Category: Latest Updates

From David Gilbey, UK Coordinator of CTNTP:

In but not of this world

I have recently felt The Lord prompting me to again carefully consider the fact that as Followers of Jesus we are, ‘in but not of this world’.

Just before Jesus was crucified, He spoke these words recorded in John 17:14-19:

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

God seems to have been strongly reminding me that as we live in a world that for the most part moves in the natural visible realm, Christians must at all times maintain a ‘Spiritual perspective’.

Stretch above the Clouds

Many years ago, as The Lord had was starting to take me through a dramatic period of change, I received a simple prophetic word:

“Stretch your head above the clouds and you will see clearly what I want you to do”

Initially, I had no idea what this meant, until a few months later I was on a flight out of London Gatwick Airport. Looking out of the aircraft window, I peered beneath the clouds and saw whole cities and towns stretched out below. Look at things from a higher level, from MY perspective, The Lord seemed to be saying, not from your ground level 180 degree view!

Pastors – “They’re not ready…”

Two recently published ‘prophetic’ articles have just come to my attention, which also carry this theme. I feel they are important enough to share, but of course with the usual caveat to carefully weigh any Words with an apparent prophetic edge or title:

The first is written – and there is a video too – by Wanda Alger, from the USA, who I have not heard of before, entitled, Prophetic Dream for pastors: “They’re not Ready…”. It starts:

Several weeks ago my husband, Bobby, who is a local community pastor, had a significant dream. He was meeting with the pastors from our city when several large angels dropped down from the rafters with a message. They looked at the gathering and told my husband, “They don’t know the battle that’s coming. They are unaware.”…

Read the whole article here: wandaalger.me/2019/08/13/prophetic-dream-for-pastors-theyre-not-ready

Three prophecies to help open the eyes of sleeping Christians

The second article, which highlights three well previously given and well regarded prophecies, is authored by a friend of CTNTP, Pastor John of Strengthen the Faithful, also author of the Wartime Miracles Leaflet, which we have previously highlighted  – click here for more about this.

In Pastor John’s introductory email to the article, he writes:

View the above article from Pastor John as a PDF – click here.

Just received from World Prayer Centre, Birmingham – www.worldprayer.org.uk

61-61:  The Call from Wembley 31 August 2019

On 31 August at the Wembley Arena Day of Prayer, we prayed that in these days of national uncertainty, hostility and division, the church will stand in the opposite spirit of unity and humility demonstrating the fruits of the Spirit in word and action.

We prayed that in answer to our humility, sacrifice and obedience, the fire of God will fall on the church and our nation.  We believe at this time God is calling us to really persevere in prayer, stand on the truths of His Word and believe that despite what we see and hear, His purposes are being outworked as we the church, carry the Jesus mandate of Isaiah 61 across the nation.

Whatever happens politically, we believe it is time for the Good News to be preached, the broken-hearted to be healed, freedom to the captives and release for those who are bound.

We issued a 61-day Prayer Call focused on Isaiah 61 and it’s not too late for you to join the call.

Download a pdf of the Nationwide Call to Prayer – click here

From our friends at Neighbourhood Prayer Network  – neighbourhoodprayer.net

On the 22^nd to the 28^th September, we are asking individual Christians, home groups/prayer groups and churches to walk a distance of a mile and to pray. We ask that you invite Jesus to walk with you on the journey and let him direct your prayers.  We have more about this on our website  – click here.

We will also be having our first celebration event in Manchester on the 28th September.

CWA Main Auditorium
1 Beckford Street
Newton Heath
M40 SAE
12-3pm

Rebekah Brettle will be speaking at this event.  If you live in Greater Manchester for the North West, we invite you to attend – Entry is free and an offering will be taken.

We are looking for hosts in other areas of the community – simply to be a place to come together to share God’s insights in your area with others and to fellowship with others, so that we don’t feel alone at this time.  If you could host a local event in Scotland, London, Wales, Northern Ireland, the South West,  the Midlands please let us know.

Ian and Pauline Cole and Steve Botham of World Prayer Centre, Birmingham, were at the Day of Prayer for Britain on Saturday.  Here’s an update from Steve.

The Day of Prayer for the Nation at Wembley on August 31st was a releasing day. There was a wonderful spirit of worship and expectation as a glorious diversity of leaders from across the country, the denominations, the nations, and generations, led prayer. Five key themes emerged as we move into a new phase in our nation:

1. Unity – we will all have different views on Brexit and many other issues but we are God’s chosen people if we have given our lives to Jesus. We are family where love, honour and togetherness bind us.
2. Humility – we are like the fishermen who said Lord we have toiled all night and taken nothing but at your word, we will let down the nets. We are crying for more of Jesus and less of us. We want to get rid of pride, and uncertainty concerns about our reputation and standing and status. Our focus is Jesus.
3. Awake – God is calling us into action NOW
4. The fire and glory of God – as we humble ourselves, as we are of one heart and one mind, as we awake – the fire of God comes. There was a deep, powerful prayer for the fire to fall. But there is more to do, we need sustained prayer and hunger for the fire to fall wherever God has put us. He has His hand on our nation – this is His time.
5. The fullness of God – God’s fullness comes on the church in Britain when we unite when we embrace the blessings of the many new nations God has sent to the UK, and when we release the young people. We can be people who hold back blessing by giving our energy to criticising, but God calls us to be powerful releasers of blessing – proclaimers of Jesus in what we do and say. Holy Spirit release us into the fullness.

As one speaker put it – we are in Christ not in crisis*. Another spoke powerfully about the call on our nation not just to be a gospel sender but as the Shepherd to the nations. We stand in awe at what God is doing.

The WPC Team

*Colin Urquhart: “I said to the Lord this morning, ‘Lord, help us in this crisis!’ And the Lord replied, ‘What crisis? Heaven is not in crisis. … I am not in crisis. ….And if your faith is in me, you are not in crisis, either.’ “

Yesterday, 2nd September, we produced a Post with a just published article by R T Kendall concerning The Word and The Spirit coming together and that when they do, revival will come – click here to read it.

Well we’ve now discovered, seemingly published the very same day, 2nd September, a Devotional by Derek Prince, entitled The Creative Word, in which Derek reflects a very similar thought.

The Lord seems to again be drawing our attention back to the very important fact that The Word and The Spirit must always work together.

What do you hear The Spirit say? Could revival be at hand?

Read the Devotional from Derek Prince’s website – click here – or read below the version which was passed to us by email:

Echoing the theme of our CTNTP, ‘As One’ gathering in September 2018, we have been encouraged to see this insightful article, just published on the Premier Christianity Website, written by well known and respected Christian Author and Speaker, RT Kendall.

You can find the article on the Premier Christianity Website – click here  – it is also transcribed below:

When Word and Spirit come together, revival will follow

Christians have taken sides for too long. Either we’ve pursued strong biblical teaching, or we’ve gone after an experience of God’s presence. It’s time to end the war, says RT Kendall

Many years ago I was having a meal in London with a well-known minister whose emphasis had been in the area of signs, wonders and the prophetic. I said to him: “You need my theology, I need your power.” My words no doubt sound pompous since they imply that my teaching is necessarily right. Nevertheless, this conversation was the beginning of a new focus in my own ministry, namely, that the Word and Spirit need to come together.

We need both the sun and rain to give beauty and balance in nature. Likewise we need both the Word and the Spirit in order to understand God and his ways. The word is like the sun; the Spirit is like rain. One without the other can result in a natural disaster. It has been said before: “All Word and no Spirit, we dry up; all Spirit and no Word, we blow up; but with both Word and Spirit we grow up.”

It’s interesting that Jesus said to the Sadducees: “You know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29, ESV). He accused them of being ignorant of both the Word and Spirit. But it seems to me that the situation is rather different in the Church today; it is a case of knowing one, but not the other. Sadly we don’t seem to learn from each other.

A silent divorce

I first spoke of the silent divorce between the Word and Spirit during a conference chaired by Lyndon Bowring at the Wembley Conference Centre in 1992. Graham Kendrick led the worship and introduced ‘Jesus, restore to us again’ – a song he’d written asking God to restore “The gospel of your holy name / That comes with power, not words alone.”

When there is a divorce, sometimes the children stay with the mother; sometimes they stay with the father. In this divorce there are those on the Word side, and there are those on the Spirit side. I call it a “silent” divorce because it is impossible to know when or how this happened.

What’s the message of those on the Word side? It is straightforward: the honour of God’s name is at stake. His honour will not be restored, say those on the Word side, until we get back to the faith “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3, ESV). We must get back to the doctrine of the apostles. We need clear Bible teaching in the pulpit. We must embrace the theology that was rediscovered during the Great Reformation of the 16^th Century – which turned the Western world upside down: justification by faith alone; the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit by which we know that the Bible is the word of God; and a robust view of the sovereignty of God.

What is wrong with that emphasis? Nothing at all. It is, in my opinion, exactly right.

Then consider the example of those on the Spirit side. What is their message? It is straightforward: the honour of God’s name is at stake. It will not be restored until we get back to the experience of the apostles as demonstrated in the book of Acts: there were signs, wonders and miracles; the gifts of the Spirit were in operation; when they had a prayer meeting the place was shaken; if you got into Peter’s shadow you were healed; if you lied to the Holy Spirit you were struck dead right on the spot. And until we rediscover and experience that level of power, the Church will continue to have minimal, if any, influence in the world.

What is wrong with that emphasis? Nothing at all. It is, in my opinion, exactly right.

The problem is that whenever we go to church we find either one or the other.

Longing for more

In my old age I have been privileged to travel much of the world, and I believe that what I said nearly 30 years ago continues – sadly – to be a correct diagnosis. True, there are those who make every effort to incorporate both, and I will not enter into a debate about which preacher, prophet, church or denomination has got it right. But I believe many need to hear this message – myself included! I long to preach with power and authority. I have personally experienced that kind of power and authority only once or twice so far in my lifetime. I have seen some true miracles and healings over the years –but very few.

True miracles and verifiable healings are exceedingly rare. The common denominator of charismatics was once the gifts of the Spirit. Today it is prosperity teaching. Those people who run to church because they know they will be riveted by exciting and fearless preaching are hard to find. So much of what comes from Word pulpits is “perfectly orthodox, perfectly useless”, as Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to say.

You might ask: “Whatever is the point of writing like this?” I answer: Those who read this may – just may– be gripped to lament and repent over our situation and intelligently pray that the honour of God’s name, which has long been behind a cloud will be restored. The world does not respect the Church. There is no fear of God in the land or in the Church. The world thumbs its nose at us and we are not bothered. Things that once caused outrage have been accepted by nearly all.

Jesus said that in the last days the Church – even the best of its members – would be asleep: wise and foolish alike (Matthew 25:1-5). That is the most apt description of today’s Church that I can think of. Indeed, we are in a deep, deep sleep with little or no expectancy and no great concern or outrage over conditions around us. The scary thing about sleep is that we don’t know we are asleep until we wake up. We do things and tolerate things in our sleep we certainly would not permit when awake.

Three responses

Is there hope? I believe there is. There are three responses I am praying for.

First, that we will all see the urgent need for both the Word and the Spirit to come together as in the book of Acts. There needs to be both the Word and Spirit demonstrated in equal measure. We should be concerned for more of the Word and more of the Spirit with equal burden and vision.

Secondly, that there will be very urgent praying as in the book of Acts. The early Church prayed in desperation because of the threats of the Sanhedrin (the ruling council of the Jews). “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your Word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29-30, ESV). The urgency plus the presence of both the Word and Spirit is clearly obvious in this prayer. And that is when the “place” in which they were assembled was “shaken” – “and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (v31, ESV). We should be as threatened by the Church’s lack of power and influence today as the early Christians were threatened by the Sanhedrin 2,000 years ago.

Thirdly, that both Word people and Spirit people will become vulnerable (not defensive) and admit their need. The problem with the Laodiceans in the book of Revelation was not only that they were lukewarm– “neither hot nor cold” – but that they saw no need in themselves. They were rich, enjoyed prosperity and felt that they “needed nothing” (Revelation 3:16-17). You know the expression: “You can always tell a successful man but you can’t tell him much” – so it is with a church that becomes unteachable. When we are safely in our comfort zones we don’t usually welcome any notion that we should move outside them.

Revival

My experience has been that many Word people honestly feel no need for more of the Spirit than they already have. My experience with many Spirit people is that they often want more time for worship rather than preaching and are quite comfortable with hearing ‘feel-good’ sermons rather than solid biblical preaching. And yet fewer and fewer Christians nowadays read and know their Bibles. I have also very good reason to believe that both Word people and Spirit people spend less and less time alone with God. Martin Luther prayed for two hours a day. John Wesley prayed for two hours a day. But where are the Luthers today? Where are the Wesleys today? The average church leader probably prays just minutes daily. Dare I ask, how much do you pray?

This year is the 70^th anniversary of the Hebrides Revival in Scotland (1949-52). The fear of God fell on often remote places in those days. Unusual manifestations appeared. Hundreds of spontaneous conversions took place in churches or as people walked down a road. Most of the converts were teenagers or adults under the age of 40. On at least one occasion a house shook (dishes even fell off tables) when people met for prayer and worship. It was a sovereign work of the Spirit and yet it was preceded by people praying –particularly two old ladies in their 80s who wouldn’t give up, but who cried out: “Lord, your honour is at stake.” I find this encouraging.

I truly believe that the Word and Spirit are going to come together, maybe soon. If Smith Wigglesworth has been quoted correctly, we are long overdue to see his 1947 prophecy fulfilled. He reportedly forecast that the Word and Spirit would come together and that this move of God would eclipse the Wesleyan and Welsh revivals and spread all over the world.

Most of my own preaching over the years – I wish it were not true– has been almost entirely Word preaching with little power. When people listened to me they would say: “Thank you for your Word.” That is what they came for, that is what they got. They did not come to see anything; they came to hear. But the simultaneous combination of the Word and Spirit coalescing in great measure will result in spontaneous combustion. And when that happens, as Lyndon Bowring put it, “those who come to see will hear and those who come to hear will see”.

We are pleased to reproduce the latest Newsletter of Rev Tony Higton’s, Network for Revival.

Please go to networkforrevival.co.uk for further details or contact Tony at email: tony@higton.info

Network for Revival August 2019

How to pray for Revival: Pray in holiness

I want to deal with three major foundations for prayer for Revival in this and the next two issues of Prepare! – Holiness, Faith and in-depth Intercession. The Lord has taught me so much since I have been praying for Revival and I want to share it with you. I’m sure he has a lot more to teach me later but I’m concentrating on these three for the time being.

The Lord has made some amazing promises to answer our prayers, which I will expand on next time, but he has laid down certain conditions for answering our prayers. One of them is faith which is the subject for the next issue. But there is a condition in the following promise:

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (Jn 15:7).

I believe God wants us to be bold in our prayers and to step out in faith. But that cannot be separated from the condition laid down in this promise.

Sadly, many Christians, including church leaders, don’t pray as much as they should. Revival will not come without a deep and growing commitment to prayer. But there is another serious weakness in the modern church. Often there is little stress on holiness.

We live in an age which emphasises human rights, and, obviously, this is good in some ways. But there is a danger of being the “Me generation.” “You can’t tell me what to do. I am free to do my own thing.” “I decide how I should live my life.” “You must respect my freedom.” “You must respect my freedom to hold my own opinions.” This can lapse into a me, me, me approach to life which can affect Christians.

We live in an age of media brainwashing. We are heavily and repeatedly bombarded with secular ideas and morality. Some of this is through drama, which has a powerful effect. And if we are not careful this gradually lowers our moral and spiritual standards.

We live in an age of wall to wall entertainment. Even the news programmes have a significant aspect of entertainment and humour. Again much of this is acceptable. But it can condition us to take an entertainment approach in the church.  There is a place for humour and drama in the church. But sometimes the entertainment can undermine the message we proclaim. We entertain people rather than challenge them. We preach a ‘nice’ message, not a challenging one.

Jesus’ message contrasts with much modern approach in the church. He said: ‘Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:34-37 cf Lk 12:51-53). He puts it even more graphically “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even their own life – such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple … In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (Lk 14:26-27, 33).

One of the conditions of his answering our prayers is his words remaining in us. These profound challenges are part of his word. Putting them into practice is an important part of abiding in him. If we are going to pray for revival we need to examine our lives and see if we are true disciples, rather than taking a modern me-centred, compromising, easy-going approach. We need to take stock and ask the Lord to show us any weaknesses in our discipleship – any sins we tolerate or regularly fall into. Without that, our prayers and his amazing promises to answer prayer will be undermined.

Revival is about holiness, so we intercessors for Revival have to take the lead in holiness. But be encouraged – it is a most encouraging and rewarding path to take.

Quotations about revival

“My one aim in life is to secure personal holiness, for without being holy myself I cannot promote holiness in others.”  (John Wesley).

“Again and again revival has only come in power to God’s people when Christians have realised how infinitely holy God is in His wonderful nature and how heinous sin is in His sight. When people humble themselves before God, and when repentance and confession are complete, then revival tides may begin to sweep over a church or area.”(Revival Fire by Wesley Deuwel).

“We know that God can give us a great many things, but He cannot give us His best gifts unless we hunger for them. For instance, He cannot make a man wise if he refuses instruction; He cannot save a man from his sins if that man wills to hold on to his sins with both his hands; He cannot make a man holy if he has not aspirations after a holy life. Is it not true that the need of the Christian Church today is just holiness; a people desirous of walking in the ways of God?” (Duncan Campbell, the Price and Power of Revival).

“The presence of God was so powerful that you were constantly living in the expectation that something was about to happen. You would feel a sort of excitement inside yourself.” (Donald John Smith, Lewis in “Sounds from Heaven” by Colin & Mary Peckham p. 87)

“It seemed that the only thing we spoke about was God and the things of God. We went through the day waiting for the evening meetings. The converts followed the meetings from village to village, gathering strength as they went on. It was a wonderful time.” (Chirsty Maggie, Lewis in “Sounds from Heaven” by Colin & Mary Peckham p 87).

Lord, make us fit instruments to be used by you as you move us towards Revival.

God bless you

Tony

Our friends at City Vision have a conference coming up. All welcome:

CTNTP is pleased to promote this year’s Chosen gathering, being hosted by The Prayer Foundation, 3 – 5 October 2019, at The Emmanuel Centre, Westminster, London.

The theme of ‘A Sound from Heaven’, particularly resonates with much The Lord has been speaking to CTNTP for the last 2/3 years. Read about this – click here.

One of the speakers at Chosen will be Ray Hughes. In November 2018, we were drawn to a teaching Ray had previously given on, ‘The Symphony of Heaven’ – to view this, click here. Read more about Ray and his ministry below.

We therefore believe that the Chosen gathering is in tune with what The Spirit is saying to The Church at this time and very much encourage you to go along in October.

Acts 2:2 “Suddenly there was a sound from Heaven”.

This what The Prayer Foundation say about this year’s Chosen:

The vision for this year CHOSEN carries a pronounced focus Acts 2:2 “Suddenly there was a sound from Heaven”. The Lord has called us to impact the music mountain for His Kingdom. We sense an urgency for his leaders, psalmists, intercessors and worshippers to rise up and join in heartfelt unity to go before God in this new season of Redemption. We will align with God’s word and Spirit, knowing who we are and who God is, for this is key. Praying together, in heartfelt agreement, as we resist the media’s influences on the sounds of our world.

Guest speakers include Ray Hughes from Selah Ministries, who will be ministering all day Saturday. Rick Joyner says “Ray Hughes is one of the most remarkable teachers I know, and may have the most expansive knowledge as a music historian of anyone.” Leonard Jones, worship leader formerly from Morningstar Ministries says of Ray “I’ve known Ray Hughes as a co-worker and also as a friend for 20 years and I can honestly say, I’ve never met a man in all that time that knows as much about Worship as he does. If you know nothing or everything about music and worship, you still will walk away from even a short encounter with Ray with something you didn’t have before. Ray is a treasure chest of revelation of who God is and what worship is.”

Other ministries that value Ray include Bethel in Redding, California. Good friend, Pastor Steve Dittmar, senior leader of Jubilee Church in California, will be with us with a team of intercessors on Thursday & Friday.

Today we are seeing a different kind of warfare as we come out of our wilderness, or hidden times -into this new season we are entering – truly KNOWING the love of God as a person, as a community, and corporately as God’s children, is crucial. We pray you and your intercessors and worship team can join us in this end time move of God as we gather together amidst the clarity of prophetic worship.

Event Flyer

Please forward this word about this CHOSEN gathering by distributing the flyer to your mailing lists – click here to view/download as a pdf, and in particular to worship teams and intercessors.

Tickets here – theprayercamp.com/chosengatherings

From a recent circulation by UK evangelist David Hathaway. CTNTP encourages to to go to this day of prayer, taking place next month at Wembley Arena.

They were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. (Acts 2:1-3)