NIGHTWATCH FOR EUROPE week beginning Sunday 24th June 2007
‘Could you not watch with me for one hour?’ (Mtt26: 40)
WELCOME TO THE NIGHT WATCH FOR EUROPE
While preparing this watch I have received multiple copies of the European Union of Prayer bulletin reminding us of the need to pray this weekend as European leaders meet in the attempt by some to recover plans for an EU constitution that will consolidate or strengthen further some of the centralising powers of the EU. Working together in unity for peace and prosperity is good and a sign of the presence of the kingdom of God, working together to protect ourselves and our affluence out of fear of lack and war and loss is a sign of empire. The trouble is we all know that the EU, like most human governments, is about both! The kingdom of God is about the fall of the empires of men and the fullness of the rule of God, so this week we will continue to pray for empire to fall and the kingdom of God to come in Europe.
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If you are receiving this material unexpectedly it is because someone has suggested that you may be interested to join in. If you do not want to keep receiving it please inform us immediately and we will stop sending it to you. We want to let those of you who are newcomers know that we are very pleased to have your partnership in this watch. We are simply asking for a commitment of an hour a week some time between 9pm and 6am whatever time zone you are in.
We will send you a brief outline for prayer each week according to the prophetic direction coming from the contemporary prophetic movement in Europe. You will not always agree with everything in the watch material. Go with what you can and trust the Lord to help you with the rest. This Nightwatch began in November 2003 and We are looking to carry on for another year and four months, while realising that some can’t commit right now for as long as that, we are pleased for you to enlist for as long as you can. If you have to miss an occasional watch it’s OK as the rest of us will carry it. A six-month commitment is probably a good start.
THE CONTENT OF THE WATCH FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING SUNDAY 24th June 2007
1. TAKE TIME TO RESIST THE DEVIL AND DECLARE THE OVERCOMING POWER OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD FOR EUROPE (30 minutes)
Joint meetings of powerful national leaders have dominated the last few weeks, with the G8 and now the EU summit. For the last two weeks we have used Matthew 4:8-11 and Luke 22:25-27 to resist the devil away from the leaders and governments of the G8 nations, and ourselves as intercessors. This week let’s continue to use them to resist the devil away from Europe, and then declare Psalm 2 over the EU summit and its aftermath in the week to come.
a) Use Matthew 4:8-11 to resist the devil and pray (10 minutes)
“Again, the Devil took him up into a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go, Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve.’ Then the Devil left him. And behold, angels came and ministered to him.”
Pray that the EU leaders will resist the temptation to domination over the EU nations and the world and use what power they have to work together in unity for peace and prosperity for all especially the poor.
b) Use Luke 22:25-27 to resist the devil and pray (10 minutes)
“And he said to them, the kings of the nations exercise lordship over them. And they who exercise authority on them are called benefactors. But you shall not be so: but the greater among you, let him be as the lesser, and he who governs, as one who serves. For which is the greater; he who reclines, or he who serves? Is it not he who reclines? But I am among you as he who serves.”
Pray for a genuine desire to serve the nations of Europe to fill the summit and the hearts of the political leaders. Pray for their protection from the demonic powers that have entrenched themselves in our political structures over hundreds of years.
c) Use Psalm 2 to resist the devil and pray (10 minutes)
“Why are the nations in uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, ‘Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!’ He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Then he will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his fury, saying, ‘But as for me, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain.’ I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: he said to me, 'You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall shatter them like earthenware. Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son that he not become angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in him!”
Pray for genuine discernment for the leaders of the nations of the European Union. Pray that every right choice and motivation and openness to the Lord that is in any of their hearts will be strengthened and enlarged in the course of this summit and the days that follow.
2. CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHURCH’S ROLE IN POINTING THE WAY TO DEAL WITH TERROR (15 minutes)
Last week we were focusing on the need for governments to deal with some of the underlying causes of terrorism. Pray into the following response from France (slightly edited) and please give us your own feedback after prayer:
“While I think the perspective of dealing with the underlying injustices that FUEL terrorism (not necessarily CREATE terrorism) needs to be trumpeted loudly (because I don't believe that it's being trumpeted AT ALL - even those working in ‘justice ministries’ rarely make the connection between injustice and its important multiplying factor in terrorism), I think it's not an ‘instead’, it's an ‘in addition to.’ Having said that, it's important to see that many current governmental reactions ARE overreactions but it's equally important to pray for those branches of the government who are tasked with protection duties (police, investigative branches of government, military, etc.) that they would have wisdom, revelation and discernment...that THEY would understand the issues of injustice and how they play into things even when carrying out their duties.
As we pray to the Lord, ‘In wrath, remember mercy’, we need to pray for those who enforce the "other side of justice" as well. It's NOT an either/or thing. We need some discernment here. I also think that with respect to terrorism we cannot discount the role of a demonically-energized ideology to wreak havoc. As we treat systemic injustice in prayer, action and prophetic proclamation, we must also be interceding that the scales of false ideology fall from their eyes, and that people are freed from a system of bondage that pervades entire cultures. I would hold that the false gods of mammon, empire, and religion (among many others undoubtedly) work in tight concert one with another so that if we simply deal with the injustices caused by the mammon spirit but don't treat empire, we're missing part of the picture, or if we treat religion and don't treat mammon, we're missing part of the picture. There are several ‘strongmen’ to bind here.”
3. CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR BRITAIN AT THIS TIME (15 minutes)
This is a year of some extraordinary anniversaries for Britain. It is 400 years since we first began to colonise North America at the expense of the freedom of thousands of native Americans, 300 years since the Act of Union between Scotland and England secured an unequal unity to England’s advantage, 200 years since the flight of the Earls of Ireland in retreat from British plantation and 40 years since the Abortion Act legalised the myth of a woman’s freedom to decide to kill her unborn child. Times like these provide windows of opportunity to reconsider repent and revise past wrong decisions and actions. Pray for British Christians as they face these issues in prayer and public life. Consider the ways in which these British anniversaries provide examples of windows of opportunity for other European nations and pray for wisdom and insight for the body of Christ in those places to pray and take appropriate action.
THANKS AGAIN FOR TAKING PRAYER FOR OUR CONTINENT SO SERIOUSLY
