Prayer and Praise Night for Marriage
7 pm Monday 21 October, 2013
Dear
In Good News Update No. 78 we asked you to pray for, and write letters to, our newly-elected Prime Minister, Tony Abbott. This was in regard to the Marriage Equality Bill in the Australian Capital Territory to be voted on this month. Thank you to those who have made time to do this. Your prayers and your follow-up actions are an investment for future generations of Australians.
For unless God intervenes, homosexual 'marriage' will be legalised for the very first time on Australian soil on 22 October 2013, or soon after. The A.C.T. Labor government is able to out-vote the Coalition 9:8 with the help of a sole Greens MLA who holds the balance of power. The Federal Commonwealth Solicitor-General has advised the Abbott Government that this homosexual 'marriage' law would be unconstitutional. Even so, it would seem that nothing will stop the A.C.T. government from embarking upon this process of radical social change.
In response to all this, a call for a night of prayer and praise for marriage has been made, very fittingly, by the Canberra House of Prayer. They were inspired by the story in 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 when King Jehoshaphat faced a vast army coming against Judah. He proclaimed a fast and called the people to come together to seek help from the LORD. The Canberra House of Prayer, together with other leaders, believe we should do the same.
Our God is more than able to overturn this or any other law on the grounds of His holiness, righteousness and justice. Still, He asks His people to pray and seek His face and turn from anything they know to be wicked as we read in 2 Chronicles 7:14. And so we invite you to participate in this Prayer and Praise Night to be held all over Australia from 7 pm on Monday 21 October 2013.
- You can pray on your own or with some friends in a home.
- You might want to organise a special prayer and praise service in your own church or in a local venue so a number of churches can come together and pray in unity.
- You might also want to pray in your own church service the day before, Sunday 20 October.
Whatever you do, it is important to do something. You can observe this special time of prayer any way you feel.
We suggest you read the Australian Marriage Declaration and pray the Marriage Prayer which are found below.
Here are some other suggestions to help you prepare for this event.
1. To become more aware of the consequences of legalising homosexual 'marriage', we invite you to watch this important video by Bill Muehlenberg, an Australian citizen and advocate for marriage and family for 30 years.
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The consequences of homosexual marriage
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2. Reflect on the Bible story of King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 for inspiration.
3. Plan on anything from 5 minutes to a couple of hours made up of prayer, praise, worship and Bible readings.
4. Read together the Australian Marriage Declaration as a joint proclamation of the wonder and beauty of marriage as God's gift to mankind. Also you can read the Marriage Prayer collectively.
5. Encourage those who can, to set apart the whole day, Monday 21 October 2013 which is the day before the likely A.C.T. vote, as a day of prayer and fasting.
PLEASE SHARE THIS EMAIL ACROSS AUSTRALIA.
PRAY THAT AS MANY AS POSSIBLE WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO UNITE THEIR VOICES
IN PRAYER AND PRAISE TO GOD FOR THE DEFENCE OF MARRIAGE.
We close with the final words of the prayer that King Jehoshaphat prayed to God in front of the people when they faced a large army coming against them.
"For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.
We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."
(2 Chronicles 20:12)
In response, the LORD spoke powerful words assuring them of His presence. Then, as an act of faith, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise Him at the head of the army as they bravely went out to meet the enemy. And the LORD brought a miraculous deliverance and gave Jehoshaphat rest on every side.
The push to redefine marriage is powerful and is coming at us from all sides. We, therefore, make our appeal to God, because human arguments and wisdom and constitutional grounds alone are not enough. Let us pray and praise our God with other believers right across Australia. Let us look to Him and trust Him to defend marriage in
our land.
Yours for marriage and family
Warwick Marsh 0418 225 212
David Rowsome 07 3422 0969
The Canberra Declaration Team
www.canberradeclaration.org.au
P.S. We apologise for giving an incorrect link to find the postal addresses of your MPs and Senators in the last
Good News Update No. 78 of 2 October. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Here are the correct links for Members and Senators. In each type in your postcode. Follow the links until you get to the photo of the person you want to write to. Click on the link under their name to get details of their postal address.
Australian Marriage Declaration
We gather together today firstly to declare that marriage is a holy covenant given by God (Hebrews 13:4). The Bible begins in Genesis with the gift of marriage and ends in Revelation with the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Gen 2:24, Rev 19: 7-9). The scriptures show that marriage between a man and a woman is a great mystery and an insight into the relationship between Christ and His Bride, which is the Church (Eph 5: 22-33).
Sexual difference is at the heart of marriage. Jesus said ''Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said that for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?'' (Matt 19:4-6, Eph 5:31, Gen 2:24).
We live in a time of great challenge to marriage. We are here to declare the sovereignty of God in the midst of this challenge and give praise to God as Jehoshaphat instructed the singers who went before the army to say, "Give thanks to God for his mercy endures forever" (Jeremiah 32:17, 2 Chronicles 20:21).
We ask, through the blood of Christ, that our nation be spared from every attempt to distort the true meaning of the holy covenant of marriage. Forgive us for our sins (Revelations 12:11).
We invoke the blessing, mercy and healing love of God over all marriages, families and all the children of Australia in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Marriage Prayer
Our Father in Heaven, we pray for Your continuing grace upon our nation Australia. We pray that marriage will remain in our nation's laws as a lifelong covenant mutually entered into between a man and a woman according to God's Word.
We dedicate ourselves afresh to be filled with the life, light, truth and love of God, asking You to soften our hearts, mind and will. Give us the desire to follow Your ways through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Purify our nation's sexual relationships, that all Australians may live under the blessings of the new covenant made possible through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
We ask You to deliver us from our sins and iniquities and restore our marriages. We pray for a marriage revolution in Australia and a revival of love in Australian families. We pray that Australia may become the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit; a holy nation living under the lordship of Jesus Christ. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
