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Greetings Canada’s Kneeling Army, Leonard Ravenhill writes in his great book, “Why Revival Tarry’s,” that: “No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. The two prerequisites to successful Christian living are vision and passion, both of which are born and maintained by prayer. The ministry of preaching is open to few; the ministry of prayer – the highest ministry of all human offices – is open to all. Spiritual adolescence says, “I will not go tonight, its only prayer meeting.” It may be that Satan has little cause to fear much preaching, yet past experiences sting him to rally all his infernal army to fight against God’s people praying. Modern Christians know little of “binding and loosing” though the onus is on us – “what so ever ye shall bind…” Have you done any of this lately? God is not prodigal with his power; but to be much for God, we must be much with God.” Friends, this first Friday, as we focus our attention on remembering, let us pause in our prayer closets and allow the Holy Spirit to remind us of the great price that was “prayed” for the freedom we now experience today. Let our remembering recalibrate our own faith and conviction to battle in the trenches of spiritual warfare for a generation yet to be born. Let us remember that the soldiers of Vimy Ridge were faithful in their generation, even though not a day passed when they did not think of home. They were willing to be there to pay the price for freedom, but they were also eager for their deployment to end. Intercessors, this is a vivid picture of the heart of you, the intercessor. God has placed us here for a brief deployment; we are here to serve in his kneeling army so that his kingdom will come and his will be done here in Canada as it is in heaven. But remember in your fatigue that it’s a brief deployment. In Psalm 81:10-16, the Bible tells us, “I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels. Oh, that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, And turn My hand against their adversaries. The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him, But their fate would endure forever. He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.” Here again we get another vivid picture of Almighty God reminding and encouraging the people of Israel who they are and whose they are. And, today, He’s also encouraging us, His people who are “under-living” (not believing our kingdom authority), even as we find ourselves in the prayer trenches. Intercessors, there is so much more he wants to give us and to do for us. I know there is a voice inside of you because I hear that voice myself saying, “There has got to be something more in this righteous call to stand for the spiritual transformation of my home, church, community and Canada!” Friends you are right, there is more, so much more! Almighty God has more power, more peace, more love, and more significance to release the power that was won on the ultimate battlefield – the cross – so that we really can make a difference. The problem is that, like in Psalm 81, God cannot get our mouths opened (prayer and intercession). It appears that, at times, He is trying to feed a baby who refuses to open his mouth and must be fed through clenched teeth. I said it before and I will say it again, “God’s arms are not too short. This is not the darkest hour of the church; this is not the darkest hour of our country.” But for us to persevere on our watch, we must begin to eagerly open our mouths as a bird feeding her baby chicks, with greater expectancy. He wants us to expect the supernatural. In Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, “He did not do many miracles…because of their lack of faith.” (Matthew 13:58) The question begs to be asked, “Why?” I’m glad you asked! He did miracles everywhere, but in his home town the people who knew him most saw the least supernatural because they were not expecting anything. They didn’t open their mouths. Intercessors, in closing I want to encourage you to hold your positions. Faith is knowing that God will keep his promise and do something God-sized at any given time. Let Him not admonish us, as he did in the days of old, that, “I tried to….but they would not listen; they would not follow my ways.” Friends, finally, after hearing the hearts of those of you who are in the trenches, I know that some of you have been deployed for years, and you long to come in from the cold. This month especially, please know that you are not alone and I am pouring out my heart alongside you for those things that matter to you most. I will be taking your tears, your joys, and your frustrations to Israel with me this November 14 – 25. Please pray with me as I kneel at the Wailing Wall and ask Almighty God to remember those whom He has deployed in Canada, and to hear from heaven and heal our land. Opening my mouth, Brian Warren Executive Director CIP
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