RAF continue to bomb IS targets
Royal Air Force aircraft have continued airstrikes against the IS terrorist network inside Syria and Iraq. RAF Tornados and Reaper drones have now been reinforced by a detachment of Typhoon fighters, which carry the same Paveway IV precision guided bombs as the Tornadoes. The deployment of the Typhoons and an extra two Tornados offers a significant increase in strike capacity to both the RAF component and the wider coalition air campaign. Pray for wisdom and accurate intelligence for those conducting these airstrikes and for protection of the innocent; for protection for the RAF pilots carrying out these raids; for the families of RAF personnel stationed in Akrotiri, Cyprus, and particularly for the families of the 300+ RAF personnel deployed at short notice, who remain at home in the UK.
Flood defences
It is going to be a grim Christmas for many in Cumbria as they clean up after the floods. Those who were also affected by the 2009 floods might not be inclined to believe the ‘once in a lifetime’ mantra which accompanied last weekend’s weather. The Met Office’s chief scientist suggested that all the evidence points to a link between climate change and our record-breaking winter rainfall, and new methods of prevention and cure must be found and funded. As a nation of islanders we may have to rediscover a lost resilience in our relationship with water. Many are now saying that councils should utilise the skills of those who know the countryside best - and pay farmers appropriately to take natural flood management seriously. Pray for wise land management of the large swathes of north-west England, southern Scotland and Northern Ireland that are vulnerable to flooding.
EU meeting to discuss UK proposals
On Thursday and Friday next week a meeting of the EU Council will be held in Brussels. David Cameron was warned that a central demand to curb immigration might be asking too much. Donald Tusk, president of the council, will chair the first detailed talks on the issue between Cameron and his 27 peers. He sent EU leaders a progress report after Cameron laid out the reforms he wants if he is to campaign for continued EU membership in a referendum due to take place in 2017. Mr Tusk said, ‘We have made good progress, but have to overcome substantial political differences on the issue of social benefits and free movement.’ Many governments are willing to make changes to keep Britain in the Union; however the main stumbling block is Cameron's pledge to cut immigration to Britain by denying benefits to workers from other EU states for four years after they arrive. The draft agenda for the meeting on 17-18 December 2015 can be seen on: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/european-council/2015/12/17-18/
EU says IS has chemical and biological weapons
Islamic State is armed with biological and chemical weapons but Europeans don’t take the existential threat seriously, according to a European Union parliament document. Also, Israeli experts say IS is armed with weapons forbidden by the Geneva Convention and that it is a state in every sense of the word, with its own currency, a university and even licence plates. The EU report said that chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear substances (CBRN) have been carried undetected into the European Union. Interpol’s monthly CBRN intelligence reports show numerous examples of attempts to acquire, smuggle or use such materials. The report also said, ‘At present, European citizens are not seriously contemplating extremist groups using chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear materials in Europe. Under these circumstances, should it occur, it would be even more destabilising. See: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2015/572806/EPRS_BRI(2015)572806_EN.pdf
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Dominican Republic: pro-life landmark victory
The constitutional tribunal of the Dominican Republic has issued a landmark ruling overturning a law pushed through by President Danilo Medina. The new law, which had been personally advocated by the president as part of a broader revision of the criminal code, introduced a paragraph that would have allowed abortion to be legalised in cases of rape or incest, or when doctors deemed the preborn child to be suffering from illnesses or disabilities which rendered them ‘incompatible with life.’ After the president signed the law, two non-profit organisations filed a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality, arguing that it violated the constitutional protection of Article 37 of the Dominican Republic's constitution, which guarantees the right to life as inviolable from conception to death.
112 people per second open a Bible app
Every second, the world conducts 40,000 Google searches, creates five new Facebook profiles, and opens YouVersion’s Bible App 112 times. In the app, three bookmarks are created, four verses are shared, and 18 verses are highlighted. More than fifty Bible chapters are listened to, and 342 chapters are read. YouVersion was launched in 2008 and now has 200 million installs, offering the Bible in 1,200 versions and 900 languages. Mobile devices are being changed into Bibles that people carry with them everywhere they go. 200 million installs represents countless moments of individuals transformed by their time in the Bible. The most popular Bible verse is Romans 12:2: ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - His good, pleasing, and perfect will.’
Call to prayer for the UK
World Prayer Centre believes there is an urgent call for God's people to stand in prayer for the United Kingdom. The nation has entered a new phase in our conflict with ISIS. We are particularly vulnerable to terrorist attacks and fear in the days leading up to Christmas and when there are large gatherings of people in the post-Christmas/News Year's Eve period. We feel this is part of a wider time of shaking for our nation and other nations.
We believe God is challenging His church. It is time for all God's people to pray – we are called to be alert, to protect, guard and bless our communities and nation.
Here is a prayer format you may wish to use in small groups and church meetings, or to help personal prayer. We want to pray for God's mercy for our communities and the United Kingdom, that we might turn our hearts to Jesus – the Prince of peace, Deliverer, source of hope and goodness and see many people discover a fresh revelation of Jesus across the nation this Christmas.
So let's unite in prayer.
We are asking people to pray on the 12 – 14 December in different prayer gatherings and church services.
- Join us at our WATCH + PRAY day on 14 December at WPC
- Support Community Watchman Ministries - Big PUSH in Liverpool on 12 December.
Pray daily between now and Christmas – and beyond:
- Lord have mercy and protect our nation
- Lord, fill us with Your perfect love so that we can walk with You and not in fear.
- Pour out your blessing on this nation so that thousands will have a revelation of Jesus in this Christmas period
Download our prayer guide to pray for the UK. Please share this with your friends, your bible study/home group, your church and across your networks.
Joel 2:1 'Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand'.
IS commander searches monastery for weapons, finds Bibles
Sister Hayat, an Iraqi nun, lived a quiet life of devotion in a Dominican monastery near Mosul. She worked in an orphanage and taught anthropology at a local university. Then IS overran the city and the nuns packed their bags, prayed, kissed the floor one last time and fled to Erbil, where they care for elderly nuns. Later an IS commander called the nun to taunt her: ‘I’m sitting in your chair now and am running things here.’ Then he demanded to know where they kept their weapons; he couldn’t conceive that such an important building in the community would be without an armoury. She directed him to the library. He called her back, noticeably upset. ‘There are no weapons here, just books’, he shouted. She explained that the Bible is the sword of the Spirit and is able to change a person from the inside. ‘The Bible is the only weapon we use; I encourage you to start reading it.’
North Korea: digging a new nuclear-test tunnel
Satellite photos show images dating from October and early November of the addition of a fourth tunnel at test site Punggye-ri, on North Korea’s east coast. The new tunnel is under mountains where North Korea conducts nuclear tests, and the images showed significant construction since April. While there are no indications that a nuclear test is imminent, the new tunnel adds to North Korea’s ability to conduct additional detonations at Punggye-ri over the coming years if it chooses to do so. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted a South Korean government source as saying there was active movement of workers and vehicles working on a new tunnel at the site; this indicated an intention to conduct a nuclear test ‘at some point’, though this did not appear to be imminent. North Korea is under United Nations sanctions that ban trade which could fund its arms programme.
Iran: Christian prisoner denied medical treatment
Maryam Naghash Zargaran has been in Elvin prison for nearly three years. She had heart surgery before her incarceration, now difficult prison conditions have caused her health to deteriorate further. She had another heart attack, and requires regular medical appointments. She was given medical leave on 27 October, but had to halt her treatment when Tehran’s Attorney General refused to extend her leave permit. The 36-year-old Christian convert from Islam was arrested in February 2011 for converting to Christianity, being a member of a house church, establishing a house church, bringing young people to faith in Christ, contacting foreign ministries to carry out evangelism in Iran, and travelling to Turkey to attend Christian conferences. She was sentenced to four years on 9 March 2013. Also, please pray for fourteen other Iranian Christians who were arrested recently. Their families have no information as to their whereabouts.