Covenant Keepers - Oct 00 Newsletter

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October, 2000

Special Meetings

Effective Fasting

Amalgamated Prayer

INTERNATIONAL YELLOW RIBBON DAY

Come, Covenant Keepers…

Let’s tie yellow ribbons,
‘round the old family tree,
A symbol to the devil
that our mates are truly free.

Come, Covenant Keepers,
let us join in victory,
As we tie yellow ribbons
‘round the old family tree!

Join Us
For A Special Day
Of Fasting And Prayer

Covenant Keepers continues our tradition of fasting and prayer for our nations, our homes and our families. We tie yellow ribbons around trees to symbolize that the captives have been set free! If you have no tree, decorate your lamppost or front door.

Fasting and prayer can be one of the most powerful ways to experience God’s blessings. Together, they are the key to spiritual power. Just as eating preserves the physical life, fasting preserves the spiritual life.

We invite all of you to participate with us and help us set the captives free through prayer and fasting on Tuesday, October 31^st.

FASTING

Ask God what type of fast you should observe: all three meals, one or two meals. If you are on medication and can not skip a meal, consider fasting certain drinks or foods. Another option is to fast all television or other entertainment.

Isaiah 58 is our fasting guide from scripture. Study it daily, reading from several translations if you can. We must search and cleanse ourselves so our prayers will be answered. Pray in faith, believing God to move mightily across our land.

The fact that personal problems in our lives (separation and divorce) have brought us to this day of fasting and prayer should only encourage us to ask God to cleanse and purify us and our land.

PRAYER

Pray that families will be restored and marriages healed. Pray that unsaved loved ones would have a revelation of who Jesus is and would choose to make Him Lord and Savior of their lives.

Use the following calendar as a daily prayer guide during October, as well as what the Holy Spirit shows you.

For the peace of Jerusalem. Ps 122:6
For national and state leaders. 1 Tim 2:1-2, Prov 21:1
For Marilyn Conrad and office staff. Ps 92:12-15, Ps 91 Gal 6:9.
For National, Regional and State Directors, and group leaders. 1 Tim 2:1-2, Prov 21:1
For Covenant Keepers' Board of Directors. 1 Tim 2:1-2, Prov 21:1
For intercessors to receive greater revelation knowledge. Eph 1:17, Mark 4:22
For deliverance of loved ones from alcohol, drugs, homosexuality, adultery, occult spirits, pornography, and other addictions. Ps 91:3, Ps 129:4
For covenant keepers to develop a warrior mentality. Ps 91:13
Against spiritual pride in covenant keepers. Prov 8:13
For good communication with our mates. 1 Tim 6:18, Eph 2:14 KJV
For all covenant keepers to be excellent employees. Rom 12:11, 1 Thess 4:12 Amp
For pastors to receive revelation knowledge about the marriage covenant and the grace not to compromise God’s Word. Eph 1:18, 2 Tim 4:2
For strength as the ministry grows. Isa 54:17, Isa 40:29
That all gossip and murmuring against covenant keepers cease. Ps 31:18, Ps 141:3, Prov 19:18
For Godly men and women to be elected to office. Prov 29:2
For covenant keepers to be Spirit-led, rather than emotion-led. Gal 5:16 Amp
For all covenant keepers to walk in divine health and prosperity. Prov 4:20-22, 3 John 2, 2 Cor 9:6-12
For unity in the Body of Christ. Eph 4:2-5
For the restoration of the mother/father spirit in covenant keepers’ mates. Mal 4:6, 1 Tim 3:2-5, Titus 2:4-5, Prov 31:10-31
That we will learn to trust God to perform His Word. Num 23:19
Against the spirit of Molech (sacrificing children) that still exists through abortion. Heb 13:20-21
For truth to come forth in all areas and situations. 2 Cor 10:5
For the eyes of our mates’ hearts to be enlightened and that they would begin to hunger for the things of God. Eph 1:18, Matt 5:6
For all those who need encouragement. Psa 24:8
That the strongholds of the enemy be torn down over our nations. 2 Cor 10:3-4
For newly reconciled couples, that healing will continue to take place. Eph 5:22-23
For the strengthening of pastors’ marriages and others in church leadership. Eph 3:16, Mk 10:8-9
For all those facing divorce proceedings. Col 2:14, Matt 19:6
For covenant keepers around the world, including our groups in England, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Guatemala. Luke 1:37; 8:50; 18:27
That the covenant breaking spirit would be broken over our nations and our homes protected. Matt 18:18, Jer 11:1-3
That covenant keepers receive understanding and guidance for fasting. Isa 58

October 31st – ANNUAL YELLOW RIBBON DAY
Pray, Fast and Plan to Attend
One of the Special Meetings in Your Area

EFFECTIVE FASTING

Effective: active, efficient, operative, efficacious, adequate, productive, strong, weighty, momentous, potent, important, consequential, substantial, prestigious, authoritative, persuasive, winning, functional, power-packed, mighty, irresistible, forceful, dynamic, vigorous, telling, workable. Roget’s International Thesaurus

The following information and excerpts are from the Covenant Keepers Leadership Guide and presented to assist you as you consider fasting during Yellow Ribbon Days.

WHAT IS FASTING?

Fasting is a voluntary abstinence from food for one or more meals. Do not fast just because others are fasting. Before deciding to fast, please pray and seek God’s will for yourself. If you have never fasted before, it may be best for you to only fast one meal in the beginning. It can be harmful for people with certain medical problems or conditions to fast. If you are unsure about potential health issues, consult your physician before starting a fast.

If you cannot skip meals for medical reasons, you can give up certain foods such as sweets or soft drinks. Another way of fasting is to give up watching television and spend that time in prayer.

FASTING IN OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT TIMES

The Bible contains many references to fasting, before Jesus' time and in the words of the Savior himself.

Matthew 9:14-15-- "Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be take away from them, and then they will fast.'" Also found in Mark 2:18-20 and Luke 5:33-35.

Nehemiah 1:4-- "So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven."

Judges 20:26-- "Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord."

Jonah 3:5-- "So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes."

MOTIVES ARE IMPORTANT

Sometimes people fast for the wrong reasons or motives. This usually occurs because they have an incomplete knowledge of what the scriptures say about fasting. Some wrong motives include:

To change God's mind: Fasting does not change God because He is the same yesterday, today and forever; His character and nature will be no different when we complete our fast. Fasting does not change the Father, but it does change us. We will become more sensitive to the Spirit of God. Another way we are different is we will find it easier to resist the urges of our flesh.

To impress others: Check the verse in Luke 18:12. If we fast secretly, God will reward us openly.

To get God to change others without first being willing to change: During a fast, if we humble ourselves, wait on God, intercede, travail in prayer, and obey what He reveals to us, we will see our loved ones set free. As we “humble our selves under the mighty hand of God,” He will exalt us in due season. See Isaiah 58.

To lose weight: It is likely that you will lose some weight from fasting. However, this is a secondary result derived from the main purpose of fasting. Going without food and experiencing hunger is not fasting. Prayer, ministering to the Lord and study of God’s Word should accompany fasting. A fast gives us extra time to wait on God and hear from Him.

GOD'S CHOSEN FAST

The prophet Isaiah, in his classic message to Israel (chapter 58) about what constitutes true religion, paints a clear and powerful picture in verses 3-12 of the kind of fast that is pleasing to God.

"'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?'

"In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers. Indeed you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high. Is it a fast I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?

"Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and hide not yourself from your own flesh?

"Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.'

"If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as noonday.

"The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

"Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.”

AMALGAMATED PRAYER

Amalgamate: combine, unite, incorporate, embody, unify, consolidate, assimilate, integrate, solidify, coalesce, compound, lump together, roll into one, come together, make one, connect, join, mix, add, merge, blend, shade into, fuse, meld, melt into one, interfuse, encompass, include, comprise, synthesize, interblend. Roget’s International Thesaurus

Anytime we come together and pray in agreement we see God move mightily. At the Yellow Ribbon Day and Day of Encouragement meetings this month and early next month, I believe that God wants us to join our prayers together as an amalgam. Amalgamate means to merge together into a single body.

A guest speaker at a previous Covenant Keeper Conference shared with us about the time she was in Europe immediately before and just after the Berlin Wall came down. Invited to a special prayer meeting, she prayed with forty-four ministers from thirteen nations. Afterward she met with over four hundred intercessors for Germany; they prayed for two and a half hours for the raising of the Iron Curtain, praying in the spirit and doing spiritual warfare.

THE LORD SPOKE

At the close of the prayer time a man from Sweden stood, and the Lord spoke and said, “You are getting ready to hear a prayer that will change the history of the world.”

This man then prayed, “Lord, I come to you today and I come as Moses came before Pharaoh. So do I come before the wall in Berlin. And as Moses spoke to Pharaoh, so I speak to the wall and say, ‘Let my people go!’ And, Father, I bring with me all the prayers of the saints that have been prayed over all these years, and I ask that they be amalgamated into one.”

“Father, I go into Prague and I say that we will see Lenin’s statue carried out on the shoulders of the people. And I bring with me into the city all the prayers that have been prayed, and again I ask that they be amalgamated into one. And I say, ‘Let my people go!’ Lord, we want an answer and we want it in seven weeks.”

THE ANSWER CAME

The speaker finished by saying, “That was September 22, 1989 and on November 9^th the Berlin Wall came down, followed by the fall of the Communist Party in both Hungary and Czechoslovakia. That week Newsweek Magazine carried pictures of Lenin’s statue being carried away on several men’s shoulders.”

I am convinced that one of our purposes for coming together this year is that the Holy Spirit wants us to merge our prayers together into a single prayer that will go directly to the throne room of God. We can stand before the Father as Moses stood before Pharaoh and say to the wall of divorce, “Let my people go!”

And we can take with us all the prayers that the saints have prayed over the years and ask that they be amalgamated into one.

Matthew 18:19 states, "…that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." Think what the agreement of several hundred will do.

Covenant Keepers is asking you to fast and pray and hear from the Lord. Your prayers can change the destiny of many generations. Just as the prayers of the saints had gone forth for many years before the Iron Curtain came down, so have the prayers of covenant keepers gone forth for divided homes in the United States and countries around the world.

BE OBEDIENT

Please pray and then be obedient. God will provide and make a way. He is a mighty God and nothing is too difficult for Him when we use our faith. Together, we can change the history of the world by affecting the destiny of our own families and also the lives and marriages of our children and grandchildren.

"Thus saith the Lord; refrain thy voice from weeping and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border." Jeremiah 31:16-17