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  October 2010: Rise up, O men of God! ... pdf version
    

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 October 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, October 1st, 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
“We can do nothing without prayer. All things can be done by importunate prayer. That is the teaching of Jesus Christ".
E. M. Bounds 1835-1913


Rise up, O men of God!

Ladies, I must begin this month’s prayer meditation with an apology to you – this article is intended specifically for the men in our churches. As I have had the opportunity to travel across Canada visiting ANiC parishes and teaching on prayer and intimacy with God, there has been a clearly observable reality. Women outnumber men at least 3 to 1 at most prayer conferences and meetings. I believe that this reveals a common paradigm in our churches that, in essence, says that praying is just for the women. The men have other important responsibilities to perform.

Whereas it is fair to say that frequently women tend to be more spiritually sensitive and alert to the guidance of the Holy Spirit than men, the history of the church throughout two millennia shows that fervent prayer was never intended to be left to just one segment of the Body of Christ – prayer is for everyone, including us men, and it is a privilege, not an encumbrance.

Brothers, we cannot and must not use the justification that we men have more important work in the church to accomplish. Look at the quotes below, spoken by men who understood the strategic value of prayer:

“Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work.” Oswald Chambers

“I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it.” John Wesley

“Of all the duties enjoined by Christianity none is more essential and yet more neglected than prayer.” François Fénelon

“If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.” Martin Luther

“I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.” Charles Spurgeon

Men, we may well be more comfortable with a hammer in our hands, or setting up chairs, or looking after the church finances than attending a corporate prayer meeting, but I strongly believe that the Church needs praying men as well as praying women if it is ever to fulfill its calling to reach this generation with the transforming Gospel of Jesus Christ. We mustn’t just leave it to the ladies!

But does it really make any difference, we may ask. Certainly the apostle James thought so: -

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
James 5:16b-18 ESV

There was a Welshman in the early 20th century who learned of the power and effectiveness of prayer. His name was Rees Howells. Born in Brynamman in Carmarthenshire, Howells left school at the age of 12 and worked in a tin mill and then a coal mine. The Welsh revival of 1904-1905 had a profound impact upon the young man and he responded to a call to be a missionary in South Africa where God moved mightily in revival power. Time after time, God honoured Howells prayers and thousands met the Lord and many received physical healing. Returning to England, Howells began a Bible School to teach the principles of faith and intercessory prayer that he had learned on the mission field.

During World War II, Howells led his young students in prayers seeking to see the removal of Axis dictators whose oppression of weaker nations was significantly hindering the work of world evangelism. They laid down their lives in intercession, very much like the young men who were on the front lines of battle. They interceded through the crises like Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, D-Day, and for many other situations including the miraculous establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.Clearly their prayers made a difference; they influenced the very course of history. (For more on his amazing life of prayer, check out Rees Howells: Intercessor, by Norman Grubb, available in most Christian bookstores).

Brothers, as I thought and prayed about writing this article, I struggled with how to convey my passion for prayer to you without being either condemnatory or condescending. I so desire for you to hear the cry of my heart! We have such a tremendous privilege of participating with the Lord in His redemption of the world! It was Andrew Murray, the late 19th century missionary, pastor and powerful evangelist, influencing amongst others the future leaders of the Welsh revival, who commented:

“Time spent in prayer will yield more than that given to work. Prayer alone gives work its worth and its success. Prayer opens the way for God Himself to do His work in us and through us. Let our chief work as God's messengers be intercession; in it we secure the presence and power of God to go with us."

Over the past week as I contemplated these things, I have found myself humming the tune to an old hymn, written in 1911 by William Merrill. May the words of this hymn of challenge resound in our hearts as we seek to follow the Lord in complete obedience to His call on our time, energy and resources. May we indeed have done with “lesser things” and “give heart and mind and soul and strength to serve the King of kings”. Amen.

1. Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings.

2. Rise up, O men of God!
The kingdom tarries long.
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong.

3. Rise up, O men of God!
The church for you doth wait,
Her strength unequal to her task;
Rise up and make her great!

4. Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod.
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God!

Garth V. Hunt



Praise God …
For His faithfulness in the past.

That He is our Abba Father and delights in hearing and responding to our prayers.

For the privilege of conversing with our Heavenly Father 24/7.

For the privilege of engaging in the spiritual battle through prayer.

For the reformation God is working out in global Anglicanism – and the entire Christian Church. In the midst of chaos, He is building His Kingdom and refining His bride, the Church.

For His blessing on ANiC, for how He has led, and for the future He has planned for us.

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 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.


Confess if needed…
For not delighting in spending time with the Lord.

For not seeing prayer as a privilege and for not giving priority to spending time with the Lord.

For failing to pray and for not being persistent in prayer.

For not regularly upholding our leaders and those in positions of authority and influence.

For not upholding each other and bearing one another’s burdens.


Please pray…
That we would grow in our love for our Lord and learn to delight in communing with Him in prayer.

That God would raise up in our churches men of faith who are “done with lesser things”, who will give heart and mind and soul and strength to serve the King of kings.

That all or us – men and women – would have a passion for those around us who need our Lord.

For the ministries of our churches; that we would become more intentional in reaching out to our communities.

For Bishops Donald Harvey, Stephen Leung, Charlie Masters, Trevor Walters, Malcolm Harding and Ronald Ferris – and their families. Pray for spiritual and physical protection and renewal, 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 families, especially those experiencing spiritual and physical attack. May the joy of the Lord be their strength.

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 Christ The King Anglican Church (Toronto, ON)
For New Life Anglican Church (Sturgeon Falls, ON)

For the many ANiC congregations that have lost their places of worship or have been forced to appeal to the courts and face the possible loss of their buildings. May they demonstrate love to those who persecute them.

For the legal team and parish leaders involved in negotiations and court proceedings.
For the BC Court of Appeal panel of judges considering their decision following the hearing involving four Vancouver-area parishes.
For the case involving St Aidan’s in Windsor, ON.
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.
For St George’s and St Alban’s in Ottawa involved in negotiation in an effort to avoid litigation.
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 sufficient donations to ANiC’s legal defense fund to allow continued support for congregations facing legal attack.

For Anglican orphans – 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 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) as they have been facing adversity; for God’s peace, protection, renewal and blessing.

For God’s blessing on 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):
For Archbishop Bob Duncan (and wife, Nara)
For the other ACNA dioceses.

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.
Especially for Archbishop John Chew (SE Asia) who, while in Vancouver last month, shared the Diocese of Singapore’s vision for evangelizing and church planting in countries in SE Asia where there are very few Christians.

For growing awareness of the Anglican Relief and Development Fund Canada (ARDFC); for churches and individuals to commit to being regular donors; for the ARDFC’s malaria prevention work in partnership with the Diocese of Maseno in south-west Kenya.

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, flooding and poverty – especially those in Muslim countries who face discrimination and violence.

That God would revive us, our church and, ultimately, our nation.

For those in authority over us and who serve our country. Pray for wise decisions that honour the Lord and promote the welfare of our nation. Pray specifically:
For those in government – both for members of Parliament creating laws and for civil servants in positions of responsibility – that they would uphold righteousness.
For judges in our court system who are charged with interpreting and applying laws;
For officers of the law and emergency response personnel who daily risk their lives for our protection; and
For those who selflessly serve our country in the military as well as for their families at home.


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