NIGHTWATCH FOR EUROPE week beginning Sunday August 31st 2008
‘Could you not watch with me for one hour?’ (Mtt26: 40)
WELCOME TO THE NIGHT WATCH FOR EUROPE
After almost five years of our weekly watch for the continent we are now entering the final month of our intercession. Whether or not you are coming to the Nightwatch transition event in Majorca, September 26th-28th 2008, we are asking you to pray for those of us who will be meeting together. We believe that it will be an important event for hearing and mobilising for the next phase of the forerunning task for the resurrection of our continent that many of us know the Lord has enlisted us in. Please note that although the final date for the agreed hotel prices has now past, it is still possible to register at a slightly higher price. We are looking for a Christ-picked company of up to forty people and there are still spaces left. Full details of the event are found at the end of this week’s guidelines. This week we will begin by praying for Spain on three practical fronts: the survivors of the recent plane crash, the forthcoming European Pentecostal Conference and the related European day of Prayer and the key reconciliation issues between Spain and France, and Protestants and Catholics. If you are an existing watcher in or for Spain, we would like you to contact us with your insights for ongoing prayer.
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 at admin@passion.org.uk
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. This Nightwatch began in November 2003 and we are looking to carry on until the transition event of September 26th-28th 2008 in Majorca. After this we expect to move to a different form of intercessory support.
THE CONTENT OF THE WATCH FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING SUNDAY AUGUST 31st 2008
1. LAST WEEK’S SPANAIR CRASH (10 minutes)
A Spanish jet heading for the Canary Islands crashed on takeoff and burst into flames at Madrid airport on Wednesday August 20th, killing 153 of the 166 people on board. Pray for the families of the bereaved, and for the directors and staff of Scandinavian Airline Systems the owners of Spanair. Pray for any believers involved that they will find strength and revelation to serve the needs of the others who don’t have the same access to God as they do.
2. EUROPEAN DAY OF PRAYER IN SPAIN ON 6TH SEPTEMBER (20 minutes)
The co-ordinators of the forthcoming Pentecostal European Conference to be held in Spain on October 24th-25th 2008 have organised a European Day of Prayer in Spain for next Saturday 6th September. Please take time to pray through their pray call:
“Greetings in the precious name of our Lord from Madrid, Spain: We are looking for prayer partners all over Europe that will pray from their own cities for the fulfilment of God's promise, to pour out His Spirit on our descendants. A joint effort of prayer; A cry of desperation for a new outpouring for the thirsty land of Europe; A time of preparation for the Spanish Church to receive God's visitation during the Pentecostal European Conference (PEC October 2008), in Madrid; To pray in twos or threes, or, even better, with their church and other churches in their city. We will ask you to pray for three things: 1- For an outpouring of the Spirit over your own city. 2- For an outpouring of the Spirit over one of the 50 provincial capitals of Spain. 3- For an outpouring of the Spirit over Madrid during the Pentecostal European Conference (24 – 25 Oct.) Because Europe is a spiritually parched dry land, and is in desperate need of a visitation the theme of the conference is: ‘A new outpouring for a new Europe’, based on Isaiah 44:3-4. Spain has never seen a revival; we are preparing for this to happen in our generation. The first of these Pentecostal conferences was held in the year 2000 in Helsinki, Finland; then, in 2003, in Berlin, Germany; in 2006, in Brussels, Belgium; and last year it was held in Oslo, Norway. This year it is Madrid's turn to receive the blessing, and to try and break out of the spiritual isolation Spain has been in for so long. So, the idea for the 6th of September is that at least one person be praying with two or three others from his/her church, and even with other churches in the city for 1) the capital of their nation, 2) for a city in Spain, and 3) for the PEC conference, so that God will truly pour out His Spirit all over Europe. We really appreciate any help you can give us. Thank for your prayerful consideration of this call.”
More details from Leopoldo and Renee Lobo, prayer coordinators for PEC Madrid 2008 lrlobo@syntelnet.com
3. LET’S PRAY OVER THE THEME FOR THE FORTHCOMING PENTECOSTAL EUROPEAN CONFERENCE (10 minutes)
“For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants; and they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water.” (Is44:3-4)
Ask God to pour out His Spirit in a new outpouring on Spain and all of Europe.
Note that the Lord’s focus is on the land, and on the future generations. The current economic system of Europe and the West is contributing to the destruction of the land to the detriment of the future generations. Pray for the Spirit to be poured out on our theologians, teachers, economists, politicians, evangelists, entrepreneurs and farmers. Pray for such a mindset shift to take place that they can explain and point the way to the major changes in the church and society that are critical for the progress of the kingdom of God for the coming generations.
4. PRAY FOR HELP FOR SPAIN TO PRESS ON WITH THE CHALLENGES OF RECONCILIATION (10 minutes)
i) Pray for ongoing reconciliation between France and Spain. Please pray especially for the coming together of French and Spanish Christians across the Pyrenees that form such a strong physical barrier between the two countries. Pray for strong new cultural and economic initiatives to develop across the region. (5 minutes)
ii) Pray for ongoing reconciliation between Protestants and Catholics in Spain. This is very difficult to pursue because of the terrible misunderstandings and atrocities of the past, and the resultant inability to recognise one another as proper Christians at all. Unlike much of northern Europe ongoing persecution and prejudice from Catholic to Protestant is strong in some places, which makes the question of reconciliation a very living issue. Pray for revelation and courage for intercessors taking a lead in this. (5 minutes)
5. CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THE COMING NIGHTWATCH TRANSITION EVENT IN MAJORCA (Details below) (10 minutes)
i) Pray for those coming to the event. Pray that the right people will be there. The issue is not about numbers or an exciting event for itself, but for real insight and direction in the next steps towards the resurrection of our continent. (5 minutes)
ii) We have recently spent several weeks praying over Isaiah 55. Pray that the Lord will give us answers to these questions that we prayed over together at the beginning of August (5 minutes)
• How much of what we are doing is really 'bringing in' the already present Kingdom of God?
• Are we allowing ourselves to become living stones with which the Lord is building the New Jerusalem? Are we living as though we are in hope of the second coming, when the Lord will finally make all things new? Do we live in hope and know that our labour in the Lord is not in vain? (Cf. I Corinthians 15:28) The things we do that are of the Kingdom, i.e. those things that bring life – love, righteousness, joy and peace will themselves bear fruit not only in this age but also in the age to come! Thank God that our labour is not in vain!
• Ask for deliverance from all that seems good to us but does not satisfy the needs of those around us to whom we are called to serve.
• Listen to the Lord. Repent for all activity that has led to barrenness and waste because we did not first listen!
