Ring of Fire 24-7 Prayer Tour - Vancouver

Hello to everyone from Karen and I from the beginnings of the Ring of Fire 24-7 Prayer Tour as we embark on the ferry to Victoria. Just wanted to give you a brief synopsis of our time in Vancouver.

The Lord has already done more than we could have possibly imagined. Our location in Vancouver turned out to be The Salvation Army building in East Vancouver on Commercial and 1st ave.


They were amazing hosts. An old friend of mine, Gordie, greeted us at the door with a warm smile and BREAKFAST! He attends the Eastside Vineyard Church that meets in the same building that is pastored by Gordie and Kathleen Lagore. It was so good to see a familiar face. Not soon after, our host Salvation Army Captain showed up, Marnie Mitchell. Peter and Marnie Mitchell are captains of X Culture Church and were so generous to host us. It wasn’t long until we were unloaded and set up in their santuary at 1pm.

Throughout the 24 hours, we experienced an amazing presence of the Lord. More people showed up than we had even anticipated and we had an amazing time of worship, prayer and intercession - a young lady we know came and played the piano for us. During this time, a prayer was crafted for Eastside Vancouver. Our midnight watch time was incredible and almost surreal.

We made some great friends, particulary Marnie. We were able to minister to each other in a very significant way. Please continue to pray for this area, for Peter and Marnie Mitchell and for Gordie and Kathleen Lagore.

At 1pm today we packed up and went to a park closeby and grabbed an Americano Misto at a local coffee bar. While at a picnic table, we prayed the crafted prayer for the Eastside while sipping our incredible tasting americanos. From this location, we had an amazing view of the park. It was a hub of activity and relationship. There were people playing botchie, cards, chess and many others were just there chatting. It was such a visual of community.



Although I can’t give too many specifics, what I CAN say at this point is: If we experience nothing else on this journey the last 24 hours would be worth the whole two weeks!

Thanks for journeying with us, and for your prayers.

Last Prep Day!!!

Well today is the day we are packing up!

Just want to fill you in on our day yesterday. Our church leadership commissioned us, and we were prayed over by our friends Richard and Terry Long from the National House of Prayer and our co-prayer partner, Daria Tomiuk from 24-7 Prayer Canada. It was a very powerful and humbling time for us, as we were encouraged, supported, and "sent out".

I guess I can imagine how Gideon must have felt. So many questions, and not many answers other than "trust me for the next step". We know this isn't just about the Prayer Tour, but something much bigger that God has in mind, particulary for our region. I keep coming back to the fact that God uses the foolish things, and He can multiply a simple loaf of bread to feed the hungry and thirsty. As I look at the battle Gideon faced, what could be more ridiculous than going into battle with trumpets and jars.

An amazing email from a praying friend:

The ministry of Jesus Christ would be a ministry of life and restoration and not of death and condemnation. “A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.”...why would Jesus not break a bruised reed or quench smoking flax? ....Now, what about the bruised reeds and smoking flax among us today? Bruised reeds and smoking flax are usually among the outcasts of religious establishments. Bruised and smouldering, their inner potential for life and restoration is completely dismissed. Their outward bruises and flameless cinders make them rejects by the Pharisaic standards of mainstream religions. This is usually due to two obvious reasons. One is that their bruises and suppressed spirits may be the direct results of persecutions from the cold and callous hand of loveless religious snobbery and authoritarianism. The other is that cold and callous religious establishments, void of the life-giving power of the Spirit to heal and revive, cover their shameful helplessness by shunning and condemning the wounded and the faint.God, however, sees beyond the bruises and smoke which conceal the undying purpose and inextinguishable fire born of the Spirit of God in hearts of those who are His, yet are judged unfit by the uncharitable yardstick of men's religious traditions and arrogance. “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel16:7)..... 

Someone wrote to me these inspiring words along this line: “Christ-like mentality produces life; the Law only produced death. Let no man try to destroy the dreams that are produced out of the relationship between you and your Father. Those who live under the Law will try to bring death to all of the God produced thoughts that pour out of your belly like living water.”

Walk in Peace,as my Father hath sent me, so send I you..

Prayer: Lord, you were moved with compassion and this motivated everything you did. Move us by that same compassion as we set out. May we have ears to hear as You hear, and eyes to see as You see.

Tremendously overwhelmed by God's mercy we cry: Here we are Lord, send us.

Ring of Fire 24-7 Prayer Tour Prep Day 7

I was thinking about the Prayer Tour today and wondering how it sounds to people when we try to explain it. To some, it might sound like a silly idea. I even find myself saying, "Self, what in the world do you think you're doing? You're just a nobody. What difference will this make? You're weird and this is all absurd." Then, I was reminded of this verse - I think I like it in the Message verson:

1 Corinthians 1:25-27 (The Message)
While Jews clamor for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go in for philosophical wisdom, we go right on proclaiming Christ, the Crucified. Jews treat this like an anti-miracle—and Greeks pass it off as absurd. But to us who are personally called by God himself—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God's ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one. Human wisdom is so tinny, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can't begin to compete with God's "weakness." Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That's why we have the saying, "If you're going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God."

Hmm, a verse like that makes me glad about my weaknesses. I have to believe that God is the only one who has the right to tell me who I am. It's simply my job to believe it and obey Him, and not let others steal my crown. (Revelation 3:11 Keep a tight grip on what you have so no one distracts you and steals your crown.)

Who am I to argue with God? So, give me God's foolishness any day...

Well, these are some of the words on my heart right now, no fixed address for them just clues in the hunt for treasure. Some things can't be understood by the mind.

Key of David

Root of David

Armada

Bride Warrior

Kingdom of Saul

Kingdom of David

The Ark of the Presence of the Lord

Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark -struck down dead

David subjected to jealous anger and ridicule as he dances to the Lord in total abandonment as the Ark is brought back to Jerusalem

Priests and Kings

First Nations Peoples

Isaiah 57:14-15 (New Living Translation)
God says, “Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones so my people can return from captivity.” The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.

What do you say? Maybe its time to clear away the rubble. Looks like we've got work to do!

Ring of Fire 24-7 Prayer Tour Prep Day 6

When we first began to conceptualize the prayer tour, it was from a very practical desire to see houses of prayer birthed in Gibsons and in all 7 locations we are visiting. (See our first posting 6 posts below called Ring of Fire Prayer Tour for the schedule or go here: http://cbccathy.blogspot.com/2009/09/ring-of-fire-24-7-prayer-tour.html)
But the more we pressed into it, processed and prayed, the more we uncovered the heart and call behind the tour. Its so very simple. Jesus is our bridegroom and God the Father through the Spirit, calls for the Bride to be prepared. This call is a yearning and passionate call. It's a call to return to our first love - and to forsake all others. As I stated in a previous post, it is two-fold:

1) To reposition ourselves to minister to the Lord instead of each other
2) To recapture our first love for Jesus

Now, just think of all the preparations as a wedding draws near! The closer the wedding day, the more attention that is placed on the bride - her dress, her attendants, her accessories, her nails, her hair..then the Father walks her to the Bridegroom..its a WOW moment! In the same way God is wooing his church, from every nation, tribe and tongue. Jesus is our bridegroom and those who have put their trust in Him, through his shed blood on the cross where he bore our sins, are part of his glorious church (bride). He is calling his church to walk in purity of heart, and to forsake all other loves, even as a bride commits herself fully to her husband in covenant love. So preparations are underway, for the time of the wedding feast is at hand! Yes, there is a wedding day coming - so let's get ourselves ready for Him..

Revelation 19:7
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.

So, at each location we visit, we believe that the Lord will give us prayers, songs, even dances. We will ask Him to give us His heart for each city. Primarily though, this time is about being with Jesus, ministering to Him our love and devotion through various ways such as art, writing, music, quiet contemplation, dancing, flagging, ribbon waving, even blowing the shofar, or using the rainstick. There is a myriad of ways to express our love and devotion!

I know this sounds so unconventional. But if you take a close look at Scripture, were any of Jesus' followers conventional? Take John the Baptist, the disciples, or even Jesus himself, not to mention the Old Testament characters. They broke the rules. They stepped outside religious boxes. They challenged old mindsets. They cared more about the Father's opinion than popular opinion. And they cared about the poor, the lonely and the broken. And they all saw God move in ways that were supernatural.

There are some qualities that I want to cultivate in my life so that I can live "dangerously" for Jesus, so here they are:

1. I want to be unconventional in my approach to people and ministry (being real and authentic would be a good start)
2. I want to have divine boldness (not presumtion, but calm confidence and trust)
3. I want to have risk-taking faith (not afraid of failure or looking foolish)

I've been intringued by the title of a book lately called "Wild Goose Chase" by Mark Batterson. Its purpose is to inspire us "to reclaim the adventure of pursuing God." I like that alot! I guess that really sums up this post, doesn't it?

I think Paul the Apostle says it really well:

2 Corinthians 11:2-4
For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ. But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.

Thanks for reading and stopping by. Our pilgrimage begins this coming Monday. If you think of us, we`d appreciate your prayers too!

Blessings to you..and oh, here's a link to my friend Cassandra's blog. She says it so much better than I:
http://fairylightsandseabreezes.blogspot.com/2009/09/place-where-we-are-destined-to-live.html

Ring of Fire 24-7 Prayer Tour Prep Day 5

It's been a busy day of shopping mostly. We finally got our tent..after a first try with one that we had to take back. It's funny because I suspected all along which one to get (due to a word in a dream I had last night - the word "roots"), but I chose the cheaper one anyway, and then we just wasted time having to go back later and buy the other one..the ROOTS tent (didnt even know they made tents) We set it all up in the front yard; its so easy to set up, everything just clips together and it only took us 20 minutes the first time! (and that's a miracle).........its big too! 12 feet x 12 feet. But it's high enough to stand and even JUMP in so that's cool. You never know when you might want to leap and skip.. and praise!

Mal 4:2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.

We also will put some comfy mexico blankets on the floor, some throw pillows, and of course we'll set it up as a perfect place to host this rhythm of prayer...I'll post some pictures once we get it set up for the first time.

You know, I'm so looking forward to this circle of quiet..and the further training God is giving us. And even if no one else shows up, I know He will and that needs to be all that matters to me...

Psalm 94:12 How blessed the man you train, God, the woman you instruct in your Word, Providing a circle of quiet within the clamor of evil, while a jail is being built for the wicked. God will never walk away from his people, never desert his precious people. Rest assured that justice is on its way and every good heart put right.

...Yes, not only the man you train and instruct, but the woman as well....

Hmm, found the commentary on this quite interesting:

We may with boldness appeal to God; for he is the almighty Judge by whom every man is judged. Let this encourage those who suffer wrong, to bear it with silence, committing themselves to Him who judges righteously. These prayers are prophecies, which speak terror to the sons of violence. There will come a day of reckoning for all the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against God, his truths, and ways, and people. It would hardly be believed, if we did not witness it, that millions of rational creatures should live, move, speak, hear, understand, and do what they purpose, yet act as if they believed that God would not punish the abuse of his gifts. As all knowledge is from God, no doubt he knows all the thoughts of the children of men, and knows that the imaginations of the thoughts of men's hearts are only evil, and that continually. Even in good thoughts there is a want of being fixed, which may be called vanity. It concerns us to keep a strict watch over our thoughts, because God takes particular notice of them. Thoughts are words to God. (Ps 94:12-23)

A sobering consideration: "Thoughts are words to God." Still thinking about the word "roots" too. That's a deep subject ..haha. No, but seriously, it is pretty deep.

I'm gone for a few days. Back writing here on Tuesday.

Don't forget that you're precious to God - let Him soak you in His love, embrace you with His strong arms and speak to you His words of life! That's what I'm striving for this week, to enter His rest...

Ring of Fire 24-7 Prayer Tour Prep Day 4

Hi everyone, just thought I'd try out this video cam. For those of you who know me, I'm not much of a tekkie person - neither am I a natural behind the camera. We are both pretty green at this so you'll have to excuse us! I did include a couple of bloopers just for your viewing pleasure ;) Apologies for the noisy background..I'm learning as I go....

So, just want to let you know how things are coming along. Here's a quote we read in "Crafted Prayer" by Graham Cooke:

Knowledge of God comes through peace and stillness. God wants to send us into battle, but if we don't find stillness beforehand, how will we ever find peace in the fight?...We have to lose our ability to panic if we're going to walk with God. We have to lose our ability to worry and be anxious if we're going to walk with God"

So in the midst of preparing for the "Prayer Tour" where we have more questions than answers we are learning to trust.

Here is what we think the time may look like on the 24 hour prayer day:

12:00noon to 8:00p.m: The tent would be set up and open for who ever would like to join us.
8:00 to 12:00 midnight: The *open prayer time would be over and we would have a time of rest, refreshment, prep...
12:00 midnight to 3:00a.m: We will be on the "night watch" quietly continuing this time of prayer and worship.
3:00a.m to 12:00 noon: The tent would remain up. We would be resting and at noon the tent would come down.

*For the open prayer time:
The heart behind this tour is to:
1) Reposition ourselves to minister to Jesus and
2) Recapture our first love for Jesus.

This prayer time is first and foremost about our personal relationship with Jesus. The open prayer time simply is about us creating a "sacred space" or "shalom" where people can come in and quietly seek and/or experience Jesus through their stillness, their various expressions of love through dance, music, singing, writing, art......it is a free flowing time of intimacy with Jesus. We will be there primarily to have our own personal time of worship but would make ourselves available to those who come.

We're not sure what God has in store but we know it will be good. He gave me Psalm 91 earlier today - read it in The Message version, its an amazing promise!

Ring of Fire 24-7 Prayer Tour Prep Day 3

As part of the preparation, Karen and I have been led to a book by Graham Cooke called Crafted Prayer. In it he says,

"The time has come for a new way of prayer. Paridoxically, this new method is actually an ancient way of prayer, one in which God's faithful servants like David and Paul flourished. I call it crafted prayer.....I believe that God is taking many into a new season of intimate, bride-like prayer. REAL WARFARE in the Kingdom of God is always concerned with the battle for intimacy. This is a time to come off the battlefield, and enter a new place of intimate petition."

When I read this, I got pretty excited! This is what our prayer tour is about. He goes on to say:

"God is raising up an army of Esthers, an army of bridal intercessors, and its is a time to come off the wall and rest in the throne room presence of God - in our secret place in Him. It will be difficult for some people to come out of ministry and move into the discipline of resting in God, but the discipline of rest MUST be entered."

Then he says these words and they resound:
"It is a time of laying down ministry to gain fresh intimacy"

And, its time to begin to pray with deight and favour and let our prayers cause our King to stir Himself and come down. God's glory in the midst of his people. His glory is his goodness.

As bridal intercessors, its our joy and delight to pray for the goodness of God to be experienced in a more profound way so that the church can learn that we really do overcome evil with good. Then the Holy Spirit will give us a new stratey for prayer and perserverance; one that contains DELIGHT and LAUGHTER, and is FULL of ardent, passionate love, bathed in fresh worship, and birthed out of a deeper intimacy. Crafted prayer is part of this shift. Prayer in the first stage is not about speaking, but rather about being still: listening and reading.

Prayer:

Lord give us this new revealing of yourself. Remove the veil of our understanding. Reveal your love to us in more profound ways and fill our hearts that we may come into a whole new place of spirituality, a whole new place of walking with you, where we are totally convinced that you love us, care for us, and that you are FOR us and want us to succeed. As we press into this for our prayer tour, lead us to pray your prayers and to be in that place of joy and delight in your presence. Amen.

Crafted Prayer
My child, the weapons of your warfare
are more than a match for the enemy
Whatever has made you feel small
can be turned around with the right weapon

Child, this is not an equal fight!
Every small thing I give you is a significant weapon
against your adversary.
The odds are always in your favour.
Remain childlike and simple in your walk with Me.
I want you to enjoy these experiences I send to you.
Through them I will teach you to smile, to laugh
and to enjoy the power of your Sovereign Lord.

This next season, everything will start
to fall into place for you.
Only look at everything through the eyes and a heart
of a trusting child.
You are My special treasure, my precious one.
I have set this next phase of your journey aside for me
for the purpose of you walking
in simplicity and adoration of Me..enjoy!

~Graham Cooke

Ring of Fire 24-7 Prayer Tour Prep Day 2

We're now gearing up for the next phase of our journey. There will be alot of preparations over the next number of days. Today we were in Vancouver joining in two separate prayer times/stategy times. The first one was in the Great Room on Hastings and was the first time Karen and I had been there. What an amazing place - a piece of heaven right in the heart of the downtown core! The highlight was meeting Shawn, a resident from the area, who spoke to our group and articulated to us some of the history of this area, as well as some of the wonders and challenges of living there. He did an amazing job - his humility, honesty and manner was so refreshing and inspiring. In some ways the sense of community he talked about, is something that we 0nly dream about! Of course there is alot of brokenness, and dysfunction but truly he spoke of a connection and community with one another that we seldom experience in our "suburbia" lifestyles. Aaron White, of 24-7 Prayer, also gave a dramatic reading of Isaiah 58, which was very moving and convicting. Alot of food for thought and prayer.

Aaron led the next strategy meeting in the afternoon and it was great to see so many, particulary of the younger generation, that have such a passion for prayer. Aaron also shared the vision of 24-7 Prayer and some of the history some of which you can read on their site http://www.24-7prayer.com/ Also Dave Carson, a city pastor, shared about being a house of prayer 24 hours a day as our spirit is always praying , and how important that it is to be priests first, ministering to the Lord as our priority. Also a young lady shared about how it seems to be the season that God is mobilizing his army and getting them connected and into position. It's time to hear the marching orders and respond accordingly.

Hmm, perhaps its time to take some new

territory. What do you think?

Is. 54:2-3
Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.

For you will spread out
to the right and to the left;
your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.

So, its been a long day - we're back in Gibsons and still praying into our locations for the "tent". Some ideas have been floating around so I will keep you posted. This Tuesday we will be travelling to Victoria to meet some more 24-7 Pray-ers.

Thanks to all who have been praying and supporting us. One thing we do know, we can't do this alone. If you'd like to share anything the Lord gives you or just want to pass along a personal message, feel free to email me at couljercat@yahoo.com. Karen and I would love to hear from you.

Ring of Fire 24-7 Prayer Tour Prep Day 1

Well, things are coming together in a whirlwind of activity - calls, emails, setting up a facebook event, and learning how to operate a video cam.  Ha, for those of you that know me, these are all challenging to say the least ;)

In discussion with Karen, my 'partner in prayer', it was decided that a tent was the better way to go, so this week we will be purchasing a large tent, with some standing room.    Interesting that I was reading in the Old Testament about the type of tent that David used to house the ark..it was called a shelter, or in Hebrew, a sookaw! This provided a place for God's shekinah presence where he could dwell with his people.  We plan to fill the tent with prayers, intercessions, exhuberant worship and quiet contemplation. We will have some musical intruments available, as well as banners, ribbons, and flags.

Will you join us on this pilgrimage?  You can join in prayer with us, or meet us any any of our points along the way.  You can catch the itinerary on my previous post.  I will be updating the blog each day and updating my Facebook status so we can let people know our exact locations.

Psalm 132
A Pilgrim Song
 1-5 O God, remember David, remember all his troubles! 
  And remember how he promised God, 
  made a vow to the Strong God of Jacob, 
  "I'm not going home, 
  and I'm not going to bed, 
  I'm not going to sleep, 
  not even take time to rest, 
  Until I find a home for God, 
  a house for the Strong God of Jacob."

For more information you can check out the Facebook Event - a roadtrip called "Ring of Fire 24-7 Prayer Tour" and become a supporter in prayer or email me at couljercat@yahoo.com for more information.  24-7 Prayer Canada is supporting our efforts!

http://www.24-7prayer.ca/index.php

Ring of FIre 24-7 Prayer Tour

Well this is what I and a friend have been working on for the past number of weeks.  One day God downloaded a crazy idea as we were sitting outside having coffee at a local coffee shop.

 

So here we are just about ready to start and feeling so unprepared.  The idea is just to bring a place of worship and prayer for 24 hours in the towns we visit.  There are 7 cities, one day of 24 hour prayer in each, plus a day of rest in each = 14 days!

We've been looking into mode of transport.  First we thought of a minivan/camper thingy.  But its just not the right idea.  Then we went to thinking of a U Haul truck, but the expense was a little overwhelming..$1500!  So, now were at a tent idea.  My husband Jerry took me to a Canadian Tire yesterday, and we found some cool tents that could be used as a "meeting place"..(tent of meeting haha) and could also be used for sleeping.  

The focus of the prayer tour, as far as we know, is to prepare the way of the Lord through worship and prayer as our coming Bridegroom.  We're praying for greater revelation as His attendants, and that we would do all that the Lord asks of us.  We're not looking for success in human terms but simply wanting to obey the His voice.  

We are excited about this tour, but we have no idea what to expect - other than to spend time with Jesus.  We are hoping to connect with others along the way.  

It would be great if you could join us in this tour.  You can do that by sending us a message of support, letting us know you're praying, or showing up at any of our locations.  If you live in any of the areas I mentioned, please keep in touch and we can let you know where we are.  I will have a laptop so you can email us at couljercat@yahoo.com and we can send you our cell phone number.  Also you can check out this blog as I will be keeping it updated as to where we are and how to contact us.

Check out 24-7 Prayer Canada site as they have this on their site http://www.24-7prayer.ca  

This is our itinerary:

Revelation 19:6-8 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:  "Hallelujah!   For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come,  and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)