NIGHTWATCH FOR EUROPE: week beginning Sunday November 26th 2006
‘Could you not watch with me for one hour?’ (Mtt26: 40)
WELCOME TO THE NIGHT WATCH FOR EUROPE
Last weekend as a group of us met together to discuss important contemporary theological issues, several people remarked that the prayer movement is birthing theological renaissance and reform. Just as it first birthed a new prophetic movement, now it is producing an apostolic movement. This is preparing the church to engage the powers of empire arrayed against Europe at this time. Over the next few weeks we will continue to engage these powers in three ways: we will take up our earlier regular practice of resisting the devil, pray into contemporary prophetic material and pray into some of the provisional conclusions of the theological resurgence.
If you know of anyone who would also like to receive this night watch prayer bulletin each week, they can subscribe by going to www.passion.org.uk/announcemail and submitting their details on the web form. Alternatively they can email us.
IF YOU ARE A REGULAR YOU CAN SKIP THE NEXT 2 PARAGRAPHS
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. We are looking to carry on for another two years, 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 NOVEMBER 26TH 2006
1. TAKE 5 MINUTES TO RESIST THE DEVIL AND LIFT UP THE LORD JESUS!
Resist the devil away from your spirit, soul and body. Resist him away from your room, home, street, town, village, city and region. Resist him away from the expressions of church of which you are a part. Resist him away from your nation and the whole continent of Europe. Resist him away from your mind and the corporate thinking of Christians everywhere.
Declare Jesus’ words in Luke 10:18-20
“And he said to them, ‘I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.
Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.’”
2. TAKE 5 MINUTES TO PRAY PARTICULARLY FOR THOSE YOU KNOW OF WHO ARE UNDER SPIRITUAL ATTACK AT THE MOMENT
If no one comes to mind, pray generally for the rising generation and allow the Holy Spirit to point someone out to you.
3. TAKE 20 MINUTES TO PRAY OVER THE FOLLOWING EXCERPT FROM ‘A TIME TO LIVE IN HOPE’
(Last week we prayed into the part of ‘A time to live in hope’ that spoke of ‘the apostolic season’ and stated that ‘something radically more dynamic than repositioning the church or ministry is here’ that is ‘a stretching season of realignment’ and ‘a day of foundations.’ Let’s pray into this next section that explores the meaning and purpose of the outpourings and manifestations of the spirit of the nineties associated with Toronto but experienced in so many other place in the earth, and especially here in Europe. The full text is on the Passion website www.passion.org.uk under the title ‘A time to live in hope’.)
“So what has been completed? The past twelve years have been very rich in signs and interventions from God, a climax to a century of interventions, which addressed the need for developing true faith. ‘Unless you see signs, you will not believe’ (John 4:48) The Lord showed great mercy to the western world by reviving in us the experience of the supernatural gospel where he is clearly the head and takes the initiative. He understands that we are dust and need fresh bread, and so ‘that you might believe the Son of man has power…’ he gave signs. To the unsure and repentant (John’s disciples) his word was to look at what he was doing, ‘the blind receive sight and lame walk… and blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over me’ (Matt 11: 5, 6). The last 12 years have been a time of particular signs to rich, healthy and powerful westerners. Our need turned out to be not so much for power signs (though these have definitely also ensued in places in true need, such as Mozambique) as for humbling, which caused many to stumble over the Lord’s intervention but for those with eyes to see, it was to bring us to a fresh place of self recognition and new revelation of the God who ‘brings down the mighty from their seats and exalts those of low degree.’”
4. TAKE 30 MINUTES TO PRAY FOR THE THEOLOGICAL RESURGENCE TAKING PLACE, AND THE FOLLOWING POINTS THAT ARE CENTRAL ISSUES
(i) God is a trinity.
Spend time praying and reflecting over John 16:13-15 and 17:20-23.
Note that God is a trinity, three persons in one. If God is love, he has to be a trinity. Otherwise he spent eternity loving himself. If you have ever spent serious time with someone who only loves them self, you will know that is hell, not heaven. (8 minutes)
(ii) God’s power is the power of love.
Spend time praying and reflecting over Luke 22:23-27 and Philippians 2:5-11.
Note that the power of God’s love is a totally different kind of power to the power of Satan and the power of this world’s system of operating. (8 minutes)
(iii) Consider, pray and reflect over the following statement:
‘A God who makes people do what he wants, and a leadership that wields power over people is the devil and the world system, not God and his church.’ (8 minutes)
(iv) Pray for those known to you who God is using to develop a biblical, Holy Spirit led theology for our contemporary situation in Europe.
If you don’t know any personally, pray for the inter-generational partnership of new theologians that is emerging. (6 minutes)
