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Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Philippians 4: 6 ESV
Welcome to our May 2010 1st Friday Call to Prayer. Our aim is to provide you with teaching that we trust will enhance your prayer experience and will be an encouragement to you. We will also provide you with praise items and prayer requests coming from within ANiC and the Anglican Communion worldwide.
We encourage you to set aside the first Friday, May 7th, as a day of prayer and fasting for the Church in these critical days, ideally gathering with other believers in your parish or region for corporate prayer at some point in the day.
Prayer Quotes
Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work. .
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
This past week has been a very difficult time around St. George’s, Burlington. As many of you will be aware, Rhonda Glenn, dear wife of our rector, Ray David Glenn, has been diagnosed with a large malignant brain tumour. What began last Tuesday as a persistent migraine has become a life-threatening cancer. Throughout the week, the medical prognoses have become progressively more bleak, and it has become abundantly clear that Rhonda’s healing will not be forthcoming from medical science. We are praying and believing for a miraculous intervention of the healing power of the Lord Jesus!
The words of encouragement and prayer support from across the nation and around the world have been absolutely amazing, and the Glenns have felt deeply loved and upheld in prayer. But as each negative medical report was brought, there has been for all of us a natural sense of discouragement, and the enemy has assaulted us with insidious whispers of doubt and futility.
This situation and those that other ANiC parishes are facing reminded me of an article that I wrote for our monthly Call to Prayer back in April 2004 on a parable that Jesus taught his disciples about circumstances such as this so “that they would always pray and not lose heart”. It seems an appropriate word for this month’s meditation. I trust that that parable will be a blessing to you as it has been to me in these days.
GVH
Persistence in Prayer
Please read the following scripture carefully:
“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'" And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Luke 18: 1-8 ESV
Whenever Jesus speaks of prayer in the pages of the Gospels, we would do well to take heed. Our Lord knew full well that the disciples would face days when the temptation to “just quit” or to “throw in the towel” would be overwhelming. He knew about anguish in prayer – just look at the accounts of His agony in the garden of Gethsemane. He knows about our anguished prayer as well, and the above parable should encourage us as it no doubt did the disciples.
It is noteworthy that Jesus compared His Church to a widow harassed by an enemy; she’s not the typical David or Joshua-type hero of the faith. Look at her. As one bible scholar has put it: “She has legitimate reasons to quit, but instead she prevails. Indeed, she refuses to exempt herself from her high potential simply because of her low estate. She makes no apologies for her lack of finances, knowledge or charm. Giving herself no reason to fail, she unashamedly plants her case before the judge where she pleads for and receives what is hers: legal protection from her opponent.
”How did a common widow gain such strength of character? We can imagine that there must have been a time when, under the relentless pressure of her adversary, she became desperate, and desperation worked to her advantage. Desperation is God's hammer: It demolishes the stronghold of fear and shatters the chains of our excuses. When desperation exceeds our fears, progress begins.”
Desperation is also the birthplace of dependency, that place that the Lord loves for us to be in. For here, faith in his goodness and amazing love for his children is all that we have to cling to. We can do nothing to fix the situation in our own strength, but we do not have merely an agnostic judge to appeal to. We have a loving heavenly Father who delights to give good gifts to his children, and for whom nothing is impossible. Our persistence in prayer is not about trying to overcome his reluctance to answer. If we see the parable that way, we’ve missed the point entirely. Jesus says that we ought always to pray and not lose heart because, unlike the judge, our God is not reluctant to answer. He is eager. What an encouragement!
So then, dear intercessors, let us use this image of the persistent widow as both an encouraging promise of answered prayer and a mobilizing incentive to cry out to God with our fervent prayers. She didn’t give up. When the history of the ANiC is written, may it be said of us who believe in the power of prayer that we didn’t either! Amen.
Garth V. Hunt
Praise God …
That He reigns over all and is fully in control.
That He loves us unconditionally, extravagantly and eternally.
That, while He is God Almighty, He walks through suffering with us.
That He uses suffering to draw us closer to Him, to shape our character, and refine our hearts.
That Jesus Christ was obedient, even unto death.
That through His death and resurrection, He won victory over sin, defeated the power of death, and defeated the enemy of our souls.
For our churches, for the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) and for the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).
For the many ANiC “projects” and church plants – the small, but growing congregations of faithful Anglicans – He is adding to our number.
For His blessing on ANiC, for how He has led, and for the future He has planned for us.
For faithful Anglican bishops, clergy and laity – throughout the Communion – who are standing for truth even when their stand for Christ and His Word makes them targets of attack.
For those who are providing leadership to the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans around the globe and for the growing unity of orthodox Anglicans in the Communion. .
For the reformation God is working out in global Anglicanism – and Christianity in general. In the midst of chaos, He is building His Kingdom and refining His bride, the Church.
Confess if needed…
For allowing discouragement to darken our hearts and keep us from a joy-filled faith.
For not allowing suffering to press us closer to Christ
For not being persistent in prayer as was the widow in Christ’s parable.
For not seeking Christ’s fellowship during times suffering.
For not appropriating the power of the resurrected Christ in times of suffering.
Please pray…
That we would see suffering from God’s point of view and turn our hearts fully to God during these difficult times.
That we would joyfully and willingly surrender to Him our ambitions, hopes and plans and hold everything we have in an open hand, recognizing that it is all His to do with as He chooses.
For those in our communities who need the Lord; that our hearts would be broken by the things that break the heart of God.
For Bishops Donald Harvey, Stephen Leung, Charlie Masters, Trevor Walters, Malcolm Harding and Ronald Ferris, and their families. Pray for spiritual and physical protection, for wisdom, and for a daily closer walk with God.
For those suffering under the attack of the enemy in our congregations and families. Pray for victory in Christ and healing where needed.
For ANiC clergy and their family members who are experiencing spiritual and physical attack. Especially pray for Mrs Rhonda Glenn who has been diagnosed with a particularly threatening brain tumour.
For new and forming ANiC congregations as they attend to the many details of organizing and launching a parish – and for other congregations considering joining ANiC.
For congregations that have lost their places of worship as well as for those forced to appeal to the courts and facing the possible loss of their buildings. May they demonstrate love to those who persecute them.
For the Anglican Relief and Development Fund Canada and for generous contributions to malaria prevention project in Kenya.
For the legal team and parish leaders involved in court proceedings.
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For the Vancouver-area parishes preparing for the September 13-16 appeal in the BC Court of Appeal. |
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For the case involving St Aidan’s in Windsor, ON. |
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For St George’s (Burlington, ON), Good Shepherd (St Catharines, ON) and St Hilda’s (Oakville, ON) in their dispute with the Diocese of Niagara. |
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For a change of heart on the part of the leaders of dioceses pursuing ANiC parishes. May they relent and work with parishes to reach amicable, mutually beneficial settlements. |
For Biblically-faithful Anglicans in Canada who feel isolated in liberal churches and dioceses as well as for those who feel they can no longer remain in the Anglican Church of Canada. May they find Christian fellowship and spiritual nourishment.
For the recovery of a lively orthodoxy in the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) and for those who believe they are called to remain in the ACoC to pray and work for reformation and for a renewed commitment to Jesus Christ and His inspired Word.
For the leaders of the Anglican Communion Alliance (formerly Anglican Essentials Federation), Anglican Essentials Network and Anglican Essentials Canada as they provide support for orthodox Anglicans still within the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC).
For the work of the Anglican Communion Alliance (ACA) at the ACoC’s General Synod in June and for the pre-synod ACA-sponsored cross-Canada speaking tour of Canon George Kovoor.
For those in the Zacchaeus Fellowship who are giving testimony to the liberation God offers those held captive in sexual sin; for the Anglican Church of Canada to listen to their witness.
For Archbishop Gregory Venables (and his wife, Sylvia) and the Province of the Southern Cone which graciously provided a temporary “home” for ANiC when we needed Primatial oversight.
For God’s blessing on the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA):
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For Archbishop Bob Duncan (and wife, Nara) |
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For the other ACNA dioceses, especially those with congregations in Canada: the Anglican Coalition in Canada and the Reformed Episcopal Church. |
For the orthodox Primates and bishops- especially those in the Global South – who are courageously standing for Truth. Pray for spiritual and physical protection and for discernment, grace and strength as they lead in a torn Communion.
For the Covenant process and the realignment underway in the Anglican Communion. May the Lord clearly lead and may His will be done.
For the Archbishop of Canterbury. May he pursue God wholeheartedly and seek the wisdom and discernment he needs to fulfill his responsibilities to the glory of God.
For suffering Christians around the world in conditions of persecution, war, drought, famine and poverty – especially:
For those in authority over us. Pray for wise decisions that honour the Lord and promote the welfare of Canadian citizens. Pray also for protection for those who are in “harms way” as they serve our country. Specifically, pray:
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For those in government – both for members of Parliament creating laws and for civil servants in positions of responsibility – that they would uphold righteousness. |
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For judges in our court system who are charged with interpreting and applying laws; |
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For officers of the law and emergency response personnel who daily risk their lives for our protection; and |
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For those who selflessly serve our country in the military – as well as for their families at home. |
That God would revive us, our church and, ultimately, our nation.
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