Praying For Wisdom

I'm amazed at the response to the email I sent out regarding this particular prayer focus. By last night over 700 people read the email that went on Monday and have begun to pray with us. Additionally, a pastor's prayer group from Victoria will be joining me at the Legislature on Thursday morning to represent the Church across BC. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited to see what God is doing.

Daily Prayer Focus

1. The debate has become fairly acrimonious as both sides seek to blame the other for the current situation. While our political system is adversarial by nature, we need our leaders to push partisanship aside and to collaborate on what is best for our Province. This can only begin through a move towards humility on both sides of the house.

2. Pray for the Speaker and Deputy Speakers as they moderate the debate. The Speaker demonstrated tremendous wisdom and leadership yesterday afternoon and will undoubtedly be required to do so again before the session ends.

3. Finally, pray for the Party and House Leaders from both sides. These 4 people are key participants in this debate and also can be key to the solution that comes out of this debate if they choose to be. Pray particularly that the desire to serve the people of BC overcomes the desire for power.

Prayer Focus for November 25, 2008

While I had hoped to be able to provide specific daily information for you as a way to support your prayer partnership with us, all I have been able to do thus far is secure the following information. This link takes you to the Orders of the Day as set out by the Government House Leader. This will help you to see what will be discussed today and in what order it will happen.

http://leg.bc.ca/38th4th/orders/o0825nova4.html

This link will take you to the live webcast which can also be watched on the BC Leglislative Channel on cable TV.

http://leg.bc.ca/hansard/video/live.asp?video=wven&toc=live

Thanks for praying with us.

Prayers Needed... NOW!

The next 4 days are extremely significant to the future of our province. The Legislature has been recalled to specifically deal with the government's economic plan to address the current economic situation. I think it's important for the Legislature to resume to deal with this matter. I think it's equally important for us to invest some time and energy into praying for them at this time. The decisions that will be made this week will affect our province economically, (which ultimately affects almost every other area in our province) for many years to come.

I'm convinced that as the Church rises to this opportunity to pray for our leaders as they debate this important legislation that God will respond and grant them the wisdom and insight necessary to make a decision that will be the most beneficial to our province today and in the months and years to come.

Here's what I'm inviting you to do. I'm asking you to pray specifically for the MLA's over the next 4 days that God will give them great wisdom and discernment. For those of you who are in the Victoria area, I'd like to invite you to consider visiting the Legislature to pray on site during the week. The Legislature sits from 10 AM to 12 PM and resumes at 1:30 PM to 6:30 PM. This is a critical time and a tremendous opportunity for us to stand in the gap for our entire province. In order to provide ongoing information, I will provide a daily prayer focus on this site to support your efforts. Thanks for participating in this. We are going to make a difference!

Civic Election Results

After over a month of praying for the election, today we want to pray for those who have been recently elected. To see who was elected in your community, click here to be taken to the CivicInfo website. In addition to praying with us today, I want to encourage you to consider doing something to recognize those who have been elected. Send a card, letter or email congratulating them on their election, thanking them for their willingness to serve and committing yourself to pray for them. Then work at building a relationship of blessing where your sole focus will be to serve and encourage those who lead your community.... I think it's what Jesus would do....

Election Day Resources

Today is election day! If you still aren't sure how to vote, here are some resources for you that we hope you find helpful.

Metro Vancouver Candidate Profiles

Lower Mainland Candidate Profiles

Rest of BC

School Trustee Candidate Profiles

How you vote, is less important than that you actually do. We are blessed to live in a nation that gives the privilege of choosing our leaders. As you do, choose prayerfully and wisely. I'd encourage you to consider calling a few friends and encouraging them to vote today as well.

Candidates for School Trustee

I just found a site that has candidate profiles for School Trustees across BC.

Click here to be taken to the main site where you can search for candidates by district or name.

Final Push

On Saturday, voters in your community will choose School Trustees who will provide governance and leadership to the schools your children and grandchildren will likely attend.

Today, we want to pray for those who will be elected on Saturday.

Father, we come to you in Jesus Name on behalf of those who will be elected this Saturday as School Trustees. We see the awesome responsibility and authority they have to shape the future of education in our communities and at the same time, impact the lives of our children. Our request today is that as You place individuals of your choosing to serve in this key role, you would fill them with wisdom and understanding. Grant them discernment as they seek to serve our communities in this very significant role and help them in every way. Let your blessing be on them we ask.

Amen
James 1:5 - If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

Victoria Prayer Gathering

We held our Victoria Prayer Gathering for the Civic Election last night. We had about 45 people come together to pray and worship with us. It was a great night with a room full of people who wanted and knew how to pray. I was tremendously blessed to have 6 pastors with us for the evening. It's important to me that we are doing this in partnership with the local church rather than trying to build something that isn't connected to it in some way.

One participant shared something really interesting last night. As we were praying, he made the comment that this might be the first time that someone has prayed for these people in this way and how it was so rewarding for him to be a part of that moment. It was rewarding to be there and to provide an opportunity for believers to pray for those who will serve our communities as mayors, councilors and school trustees.

I believe that God is in this and that something incredible will come as we continue to pray all across our province. There are only 12 days left until the Civic Election and we'd love to have you join with us as we ask God to use this election for His purposes for our communities and schools. If you'd like to be a part of what we are doing, go to http://www.praybc.com/ to register for our daily email blast. Be a part of the miracle!