The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission has published a parenting guide that lists “praying with your child for them to stop being LGBTQA” among actions that “can harm your child” — placing Christian prayer alongside punishment and psychological pressure as practices families should avoid.
The booklet, Talking with your child about sexuality and gender identity, was released in 2025 and produced in collaboration with the Raising Children Network. It is framed as practical guidance to help parents support children who identify as LGBT or who are questioning their sexuality or gender.
This is not a one-off. This is a government that hid gender transitions from parents in schools, spent $11.2 million on LGBTQIA+ programs while hiring near-$200,000 diversity bureaucrats, and is now telling faith-based families that their prayers are harmful. The Allan government has declared war on parents — and it is using our own money to fight it.
The document also functions as a plain-language introduction to Victoria’s Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act 2021 (CSP Act) — and warns parents of the legal risk of certain responses to their child.
Under “Things that can harm your child include,” the booklet lists: “praying with your child for them to stop being LGBTQA” and “sending your child to programs or therapies to try to convince them that they can stop being LGBTQA”.
Mike Southon, Executive Director of Freedom for Faith, warned the booklet relies on the same vagueness that has concerned religious communities since the CSP Act passed.
“Like the legislation, the booklet relies on ambiguous definitions of gender and sexuality and incredibly broad concepts of ‘harm’,” he said. It “appears to be an attempt to enforce their extreme ‘conversion therapy’ ban legislation and create fear and uncertainty amongst parents — especially religious ones,” Southon added.
What the Booklet Teaches
The guide advances the notion that gender identity is distinct from biological sex and that parents should affirm their children’s self-identity in all cases.
It defines non-binary, transgender, and gender-diverse identities without qualification, and instructs parents to ask their child “what pronouns and other language they would like you to use”.
On mental health, the booklet attributes distress experienced by LGBT young people primarily to external rejection rather than the condition itself.
“Being LGBTQA is not a mental illness,” it states. “But LGBTQA young people can experience mental health problems like anxiety, depression and self-harming. This is usually because other people have treated them badly.”
The booklet also acknowledges that parents retain the legal right to share their beliefs — then immediately signals legal risk. “As a parent you have the right under the law to share your personal beliefs and values with your child,” it states. “However, there are laws against doing things that could harm your child.”
Southon noted the tension: “It says that parents can teach their beliefs while simultaneously implying that such teaching is illegal.”
Prayer, Parenting and the Legal Landscape
Victoria’s CSP Act, which came into force in 2022, carries criminal penalties of up to ten years’ imprisonment for conduct found to change or suppress a person’s sexuality or gender identity.
The booklet informs parents that in some Australian states “it may be against the law for a parent, or anyone else, to send their child to any kind of program, therapy or counselling designed to stop them from being LGBTQA — even if their child agrees or asks to go.”
A multi-faith submission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s 2026 focused review of the Act, signed by Catholic, Anglican, Jewish, Muslim and other leaders representing more than two million Victorians, argued the legislation “extends far beyond addressing these harmful practices”.
The submission documented a chilling effect on pastoral care and family conversations: “There has been a reluctance among religious leaders, parents and other caregivers to engage in this area, for fear of falling foul of the law.”
The submission asked directly whether a parent who adopted a “wait and see” approach to a child’s gender incongruence would be committing a suppression practice under the Act — a question the Act itself does not answer.
Resources and Direction
The booklet directs parents to a list of support services that includes the Royal Children’s Hospital Gender Service, Transcend Australia, QLife, and Rainbow Door.
No resources reflecting a biological-sex framework, a cautious clinical approach, or a faith-based perspective on sexuality are included.
This is madness, biological sex, the fact that God gave females two X chromosomes (XX), and males one X and one Y chromosome (XY), which determines their biological sex and determines their various genetic traits which cannot be altered is of no consequence. No wonder we can see the prophesied Biblical end times prophecies playing out in our day. Jesus needs to return not only to rescue Israel but to restore righteousness. I can also understand why Jesus and the glorified Saints need to rule with a “rod of iron” during Jesus Millennial reign. The curse is not lifted so people will still rebel even though Satan and his minions are not present. Is your church preparing you for what is next on God’s agenda for planet earth? I don’t think so so go to http://www.millennialkingdom.net.
On Sunday, May 17, 2026 (Monday morning, May 18, for Australians), tens of thousands of Americans will gather on the National Mall in Washington D.C. for the first-ever rededication of the USA as one nation under God. Here’s what’s scheduled to take place and the Christian leaders headlining this historic occasion.
Johnson wrote in his open letter of invitation to the national gathering: “This is a unique moment for believers. For the first time in modern history, a U.S. president has called our nation to prayer — to humble ourselves and to rededicate America to God. “This will be the first time that Americans will gather together to rededicate the United States as One Nation Under God.
“Through worship, prayer, and storytelling, we will remember the people, sacrifices, and foundational moments in which God has shaped our history. By the end, I hope you will see the truth in Benjamin Franklin’s famous admonition: ‘that God governs in the affairs of men.’”
The speaker list features multiple well-known American Christians, from Jonathan Roumie (beloved by millions for his portrayal of Jesus in The Chosen), to evangelist Franklin Graham and Grammy-winning worship artist Chris Tomlin. Notably, the event bridges Protestant and Catholic traditions, with both Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Robert Barron participating alongside evangelical leaders.
According to Pastor Robert Jeffress — who is scheduled to speak at the event — Rededicate 250 could be the largest Christian gathering in 50 years.
Jeffress was referring back to Explo ‘72, a 1972 Campus Crusade for Christ conference attended by over 80,000 college and high school students in Dallas, at which the late evangelist Billy Graham preached. For context, Explo ’72 is widely regarded as one of the most significant Christian gatherings in American history, which some say marked the height of the Jesus Movement. This makes Rededicate 250’s potential scale all the more remarkable.
Event officials have written that the purpose of Rededicate 250 is to “gather in prayer, worship, and storytelling and to rededicate our country as One Nation Under God.”
When Elon Musk’s Grok AI was asked to scan every prayer in the Bible, people expected it to find contradictions and problems. But what happened next shocked both scientists and religious leaders. The AI discovered patterns that have been hidden for thousands of years. Patterns that change everything we thought we knew about prayer and faith. Let’s find out what Grok really found. In late 2023, Elon Musk’s company XAI launched Grok, a new artificial intelligence system. This wasn’t just another chatbot giving safe, boring answers. Grok was different. It had personality. It could access real-time information from X, formerly Twitter. Most importantly, it was built to tackle questions other AI systems avoided.
GROK Revealed Four Patterns of Prayer Content:
1. Acknowledges God’s character and faithfulness, righteousness and power.
2. Aligns with God’s purposes,
3. Trusts in God and surrender,
4. Persistence – pray, keep praying.
AI found other patterns in prayers including numerical, mathematical, etc. This can only be possible if Scripture is God ordained.
I am impressed with Grok 4 and its response to questions on Scripture. Go take a look for yourself. It is much better than Chat GPT.
What about prayer in Jesus coming Millennial Kingdom. Will people still pray with Jesus on earth. Yes they will continue to pray to God the Father in Jesus name as we do now. Go to http://www.millennialkingdom.netfor more on all aspects of Jesus coming Millennial Kingdom and be prepared to rule and reign with Jesus.
Faith and prayer are reclaiming their place in the heart of America’s academic institutions — thanks to dedicated Christian leaders and a supportive Trump administration.
Last Monday, President Donald Trump declared, “America has always been a nation that believes in the power of prayer, and we will never apologise for our faith — ever, ever, never, never. We will never surrender our God-given rights.” This statement was part of Trump’s remarks at the second Religious Liberty Commission gathering at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. During the meeting, the president said that “the Department of Education will soon issue new guidance protecting the right to prayer in our public schools.”
In a time where children are being bullied for their faith, and anti-Christian, LGBT agendas are rippling throughout society, this development is being welcomed by many. In fact, Trump’s comments were met with a standing ovation from those in the audience.
On last Tuesday’s edition of Washington Watch, Joel Penton, founder and CEO of LifeWise Academy, discussed these developments with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins.
President Trump has launched America Prays, calling on Americans to gather weekly in prayer, honour the nation’s Christian foundations, seek God’s guidance, and prepare spiritually for the United States’ 250th anniversary.
Launched Monday at Washington DC’s Museum of the Bible, the America Prays initiative encourages US citizens to dedicate one hour each week to pray for the country, its leaders, families, freedoms and future.
“Next year, we will celebrate 250 years since that Declaration was signed,” President Trump explained. “As part of the grand commemoration, we’ve invited America’s great faith communities to pray for our nation, for our people, and for peace in the world.”
“President Trump has revived one of America’s most prominent and powerful founding principles — we are one nation under God,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said. “America is stronger with the power of prayer.”
The America Prays campaign asks participants, where possible, to join with at least ten others each week in collective prayer. The effort extends the faith-driven message of Trump’s America250 campaign, which he launched at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in July.
At that event, President Trump emphasised the historic role of faith in sustaining the United States, saying:
As we prepare to celebrate two and a half centuries of freedom, I am inviting America’s great religious communities to pray for our nation and for our people. From the beginning, this has always been a country sustained and strengthened by prayer. If we bring religion back stronger, you’re going to see everything get better. So as we chart our course toward the next 250 years, let us rededicate ourselves to one nation under God.
The White House has provided participants with suggested resources, including scriptural readings and intercessory prayers for churches and Christian leaders. Scriptures recommended for prayer include 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 33:12, and 1 Timothy 2:1-4.
A 22-page booklet titled Prayers and Proclamations Throughout American History has also been provided, which includes the Pilgrims’ First Thanksgiving in 1621, the First Prayer in Congress in 1774, George Washington’s military orders and calls to prayer during the Revolutionary War, President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 call for a Day of Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer, and Billy Graham’s prayer at the 1969 Presidential Inauguration.
Organisers of America Prays hope that at least one million Americans will dedicate an hour weekly to prayer, fostering a spirit of unity and spiritual renewal across the country.
Prayer does not promise to free us from trouble. Indeed, God promises us the opposite. Trials will come. Such is this world. Rather, we pray to align our hearts and minds with God’s will.
We pray that we would accept God’s ordering of things, not our own, because it is HIS Kingdom.
We pray that we will be made strong and made better in difficulty, like gold purified in fire.
We pray that we would do those things which advance God’s purposes, to shine His testimony brightest in the darkness.
We pray for those things which we believe are in God’s will — but with the same caveat Jesus used — “not my will, but Yours be done.”
We pray with our eyes on the new heaven and new earth, where all these troubles will be solved, the dead will be reunited, and every tear will be wiped away.
God-Given Strength
The mockers will say, “See! Prayer did not help!” Not so.
It is only by faith that the tragedies of this fallen world become instruments of advancing a greater purpose.
The one who has no faith is defeated because they have no hope beyond living a trouble-free life, which happens to nobody.
But to the one who has faith, the troubles of this world are like gym equipment to a gymnast. They strengthen us. They bring us close to God. They help us to understand things with an ultimate and eternal perspective.
And it is those people, made fit by the fallenness of their world, who are strong to advance works for God; who walk in His ways; and who will rejoice the greatest when God greets them and all the troubles that made them are now resolved.
To put it bluntly, they are not the killers. They are the finest of people.
No point railing against the pray-ers in trouble. You will be better served to understand their method.
Then you can live with hope and meaning, too, no matter what this fallen world throws up.
Republished with minor changes, thanks to Martyn Iles.
Listen to Jonathan Cahn’s prophetic message at the National Gathering of Prayer on February 6th, 2025 with Members of Congress. It was a Call and Charge to the American people for repentance and prayer. Unless the nation turns back to God the reprieve it has received with the election of President Trump will be temporary. Revival is needed and that will only come with repentance and prayer.
In an era where spiritual exercises are increasingly overlooked, Pastor Ronnie Floyd is urging Christians to rediscover the transformative power of fasting — and how to overcome both the physical and spiritual challenges that inevitably come with the practice.
Floyd, former lead pastor of Cross Church in Northwest Arkansas and the 61st president of the Southern Baptist Convention, recently released his latest book, The Supernatural Power of Prayer and Fasting. He offers a biblical and practical guide to a practice he believes is critical for addressing both personal and communal challenges.
“Fasting makes you much more sensitive to the Holy Spirit the longer you go,” Floyd told The Christian Post. “Do I understand all that? Absolutely not. I think it’s a mystery. I think that’s where the supernatural power of God steps in and begins to speak to you in a way that most often is not done.“
Though rarely highlighted from the pulpit, Floyd noted that the Bible references fasting 57 times, with 69 mentions of the practice. “The very word means, ‘shut mouth, not eat,'” he explained.
“I believe that fasting is abstinence from food with a spiritual goal in mind. When God places something on your heart, whether it is a burden, whether it is a decision, whether it is a real problem going on right at your job or your family or finances, or whatever it may be, there may be three or four things God has on your heart, and He may choose to use fasting to call you into addressing those things.”
Fasting, the pastor stressed, is an oft-overlooked spiritual discipline that has profound relevance today. He challenged churches and pastors to embrace fasting as a response to societal and spiritual crises.
“In this day and time, I’m convinced, personally, that one of the greatest ways the Church can answer this moment in American history is to pray and to fast and to be the salt and light,” he said.
“We know we should pray for our country, but we also … need to fast in our country. I would urge every church, every pastor, every church leader to consider your involvement personally, but also your involvement, collectively as the Church of Jesus Christ.”
The 69-year-old has seen the power of fasting first-hand. His commitment to fasting began during his college years and deepened as he faced significant life challenges, including his wife Jeana’s battle with cancer in 1990.
“We had two little boys, and Jeana was diagnosed with cancer, and the initial reports of that were really, really difficult for us to understand and very challenging into what may be lying ahead,” he recalled.
“God put on my heart to pray and fast the very week she was diagnosed, for my wife and for her healing. … I would carry an index card with me, and I would write that Scripture on an index card, and that’s what I would look at every time I was very frightful, every time I was pursuing God. I would just go to my knees, and I would ask God to heal my wife. Through God’s grace, through God’s favour, He chose by His sovereign and providential will, to heal Jeana.”
A turning point in Floyd’s ministry came in 1995 when he undertook a 40-day fast for personal revival, revival in his church and revival in America. The experience, he said, profoundly changed him and his congregation.
“That day, God moved so profoundly that the church got a new pastor, and the pastor got a new church, and neither one of us changed our geographical location because God can do more in a moment than we can ever do in a lifetime,” Floyd said.
Floyd said fasting can seem intimidating or even strange to those unfamiliar with it — “people think you’re a little weird when you do it,” he said.
However, he distinguished between cultural trends like intermittent fasting and spiritual fasting.
“Our goal is not to lose weight on a spiritual fast,” he stressed. “Your goal is to pursue God in Heaven. … Someone who is walking with Christ could even use intermittent fasting … but make it a spiritual journey for yourself by looking at it in relationship to self-control.“
He also emphasized the practicalities of fasting, encouraging people to start small and seek medical advice for extended fasts. His book includes 40 devotionals and five appendices designed to guide readers through their fasting journey.
Beyond personal transformation, Floyd emphasized that fasting can unify and strengthen communities, particularly in times of crisis.
“When we face natural disasters or tragedies, we can call a fast for a day, join together in agreement, and pray over these things as we fast.”
In his book, the pastor describes fasting as both a spiritual and physical battle. He uses Ezra as a biblical example of prayer and fasting.
In Ezra 8:21–23, Ezra exemplified fasting and praying as a powerful spiritual response to dire circumstances, demonstrating humility, dependence on God and faith in His guidance and protection.
“The enemy is doing everything he can to keep this powerful weapon hidden,” he said. “You’re going to literally be battling with evil in your life over those issues. Let’s say that somebody fasts and prays to save their marriage or fasts and prays because they have a child away from God, and they really need God’s intervention. Some things are so heavy out here that people carry. … But listen, God is with you if you’re pursuing this in a biblical way.”
With The Supernatural Power of Prayer and Fasting, Floyd said he hopes to inspire Christians to embrace fasting as a vital spiritual discipline.
“Fasting in prayer doesn’t mean that God always is going to answer your prayer in the way that you want that answered,” he said.
“Fasting and prayer put a peaceful resolve in your heart. Fasting and prayer transform your heart so that you trust in God’s sovereign and providential will for your life; ‘I’m good with whatever God does that I’m fasting and praying about.’ That’s where the peace is, and that’s what fasting and prayer can do.”
Following the release of his latest book, “Prayer Power—Changing the World and You,” which is drawing lots of positive comments from around the world, Rev. Dr. Stuart Robinson, an award-winning and bestselling author, was asked to share his thoughts on what he sees as the greatest need for God’s people in this hour.
PRAYER MATTERS
In May 2018, 500 former Muslims gathered at night in Nigeria to pray and learn something from God’s Word. Hearing about the meeting, Boko Haram Islamists attacked. They captured 72 men, women, and children and demanded they all return to Islam. Should they refuse, the next morning, their children would be killed while they watched. Throughout the night the captives agonised over what response to make. Then some of the children reported that there was no need to fear. They claimed that Jesus had visited them to reassure them they would be protected. The next morning the Islamists returned, lined up the children, and asked for the adults’ response. It was that they would not revert to Islam. They would not forsake their faith in Jesus. The firing squad was lined up and ordered to aim their rifles ready to fire. Before any trigger was depressed, suddenly the would-be killers were screaming, “Snakes are attacking us.” Some of them dropped dead where they stood. Others dropped their guns and fled.
Seizing the opportunity a Christian darted out, retrieved one of the guns, and was about to shoot at the fleeing killers when a child raced forward calling out, “Don’t shoot. Don’t shoot. Can’t you see the men in white are fighting for us?” The angels had arrived. Sometime later upon hearing what had transpired several foreign missionaries came to check it out. In that everyone interviewed recounted exactly the same story, they accepted that it was true. One of them then raised a disturbing question. “Why is it that we never see this sort of event back in our countries?” In another country in which I carry some ministry responsibilities a similarly motivated group were hunting for a local man who was a member of our staff. If they could catch him, they intended to kill him because it was their belief he had committed treason. He had left Islam to follow Jesus of the Bible. The penalty is death. Knowing this many of us were praying for his protection.
Having learned that on his day off each Friday, he cycled alone out to his distant farm plot to tend his vegetable garden, they lay in wait ready to ambush him. Three times they waited to kill him. Three times they failed to attack. Why? What happened? Later they reported, “We couldn’t implement our plan because every time this apostate came, he was surrounded by several men dressed in white.” Those angels—again! These sorts of events, the appearance of angels, bolts of lightning flashing from the sky exactly as it was in 1 Kings 18 with Elijah on Mt Carmel locked in a deathly contest with the 400 prophets of Baal, the dead returning to life and much more, are relatively common in non-Western places in which I am privileged to minister. Why doesn’t it happen in the West?
Reinhardt Bonnke was an evangelist who was invited to come to Australia twice late in the twentieth century. Across Africa, millions of people attended his vast open-air meetings. It is well documented that in those meetings thousands of people were miraculously healed of all sorts of major infirmities. But in his two visits to Australia, in his weeks of ministry, there was not a single instance of anyone being healed or freed from demonic bondage. Why is that? Why is it that in the West, compared with any other era in Christian history, our clergy are the best trained to the highest accredited academic standards, they have the best technology to share their message, from the best facilities money can buy. Yet in every country in the West, the church is in a state of rapid decline, lurching seemingly blindly toward a chasm of extinction. One published report claimed that by the 2090s there may be no current mainline denomination left in the UK.
Here in Australia, we are closing churches at such a rate and selling the buildings to become housing units, theatres, restaurants, or for use by other non-Christian religions. By the 2090s our Christian landscape may look even bleaker than that in the UK. Conversely, there are other countries in which I get to minister, where followers of Jesus are booming on all fronts, growing exponentially despite poverty and persecution. Recently I was working on the manuscript of a book that will be published in 2025. The subject is about just one movement in which there are 452,319 members in 20,651 churches. They have no church buildings, no finance-sapping Bible Colleges, no hierarchical structures, and no trained clergy in our understanding of that office. Their founding leader is still alive and in the prime of life. And there are many other movements like them. Why don’t we see this in Australia?
In that part of the world, a seminar was held for these sorts of church leaders. A pre-condition for being allowed to attend was that each person had to have planted a minimum of 25 churches. None from any Western country could have qualified. Conference organisers were eager to discover what the secret was for such amazing growth often in the most inhospitable circumstances. They paid a team of experts to interview each attendee and report back on their data collation, analysis, and conclusions. The results indicated that there was no regular pattern or methodology that could be codified and on-sold to rescue the spiritually emaciated church of the West. The only element common to each interviewee was the extraordinary importance they attached to prayer. These leaders prayed alone from 4.00am to 7.00am and then met to pray with their leaders before going off to work when offices opened at 10.00am. The churches they led were also noted for their exceptional prayer practices.
They shared this characteristic ministry outcome and way of life with the earliest church in the New Testament. They in turn followed the example and command of Jesus when it came to prayer. In the Old Testament, excluding the Psalms, there are 77 explicit references to prayer. But in just the four gospels there are 94 references to Jesus and prayer. This is one lesson Jesus’ band of disciples never forgot. So, Peter urged believers to remain “clear-minded and self-controlled” so that they could pray (1 Peter 4:7). James declared that prayer is “powerful and effective” (James 5:17-18). John assured us that “God hears and answers” our prayers (1 John 5:15). Paul commands, “Pray continually. For this is God’s will for you” (1Thessalonians 5:17-18). Elsewhere he urged believers in Colossae to “devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2). From where did he get that idea? And what did he expect to happen if they did? That pattern of ministry and way of life was embedded in the earliest church from the very beginning.
The Bible says that “they devoted themselves to prayer” (Acts 2:42). What happened when they did that? Again, the Bible records that “every day the Lord added to their number” (Acts 2:47). At first that number was 2000. Then in response to Peter and John’s preaching an additional 5000 men responded (Acts 4:4). When Paul preached in Ephesus (Acts 19:26) a “considerable number of people” responded. That threatened the city’s major commercial enterprise, the manufacture and sale of idols. A riot broke out to stop Paul’s preaching. Whenever people become serious about prayer supernatural things happen. A missionary in China was despondent because there was no response to his labours. He wrote to his mission secretary in England asking if could he recruit people to pray for each of the ten places where he preached. Relatively quickly in seven of the ten locations, the response from locals came and churches were formed. Later when he returned to England and visited mission headquarters, he reported what had happened but could not explain why only seven of the ten responded.
The secretary of the mission replied that when he got the request to recruit intercessors, he succeeded in finding sufficient for seven of the locations. He failed to recruit anyone to pray for the remaining three. “Church on the Rock” in Rockwall, Texas grew from 13 people to 11,000 in just nine years. When its founding pastor was asked to explain the phenomenon, he replied, “I didn’t start a church. I started a prayer meeting.” An associate pastor explained further: The evangelistic programme of our church is the daily prayer meeting… Each morning Monday through Friday we meet from 5.00 to 6.00am for prayer… If we see the harvest (of conversions) fall off for more than a week, we see that as a spiritual red alert and seek the Lord…[5] In Australia and throughout the Western world we have forgotten that nothing of consequence happens except in answer to prayer. But it’s not just any prayer. Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark11:22-24).
He said that in the context of moving mountains. The challenge is could any of us pray and without any doubt, believe that a mountain could be moved by prayer? That was exactly the challenge Muslim Caliph Al-Mu’iz of Egypt presented to Christians in 979 CE. On the eastern edge of Cairo squatted Mount Mokattam. It was in the way of the Caliph’s development plans. So, he challenged Christians to live out their faith and pray as Jesus said in Mark 11, that the mountain would be moved. He gave three options: a) Pray to move the mountain. b) Leave Egypt. c) Should they fail—be killed by the sword. Church leaders summoned the church to pray and fast. If they failed the Caliph’s challenge—genocide would be the result. They accepted the challenge to pray and approached a pious shoemaker to pray on everyone’s behalf. He accepted on condition that no one was to know he was the one appointed to pray on behalf of the whole community. He also gave specific instructions on how to pray to be followed by everyone.
On the agreed date, a crowd of Christians gathered as did the Caliph and his troops ready to draw their swords to commence the slaughter. But the moment Simon beseeched the Lord of Heaven and Earth to intervene, a great earthquake hit the mountain lifting it off the ground so that repeatedly daylight could be seen between it and its earth base. Terrorised the Caliph begged the Christians to stop the prayer meeting.[6] Today on the side of that mountain a 10,000-seat auditorium has been excavated by hand. On an appointed night each week, Christians pack that auditorium to pray for the sick. Along one side is a vast shed filled with wheelchairs and crutches, discarded by those who no longer need them. In Exodus 17:10-13 as long as Moses kept his hands aloft in prayer, Joshua and his troops were beating the Amalekites. When he tired and lowered them the Israelites were losing. Aaron and Hur stepped up and held his arms up till complete victory was achieved.
In 2 Chronicles 20:20-30 the vastly outnumbered Jehoshaphat and his troops were about to be vanquished by the Ammonites and Moabites. He called his people to pray and fast. The enemy self-destructed in confusion killing one another. Every Jew in the ancient empire of Persia and Media was about to be killed through a conspiracy hatched by Haman, a leading noble in the court of King Ahasuerus. Then Esther, the Jewish queen, summoned her people to pray and fast. The treachery of Haman was exposed, and he went to the gallows. Genocide was averted. Prayer linked with fasting is even more powerful because it removes two barriers which inhibit the Holy Spirit from working through us. These are a) Self-will and b) Self-gratifying appetites of the body (Galatians 5:19). With prayer linked to fasting according to 2 Corinthians 10:4, the weapons of our spiritual warfare are unleashed to demolish strongholds. In that case there is no limit to what may be achieved.
Wayman Rogers wanted to leave his church because it had plateaued for some time at 200 people. Then the Lord told him that if he stayed and called the people to serious prayer things would change. He did and church grew from 200 to 2000 within a couple of years. But things really broke loose when intercessors added fasting to prayer. There occurred multiple healings and deliverances from demons. The church grew to 10,000. The only problem they encountered was the traffic jams around the church and arguments over who would get to sit in the front rows. In East Germany in 1982, 10-12 people gathered on Monday nights to pray and fast for their nation to be freed from the Communist yoke and to be reunited with West Germany. By 1989 their number had grown to 50,000. Then in 1990, 300,000 of them moved out into the streets praying and worshiping. And in Berlin, the wall separating East from West Germany came tumbling down.
Throughout the West, in every country, the church is dying, and we are descending into deeper chaos. The solution to all of our societal problems will not be found in parliamentary legislation, increased numbers of police on the streets, or costly programs sponsored by our already heavily in debt governments. The greatest need of our day is for God’s people to start to seriously pray, fast, and believe. With the Webb Telescope, we can see billions of miles into space. But we cannot see God in our own lives. We can communicate with robots on Mars but seem to have forgotten how to communicate with the Lord of the Earth. If that is so, our only hope is to humble ourselves as did the first disciples, to kneel and beg, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).
Source: Rev. Dr. Stuart Robinson Founding Pastor of Australia’s largest Baptist church; pioneer frontline missionary, international conference speaker, Bible college teacher, and award-winning, bestselling author. https://drstuartrobinson.com
If necessary your best prayer is to ask God to strip you of everything so that you are totally dependent upon Him, even for your next meal. Can I suggest you listen to this Jamie Winship video; God stripped Jamie and his family of everything so they had to depend upon Him for all their needs for two years. Once you have lived this way you’ll never want to go back to living the world’s way of total reliance on your own ability. Jamie reveals how God showed him how to witness to Muslims. It will “blow your mind”.
Jamie also learned more about God and His ways by how He answered their prayers, which helped the family know how to pray. Jamie began to fully understand the meaning of being made in the image of God to be in communion with Him. To understand that God is perfection, unblemished by sin. He only does what is right. Jamie wants to please God, so he only wants to do what is right, like Jesus when He was on Earth.
“So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.‘” John 5:19
Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the Holy Spirit (the third person of the Trinity) to be our counsellor, teacher, comforter, and helper to enable us to live the Christian life.
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 