02 Jun, 2006

Dear friends,

            The Father told His Son, the Lord Jesus, to ask Him (the Father) for the nations (Psalms 2:8).  As He asked for the nations, He asked for the USA. Our state is part of the USA.  This ought to encourage us.  The State of Pennsylvania belongs to the Lord. He hungers to work in every aspect of the culture of our state.  This includes all the hotbed issues that we have been praying for in recent months:

Æ     The passing of legislation that would define marriage as between one man and one woman.

Æ     The removing of gaming from the state before it even gets started (I know this has already been passed, but let us continue to seek our miracle working God.)

Æ     Added to this, let us pray for individual communities where individuals are seeking to keep gaming from their cities.

Æ     State elections in the fall.  This will include the election of a Governor.

 

However, God desires to work in every aspect of our state.  He wants His rule to be felt in every part of our culture: Business, Criminal Justice, Education, Entertainment/Media, Government, Religious and Science/Health.  There are several key prayers that must be answered in order for this to happen:

Æ     The church must begin to walk together in covenant love.  We must begin to love, accept and respect members of the Body of Christ who are different than we are. We are all on a journey and each of us has part of the pie, but none of us has all of it. Therefore, we can learn from each other. In addition, when we begin to trust one another, we can trust the Lord to work through other parts of the Body as they fulfill their assignment and not feel like we must duplicate what they are doing (because they will not do it right because they are –fill in the blank concerning what kind of believer they are-).

Æ     The church must begin to understand that everyone must pursue their calling and that God calls people to be Mayors as well as pastors and missionaries.  As we take a look at the five-fold ministry, we understand that only a handful of people will be called to these equipping ministries.  We must also understand that five-fold ministers have been called for the purpose of equipping the ministers to do the work of the ministry.  This means that the ministers are those who govern, teach, collect garbage, fix cars and operate computers.  This makes sense does it not?  Most non-believers exist outside the four walls of the church building.  Therefore, let us encourage believers to pursue their call no matter what it may be.

Æ     Every member of Christ’s Body must commit themselves fully to Jesus and continue to gain more freedom so that they can more fully serve and glorify the Lord.   Individual believers and congregations will not fulfill the above two assignments unless they have first committed themselves fully to the task the Lord has given to His Body.  We needn’t fear that responsibilities will not be fulfilled if we do this. God is concerned about our families!  He is concerned about our day to day life!  He is concerned about our health!  These responsibilities have been laid out by the Lord. He will not have us follow Him to the neglect of His Word. It will all fit. Secondly, we must make sure that we are continually getting rid of the baggage in our life so we can more fully give ourselves away to the Lord.  This will involve getting victory over sin and habits that keep us from the Lord’s will.  It will involve gaining whatever type of deliverance we may need.  As we become freer, we are freer to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives.

 

PRAY FOR EACH OF THE AREAS IN BOLD ABOVE!!!

 

            I want to pass on some excerpts from an appeal made by Pastor Dutch Sheets calling us to increase our prayer for President Bush.

 

“In our partnering with God, to turn America back to its Christian heritage and God-given destiny, and to experience another great awakening that will impact every aspect of our culture and bring millions of people to Christ--we are at a great crossroads.”

 

“…an intense counter offensive has been orchestrated from Hell, to pull down President Bush and derail the destiny of America. This whirlwind of darkness over America is bringing great national confusion and is causing paralysis even in the praying church ... godly governmental leaders know things are in disarray and that something is desperately wrong, but they also say that nothing seems to work when it comes to reversing it. Spiritual leaders also know things are not right--that we have lost momentum and anti-Christ forces seem to be prevailing--but no one seems to know what to do about it.”

 

“…we are no longer dealing with flesh and blood in Iraq, but with "principalities and powers" (see Ephesians 6:12). They have entrapped our president, stolen his voice, and intend to completely destroy his effectiveness. Their ultimate goal is to steal his destiny--which is warring against terrorism and shifting the courts, especially the Supreme Court of America.”

 

“It is also quite likely, that if the third vacancy occurred on the Supreme Court now (and I believe it is coming soon), one of two things would happen. Either Bush would bow to the temptation to appoint a moderate, because of his weak position; or if he appointed a true conservative constitutionalist, like Roberts or Alito, the liberals would be empowered enough to stop the nomination through filibustering or character assassination.”

 

“If the praying church does not re-engage in informed, consistent and fervent intercession for our nation and president NOW, we will lose…”

 

            These quotes indicate Pastor Dutch’s concern that we pray fervently for our President and the upcoming elections.  Pray for the President that he will fulfill his destiny.  Dutch encourages us to pray that the President will have an encounter with the Lord similar to Jacob.

 

Dutch concludes by saying:

“Our responsibility is to pray until it happens. If it does not, our president will not recover and America is in big trouble.”

 

            Let us take up these marching orders and increase our efforts to pray for our president. Let us not fall into resign. JESUS IS LORD OF THE USA!!

 

Lastly, I would like to pass on to you a note from Nancy Miller who is the Southeastern PA Coordinator for the Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem

prayingnancy@earthlink.net.

 

Hundreds of thousands of believers from over 150 nations will unite in prayer for the peace of Jerusalem on October 1, 2006.  Will you be one of them?  Why should you be one of them?  The primary reason to be part of this strategic global prayer initiative is because of the biblical mandate to do so in Psalm 122: 6. We are commanded to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem and we are promised that we will prosper if we do. Genesis 12:3 also reveals God’s promised blessings for those who bless the descendants of Abraham. There are many more reasons why it is critical that the church pray for the peace of Jerusalem in this hour.  Consider the fact that Zechariah 14:3 tells us that Jerusalem is the land to which our Lord will return.  As we see nations raging against the Lord and His Anointed, we discern the soon return of the King of Kings to the Mount of Olives to establish His Kingdom.  Our prayers usher in God’s purposes for that land and all her people and our prayers usher in the return of The Prince of Peace.  For these and many other reasons, the first Sunday of every October is being set aside by the church worldwide as the International Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.  This united prayer initiative by believers of all denominations, races and regions is endorsed by over 700 ministry leaders in the body of Christ.  For complete details on how you can be involved, visit the website, www.daytopray.com.  Let the voice of The Church in the Keystone State bless God by being raised in one accord prayer for the peace of the city, land and people our Lord loves, His beloved Israel… and let those prayers produce God’s promised blessings upon the people of Pennsylvania.   

 

            There is much to pray about, but our God is a glorious God. HE IS VICTOR!!!

Pray for believers in Northeastern Pennsylvania who will be engaging in 24 hour prayer June 30 and July 1 in order to begin to take back their territory for the Lord. PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!  We will see the victory of the Lord!

 

John Shuey

PA Coordinator for PA Strategic Prayer Network