Dear
The Canberra Declaration is all about making a stand for Faith, Freedom, Family and Life. Whilst we have spoken out strongly on these issues in the past, and encourage others to do the same, it is our firm belief that we have to cry out to God to see revival and transformation come to our nation. That's why we have been among the main proponents of the National Day of Prayer & Fasting and the 40 Days of Prayer & Fasting.
Today, Day 23 of the 40 Days of Prayer & Fasting for the revival and transformation of our nation, we are glad to give you a report of some very significant things that are coming to light. This period of 40 days has a particular emphasis on praying for a renewal of sexual purity which, among other things, will help protect our children and restore families in our nation. We believe that God has been shining His light on different things in answer to our prayers.
Jesus, the Light who came into the world, said, "Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed" (John 3:20). Paul in fact instructs us to expose these deeds saying, "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible..." (Ephesians 5:11-13).
And so we believe God has been using our prayers to expose some of the immorality and injustice that is taking place in our society.
Day 2 - Speaking to a near-empty chamber on 3 March, Greens Senator Scott Ludlam accused Tony Abbott of being homophobic and racist. Amazingly his gross misrepresentation of truth was exposed by many including Australian Marriage Equality National Director, Rodney Croome, and former Labor Party President, Warren Mundine. Article
Day 6 - ABC Four Corners exposed the unspeakable depravity of a homosexual couple who have been concealing the darkest of secrets. Eight years ago they bought a child and since then have used him for their own selfish sexual abuse and for sharing with many other paedophiles known as "Boy Lovers". Article
Day 7 - Respected hard-hitting journalist, Miranda Devine comments on the above two exposures. Article
Day 10 - The judge while handing down a sentence to Daniel Morcombe's murderer exposed Brett Cowan to be a paedophile with a criminal history who lured Daniel to his death in 2003. This brought to an end Queensland's largest police inquiry ever which had revealed how our justice system had failed the Morcombe family and our society. Article
Day 10 - The date for submissions to the Australian Curriculum Review had been extended till 14 March. This allowed a number of Christian groups to further expose how the proposed curriculum has virtually ignored Christianity and has introduced radical compulsory sex-education for young children. There has been a large response of some 1500 submissions over these and other issues. Article
Day 11 - The Tasmanian elections on 15 March, exposed the bankruptcy and irrelevancy of the Labor-Greens agenda with its militant anti-Christian policies. On polling day votes for Labor and Greens crashed to new lows. The extraordinary result will likely affect the rest of Australian politics for years to come. Article
Day 13 - Paul Sheehan, a journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald wrote a powerful article exposing the injustice of the Army's move to sack Major Bernard Gaynor for speaking out against the Australian Defence Force marching in the obscene Sydney Mardi Gras Parade. Article
While we could give more examples of how immorality and injustice are being exposed, here are some other examples of what we believe are answers to prayer.
Day 15 - An Israeli physicist, Professor Nathan Aviezer, said of a recent breakthrough scientific discovery, "One thing the announcement does do is make it clear that the universe had a definite starting point - a creation - as described in the book of Genesis. To deny this now is to deny scientific fact." Article
Day 18 - 'The Virgin Daughters' is a documentary (47 minutes) about a sexual purity movement in the USA where fathers accompany their daughters to 'purity balls'. This was shown on ABC TV on Saturday, 22 Mar at 8:30pm.
Day 23 - Significant rain has been falling across parts of drought-affected Queensland and NSW over the last few days. At the National Day of Prayer & Fasting, two farmers from Goondiwindi, a father and son, shared their story and we specifically asked God to break the drought which is officially one of the worst and widest on record. God is hearing our prayers.
With today as Day 23 of the 40 Days of Prayer & Fasting, we want to say congratulations to those who have been able to maintain their fasting and praying. For those who haven't had the success you had hoped, now is a good time to recommit yourself to this so that you can finish well. You can still access the devotions by registering to receive them by email, downloading a pdf or reading them on line at www.40daysofprayer.com.au
We have created a new DVD documentary called 'Deeper' which is the story of the National Day of Prayer & Fasting 2014 told through the eyes of four people who travelled to Canberra to pray. This DVD includes a bonus copy of 'The Power of Prayer' documentary and almost an hour of extra footage. You can obtain a copy by making a $20 or more donation to the National Day of Prayer & Fasting. Donate here Make sure you give us your name and address so we can post it to you free. Allow three weeks for delivery. Thank you!
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3 min Promo of 'Deeper' - the Story of the NDOPF 2014
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As we consider these answers to prayer, please pray for the on-going Royal Commission and its exposure of child sexual abuse in Australian church and government-run institutions. We can also give thanks to God that the ABC, which normally pushes the progressive Left agenda, is beginning to have greater balance in its programs. Pray for Mark Scott, the ABC's Managing Director, who, as a Christian executive, is featured in the March issue of Eternity magazine. And lastly please pray for more rain!
Thank you for your support and making a difference through prayer.
Yours for continued exposing prayer,
David Rowsome & Warwick Marsh
PS We believe praying and fasting is well worth the effort. For some extra encouragement, please read the story of prayer and fasting from WWII below.
In his war memoirs Winston Churchill gives Sunday September 15, 1940 as the turning point in the Battle of Britain. He was in the Operations Room as enemy squadrons of fighters and bombers were pouring in with only a handful of allied fighter pilots going up to meet them.