Please find Christian Today Australia article about 40 days of prayer that our church support below.

http://au.christiantoday.com/article/40-days-of-prayer-for-families-of-australia/8582.htm

Dear Friends

We invite you to join with us to call the Christian people of this nation to pray and fast for 40 days starting on Monday the 5^th July 2010 and finishing on the 13^th of August 2010 which is National Marriage Day. http://marriageday.family.org.au

The focus of our prayers over this 40 day period is for the healing of the land according to 2 Chronicles 7:14 and the restoration and protection of marriage and family in our nation. Marriage is the cornerstone of families and families are the cornerstone of the nation. When marriage and family suffer our children suffer too. The future of our children is the future of our nation.

Australia will soon be facing a Federal Election and the denigration of our nation’s Christian values is of concern to us all as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. The current political machinations of the past few weeks have been a catalyst for this Call to Prayer. Nevertheless these are not the only issues:

In Victoria, which is our new Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s home state, they can abort a baby up to birth. NSW is just as bad with high rates of abortion and the proposed Homosexual Adoption Bill which has been put forward by Clover Moore MP. Yet no state of Australia has a monopoly on vice as “all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.

We, as the people of God, must accept responsibility and cry out to God for forgiveness on behalf of our land.  We must also pray for our leaders as in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 which includes our new Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott. It is critical at this time that we pray for them.

The scriptural injunction for our prayers is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

In Joel 2:15-17 we read, “Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

Ezekiel 22: 30-31 says, “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

The people of God have a responsibility to intercede for the nation just as Daniel did and say forgive us “our” sin. Daniel is one of the few men in the bible who had no sins recorded against his name but he still said forgive “us” Lord. Abraham did the same as he interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah. Fasting is all about humbling ourselves before God. The Hebrew word “Kana” for humbling is used in the same context to describe fasting. It is about denying ourselves as a prayer to God.

You don’t have to fast every day over the 40 day period. Miss a meal once a day or fast once a week. Miss out on your sweets, drop tea and coffee or conduct a Daniel fast and go vegetarian for 40 days. There are many ways to fast. Whichever way you pray and fast do it unto the Lord.

Please join in this Call to Prayer for our nation. It says in Proverbs, “Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach for any people”. Please pass this information on to all individuals, churches and prayer groups interested in prayer so that as many as possible can join in this 40 Days of Prayer for our nation. Let us believe together for an outpouring of grace and healing from God for our nation.

Yours in His Service

Warwick & Alison Marsh

www.24-7prayer.org.au

www.christianvalues.org.au

Notes of further interest:

1. The 40 Day Call to Prayer 5 July – 13 August, (National Marriage Day 2010). All Australians everywhere are encouraged to celebrate National Marriage Day. www.marriageday.family.org.au
2. The Government of God Convocation will be held 21-24 July 2010 in the Parliamentary Theatrette, Parliament House, Canberra. www.reconciliationandpeace.org
3. Generation Fire National Gathering 6-8 August 2010 ‘It’s Time to Burn’, Canberra. www.generationfire.com.au
4. Australian Prayer Network will announce their prayer strategy campaign for the election on the announcement of the Federal election dates. www.ausprayernet.org.au
5. Marriage Week is celebrated 12-18 September 2010. All Australians are also encouraged to celebrate this week www.marriageweek.org.au

God entrusted us with purposes, dreams and His plan through personal revelation. We need to know that not all people able to understand what God has revealed or entrusted us with personally.

We need to be aware that only few people able to understand, support us by giving wise feedback. If we share to not the right people, there is possibility that we hear s things like ‘its impossible’, ‘are you sure?’ That could discourage us or put the seeds of doubt.
We do not want Gods plan in our life going nowhere. Therefore as the dream and message carrier, we need to protect the dream / message.

As an example, (1 Samuel 9:25-27) Samuel asked Sauls servant to go before he revealed Gods calling to Saul and annoint him as the king.
Its not written the reason why. But I could imagine that if the servant not at the right level of understanding or do not have the right heart will say negative things to Saul as seed of doubt that could impact Gods plan in Saul.
On this, Samuel is wise and didn’t get over excited and broadcast the message that Saul is Gods chosen king during the festival in front of a lot of people. However, he wait until he can talk privately to Saul.

We need to protect the message and dream of God in our lives by talking to the right people at the right time (kairos).

A few days ago, we just had a wonderful retreat and we’ve learned about different gifts that God has placed inside us. One of those is giving. In this sharing I would like to encourage all of you and also especially those who have been entrusted with this gift.

In 2 Cor 9:8, it’s stated that as we habitually give, God will provide us with everything that we need and even plenty left over to be shared with other! God will provide our needs generously and allow us to have more than enough so that we are able to give even more. Once we’re faithful to be used as His channel of blessings, He will entrust us with more resources, with more wealth and riches. However, we need to start with whatever we have right now. God has placed a certain amount of seeds in every one of us. It’s our responsibility to handle it properly.

As mentioned in the following verses, v. 10-11, God who provides seed for the sower and bread for eating will provide and increase our resources so that we’re able to give even more! He promised that we’ll be blessed and enriched in every way so that we can always be generous! It’s such an honour to be used by the Almighty God to be His channel of giving. Therefore let us practice to give.. Note that as we give, God will not only provide us with more seed but also bread which typifies our daily needs! As we’re serving Him faithfully by being His steward, undoubtedly God will give us some reward indeed.

I’d like to take you to see our Father’s care and kindness toward us. In Mat 10:29, it is mentioned, “Are not two little sparrows sold for a penny?” And in Luke 12:6, “… five sparrows sold for two pennies?” During Jesus’ time, two little sparrows were sold for a penny. If you would like to get five of them instead, it would cost you two pennies. So, you would get one extra for free. It seems that the fifth one doesn’t count. It looks as if the fifth one is forgotten by man. But, what did Jesus say about this little one? He said, in the following sentence, in Luke 12:6, “yet God does not forget a single one of them.” One day God made me realised that these two verses above are actually related to one another! The last one explains more why Jesus said that even not a single one of them is forgotten! Even though the fifth little sparrow is forgotten by men, God cares for it!

Jesus also said, “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them.” [Mat 6:26] We can see that God really takes care of those little creatures. He would like to say that He cares for you much more than that because you are much more valuable than many flocks of them! What’s more if we are doing sowing and reaping which He desires us to do? God will not only keep feeding us -our basic needs- but will bless us abundantly over and above all of our needs! Therefore let us not be afraid of the future, but to put our trust in Him because we’re much more precious than those little sparrows!

In Luke chapter 19, Jesus shared about a parable of ten servants that were entrusted with some money by their master. The master then left them to a distant country… After a while he returned back and called in the servants. He wanted to find out what the servants had done with their money. He expected that the money he had put in would bring some profit. The master then found out that one of his servants had done exceedingly well with his money. Then, another servant had done quite well.. Afterwards, came his other servant, he did not do his job at all. The master became very upset and took away all the money that he had and gave it to the one that had done exceedingly well. Some other servants protested that the servant already had much money but the master answered, “..to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away..”

My friends, let us learn carefully from this parable.. God has entrusted each one of us (without exception) some amount of money or finance. We need to manage this properly and also do our jobs as His stewards. One of the things that we need to do with our money is to support His Kingdom. Therefore we need to be found excellent in doing this matter. We have to return what belong to God which is the tithe and on top of that we need to give as well of what we called offerings. When we manage this money properly, God is going to reward us according to our faithfulness! Of course not by our own strength but by His grace alone.. When we’re found faithful, God will entrust us with more resources! Like it is mentioned in the book of Proverbs 28:20, “A faithful man shall abound with blessings!”

My friends, I would like to encourage all of you not to give up while waiting and expecting for your harvest. Sometimes doubts and anxieties try to attack us, but we need to remember God’s words and anchor our hope on those promises.. We need to keep on trusting God and not letting the devil snatch our seeds away thus making those seeds that we’ve already sown fruitless and in vain!

When we sow our seeds according to God’s desire, He promised that it shall doubtless come again with joy! Even though we may have had to sow it in tears with much weeping.. [Psa 126:5-6] If we release our seed, God has promised that we will find it back after a while! [Ecc 11:1] In fact, it will come back to us in good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over! [Luk 6:38]

What’s more, God even challenged us to try Him and put Him to the test if He will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing so great that we will not have enough room to take it in! [Mal 3:10] Likewise, my friends, do you realise that when we give to the poor, we lend to the God of universe? [Pro 19:17] ..and He promised that we will not lack [Pro 28:27] nor let us or our children begging for bread! [Psa 37:25]

Let us grab and take hold of these promised with all of our heart! And don’t let the devil steal our harvests away! Let us trust the Lord and allow Him to bountifully supply our every single need according to His riches and glory! [Phi 4:19] Praise the Lord!

Today I’d like to share about two kinds of seed; an orange and a corn seeds. Their physical sizes look very similar, yet their destinies are very different.. One of them will be growing to be a tall plant, full of branches, and bears lots of fruits while the other one will grow to be a smaller plant. One will be able to produce multiple harvests for years while the other one only yield harvest once in its lifetime. An orange tree can produce market quality of fruits for almost 50 years while a corn or maize plant only harvested once in its lifetime.

There are a lot of differences between these two kinds of plant. One very significant difference is the time that is taken from their seedlings to grow into maturity. A corn seed just needs two or three months before it can be harvested. While for an orange seed, it requires around four to six years to grow into maturity before it can start producing good fruits. Yes, it will produce few fruits when it’s one or two years old, but the fruits cannot be eaten. They are small and the taste is bitter. During this time, those fruits will drop prematurely as well. This is indeed a normal stage in an orange plant’s lifecycle. This stage actually prepares the orange to be a matured one that is ready to bear good fruits. The branches will be strengthened and prepared to handle more fruits. Also, the reason it takes a long time for an orange seedling to mature is because during its zero to four years old of age, the plant actually builds and grows its root system and structure first. It knows that when it is going to produce and hold lots and lots of fruits on its branches; a good root, support, and structure must be built first. Then after four or six years old, the seedling is mature already and ready to start bearing fruits.

So, what we could learn from the illustration above? The answer is .. patience! Maybe you feel that you have been tithing, giving, or sowing regularly but still there’s no harvest yet. Or probably you feel that you had already started seeing the things that you’ve been expecting for were coming to you but not long after that suddenly it seemed that they failed you and went away. I did experience that too a few times.. But let us keep on hoping again! I believe it must be an orange seed! As the orange seedling that first produces small and bitter fruits which will drop soon just to prepare itself for bearing much more fruits later, we should think that God is actually preparing us to receive the harvest! God is preparing our root system and structure to be able to handle the load of the harvest that is going to be given to us!

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” – Gal 6:9

This time, I would like to testify, share about the power of sowing and reaping that has happened in my life recently. I’ve seen God’s faithfulness in fulfilling of what He has said in the Bible regarding sowing and reaping. I’m still thrilled of what I’ve received and I would like to share this to you so that you may be encouraged as well. I’m not boasting but I’ll be telling you of what God has done and I believe you’ll be blessed!

It’s started about a year ago, while I was still in courtship with my wife Merry. I know that we’re going to be married and we both wanted to have a wonderful wedding. Knowing about the principal of sowing and reaping, I started to sow little by little to the church, a number of ministries, and other people in needs. Each time I sowed, I wrote those down in my journal. I named each of them ‘seed for God’s guidance, favour, and blessings upon my wedding’ expecting that I would receive harvests for my wedding.

Closer to the date, I and Merry were busy and started preparing many things. And we began to see the harvests came forward one after another. Out of nowhere, Merry could find a gown seller that really gave favour on her. They said that they would give the gown with a very cheap price, about only one fifth of the original price because they had had a lot of profit already from other gowns that they had already sold. So we got a brand new Italian gown with the same price as if we were hiring one here.

We’ve also found a very nice reception place. This is the place that Merry always dreamt to have her wedding at as she usually passed and set her eyes on this place in the past. Previously, we were quite hesitant to see the place because it was over our budget. However, we decided just to try to come and see. We met the owner and surprisingly, he offered a lower price that we thought was obviously impossible. But God really worked; it’s actually much cheaper than of what we suppose to pay for that kind of reception venue. Moreover, closer to the date, we even got more discount for the kids menu price.

The same thing with my suit, my Mum has a close friend who owns a suit tailor shop. And his suits style and quality is one of the best in Indonesia. We’ve found out that his clients are government officials, actors, and celebrities. Because he is my Mum’s friend, he gave a good discount for the suit.

Furthermore, we also received a lot of favour from our wonderful friends to help us with the wedding. They were helping us in organising the event, making name cards and paper decorations, lending Merry jewellery to be wear, decorating, and so many other things…

One miracle that was really amazed us was happening with my Mum. My parent sells cosmetics products and one day my Mum happened to put her detail in a prize draw of a leading toothpaste brand in Indonesia. There were two kinds of draw; one has many motorcycles as the prizes, while the other one is a draw for one car prize only. She put in for the one car prize. Weeks later, a friend of my Mum came and told her that she had won the prize. My Mum thought that her friend was only joking because she never thought that she would win, but her friend insisted that it was true. Then my Mum tried to contact the company and she was really amazed to found out that it was true! We’re also shocked, this kind of thing never happened in our life.. the draw was actually from the whole Indonesia and my Mum was the only winner! We actually already have a car and we don’t need another one.. so finally we used this car to transport Merry’s family while they were in Jakarta for our engagement party. After that my parent sold the car and they could use the money to help paying for the engagement party in Jakarta. God is awesome!

In addition to those, God also helped us to with our honeymoon. Amazingly, we just paid half price only for our flights and cruises honeymoon tickets.

To be honest, we’re still stunned every time we try to remember of what God has done.. Friends, I would like to tell you, this is real. The law of sowing and reaping is real! God’s promise is real! And we are one of the witnesses.. My friends, if you haven’t started doing this lifestyle of sowing and reaping, I eagerly would like to invite you to start doing this and begin to experience God’s blessings being poured out to you overwhelmingly!

Author: Rical

Many times we feel that we are no one and do not want to accept responsibilities because we see our limitation in our capabilities.
Read the following stories from the Bible

Jeremiah

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” ⁶ Then said I: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” ⁷ But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. ⁸ Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.

Jer 1:4-8 (NKJV)

Moses

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

Ex 3:11-12 (NKJV)

Joshua

¹ After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: ² “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them–the children of Israel. ³ Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. ⁴ From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. ⁵ No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. ⁶ Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. ⁷ Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. ⁸ This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Josh 1:1-9 (NKJV)

I hope the message is clear from what we read above. The stories are similar, the chosen people of God don’t feel confident. They are not sure whether they can fulfill God’s calling. Does it sound familiar?

From these stories and others that in the Bible, the theme is there – the pattern is there that God use person that is available and the one that is open to God transformation (Rom 12:1-2).

more importantly, God is not only enabling us us to do His works but He is with us.

God want to be with us. His name is Immanuel. It is His character.

Never He will leave you, never He will forsake you .. says the Lord.