This ‘review’ of intercession for the Referendum and Election by Dave Chapman is offered not only for edification but also as a good example of listening to hear the Lord’s will for our world. Dave contributed a couple of informative papers very early in my blogging on the Referendum for staying in or leaving the EU and I’m honoured to publish his latest, to which underscoring is mine for emphasis.:

ON PATHS OF RESTORATION

Well, what a year it has been thus far!  So much going on, and so many changes both here and abroad.

We began it with preparations for our trip to Kabale, Uganda, again. All sorts of things to do, and to take. Loads of clothes, and gifts we had been given, mostly monetary, for the work out there. We too were blessed there on so many fronts, not least the privilege of seeing God at work in miracles and healings through them before our very eyes.

Referendum Time

We were back home less than two weeks before David Cameron announced a June date for the Referendum.  Prayer for this began in earnest.  We focused primarily on “Your kingdom come, Lord, Your will be done….here”.

Though we sensed we needed to leave the EU, we did not pray from that standpoint.  But, as we prayed, we ‘heard’ so many different scriptures coming, both to us and to others we were praying with, sometimes here and some other prayer times, all within a 20 mile radius of us.  “Let my people go”, the words of Moses to Pharoah was an early one. Then there was the story of David and Goliath.  Yes, the ‘Goliath’ is stunned, but not dead yet!  There is quite a lot of wriggling going on! 

Another was about “recover all”.  This was from the account of when David returned from a battle front to find the Philistines had taken everything – women and children, and cattle and goods too.  What should he do?   He enquired of the Lord.  “Go and recover all”, was what the Lord said.  There were many more pointers too, plus the reminder that this 50th year (in Israel ’til October just passed) is called a Jubilee year.  Its prime issue is to return land to its original owner!  For us our year starts January of course, and so returning ‘ownership and governance to our own land again’ is an interesting connection.  Plans for Global Governance were dealt a blow from our land that had birthed Nation State democratic rule.

The day of the Referendum we had a 24-hour prayer time, that God’s will should be done – starting 10pm, through the night and ending when the polls closed at 10pm June 23rd.

A couple of hours before the end, God began to show several different things.  One saw a pair of old-fashioned scales, that ‘shifted down’ on the ‘left’ side!  Another saw the arrows of the Dad’s Army theme being pushed back!  Another saw David Cameron at his lectern outside 10 Downing St saying, “The people of Britain have spoken…..”.  When we asked what tone was it said in, the reply was “well, more with a sense of resignation!”   By 10am the next morning we knew what that meant!

Fresh Leadership

Seventeen days later on 11th July we all knew Theresa May had no challengers to be the new Prime Minister.  That has to be one of the quickest and most decisive leadership elections in our history.  Mind you, it gave her time and cover over the summer recess to put a new team together and start to address the ‘Leave EU’ process that nobody had prepared for!  By the way, did anyone note how our weather changed soon afterwards to give one of our best holiday periods for school kids and Mums, until well into September?

There is no doubt in my mind that God wanted us separate from the EU.  Even the many intercessors in Europe who had been praying for Britain to stay in, heard from the Lord just a week before our Referendum, that He wanted us out!  That is such a strong endorsement.  Of course there is a long way to go, but at least the process of preparation is well under way now.

At Home and Away

Our own summer was filled up with guests staying here …the flight to New Zealand to visit family for a whole month!

It was a truly wonderful break, visiting…people who have made their home overlooking one of the finest bays and views of New Zealand in Russell, their first capital, and gateway to the Bay of Islands.  They too were so good to us, and our 4 hour boat trip out to the Hole in the Rock, with Dolphins on tap too, was a truly memorable day with glorious blue skies that day, and its waters various shades of blue and aqua blue along the way. God is so good to us, and our thanks go to family and friends for enabling it all as well.

American Election

Returning towards the end of October we seemed to adjust time-wise again, so quickly.  Jet lag was almost non-existent.  We must have stored up some good energies and strength while in NZ.  But, we were straight into prayer for the American Election.  Why?  ‘cos let’s face it, we have never taken that much interest in our own elections, let alone Americas!   So, have we suddenly become ‘political’?   I don’t believe so.

It’s just that at certain times in history – and perhaps now also, and forwards – it is vital the church gets to prayer to see that not only God’s purposes are done in a Nation, but that the leadership is right for Him to be able to move by His Spirit effectively in our lands, without His work being snuffed out before the fire really catches!  So, our goal through prayer for these governmental changes is to see God moving by His Spirit to restore Godly things in our lands, and for His name to be lifted high.

In fact, in the twelve-hour prayer day locally for the American Election (on their Election Day), repeated themes arose, such as the establishing of righteousness, justice, and truth.  God’s throne is established in righteousness and justice.  His mercy follows on swiftly too.

We were aware several ‘prophets’ in America had felt that Trump was to be like Cyrus was to Israel.  Cyrus was a non-Jewish, heathen king (of Persia), who was God’s anointed leader to bless Israel in their release!  Other prophets/intercessors (American) professed to have visited heaven where they were told he would be the next President!  What if God really is taking these people up – just like Paul, and John, who were taken up to see things to come?  As God spoke of Cyrus in Isaiah 45, so Mr Trump would be the 45th President of America!

Mysterious Revelations

There were some interesting revelations too during the prayer day.  One such was the word “Bullfrog”, given to one person there.  Now, because it’s not a scripture, or biblical word many would not even mention it – or if they did it would be cast to one side as ‘off the wall’!  But, wait a moment.  What do we know about the bullfrog?  It’s firstly a native to the north-east of America particularly.  It’s a veracious animal, that has a sudden prodigious leap forward to devour its prey of many different kinds, including snakes, or simply opens its large mouth to devour whatever swims  nearby – in a clean-sweep you might say.  Its voice is deep, somewhat akin to a cow or a bull, from where it gets its name, all in all a most unattractive animal.

What’s that got do with Mr Trump?  Really?  Quite a lot, eh!  We know now he cleaned up in key areas of north-east America.  His manner and presentation has (to us and many others) been most unattractive, with his ‘big mouth’!  His campaign had ‘the Donald T shirt’ – with a Bullfrog emblazoned on it!  So we see that God was speaking to us through this ‘revelation’ – but it is there to be missed if we do not trust the thoughts or pictures the Spirit gives!

Then, right at the end of the evening, someone had the reminder of a song from childhood “Nellie the elephant packed her trunk and said goodbye to the circus. Off she went with a Trumpety Trump, Trump Trump Trump!”.  Only what she wanted to sing was  “Hillary Clinton packed her bags and said goodbye to the circus”!  I thought you said this was in a prayer time?  I did.  And it was!  It’s just that God speaks to her through lines of well-known, non-Christian songs, especially!

Now, lets unpack that a little.  First of all, God has been raising prophets in America for many years now and it appears some of that anointing rubbed off on us that day.  The symbol of the Republican Party, we have found out since, is that of an elephant, and since Abraham Lincoln’s days – 1864!   The three-fold Trump could indicate the threefold winning of the Presidential election, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.  The circus was of course the whole campaigning process, if not the political establishment Hillary Clinton represented.  Amazing what you can miss if you dismiss the prophetic!

Supreme Court Ruling

Next up for us in UK is the Supreme Court ruling over declaration of Article 50 (the EU Treaty mechanism for negotiating the period of UK’s departure from it) to be held early December.  Whilst the High Court have stated there has to be presentation to Parliament as to what the Brexit team will put to the EU, my own hopes are that the Supreme Court will come up with a carefully balanced approach which would be something like this:-

1.  recognition the Referendum result is a requirement to leave the EU;
2. require Parliament’s prior input in open debate from concerned Parties, but does not require Government to ‘spill all the beans’ prior to negotiations;
3. affirms the various Parties and Committees representations to our Government (Mrs May and Co);
4. frees up the Government, after appropriate representations, to declare Article 50;
5. require Government to return to Parliament, after UK/EU negotiations are completed – for passing into Law.

At that point which MP would fancy retaining his job – outside of London or Scotland that is – if he voted against that result, should there need to be an election to get it all through into Law, bearing in mind the country not only voted to leave the EU, but through a Supreme Court decision to have to enact leaving through recognition of that result?  Furthermore, how much would the rest of Europe disdain us in the future if we then decided (through an election result), No, actually we’d like to stay in the EU!  We would be a laughing-stock for decades to come!

Nevertheless, we encourage much prayer for the Supreme Court, so that true justice is done for the UK, without hampering the ‘Leaving EU’ process, or aim.  We have another prayer day too on 29th November for this.

European Elections Soon

Then again there are several big major presidential elections coming – in Germany (Feb 2017), in France (May 2017), Italy (also in May), while Holland has its legislative house elections in March.  Italy has a referendum early next month on whether to give its parliament more powers.  In each of these elections there is strong opposition based in ‘people power’.  Will the present powers survive, and with it the EU, in its present form?

Essential Partnership

I have said since soon after our Referendum result, that as we needed America’s help and support to make it successfully through two world wars, so we would need their help to make it through the leaving EU process.  Not that we are at war with the EU, we just need to sail our own ship.  And now, America have chosen to do that too.  We must remember that there have been, and still are, strong powers that want to make One World Global Governance a reality, powers that are not just earthly, too.  Well, America just decided against that as well.  Only where there is a strong sense of true liberty in a Nation will they be able to do that.  Liberty/freedom was a founding Constitutional aspect of America, taken there from Britain.  And, religious freedom too.

That religious freedom was against the backdrop of its understanding being of Christian religious freedoms.  Of how to meet, of non-Catholic or Anglican movements, of truth etc, but all basically from a Biblical standpoint.  Islam had not reached there, or here at that time, for instance.  So, their Constitution is rooted in dedication to God, to justice, to liberty (not licence, the slide on which liberalism rides to more and more immoral and evil ways), to give proper defence of a Nation, and for the general welfare of the people as a whole.

Of Apostles and Prophets…..

It’s almost as if being mirrored is the emergence of the true apostolic and prophetic ministries as the UK and America emerge from their dark period of hibernation.  Britain has been a fathering Nation.  Just like true apostolic ministry – though we were less servant- like as a Nation than the apostles of old were.  And, America has been a clear, directive Nation established to give a prophetic like voice to the world.  It was always them that reached out for more, be it a welcoming hand to integrate the Jews, or even to go for the moon!  Prophets are always seeing the new ground, even if they, without the apostles, do not know how to take it.  He has called us to walk together for His purposes.  Together, as Nations, we can be a powerhouse for the Kingdom of God, and a truly Godly influence on the world.

Just think, we are depicted in so many ways, including on our flags, as a ‘Lion’ nation;  and they, even on their Great Seal, as an ‘Eagle’ nation.  The one is, in type, governing the land, the other rules the skies (or heavens). The apostolic is ‘down to earth’ in application, the ‘prophetic’ reaches for the heavens (skies).  Is this not what God is doing in our day?  That is, something that is actually far greater and beyond, in intent, than a Referendum vote in our Country or an incredible Election result in America – as amazing as these are not only to us, but to the world?

That is, He is showing that He is establishing these two foundational ministries again in the earth today, illustrated by these two great Nations, in order to display His Kingdom power and authority in the earth.  As Kings of old declared  ” The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.’(ESV).

…..and of King Priests

The church of God has an opportunity, indeed a call, to step into its Divine calling.  That is Priesthood.  But not of the earthly kind.  Not even of the Levitical type.  It’s of that heavenly, eternal priesthood – of which Christ Himself is the High Priest!  That is, of being a King Priest!  One who rules and reigns, but not after an earthly style.  Melchizedek, a type of Christ who met Abraham, was of this kind.  One without beginning or end, one to whom even Abraham gave a tithe!  He was priest of the Most High God, but also King of Salem.

So, we are to be ‘Priest King’ persons, having our feet well and truly on the ground, but our hearts in Heaven itself, so that we become these conduits from Heaven to Earth of what God wants to do here!  If we will take our place as seated with Christ in heavenly places, see and hear what He is doing from Heaven, we can and will see it happen here, as we agree with Him and declare His will on the earth.  Remember, the final Kingdom on earth is given to the saints.  And, what, or who are they?   Why….just holy ones!

Unto Restoration

We can therefore begin to see that we are in the days of the “restoration of all things”, including the ministries of the apostles and prophets, in whose days mighty things take place as God demonstrates His power and authority through them, to transform and heal a broken world, to show forth His great love for mankind through many mighty things, of miracles, and healings, signs and wonders.  And also, that of the ‘Priest Kings’.  These are not an elite bunch, but as Peter says “we are a royal priesthood”.  Will we step into our true role?

As has been said, the stage is being set for the Lord doing great and mighty things beyond what we can think or comprehend.  His salvation will yet go to the ends of the earth as we take our place in His Kingdom advance.  He will rule and reign, He will come again, but only at the point that all is ready for His appearance, when “the bride has made herself ready”.  That is, when she has grown to full maturity, and knows and behaves as the one she is.

Dave Chapman 11/11/2016