HealNZ newsletter – No 38                                                                      1 September, 2009

Dear One-Before-the-Throne,

REVIVAL & TRANSFORMATION: PART 8 – BEFORE the THRONE

“At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven….” Rev 4:2

THE VISION:

The Body of Christ (the Church “mountain” – more about mountains later) before the Throne,

in worship and intercession,

proclaiming the Word (the New Testament)

the gospel of the Kingdom,

over the city,

washing the city and the other 6 “mountains” (family, business, govt, education, media arts/entertainment/celebration) with the Word,

preparing the way for transformation of all the 7 “mountains”,

for the fulfilment and outworking of the Great Commission in Hamilton and beyond,

inviting King Jesus to come and rule and reign in and over Hamilton.

BACKGROUND:

These last nine years since I began HealNZ 24/7 prayer, Feb 2000, have been a journey in trying to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

I visited the International House of Prayer (IHOP) at Kansas City Sept 2000.  The Lord spoke to me that there would be a similar HOP in Hamilton.  If that was so, I thought, maybe we should set about preparing the way.

IHOP divides the week into two hour slots.  Different teams take responsibility for a two hour slot during which they worship, interweaving in prophetic intercession using scripture verses as a basis.  They focus a lot on Psalms, Revelation and Song of Songs.

So, in February 2001 we held 40 hours of reading Psalms over the city.  God intensified His presence during the final two hours.  I didn’t really know what was happening.  I was out of my depth.  But as a group of us met later and reflected, it seemed that Jesus the Coming King had been there, in Hamilton!

Three more 40 hours followed over the year and most of the rest of the bible was read over the city.

After a break of a year or so, we arranged six 40 hours of worship, each 40 days apart, each with a theme, each with two hourly slots with worshippers from across the Body of Christ leading those present.  Two of the 40 hours were held in the centre of Hamilton.  At these we felt we had, in the Spirit, erected a centre pole.  The remaining four 40 hours were held one at each corner of the city.  A canopy of worship had been prophetically erected over the city. 

Again, once we had erected the canopy and completed the prophetic act towards the end of the 40 hours, the worship, dance and general celebration was free, and exhilarating.

Before and after all these 40 hour events, other prayer gatherings were arranged, some to pray about Israel, some have been ongoing for a few years e.g. Night of Power during Muslim Ramadan.

10 Arenas or 7 Mountains?

In 2002 I heard about the 10 arenas, spheres of influence in a community.  The Lord emphasized to me that these were arenas that He wanted to transform; He wanted His kingdom to come into each one and His rule and reign to be manifest.  This was how community transformation would occur in Hamilton.  Ever since viewing the Transformation videos put out by George Otis in mid 1990s I had been eager for such a change to occur here.

We began the process of praying for these 10 arenas, taking the land little by little.  (Deu 7:22)

A small group started by praying for one arena a month.

These 10 are:  Church, Government, Media, Education, Health, Law & Justice, Business, Art/Entertainment, Sport/Recreation, and Family.

The following year leading up to Impact World Tour, we focused again on one a month.

City Wide Prayer meetings were held one a month the year after that, to which we invited those working in each arena and those concerned about the influence that arena was having on life in Hamilton. 

This year prayer has been focused on the 10 by about 60 people throughout NZ as we have prayed about abortion and the way each arena has influenced abortion.

In June this year I attended Call2All in Hong Kong (see newsletter 36 for report) and God expanded my understanding further.  Internationally the 10 arenas I had been focusing on are called “The 7 Mountains”.  Although this has taken some adjustment in my thinking, especially how Law & Justice and Health fit in, I have felt we needed to align with the 7 mountains concept.

In July someone told me about some teaching by Johnny Enlow on his website.  I listened to two sessions and was amazed at how he tied in the 7 mountains with the 7 giants the Israelites had to conquer when they entered the land.  (see Deu 7:1, names listed below)  

I was further amazed when I realized that exactly one year ago I wrote a newsletter on these 7 giants relating them to us personally. (see newsletter 26, July ‘08)

The 7 Mountains linked to the “enemy on the mountain”, and what each represents, are:

Church/religion ~ Perizzites ~ idolatry

Business/economy ~ Cannanites ~ love of money

Media ~ Hittites ~ bad news

Family ~ Jebusites ~ rejection

Education ~ Amorites~ humanism

Government ~ Girgashites ~ corruption

Art/Celebration ~ Hivites ~ compromise

“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house

shall be established on the top of the mountain.”  Isaiah 2:2

May there be a divine exchange so the above enemies are displaced and the Lord placed in the highest place on the top of each mountain.

QUOTES:

• “For several decades now we have been losing the culture to secularists and liberal agendas.  If we are going to reclaim the seven mountains of culture for Christ, the church must make a major shift in how we do this.  Johnny Enlow has given us a master strategy to fulfil Christ’s mandate to reclaim all that has been lost.”  Os Hillman

• “Not only are there seven mountains in cities that need to be reclaimed, but you will begin to realize how entire nations can be taken for the kingdom of God….This book is on the cutting edge of God’s plan for city transformation.”  Cal Pierce.

• “In unprecedented fashion, the church is getting an opportunity to manifest Christ’s solutions for society – in an ‘outside the four walls’ context.  The Lord is raising His people up and giving them an opportunity to fulfil the entire Great Commission – to disciple nations, not just individuals.” Johnny Enlow from his book “The Seven Mountains Prophecy”.

MY HEBREWS 11:1 – faith/hope for these 6 days of Before the Throne:

I believe the Lord is drawing together all the threads of prayer from the last 9 years and He is going to weave them into something beautiful, something very special for His Kingdom purposes.

I believe the Lord wants to manifest Himself during these 6 days, inhabit the praises of His people, dwell with us, so that we will find our rest in Him, joy in Him in the HOP and receive deeper revelation from, and of, Him.

I believe we will move ahead in a giant step on our journey of preparing the way for revival of the church and transformation of the community in Hamilton; and preparing the way for an on-site 24/7 HOP.

I believe, that as we come together as the Body of Christ, and focus outwards on the city, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and blessing the city, we can accomplish together far more than we can ever think or imagine – multiplied more than one individual, one church can do – to outwork the Great Commission.

PRAYER POINTS:

Come and stay for as long as you want.  If you can’t come please under gird us in prayer.

• Praise God that He “is seated on His throne” (Ps 47:8).  Pray that man will allow Him to be sovereign over all things related to Before the Throne, Hamilton will be brought to a new place in Him, the river will flow out from the throne all over NZ and that His love and power will be released.  1 Cor 4:20
•  Pray for me and the team as we fast, pray and arrange these 6 days: for safety, unity, creativity, and favour for the assignment; Holy Spirit’s guidance for all aspects especially the drafting of the declarations for the nightly “Mountain Meetings”; that we will have wisdom and discernment in full measure, at all times, together with heavenly power and authority.

Pray for our families to understand and be supportive, to be protected body, soul and spirit.

• Pray for the Body of Christ to draw together in obedience to God, to volunteer to fills the two hour slots, for the next generation to be a strong part; for different nationalities to come and speak the scriptures in their language so “every nation, tribe, people and language are gathered around the throne”.  Rev 7:9
• Pray for communication of these 6 days to be passed on, the Holy Spirit to speak and draw people to come, to be washed in His Word, to commune with Him, be touched by Him – healed, delivered, strengthened.
• Pray for pastors who are teaching at midday about the Kingdom of God and Israel.
• Pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be released under the unction of the Spirit.
• Pray for other points that stand out for you in the body of this newsletter.

• Pray the following scriptures: Isaiah 56:6-7; Acts 15:16-18;  Rev 4-5, 7, 21-22; Ps 45; Ps 47:7-9; Ps 110

You might like to arrange for Christians to join you where you live and declare the Word of God over your area at the same time as we are in Hamilton.  We will be one in Spirit. See www.whistlenz.org

Praise God - He “is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end.” (Ps 48:14)