Author Henri Nouwen wrote a book called Sabbatical Journeys. He writes about some friends of his who were trapeze artists, called the Flying Roudellas. They told Nouwen that there’s a special relationship between flyer and catcher on the trapeze. The flyer is the one that lets go, and the catcher is the one that catches. As the flyer swings high above the crowd on the trapeze, the moment comes when he must let go. He arcs out into the air. His job is to remain as still as possible and wait for the strong hands of the catcher to pluck him from the air. One of the Flying Roudellas told Nouwen, "The flyer must never try to catch the catcher." The flyer must wait in absolute trust. The catcher will catch him, but he must wait.
Greetings Canada’s Kneeling Army,
I pray that your Christmas was wonderful and that your New Year will be blessed with a renewed Hope and a deeper Commitment to serve our great High Commander and Chief, Jesus Christ.
This First Friday of January 2010, let’s meditate on what “the Fear of the Lord” really means for the spiritual transformation of Canada. In the darkest days of Israel, Almighty God revealed out of obscurity arguably one of the greatest prophets of all times, Elijah the Tishbite, whose name means “God is Jehovah”. Elijah arrived on the landscape in Israel when devotion to the true and living God was at an all time low, and the “Fear of the Lord” was a nostalgic gesture at best. Intercessors, we all know how the first super-bowl of the gods ended. Even with home field advantage, Baal couldn’t win the contest which, on the surface, appeared to be a blow-out; 450 prophets of Baal to one – an over confident country camel-hair-wearing prophet of the unpopular God of Israel. It sounds very similar to modern day Canada and the battle we are engaged in against the occult, secularism, humanism and the New Age! Remember, the prophets of Baal prayed for hours but Elijah’s prayer was brief as recorded in 1 Kings 18:36-37 (NIV): "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." His prayer had sixty words in it, and even if you pray it with long pauses in between, it can still be prayed in under 30 seconds. Fire fell down from heaven and took the offering of the wood, the water, the soil and the stones. It was as if a laser beam had hit the spot and evaporated everything! The people made a decision on the spot, that the God of Israel was God and not Baal. That very day the prophets of Baal were wiped out.
Now, you say, “Wonderful, I remember the account, but I have been praying for my family, my community, my church and Canada and I see little or no change.” Praying friends, I empathize with you BUT, like Elijah of old, I hear the Spirit of God saying, as he did in 1 Kings 18:43, “Go Again, Go again in 2010”, and believe God for the results. It took seven times of Elijah’s servant going and looking until he came back with a weather report of seeing a cloud the size of a man’s hand. Elijah didn’t send that servant to look again to see if another cloud came up or even if the cloud had gotten bigger. Instead, he said go tell Ahab to leave quickly because rain is on its way. The scripture goes on to say that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Elijah and he outran the horses and chariots of Ahab back to Jezreel. Wow! When the rain falls and the Spirit of the Lord has full control, there is no telling what could take place. David, another man of God, reminds us of God’s assurance when he says, “…by your Spirit have I ran through a troop and jumped over a wall.”
I, dear friends, am ready for the rain to fall; I’ve got my ear tuned to heaven and I believe I hear the sound of abundance of rain. Intercessors, the drought is coming to an end. “God, send us the rain!” Now believe! To aid you in “Going Again”, CIP has put together a January Prayer Guide with a strong focus on Wisdom and “The Fear of the Lord”. There are 31 proverbs, one for each day, and we encourage you to fast a portion of the month in addition to the First Friday. On your mark get set, “Go Again!”
Prayer warriors, we at Canada In Prayer hold to our pledge to continue to stand on the front line for the spiritual transformation of Canada. Our God is faithful and He has underscored the significant need for our ongoing mission of intercession for every aspect of Canadian society in these vital times. We are confident that Almighty God is never in recession and will continue to be faithful in providing for our needs as we together, “Go Again in 2010”. For each of you who receive our monthly prayer newsletter, use our website, reach out to other intercessors on CIP Facebook, watch CIP on YouTube, and attend our equipping and empowering seminars, we value your continual intercession and financial partnership in this ministry. Please prayerfully reflect on where you will designate your giving, and consider a onetime gift to CIP or monthly support of your voice in Canada as together we battle to protect His dominion from coast to coast to coast!
Again in 2010,
