facilitate international prayer initiatives inside the United Nations with hundreds from many nations taking part. Ambassadors who took part wept in His presence, and the president of the General Assembly cried out to the Lord like a small child, asking for His help with the impossible issues with which he and other ambassadors were struggling at that time. It was a moving and powerful experience! The leader of a group of intercessors who work and pray inside the UN reminded me this past week that each time one of these initiatives happened, they felt the shift in what had been a dark and oppressive atmosphere. Praise the Lord that He can change even a daunting organization like the UN if we pray!
The UN is involved in many noble efforts to eradicate poverty, ensure people get enough food, maintain peace in conflicted areas and help children and youth reach their potential through getting a good education and healthcare. I have met some outstanding and dedicated individuals working there. How they need our help in prayer as many of them would acknowledge. If the organization becomes corrupt or goes astray into adopting oppressive, dominating policies as a world government, it will be our fault as followers of Christ. We can connect with the One who has all power to change things through our prayers so it is extreme dereliction of duty for us not to pray for the UN and other governmental entities.
If you would like to join us this year, November 18-20, in New York, we will hold the third International Prayer Initiative for the United Nations.
Just before that will be the third Children in Prayer Global Consultation, November 15-18. There is still time to register and some places left, but you will need to move quickly to hold your place.
Registration closes by October 15. You can register on this website: www.arrowheadregistration.org/?117
If you cannot come in person, please pray with us. Some key concerns for five upcoming initiatives are attached below.
It is an awesome privilege and responsibility to be His representatives and the vehicles by which His mighty working takes place in our world! Let’s use the awesome prerogative He has given us- united prayer- to see His transformation come to the United Nations and the individual nations in which we live or minister.
John Robb
IPC Chairman
May we please share the following, asking if you can cover these five crucial initiatives over the coming weeks with your prayers? There is so much potential in God’s hands for each of them to have a profound impact on our world:
1. Dark Places and Powers Consultation, Sept. 27-30, Larnaca, Cyprus - for specialists in strategic-level spiritual warfare and territorial deliverance to confer, pray and work together, and hopefully form an ongoing international network for deeper learning and broader practice.
Pray for visas and traveling mercies for all and for an anointed, God-led time of great insight and deeper understanding of this realm.
2. Middle East Prayer Assembly, Oct. 1-4, Larnaca, Cyprus - a historic gathering for ministry leaders and praying youth from all denominations and traditions across the ME region and international prayer leaders from other parts of the world to seek the Lord for His breakthroughs in this challenging area of our world.
To our knowledge, it will be the first time that church leaders - Arab, Turkish, Armenian and Jewish, with prayer leaders from all three Christian traditions - have come together to pray for the region supported by prayer leaders from around the world. We need
to see His breakthroughs of transformation for the nations of this region at this crucial time!
Pray for visas and traveling mercies and for a wonderful unity in the Spirit, identificational repentance and reconciliation as well as nation-changing united prayer as we pray deeply for each nation of the region led by delegations coming from those nations.
3. North American Prayer Summit, Oct. 15-18, Ottawa, Canada - for prayer ministry leaders from Canada, Mexico and the USA. We hope to focus on our three governments and also raising up younger leaders for the regional prayer movement.
Pray for the people of God’s choosing to come and especially younger ministry leaders that they will have His provision to come and desire to be with us.
4. Children in Prayer Global Consultation, Nov. 15-18, New York City, USA - for CiP practioners and coordinators as well as praying children and youth from around the world. To learn from one another in order to expand and deepen the CiP movement internationally.
We need the right people - adults, youth and children - who are involved in prayer ministry to come from the ends of the earth. Pray that the invitation will reach them and that they will be able to get the financial provision and visas to be in New York.
5. International Prayer Initiative for the United Nations, Nov.18-20, New York City, USA - for Christian organizations serving children and youth, ministry leaders, youth and children from around the world. Theme: “Children and Youth: Investing in the Future”. Purpose: to be “salt and light” within this powerful institution, praying with ambassadors and other officials for its transformation and God’s blessing on its efforts to improve the lives of children and youth worldwide.
Pray for great favor with UN officials and ambassadors that their hearts will be stirred to take part (even the Secretary General and President of the General Assembly and many others). Pray too for the provision and confirmation of an adequately large conference room inside the UN which is still up in the air due to remodeling.
Prayer Concerns for all five initiatives:
1) For the right people to hear His call to take part in each of these events.
2) For great favor with the authorities so all can get their visas without any problem.
3) For the financial resources necessary for participants’ flights and other expenses and for the IPC to have enough for administrative and other costs as well as to help with subsidies as needed. The widow with the bottles of oil comes to mind!
4) For our program planning teams for each event to be anointed, led and protected in the midst of the spiritual conflict in which all of us are engaged.
5) For all speakers and facilitators to be guided and empowered by the Spirit for their tasks.
6) That His Kingdom will be advanced in ways we could not have imagined possible.
Thanks so much for helping in this way. Your prayer support will help turn the tide in favor of His global purposes in each of these international prayer initiatives. Please feel free to share these concerns with other intercessors you are in touch with.
Sarah Plummer who coordinates prayer for this great humanitarian organization that works in about 100 nations has let us know about some helpful prayer resources that are available for you to use. World Vision helps millions of poor people and their children and is a worthy organization to pray for.
1) Twitter @WVpray or Iphone/Ipad App World Vision Pray
2) National Prayer Profiles for every country created by each national office.
3) Prayer cards for families to pray for children in many countries of the world.
For more information on getting these prayer resources, write to Sarah Plummer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Now more than ever before, we need to get our knees before the Lord and intercede for North Africa. The restlessness, the shaking that is taking place, the questioning, doubting and wondering. The fears, the violence, persecution and grief. What does the future hold? What will unfold in the coming months?
Only God knows, but we CAN participate in the future of North Africa by spending time in prayer. This month we invite you to :
Get in your quiet place.
Listen to a worship song to still your heart.
Ask God to guide you in your prayers.
Listen in silence for 10 minutes.
Write down everything that comes into your mind.
Then take that list, and ask God to show you where to start.
We know that God knows more than we do, what He is doing and what He wants to accomplish in North Africa. So let's ask Him to lead us in our prayers so we can pray back to Him what is on His heart.
Some things God has been laying on our hearts to pray:
1. That the restlessness across North Africa turn into active seeking for the Truth that can only be found in Jesus.
2. That God protect North Africa from the strongholds of secularism and materialism.
3. That the powers of darkness be exposed for what they really are, and driven out in these nations.
4. For the peace of the Lord to rule and reign.
Praying for Egypt :
Please click on this link to find further information to help guide your prayers for Egypt in the coming month:
http://gallery.mailchimp.com/3bddd686ddfc797b8b44e8399/files/Prayer_for_Egypt.pdf
I went to Jakarta to experience what God was doing in the world through prayer and I came back so humbled, excited and inspired that I praised Him for the experience. As the Founding Director of the Hollywood Prayer Network, I brought my associate, Caren Bream, and she and I walked into the global world of prayer with great anticipation. We had the opportunity to not only meet prayer leaders, pastors and "regular people" from around the world, but we saw that the heart of God was vital and powerful in Asia. In fact, it made me ask the Lord to PLEASE put the same fire into the hearts of the people in America, and especially in my community of Hollywood, California. I experienced a heartfelt love for Jesus that I had almost forgotten was possible and I got a fresh understanding of trusting Him COMPLETELY. I left with the confirmation that we need Jesus DESPERATELY and that's right where He wants us.
We also saw incredible breakthrough in the hearts of creative community there at the WPA. I spoke to two large groups of people who were either involved in or interested in the global entertainment industry. Both times, I was joined by Mark McClendon, Pres. of CBN, Jakarta and once by Chris Mitchell, head of CBN, Jerusalem. They had the same vision as I did to encourage Christian media professionals to see their workplace as a mission field and to encourage others to understand the need to pray for professionals in the media. Many people approached us saying that they struggled with pouring their lives into secular media, because they thought they needed to just do God’s work in Christian media. We got to encouragement them to see the importance of being salt and light in the secular world. It was very freeing to many people.
On woman had wanted to start a secular television station in Malaysia. She hadn’t done if for the past decade because people in her life and in her church said it needed to be a Christian TV station, which she didn’t want to do. After our talk, she came up crying and asking for the strength to start her commercial station, now that she understood it’s value and importance in God’s eyes. We prayed with her and cried with her and she went off, committed to do the desire of her heart for the past decades. What a thrill.
We also got to see that the media is still an area that Christians are still afraid of. We commented on how our sessions were all smaller than the other sessions. The people who came were passionate and creative, but it was always smaller groups. It made us realize how important it is to continue being available to spread the word and the vision that praying for people in the arts, entertainment and media industries is a crucial priority. Our American culture and cultures all over the world are influenced and even shaped, by the entertainment and media industry. So, if we want to see cultural revival, we must PRAY.
Thank you for the opportunity to have me come and pray, speak, share and listen to these incredible, global prayer warriors. It was my honor and privilege and I look forward to any other ways I can serve you in the future.
With great appreciation,
Karen Covell
Founding Director
Hollywood Prayer Network
A knowledgable friend who works in South Asia recently wrote: “The India/Pakistan border tension could case another war between these two countries. A report said that the next possible nuclear war would be between India and Pakistan.
The tension between these two countries greatly impacts the war in Afghanistan. Pakistan is strongly behind certain groups of the Afghan Taliban as they are “Pro Pakistan” and the present government is very “Pro India”. Pakistan does not want a hostile or Pro Indian government in its western border and the Taliban are very close to Pakistan. A reconciliation between the two countries could also bring big changes in Afghanistan and even in Pakistan.
As you all know the problems go all the way back when Pakistan was started and it was born in the blood of more than a million people.”
Please pray for His peace, reconciliation and that these two nations will work through their differences and become friends.
Insight - As Afghanistan endgame looms, a deadly edge to India-Pakistan rivalry
Reuters
By Frank Jack Daniel and Sanjeev Miglani
Tues Aug 13, 2013
BARAMULLA/NEW DELHI, India
Pakistan-based militants are preparing to take on India across the subcontinent once Western troops leave Afghanistan next year, several sources say, raising the risk of a dramatic spike in tensions between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan.
Intelligence source in India believe that a botched suicide bombing of an Indian consulate in Afghanistan, which was followed within days last week by a lethal cross-border ambush on Indian soldiers in disputed Kashmir, suggest that the new campaign by Islamic militants may already be underway.
Members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant outfit in Pakistan, the group blamed for the 2008 commando-style raid on Mumbai that killed 166 people, told Reuters they were preparing to take the fight to India once again, this time across the region.
And a U.S. counter-terrorism official, referring to the attack in Afghanistan, said "LeT has long pursued Indian targets, so it would be natural for the group to plot against them in its own backyard".
Given the quiet backing - or at least blind eye - that many militant groups enjoy from Pakistan's shadowy intelligence services, tensions from a new militant campaign are bound to spill over. Adding to the volatility, the two nations' armies are trading mortar and gunfire across the heavily militarised frontier that divides Kashmir, and accusing each other of killing troops.
Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947 and came close to a fourth in 1999. The tension now brewing may not escalate into open hostilities, but it could thwart efforts to forge a lasting peace and open trade between two countries that make up a quarter of the world's population.
"With the Americans leaving Afghanistan, the restraint on the Pakistani security/jihadi establishment is going too," said a former top official at India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the external intelligence arm.
"We are concerned about 2014 in either scenario. If the jihadis (Islamist militants) claim success in Afghanistan, they could turn their attention to us. Equally, if they fail, they will attack in wrath."
But Pakistan, which has a border with India to the east and with Afghanistan to the west, has concerns of its own. It sees India's expansive diplomacy in Afghanistan as a ploy to disrupt it from the rear as it battles its own deadly Islamist militancy and separatist forces. Vying for influence in a post-2014 Afghanistan, it worries about India's assistance to the Afghan army, heightening a sense of encirclement.
"I'm shocked by these allegations. Pakistan has its own insurgency to deal with. It has no appetite for confrontations abroad," said a Pakistani foreign ministry official referring to the Indian charges of stirring trouble in Afghanistan and on the Kashmir border.
"If anything, we are looking at our mistakes from the past very critically. These accusations are baseless. India needs to act with more maturity and avoid this sort of propaganda."
Both U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry spoke during visits to India recently of the need for New Delhi and Islamabad to resume their stalled peace process as the region heads into a period of uncertainty.
FULL-SCALE JIHAD
At the core of that uncertainty is the pullback of militants from Afghanistan as U.S. forces head home.
Hafiz Sayeed, founder of the LeT, has left no doubt that India's side of Kashmir will become a target, telling an Indian weekly recently: "Full-scale armed Jihad (holy war) will begin soon in Kashmir after American forces withdraw from Afghanistan."
The retreat of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989 brought a wave of guerrillas into Kashmir to fight India's rule there.
This time the additional risk will be the rivalry between India and Pakistan over Afghanistan itself, one that threatens to become as toxic as the 60-year dispute in Kashmir. The LeT has said it is fighting Indian forces in Afghanistan as well. LeT was founded in 1990 in eastern Afghanistan by Sayeed, a Pakistani Islamic scholar whom India accuses of masterminding the rampage in Mumbai. The United States placed a $10 million bounty on his head for his alleged role in the attack, but he remains a free man in Pakistan, where he preached to thousands last week.
Please pray for the arrest and prosecution of this evil man and the dissolution of his terrorist organization, the LeT.
Here are some main themes and requests that we hope you can continue to hold up in prayer before the Lord until we see His transforming justice come for both countries (remember the persevering widow of Luke 18):
Pakistan
The honeymoon time between the newly-elected government and the Taliban is over. The Taliban have killed over 1700 people in the last couple of months and broken out 248 of their colleagues from prison.
The government seems to be afraid to do anything out of fear of retaliation.
• Pray that the government will boldly take action and bring down the Taliban for their own security and the good of the nation.
• Pray that the Taliban leaders will repent or otherwise be stopped and that their followers will be disheartened and demoralized, thrown also into disunity and confusion like King Jehoshaphat witnessed when God through Judah’s enemies into conflict with one another in 2 Chron.20.
• Pray that the “strong men” (the pirs who are spirit mediums), the spirit beings they offer blood sacrifice to, as well as the occult shrines where they operate will be bound according to Jesus’ promise Matthew 18:18.
• Pray Pray for the local intercessors and Christian leaders to take on the spiritual responsibility of praying for their land in unity and faith with others. Like David, may they take the spiritual battle to the Goliath they face that is destroying their land!
Afghanistan
The good news is that the Taliban attacks have diminished and there has been some decrease in the fighting. Bombs have gone off prematurely, saving many. However, over 600 soldiers and police have been killed recently. Government officials are also being targeted with their families, which is discouraging for them. We are thankful to report that the Taliban’s “peace meetings” have fallen apart since they would have most likely led to a sell-out of the country to these radicals by the departing coalition forces.
• Pray for the national elections that the right people, especially the right person for president, will be chosen through the selection process that begins next month and ends on Oct.6. The actual election will be on April 5.
• Pray that the Taliban will experience massive demoralization and quit fighting, overcome by warweariness after so much bloodshed and fighting.
• Pray that the Pushtun tribe, 400 of whose tribal leaders have been killed, will reject and drive out the Taliban from using their territories.
• Pray for the Kabul prayer initiative happening from Aug. 17-22, that encouragingly is being led by local believers. May they and other believers in the country arise and do exploits for the Lord, full of faith and unity, wielding His authority to drive the spiritual forces of evil from their land!
Thanks for standing with us for the deliverance of both nations through the power of the Lord, mediated through united prayer of His people, both ours and the local believers.