Intercession for our Children

While we were praying for the ending of abortion in America this morning, the Spirit gave me the following words to pray, a reminder of Jesus’ exhortation to pray without ceasing:

“Lord, would you give your Church great perseverance in order to wear out the unjust judges and government officials. Even though they do not fear you and are not swayed by men, use their base and natural tendencies against them. Raise up a righteous remnant to speak louder, clearer and more frequently than anyone else in the defense of our children. Give us justice against our adversary. In the name of Jesus, Amen.”

I believe that intercession sways the heavenly courts in a way that affects our natural government. The ending of abortion in America is simply part of God's Kingdom coming to earth and His will being done here as it is in heaven. Thank you for joining with Amy and I in praying for the ending of abortion in America.

21 Days of Prayer with Fasting

Sunday kicked off 21 days of prayer and fasting for Amy and I as well as our IHOPE community and various Houses of Prayer around Iowa. The focus of our prayer and fasting is very simple - the ending of abortion in America. Specifially, we are praying for the passing of some legislature by the Iowa Congress that would ban late term abortions in Iowa. Currently there is no such law in place and there is a man who wants to move his abortion practice from Omaha (where it is now illegal) to Council Bluffs. We are asking God to frustrate these plans and outlaw late term abortion in Iowa.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Amy and I will be posting about the topic of abortion. We realize that this is not God's will for our children, but we confess to being rather ignorant of the issue in general. So, this time will also be a time of educating ourselves and sharing any pertinent information with you. One statistic that I have found absolutely appaling is this - in 2011 there will be (approximately) 1.3 MILLION abortions. In actual figures that looks like this 1,300,000 or 1 abortion every 24 seconds. That is mind blowing to me, but rather than getting on a soap box, I want to offer you an invitation. Will you pray with us? We know that God hears our prayers and that He will move on our behalf and on behalf of the infants who are being aborted, but He still wants us to pray anyway. The more people we get praying, the more effective we will be at keeping late term abortion at bay in our state. Thank you.

Omaha Conference

This past weekend, IHOPE House of Prayer hosted a House of Prayer conference in Omaha, Nebraska. We were asked to host this event by "The Intercessors of the Lamb" an association of men and women devoted to contemplative prayer and intercession. You can read more specifically about them at their website, bellwetheromaha.org, or you can google "intercessors of the lamb omaha, ne" and they will pop up. *DISCLAIMER* The Intercessors were "suppressed" by the Catholic church in October due to issues that I am not fully aware of. Since then, they have received some bad press, but I will attest personally to their love of God and their devotion to prayer.

The conference itself was a hit. We had around 40 people show up in addition to the Intercessors and ourselves. Amy led worship and I was able to play on her team which was a blast. This is the first time outside of IHOPE that I have been able to play with Amy. It was a lot of fun and I hope that we will have many other opportunities as well.

Amy also led a break-out session on the basics of "Harp and Bowl" worship, combining spoken prayer and intercession with music and singing to facilitate a deeper understanding of Scripture and more focused intercession. I helped faciliatate a Question and Answer period along with Mike Peters and Quovadis Marshall.

All in all, it was a very refreshing weekend and we were greatly encouraged by the diligence of the men and women of the Intercessors of the Lamb. It is really great to see how God works the same idea into different communities. Even though we were different ages and traditions and even though we used different language, we were talking about the same thing. And it makes perfect sense. There is only one Holy Spirit and he isn't confused about what he wants. Therefore, he will continue to work for a pure and unified bride for Jesus in every circumstance.

Lastly, the Intercessors own 80 acres of woodland which makes for a gorgeous retreat. It is incredibly peacful and filled with wonderful people. Amy and I anticipate returning for vaction or retreat, or simply to get away and walk in the woods. Thank you to all who made this event such a success.

Name our Page

Due to a lack of creativity on my part, I am appealing to the masses.

Amy and I need a good domain name for our coming site. We want it to be descriptive of who we are, but short enough that people can remember easily. Also, it has to feel right, if that makes any sense.

And so, we are going to have a contest. If you are a creative person and would like to enter, please post your ideas to the "Comments" section below. If and when we have a winner, it will be announced and you will receive a very special prize (yet to be determined).

Thank you for your help.

There will be a slew of posts coming on Monday or Tuesday, so hold on to your hats.