Meanwhile, as we gather to pray and to seek the Lord for His directions and strategy for prayer and evangelism, we are not dismayed but trust in the Lord with all our hearts. The Spirit of the Lord is upon us to preach the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ to the poor and oppressed, and we have in Him all the things we need pertaining to life and godliness, by His divine power and through knowing Him who once called us ourselves out of darkness into His marvellous light. To Him be all the glory and honour and praise, as we gather also to worship Him and thank Him for His great mercy and kindness and longsuffering to this nation, and we believe that there remains a promise of revival and of a great move of the Spirit of God within these shores. Hallellujah!

Father of glory, we give you praise and worship and adoration. Father, you have always been kind to us, and not given us what our sins deserve. Father, we have neglected prayer for our cities and now see the consequences before us. Let not your word be found untrue which says ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ We know not how to pray but Your Spirit intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Father, help the police to restore order in the streets of our cities. Forgive those who have been negligent in their duty, and help the young people who are acting without restraint to find their hope and future in you, Jesus. Give us faith and patience and fortitude to face uncertain days.

Furthermore, forgive us in Britain for our endemic sins. Forgive us for rejecting your gospel, for rejecting the truth of scripture, for all the manifestations of rebellion against you. Forgive us for our lack of support for your covenant people Israel. Forgive us for supporting the plan to divide Jerusalem. Forgive us for the murder of over seven million unborn babies since 1968. Forgive us in England for our ancient sins against not only the Jews but also the Irish, the Welsh and the Scots.

Forgive us for our lack of compassion towards the poor, and those escaping persecution and violence in their countries of origin. Forgive us for our tolerance of, and often promotion of, that which is wicked and runs counter to your holy law. We are sorry that as a nation we have so corrupted the image of God within us, and failed to seek and follow you. Have mercy on us we pray. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Andrew Chapman

Mark Huckstep

Prayer is all about relationship; it is more than cold communications. Prayer can be considered to be the life blood of our relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Furthermore God has a wonderful vision of all His believers being and acting as parts of a single body, the body of Christ. This vision was given to Paul, he describes it in his letter to the Colossians Col 1:18, Christ is the head of the body and we are the members. In his letter to the Ephesians Paul sees the Jews and the Gentiles united in Him (Christ) as one new man Eph 2:11-3:12. This vision pictures us as interdependent upon each other and all dependent upon Christ our head. If this is a metaphor for the spiritual unity we are intended to enjoy, then our prayer life must include group prayer. Group prayer can have a dynamic that can change nations. In Acts chapter 2 we see that the disciples were all together in one place when they received the baptism in the Holy Spirit; but later in Acts 4:32, 33 we see that the believers were one in heart and mind, and great power was on them. The prayer of agreement avails much. Hebrews encourages us not to stop assembling together. In the book of Acts we read that the believers met together, they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to fellowship, breaking of bread and to prayer. In Acts 12 we read about the fifth persecution of Peter when he was released by an angel from chains in prison with a guard set over him. He quickly went to the house of Mary where the brethren were gathered to prayer for him. Group prayer can bring about release from prison and indeed any other persecution. When we are together to pray it seems to increase our boldness in prayer. Next when we are together to pray the LORD seems to speak to the whole group through several people. He is often quite economical with both His words and His actions. We are all encouraged to prophesy and to seek the gift of prophecy; however when we are together, those who have a developed prophetic gift can encourage others. I say this because we always need to hear from the LORD. The call to be an intercessor will always include a measure of the prophetic gift. It is important that intercessors join a prayer group where this gift is encouraged and developed.

Early in 2011 we went to a meeting in Emmanuel Church Westminster where Clifford Hill was speaking. He shared the vision that he had for England in 2011. He described 2011 as a pivotal time for the nation. Two events happened last year that made this year so important. Firstly the financial crash of 2009 was now producing the loss of many jobs and this process was likely to continue throughout 2011. The second event was the passing of the Equalities bill in Parliament in October 2010. This bill has the potential to be very harmful to the Christian church. Test cases are likely to occur starting this year, with individuals being brought before the courts on terribly unjust charges. These two factors will pressurise the church and are likely to cause us to wake up and start to fight our corner more effectively. But most of all we will be thrown onto the LORD for His divine help. Clifford had sought the LORD for His strategy. He believes that the prayer groups and networks must start to connect right across the nation. Our ears pricked up at this statement since the LORD has been forming a network across the county of Oxfordshire since 2005. The vision for “PrayOxfordshire” has developed quite slowly but the faithfulness of the intercessors has grown steadily. Secondly without any thought or actions ourselves the Lord has connected us to groups of intercessors in Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire. These links have already been useful in strategic prayer campaigns, which I will not detail here.

Others have been involved on organising large prayer events like “Trumpet Call” in the NEC Birmingham. These gatherings are very useful for galvanising the intercessors and encouraging them to increased activity. Also at the meeting in Emmanuel was Rev Jonathan Oliyedu who has been very active in prayer campaigns in London and the south east. He backed Clifford’s word by calling for the prayer networks to connect with one another. It seems that we are all on the same page with the LORD. In the early church Paul was regularly asking different churches to provide help for other churches: financial, ministry and prayer. His letters to the churches always included greetings from and to a variety of servants of the LORD, for example Romans 16. Clearly he was very mindful of the need to expand our vision of the church to be global not just city wide or parish wide. Hence he could see the need for networks linking the groups of believers across the Roman world. In Great Britain we need to have a national perspective of the church, not just for our denomination but for all believers and followers of Jesus the Son of God. So! How do we build a prayer network across the nation?

Step one is to ask the LORD to open doors for you and bring you in touch with His people who He wants you to connect with. Divine connections will last and become fruitful. If we seek the people we like or admire we may be building our own network not God’s. Make every effort to develop friendships. This may not always be easy, God’s people are often very busy people. One way that we have found helpful is to invite them to dinner and a time of fellowship. Ask the Lord for His gift of hospitality, the ability to put people at ease. Conversation over good food really helps to ignite friendship and trust. The Jewish festivals were all about family and friendship gatherings around a feast. The Lord’s supper was in fact a passover meal. In the book of Acts we see the early church coming together and sharing everything in common. Sharing food is a wonderful experience.

Step two is to arrange a time to pray together. Be full of love and grace towards each other. Be ready to make space for others to exercise their gifting, and be ready to exercise your gifts when opportunity arises. Avoid the temptation to dominate the prayer yourself, rather have a servant heart. As time goes by trust and confidence will rise. Seek every opportunity to agree in prayer. Agreement in prayer is more than mental assent, it is heart agreement, a true spiritual agreement, it is a bold yes and amen.

Step three is to seek to maintain good relations; be available to encourage your contacts and to cover them whenever they request help. If time drifts and the contact grows weak return to step one and repair the net.

The vision that I see is one of guerilla warriors, highly trained soldiers formed into small bands. The members of each band know the (spiritual) weapons of our warfare and how to use them. Each band has radio (spiritual) contact with the King of kings for clear daily instructions. In addition each band knows the nearby bands. However they do not need to know the details of other bands at greater distance from them. This limited knowledge protects the network from the work of traitors and fifth column infiltration. Each group or band is less likely to be seduced by “power” if confidentiality is maintained and the level of influence in the net is limited. Each band is like a knot in a net with contacts to each of the surrounding knots. Messages can ripple through the net without compromising security too much. The line of command is direct to the captain of the host. If we truly ask the Lord for the contacts, He will set up the communication channels that He wants. If He chooses to connect you to a group some distance away, that is His business, after all He knows exactly what He is doing, He will have a good reason, which will be made plain in His good time.

Prayer:

Lord please refresh the anointing on your people to pray effectively and guide us daily with clear instructions. We want to do your will and see Great Britain fulfil your plans and purposes.

Certainly the Jews and ancient Armenians separate men and women for times of prayer, but should we, Bible-believing Christians have meetings with only one gender represented?

The Bible instructs men to lift up holy hands in prayer – should not this be read as generic ‘people,’ ie ‘men and women’?

The benefit of praying together at certain times as men lies partially in the fact that men are put together differently to women – seeing the world through ‘masculine’ lenses – perhaps less intuitive than women, focusing instead on the structure of a problem, its relationship to other issues, and moving swiftly to proposed solutions. On the spiritual level men are more naturally warriors and can delight in spiritual warfare rather than simply enduring it.

In mixed-group settings, men can be spiritually dormant, especially on the key issue of hearing from the Lord. Women frequently find receiving revelation – words, pictures, insights – far easier than men do. Because of this, in a mixed-gender group, prophetic women can set the scene and the tone, with the men following their lead, perhaps reluctantly at times.

In a male-only prayer group, the men must do the hard spiritual work of hearing from the Lord, asking Him questions and then exercising faith to hear Him speak. This develops the gifts of the men so that they are able to hear the Lord in other contexts, including times when the whole congregation comes together.

In addition, uniquely male ways of praying can be quite irritating or upsetting to women, with the result that in mixed prayer groups men rein themselves in, aware that their sisters may disapprove of their masculine ways. This danger is especially prevalent in the liberal West, where unaffirmed men and women brought up on a diet of contemporary feminism live in a deeply unbiblical imbalance, in which women are tacitly expected to lead the corporate encounter with the Lord.

Of course, a man should leave an all-male prayer meeting not only strengthened in his gifts but in greater love and humility towards his wife, sister and daughters than when he entered. A male school of prayer prepares men to re-enter other parts of life more equipped to fulfill their calling of loving, servant-hearted leadership.

A prayer:

Heavenly Father, as men we pray for your world. We bring you every leader of nations, ministries, councils, schools, hospitals, the military forces of the world…we pray that each leader would find Jesus the Saviour. We pray for your will to be done, your kingdom to come, in every political situation on earth.

We pray for families. Bless and heal marriages worldwide. Bring Christian couples together in love and truth and unity. Bring children worldwide to a saving knowledge of Jesus, Son of God, Saviour and King. Cause children and young people to choose to follow Jesus through all adversity.

We pray for the leaders of the church. Break every attack by the forces of darkness against Christian leaders, pastors, ministers, missionaries, worship leaders and intercessors. Fill the people of God with your Holy Spirit. Heal, deliver, comfort and equip every Christian, to make him or her ready for a life of worship, proclamation of truth and courageous living and witness. Bring the scattered people of God to unity in the truth of Scripture and unity in the love and grace of the Holy Spirit.

We pray for the Jews, your ancient, covenant people. Bring Jews to a knowledge of their Messiah and King, Yeshua. We pray for the land of Israel. Protect this nation by your mighty strength. Thwart the plans of the enemies of Israel. Cause truth and righteousness and mercy to flourish in Israeli government and society. Despite all that they have suffered, enable Israelis to be merciful and generous to other races in their midst.

We look for your return with eagerness and longing and expectancy.

Come, Lord Jesus!

The purpose of this web-site is to release a men’s prayer movement, in accordance with the scripture:

Therefore I want the men  in every place to pray lifting up holy hands, without wrath or dissension.

(The Greek word for man here is ανηρ meaning man specifically, not woman.)

(1 Timothy 2 v 8 NASV)

and also with a prophetic word released by Jean Darnall in 1987 (if not before) that the first sign of the great spiritual awakening that is coming to the island of Britain will be a men’s prayer movement:

There are three things that the Lord has asked me to share about this vision everywhere I go: three signs of this awakening. The first is that the Lord is sending a strong call to prayer among men. Early Morning Prayer meetings will start all over the land as men desire to pray, and they will start asking their pastors and leaders, ‘Can we meet together before work and pray?’ In those prayer meetings there will come strong intercession and an increased faith and vision in these men’s souls for the nation. They will not only pray in their own churches, but soon they will start combining together in other churches, with other church groups. And in some places these prayer meetings will grow too big for the building, and they will come out in the open and pray in the parks or in front of town halls.

Wouldn’t that be nice, to have a prayer meeting right out here, of hundreds and hundreds of men lifting their voices in prayer for the nation? And it will be a sign in itself: these prayer meetings will be a witness to the nation, and many people will come to the Lord just by witnessing these prayer meetings, and hearing the prayers of these men.

(Taken from: ‘Revival: Including The Vision Of Jean Darnall’ by Hugh Black (New Dawn Books 1993). This account of the vision was given by her in June 1987 in Glasgow City Halls.)

The call to men to pray is of course not limited to Britain but extends to every place where the gospel has been preached and a church of believers exists. Our first duty as Christians is to make supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings on behalf of all men (including women, the Greek word used here being ανθρωπος) that they may be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1Timothy 2 vv 1-4). This duty has been placed upon the men specifically, while the women are instructed to adorn themselves with good works (1 Timothy 2 vv 8-10). We have neglected this our primary calling, and as a result our churches are sliding into lukewarmness and worldliness and carnality, and our nations into secularism and the outright rejection of the gospel. Let us repent of our failure to pray for our people and churches and nations and return to the LORD with fasting and weeping and agonizing intercession for a broken world. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.