Encouragement amid the battle for Britain.
Two years ago, I reported that I believed God was telling me to stop praying for the nation, which upset some people. But the reason was because God was shaking everything – and we believed that more shaking was to come. He was going to shake the banks, industries, high street stores, political parties, Government - all the human institutions in which people put their trust. I warned about the danger of praying against the will of God, by praying “Peace, peace” when the Lord was saying “There is no peace”.
Today, everything is being shaken like never before! Our objective remains to pray that the shaking will be effective! But also, I believe God is encouraging us to begin to look beyond the present crisis to the times of blessing and prosperity that will follow if there is repentance and turning right now – which is the object of the great shaking.
The thing I find most encouraging is the enormous amount of prayer in the nation – clear, focused, mature prayer, from Bible-believing Christians.
Truth and Hope
Earlier this week, my wife and I were guests at the Annual Meeting in London of Transform Work UK, an organisation that Monica and I founded nearly 20 years ago. It gave us the opportunity of reminiscing and bringing a word of encouragement to them. We had the joy of listening to reports from Christian leaders in commerce and industry of what God is doing today.
Transform Work UK (TWUK) provides a link and purpose for thousands of praying Christians in their places of work. We spoke of the founding principles that warned against the danger of becoming little groups who just did ‘Sunday Church’ on weekdays. From the beginning, the objective was to get the Gospel into the workplace, to make an impact upon the economy, to make a difference in working conditions, to benefit employees: in short, to establish both biblical truth and biblical ethics in industry and commerce.
The thing I find most encouraging is the enormous amount of prayer in the nation – clear, focused, mature prayer, from Bible-believing Christians.
We reminded them of one of the founding members, Jeff, who worked for the Audit Commission. Jeff couldn’t stop sharing his faith with anyone who would listen and over lunch one day he talked to one of the Board Members about the biblical values of integrity, faithfulness, loyalty and love for one another at the heart of the Gospel. This led to the setting up of ‘Christians in the Audit Commission’ as part of their Human Resources. They were given an office and direct access to the Board and to the Chairman, who said that these were the ethical values that needed to be at the heart of the Audit Commission’s work.
It was thrilling this week to hear reports of regional group leaders (known as ‘Ambassadors’) from around the country and news of the impact Christians are making in industry and many other parts of the workplace today.
We heard from Christians in banking, in the motor industry, in local and national Government, in the railway network and numerous others. One man related how he had just led someone to Christ during his lunch hour.
There is even a praying group in 10 Downing Street, and a young man in Theresa May’s constituency enthusiastically reported how his group prays for her on a daily basis.
Great Need for Prayer
I have no doubt that prayer is playing a major part in the struggle to complete a satisfactory Brexit deal. All discerning Christians have known for a long time that the battle to untangle Britain from the tentacles of the European Union would be long and hard, because it is not simply a political tussle - it is a major spiritual conflict.
At the beginning of the TWUK meeting I gave them a scripture which I believe was a word from God for them. It was “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtain wide, do not hold back; lengthen your chords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and the left” (Isa 54:2).
I did not know that Ros Turner, the leader of TWUK, had based her annual message on Jeremiah 29, where the word of God to the exiles in Babylon was to build houses and plant gardens, to increase in number and not to decrease. The same word also instructed the exiles to pray for Babylon, which must have seemed outrageous to the people of Israel whose land had been overrun by this enemy. But that was part of God’s good plan for their future prosperity.
I believe God is encouraging us to begin to look beyond the present crisis to the times of blessing and prosperity that will follow if there is repentance and turning.
I believe that God is now telling Christians in Britain to pray not only for Brexit, but for Brussels! Yes, pray for Brussels! The EU leaders are incredibly worried about the possibility of Britain leaving without a deal which would have a terrible impact upon the EU economy. Of course, they are holding out to the last minute to try to stop Britain leaving the EU; just as are the secular liberal elites in the Westminster Parliament – by any means necessary. Of course, delaying Brexit or forcing another referendum in the current climate of violence and social media hatred would bring violence onto the streets of British cities and chaos across the nation.
Never has there been a greater need for prayer – focused, targeted prayer - since the days of Dunkirk and the 1940s’ threat of Nazi invasion! Nor has there been a greater need to mobilise the little groups of praying Christians in the workplaces, in homes and churches across the nation!
God Longs to Forgive
The next few weeks is going to be the most important time in the history of Britain since the Second World War. Christian intercessors - alone, in small groups or in large gatherings - could focus their prayers with words from Jeremiah 29, praying specifically for repentance and willingness to seek agreement in Brussels and Westminster.
To my surprise, I believe God is saying that he has not finished with Europe, which used to be the most Christian continent in the world, taking the Gospel to many nations. Despite its gross backsliding, God is longing to forgive and to restore. Britain’s departure from the EU will cause an enormous shaking which could be God’s way of opening eyes that are blind.
Through the mountain of prayer that is ascending to heaven from Britain and all over Europe right now as the nations are gripped with anxiety for the future, God is at work using this situation to work out his good purposes. And if we will allow him, he will guide the decision-making and ensure his good plans will give both a future and a hope to Britain and to Europe.
His word is “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord” (Jer 29:13-14).
