With hopefully a clearer vision of what our gift looks like, let’s notice that we are in a moment right now where the Church in Canada has an invitation to bring Jesus’ healing to nations. The world’s eyes are on Iran and because of the tragic loss of life in the recently downed Ukrainian flight 752 there is a sudden awareness of the link between Canada and Iran. We can’t let this moment get lost in the noise of international turmoil, it’s a strategic place where the Canadian Church can step in with Jesus’ healing. 

How? Consider these ways:
SERVE

• Seize every opportunity that we are given to minister grace and healing to the families and friends here in Canada who have suffered this great loss.  Perhaps the Church in Edmonton is being called to give leadership in this, as many of the bereaved Iranian-Canadian families live there. 

PRAY

•  While connecting with bereaved Iranian friends and family will be a unique assignment for a small sliver of the Church,  all of us can step into fervent intercession for the Church in Iran right now. Two major factors are converging: the unprecedented growth in the Iranian Church in spite of intense persecution, and secondly, the unprecedented upheaval and growing protests which could result in a change of government. Get a prophetic vision of Iran experiencing the transformation of Jesus’ gospel and begin to intercede!  Seize the moment in prayer! 

 

• Lastly, contend in prayer for the Iranian communities within Canada. If revival swept through these Iranian enclaves in Canada, it would bring a direct impact on Iran, fortifying and resourcing the Church in Iran through the strong bonds of relationship. 
  

  

As we pursue an activation of our gift: bringing healing to the nations that comes from Jesus’s life and redemption, (not just Canadian niceness or peacefulness) we can expect that carrying the gospel will confront our hearts as well. 

We simply can’t function in this gift if we are anti-immigration or biased against other ethnic groups that have moved to Canada. I’m not advocating for open borders, but as Christians, those that are coming to Canada legally need to find the warmth of the Church’s generous embrace and welcome. “Welcome the stranger” — it’s a part of the gospel. If this is not fully our heart, we need to repent and realign ourselves with the call to authentically love our neighbours.  

The two major prophetic promises God has given our nation are phenomenal! If we believe them, live into them, contend for their fullness we will find our true national destiny and our hearts will overflow with the goodness of God.

“May He have dominion from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth!” Ps 72:8

Without question, when we lift our eyes to see the powerful prayer of Ps 72:8 inscribed on the arch of our nation’s Peace Tower— the very front door of Parliament— we know this is a verse that has particular application to our nation. 

Then when we also discover that this same verse was the inspiration for Canada’s original name of the “Dominion of Canada” it adds a whole other level of confirmation, indeed, this is a promise from the Lord for Canada! It is a promise that generations of Canadians can confidently trust will be fulfilled. 

However, as we pray for the fulfillment of this promise, isn’t it vital to understand what we are actually asking for? If one of the reasons that prayers are not answered, is that we have “asked amiss” (Jas 4:3), then it seems very important that we line up with God’s intent, what He wants to give us through this wonderful promise. Yet as I travel all over Canada, and have done so for nearly 20 years, I hear a wide range of interpretations and expectations as to how the fulfillment of this promise should look.    

In our last blog post we considered the need to have our vision renewed by washing our spiritual eyes in the scriptures (Restoring Our Vision #1). We talked about the importance of being Jesus-focused and handling His promises to us in a truthful, honouring way. This means not plucking promises out of their surrounding context nor imposing our ideas of what they mean upon them. 

There will also be a day of the total fulfillment of this prayer, when Jesus returns and every knee bows. In that day His kingdom will be in Canada from coast to coast as in every other nation. But that day is not yet, He is still giving Canadians a choice to love and obey Him. 
So as we pray, let’s shift our focus off of just getting Christians in politically powerful roles as a way to see this promise fulfilled, and let’s set our prayers towards seeing a great move of God sweep our nation which captures the deepest affections of Canadians, turning their hearts to give Jesus their utter devotion in unprecedented numbers. 
Let the glorious promise Ps 72:8 bring renewed fire to our prayers— the promise that from sea to sea, the hearts of vast numbers of Canadians will be His. 
Lord may it be in our day! 
​
Sara Maynard

As the new year of 2020 is spread out in front of us, full of possibilities and promise, it is a perfect time to take stock. A time to consider what has been fruitful (I don’t just mean productive, but that which has led us closer to Jesus) and a time to consider what might have been not as fruitful. In the natural, winter is often a time of pruning, a time where the long and leggy branches that consume the plant’s energy are trimmed off. 

Thinking back on 2019, the most significant event for the Canadian prayer movement was the election. It was hotly contested and very emotional. The Canadian Church as a whole prayed and many intercessors united in various rallies, joined the multiple fasting initiatives and gave themselves to the work of intense intercession. Yet the outcome of the election was very different than many (most) were expecting, leaving believers confused, heartbroken, even disoriented. 
We can compartmentalize this event, even commit it to God and move on, but how will that effect us the next time we are called to pray for an election or like event? If we don’t address the confusion honestly doesn’t this give an open door to doubt and unbelief? I believe it does.  

This new blog series is to speak into this and help us to continue to confidently pray regardless of the political landscape. In this three part series, we will look at Canada’s two most well-received prophetic promises, and use them to reorient ourselves around what God has indeed promised to the Canadian Church. These promises have been discerned and confirmed by leadership across denominations, and we can trust that God has spoke through them. However we need to see them clearly and truthfully, not skewed with our desires projected on them. As we look at them again, we can be confident that they paint a picture of what the coming moves of God (and yes, there will be many) will look like in the nation of Canada. 

Before we begin, there is a prophetic picture that has recently come through times of intercession, which I believe will set the stage.  

CATARACTS ARE BEING REMOVED
This is a prophetic picture of older eyes which had developed cataracts, now receiving eye surgery and being able to see the brilliant colour and clarity again. The scriptures talk of Eli, the old priest who raised Samuel as having eyes that were dim (likely with cataracts 1 Sam 3:2), the contrast is Moses, whose eyes did not dim at all as he aged (Deut 34:7). These two leaders of Israel had vastly different walks with God, and their capacity to see was impacted by that reality. 

Cataracts are a particular problem to older eyes, they creep up on you, gradually dimming and dulling your vision. 

For some of us, who have been holding to a vision of revival in Canada for years, even decades— could it be that we are now seeing  a dulled vision? Do we have spiritual cataracts? Have we lost the intensity, vibrancy, and clarity of a vision of the Church on fire with the love and power of God? Do we see in the spirit God’s vision of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of souls turning to Jesus, not just for a momentary experience but for glorious transformation? It’s a vision that  sees what's coming-- the glorious features of revival, in 3-D like clarity: the crushing weight of sin rolling off the shoulders of so many, the joyous dance of the lost being found and the fame of Jesus spreading unstoppably through their lives. Do we have eyes to see? Do we see the vision of the presence of God coming and settling on the Church in such a way that  hours and hours are spent on our faces in worship, repentance and awe. Is our vision of revival in need of a renewing? 

WHAT ABOUT OUR VISION OF JESUS?
Have we also gotten comfortable and familiar with looking at Jesus, assuming we know what He looks like and unaware that our vision of Him has dimmed? If we are not awestruck with His beauty, His compassion, His humility, His power… we need to see Him with clearer eyes. If gazing at Him through the scriptures doesn’t profoundly move us to adoration and a desire to surrender everything to Him, we need our spiritual eyesight restored. 

If this rings true for you, ask the Lord for the “eye surgery” that is needed to restore vision. This is something He’s offering right now as He’s speaking through this prophetic picture. But cooperate with Him for the restoration, it’s not just going to be a zap, it’s going to be a process. It begins with seeing Jesus afresh, so soak yourself in the gospels and the epistles — look deeper at who Jesus is, your spiritual eyes will begin to open again (Eph 5:26). From there, He will show you how He desires to move in the nation, leading His beloved Church into the glorious fire of revival. 

With a fresh vision of Jesus and revival as a starting point, we are going to look carefully at the two promises of Psalms 72:8 and Rev 22:2 over the next two weeks. What has God promised us through these two words? Have we assumed they were offering us something that they weren’t? Even if this is the case, the good news is that the gospel is the best news imaginable! Our human dreams of what's best are always inferior to the greatness of God's plan. If we have misunderstood these promises, be comforted with knowing that the truth of what they offer is better than our miss-understood version. Hallelujah! 

So join us next week as we open up Psalms 72:8 and rejoice in what God has promised Canada! 

Sara Maynard