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By Kwok-Ying Jackson
LEARNING how to pray more effectively was the focus of a gathering in Victoria
early last month.
The National School of Intercession conference was held at the First Church of
the Nazarene, June 4 – 6.
Speakers included Rob Parker, founder of the National House of Prayer in Ottawa;
Sara Maynard, director of Cityscape Prayer Ministries, based in Vancouver; and
Jane Jones, associate director of Cityscape in Calgary.
The event was attended by more than 80 people from some 20 churches, and
included quite a few pastors.
As one of the participants, I believe the conference accomplished the goals of
the organizers, and then some.
The teachings offered were inspiring, encouraging and challenging.
Topics included: how to participate in corporate prayer meetings; end times
intercession, amid the extraordinary turmoil of world events; fasting;
discernment; how to pray for government; and how to understand true prophetic
intercession.
One of the high points was a ‘fireside chat’ on the relationship between pastors and intercessors.
Many people I spoke to said they couldn’t stop taking notes; others considered the three days truly life-changing; still
others felt like they had run a marathon.
Many went away with an increased passion for prayer. One person commented that
she looked around at all the participants and said to herself: “This is my tribe! It’s like a family reunion.”
The deep passion and spiritual wisdom of this team of teachers impressed us
greatly. Their purpose was simple: to encourage us to pray like never before.
We were indeed encouraged, as they exhorted us to keep pressing into God.
Much has been accomplished in this city over the past year, through the
continuous 24/7 prayer that many churches of Victoria have engaged in. At the
conference, we were urged to pray for the rest of Canada, that other churches
would receive victory in areas where we have been victorious, regarding
corporate unity in prayer.
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Here are some of the insights I gleaned from the teaching sessions:
• God is restoring prayer as the foundation of the church, as the main event, the
‘heart throb’ of the church;
• If you have humility, no one can take away your ministry in the prayer closet;
• Let your public prayer be the tip of the iceberg of your personal prayer life;
• Prayer is not about giving God information – which means you can keep repeating the same prayer.
• Keep going, do not shrink back.
One of Jesus’ last key acts on earth was intense prayer for his disciples at the Last Supper.
Christians in Victoria have an opportunity be co-labourers with Jesus, in the
work of mature prayer.
The church must exercise her ‘prayer muscle,’ as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane. If we do, we will no longer be known
as a retirement city, but a garden city – a garden of travailing and prevailing prayer.
Jesus asked his sleeping disciples: “Could you not keep watch for an hour?” The answer of the End-Time church is “Yes, Lord, we will stay watching until the end.”
Teachings from the event can be obtained through nhop.ca and cityreach.ca.
July 2009
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