NIGHTWATCH FOR EUROPE: week beginning Sunday October 29th 2006
‘Could you not watch with me for one hour?’ (Mtt26: 40)
WELCOME TO THE NIGHT WATCH FOR EUROPE
This time last year we helped encourage a trend to place a stone on war memorials on November 11th as a prophetic sign of the stone ‘uncut by human hand’ that destroyed the image of empire in Daniel chapter two. Right across Europe we marked our desire to come in the opposite spirit to the spirit of empire that has been so destructive of church and nation in the history of our continent and its impact on the world.
It is becoming clear that Steve Lowton and the team of prayer walkers are prophetically modeling this same stone. They now have only two weeks left of their continuing walk from Athens to Constantinople (Istanbul) the ancient Roman imperial seat of power. As most of us are aware, they began last year from Whitby in the North East of England, following the route along which much of the invasion of the empire spirit into the European Church and continent spread. The team will arrive in Istanbul on November 11th.
This week we will pray about the possibility that many of us, watchers and our friends, will signal agreement with Steve and the team by placing stones at the memorials once again. As preparation for this and in solidarity with the walkers as they take their stand against the powers of empire we will take the next few weeks to pray through some key parts of the book of Daniel.
Although the night watch prayer and training event (for the weekend of Jan 19th - 21st 2007 at Ashburnham, Sussex, UK) is now booked up, there has been some ongoing interest in this and so we have extended the number of places to make room. If anyone else would like to come, please contact us immediately. Thank you for those who have let us know your interest in a follow up event, possibly in Brussels later in 2007. Let us know your thoughts please. The purpose of these events is to do a weekend-long watch and to provide training for each other so that we can take the watch deeper and further. For this reason we are keeping the events quite small at around thirty or forty people.
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 OCTOBER 29th 2006
1. TAKE 10 MINUTES TO PRAY OVER THE FOLLOWING FEEDBACK TO STEVE LOWTON’S LATEST REPORT FROM A WATCHER FROM FRANCE
“I can confirm what Steve saw in the lightning over the Parthenon by these verses in Job 28:23-28
"God understands its way;
And He knows its place.
For He looks to the ends of the earth,
And sees everything under the heavens.
When He imparted weight to the wind,
And meted out the waters by measure,
When He set a limit for the rain,
And a course for the thunderbolt, <<<<<<<<
Then He saw it and declared it,
He established it and also searched it out.
And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'"
Notice especially v26 where Wisdom is being spoken about. This is NOT man's wisdom as embodied in historical Greece, but the re-definition of the Lord's wisdom that we so desperately need!
As I think about Andy, Val, Andrea, Debbie and Steve walking toward the Turkish border, I'm struck that this small team, juxtaposed alongside the weight and size of the European Union is the REAL delegation showing Turkey what joining Europe is about. It's about Europe coming and saying ‘thank you for the seed of the Gospel that passed through your gates so long ago. We come to bring its fruit to be replanted in your soil...a fruit with a seed in it...the same seed (Gen. 1:11-12). We come to proclaim that Jesus is Lord, not Brussels, not Washington.’”
2. TAKE 15 MINUTES TO READ REFLECT AND PRAY OVER DANIEL CH1, ESPECIALLY v8
“But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.”
Note that this was not a self-righteous or religious cultural choice by Daniel. Read Jeremiah 22:11-19 and see that is more likely that Daniel had the sense to understand the connection between luxury and injustice as he reflected on his situation (see especially vv13-17). Consider how representatives of the kingdom of God might apply Daniel’s sense in contemporary Europe and pray accordingly. Note the link between holiness, justice, and prophetic insight, including the gift of interpretation (Dan 1:17).
3. TAKE 20 MINUTES TO READ, REFLECT AND PRAY OVER DANIEL CH2, ESPECIALLY v30
"But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.”
Note the following three points:
i) God spoke to the pagan king through a dream
ii) It was the calling and task of God’s servant to work in an occult court and understand and interpret the dream at the heart of a powerful empire that had overcome Israel
iii) That Daniel ended up as a senior political leader of a pagan empire
Ask the Lord to show you how to apply these points in prayer to the role of the church in Europe today. Ask that the people of God will come to understand that God is at work in the lives of secular, pagan and self-willed leaders outside the church. Ask for recognition among Christians that it is the prophet’s job to understand the dream within religious, secular or pagan culture. Pray for honour and influence for the kinds of Christians who do these things.
4. TAKE 15 MINUTE TO READ, REFLECT AND PRAY OVER DANIEL CH3, ESPECIALLY vv16-18
“Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.’"
Note the way it works out for the people of God if they live the way that these three friends and Daniel did in Babylon (See Jeremiah 29:7). They are sometimes in situations of great opportunity, power and influence and at other times in danger of their lives. Take time to ask God for wisdom in applying this chapter to our situation as ‘exiles’ in Europe today. What kind of situations might we find ourselves in that we would need to reply like these three friends did? Prayerfully prepare for such situations and pray for friends you have and people you know who are in such a situation right now.
