NIGHTWATCH FOR EUROPE week beginning Sunday 8th July 2007
‘Could you not watch with me for one hour?’ (Mtt26: 40)
WELCOME TO THE NIGHT WATCH FOR EUROPE
This week we will thank God for huge shifts that are happening in Europe and pray for them to keep moving on into the fullness of God’s desire! In particular we will pray over Jeff Fountain’s insight on what is happening to neo-Marxist thinking, pray into the redemptive aspects of global warming, the new alliances that the Lord is bringing at the local level and finally for the partnership of Europe and Africa.
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 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 8th July 2007
1. THANK GOD FOR SHIFTS IN MINDSETS. PRAY INTO THIS EXCERPT FROM JEFF FOUNTAIN’S NEWSLETTER (15 minutes)
“In the year preceding the constitution referendum, a dialogue was arranged between two intellectuals who personified opposing perspectives on Europe's foundations. Philosopher and sociologist Jürgen Habermas has described himself as 'tone deaf in the religious sphere'. A neo-Marxist social critic, Habermas has been regarded as one of the leading spokespersons of liberal, individual and secular thinking. His dialogue partner was Joseph Ratzinger, who the following year became Pope Benedict XVI, and who has been described as the 'quintessence of Catholic orthodoxy'.
What surprised many observers was Habermas' demand that secularized citizens must not 'refuse their believing fellow citizens the right to make contributions in a religious language to public debates'. But even more surprising has been his more recent declaration as follows:
'Christianity, and nothing else, is the ultimate foundation of liberty, conscience, human rights, and democracy, the benchmarks of Western civilization.
'To this day, we have no other options [than Christianity]. We continue to nourish ourselves from this source. 'Everything else is postmodern chatter.'
The pope couldn't have said it any better himself!”
2. THANK GOD FOR UNVEILING GLOBAL WARMING SO CLEARLY AND CHALLENGING THE WORLD AND ESPECIALLY THE RICH WEST TO RETHINK THEIR LIFESTYLES (15 minutes)
The principle of what you sow you reap is not about judgment but grace. God gives us what we choose so that we can turn back from our sin and find him and his kingdom. The west has chosen to put themselves and their economic and military power first. As a result the world is breaking down because this is the principle of destruction not of production. Give and it will be given unto you is the principle of the kingdom of God. Take and it will be taken from you is the inevitable outworking of western politics. Thank God for the new and exponential shift on these vital issues.
Pray for more revelation and motivation to take action beginning with God’s people, and if they won’t hear, any people! Pray for the ex US Vice-President Al Gore, for strength and wisdom for him and other secular prophets. Pray for him to experience the blessing and presence of the Lord. If you haven’t yet seen his DVD ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ get it from amazon.com or somewhere and watch it with a bunch of friends and pray over it together. It is sure to be available in French or German. If it is not available in your language yet pray and take action to help it to happen!
3. THANK GOD FOR AND PRAY OVER THE NEW ALLIANCES THAT THE LORD IS BRINGING ABOUT AT THE LOCAL LEVEL (15 minutes)
Last week I helped facilitate the March of the Abolitionists as they came here to the city of Lancaster in the UK to repent over and apologise for building our cities and civilization on the slave trade and to mark 200 years since its abolition. (Lancaster was the number four slaving port in the UK) While it is has long been abolished in its old form, it is still going on in many shapes and forms. Right here in Lancaster only four years ago 30 exploited illegal Chinese immigrants drowned picking cockles in the bay. They were a form of slave labour. We had a great march with our visitors from Africa and the Caribbean, descendants of slaves or their families, most of who live in relative poverty still without the benefits that their ancestors brought us.
Some churches got involved but most ignored it. But thank God for the Quakers, the Greens and the mayor, the chief executive of the council, the local press and radio! Shifts indeed! Pray for God to bring together those with a heart for justice where you live. And thank God for the intercessors who covered the whole thing with prayer and did the practical work as well as walking in yokes and chains through the town. Thank God for one of our oldest locally born intercessors who prophetically wore the yoke and chains with the rest! Things will be changing here! Pray for greater connections between watchmen and watchwomen and true sons and daughters of peace in our towns (cf. Luke 10:5-6).
4. PRAY FOR THE NEXT PHASE IN THE EUROPE - AFRICA RECONCILIATION PROCESS (15 minutes)
The prophetic repentance that took place in Berlin in November 2005 is still working its way through the African Continent. This July 15th-22nd a team of Europeans and Africans will be together in the Gabon capital Libreville for the purposes of cementing the repentance and partnership with Francophone Africa and in preparation for the crucial event in Congo next year. Pray for all the practicalities of visas, travel, health and finance as well as real spiritual breakthrough. Pray that the great shifts that have taken place in Europe’s attitude and relations with Africa will continue. Thank God for the great African Diaspora in Europe and the increasing role they are playing in the leadership of our continent and in challenging the body of Christ to faith and sacrifice.
There is a great DVD available of Europe’s repentance and Africa’s response at the Berlin conference, available from admin@passion.org.uk
