Praying through September

We figured we should let you know that for the last few months almost everyone in Christchurch has been waiting for tomorrow (Sept 28) to pass by quietly. The reason being that there have been a few predictions/prophecies about an earthquake and subsequent tsunami hammering the northern shores of Christchurch. A various many people (non-Christians and Christians alike) have had dreams about such things as well. Some are choosing to believe, some are refuting it, most are uncertain. It’s been an “interesting” time to say the least.

Have a look at this bit from 3 NEWS (hopefully you can watch it outside of NZ) HERE.

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Two weeks ago we were having dinner with some friends who live by the beach. We got talking about all of the hype around these “predictions” and decided to spend part of the evening praying about it together. During prayer, it turned out that Noah and I received the same impression from the Lord. We basically had the same scripture and picture come to mind – something we’ve never had happen before.

He began by sharing that he felt the Lord lead him to the book of Job. I said, “Me too!”. Then he stated that the Lord specifically pointed out a particular verse in the last few chapters where God reminds Job of who He (God) is ( “were you there when I created this… and this..”), and I said, “Me too!”

Then Noah went on to say that he felt the Lord remind him of where He talks about creating the sea and says, “This far you may come and no farther; where you proud waves halt.?” and again, I was astonished and said, “Me too!!” Then he shared that he felt God say we should go down and speak that over the ocean in prayer. And again, I had the same thing, an image of us praying along the shore. We both felt the Lord was showing us that believers are meant to stand against this plan of destruction rather than sit back and wait for it to happen.

We all walked a block down to the beach, totally giddy that God just showed us that simultaneously. So we stood at the high tide line and prayed, speaking those words of the the ocean (feeling a bit silly yet feeling faithful and secure at the same time)… “you may come this far and no further” we said and prayed for awhile. (Reference: Job 38:8-11)

Then a few days later I was praying for confirmation to write a message to send out to people about praying against the prophecies… As soon as I asked for for confirmation, the Lord reminded me of a passage of scripture He has spoken to us throughout the last two years of our journey to NZ and the 18 months of living here. Jeremiah 29: 4-9. He has used this to parallel what my husband and I are going through as He called us here. Paraphrase: Settle, build a family, seek the peace of the city, pray for it, do not trust prophets/diviners who were not sent by God. He reminded me of the last part in particular. We really feel we must not embrace this negative word as something from the Lord but consider it as something from the enemy that we can intercede against.

So the last month we have been praying and asking God to prevent further earthquakes, tsunamis, or any other form of destruction.

As we try to discern the language and theology used throughout the “prophecies” we have been weighing what we know to be true of God and His plans for this city. We are praying tomorrow passes by beautifully with no drama whatsoever! Please join us in that prayer!