Tag Archives: power in prayer

“Armenia, Give Up or Die!”

Posted on by Standard 24

Azerbaijan’s Dictator Aliyev declares, “This is Armenia’s last chance!”

Azerbaijan Dictator Aliyev: This year is Armenia’s ‘last chance

Where have we heard this before? For Armenians, the echo of genocide ever resounds as generational memories of Ottomans’ swords threatened, “Give up your faith or die!”. The Armenian genocide of 1.5 million Armenians testifies of the ruthless bloodshed and annihilation of a nation. And the world watched….

But believers of every background will recognize the spirit speaking through this despot. We can see it in II Chronicles 32 as Assyrian King Sennacherib taunts and threatens Jerusalem while laying seige to them,

“On what are you basing your confidence, that you remian in Jerusalem under seige…Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the other lands?…How can your god deliver you from my hand?…” Give up or die!

As a world power with unmatched military strength, these were no idle threats.

As the world watches, Artsakh remains under siege, strangled by an Azeri blockade for over a month now. Arm in arm with Turkey, a Neo Ottoman spirit sharpens its sword over Armenia and Artsakh. “Give up or die!”

Armenians have inhabited Artsakh for thousands of years. In 301AD, as Armenia became the first Christian nation, Artsakh was a launching ground for missionaries,

“Artsakh became a major stronghold for Armenian missionaries to proclaim the Christian Gospel to neighboring countries. In 310 St Grigoris, the grandson of Grigor the Illuminator, was ordained bishop of Iberia and Caucasian Albania in the monastery of Amaras, being just 15 years old at the time.[47] After his martyrdom by the Mazkutian king on the field of Vatnean (near Derbent), his disciples conveyed his body back to Artsakh and buried him in Amaras, which had been built by Gregory the Illuminator and Grigoris himself. Hence St Grigoris became a patron saint of Artsakh.

In the 5th century, Christian culture flourished in Artsakh. Around 410 Mesrop Mashtots opened the first Armenian school at Amaras.[49] Later, more schools were opened in Artsakh.[50]“

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artsakh_(historical_province)

Albeit many nomimal Christians, Artsakh is a Christian nation surrounded by and besiged upon by Islamic oppressors. Over the past century, bloodlust has devoured Armenian people and land. Western Armenia, with 1.5 million Armenians, was destroyed between 1915 and 1918.

Ongoing history of persecution, oppression, and war continues to pummel a people who seek to survive in peace.  From 1989:

Following the earthquake of 1988, Turkey and Azerbaijan embarked on a stranglehold of Armenia for five years, aptly called The Invisible War by media sources such as the Boston Globe.  Massacres, genocide, pogroms, blockades, war….all forging ahead to eradicate this Christian nation. 

  “This is Armenia’s Last Chance!”

With heavy heart and great passion I pray for Armenia and Artsakh to rise up in a living faith.  Believers understand that this world is not our home, we await with great hope, the return of our Savior Jesus and His Kingdom. But until that day, I pray with fervor the prayer of King Hezekiah,

“Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged before the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater One with us than with him.  With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.”

Lord, defend and protect!  I pray the Holy Spirit rise up in the hearts of believers, let them see Your deliverance, Your provisions, Your protection.  Confound the vast enemies who lay siege to destroy.  Let Artsakh survive and flourish and once again rise up to be a light and a beacon!  

Please stand vigil and pray!

  

Artsakh Under Siege – Day 28

Posted on by Standard 20

updated

The latest Turkish/Azeri aggression upon Artsakh, an enclave of Armenia, is a blockade now nearly one month. While the Azeri war upon Artsakh in 2020 devastated Armenian villages and ancient landmarks, killed nearly 4000 soldiers and displaced tens of thousands off their homeland, current efforts, under ‘peace treaty’, aim to starve, deprive, and drive away those who survived.

As of December 12th, 2022, there is no food, no fuel, no medicine, no access to hospitals!

This stranglehold holds 120,000 Armenians hostage – a prelude to ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Human Rights Organizations Warn of Risks of Genocide in Artsakh

https://en.armradio.am/2023/01/09/uk-says-closure-of-lachin-corridor-risks-severe-humanitarian-consequences/

Christian Genocide Warning Signs in Artsakh

Artsakh, and most of Armenia, are surrounded by enemies. This blocking the lifeline to Artsakh is now a humanitarian crisis, worsening day by day.

https://www.armenpress.am/eng/news/1100163/

Please join us and cry out for Artsakh!

Pray that the blockade be lifted! Pray for critical provisions to come through!

Pray for the pastors, elders, and clergy in Artsakh:

  • Pray for the Lord to encourage them as they face great challenges
  • Pray that God’s word comes alive in their hearts
  • Pray for unction and revival, to shake the hearts of nominal Christians


Pray for faith in villagers and townspeople:
• May the Holy Spirit, shake every heart, encourage and revive faith
• May they see God move mightily as their Provider and Protector
• Pray for powerful prayer meetings to gather, unity their faith and strong trust in God


Pray for Artsakh and Armenia to become a light and beacon for their surrounding enemies:
• That the Lord, in His sovereignty and mercy defend and protect the boundaries of Armenia and Artsakh
• That the Lord confound the enemy, weaken their limbs and their resolve for battle, extinguish their zeal and drive them away!
• Call upon the Holy Spirit to convict the hearts of Azeris and Turks, open their eyes and grip their souls!


Pray that they, and all of us, grasp the power of prayer, gain a greater revelation of our Father in heaven, and walk in victory through the dark times in this world.

We will be praying every night until the blockade lifts. Please join in whenever you can!

Thank you all.

Fathers – What They Really Need

Posted on by Standard 26

Father’s Day is somewhat complicated today. Gone is the simple joy of picking out the new tie, cozy slippers, or warm sweater. Our culture of confused gender roles and sexual identities disparages traditional role of fathers. Single parenting and strained marriages often make stressed parents.

So what do fathers really need?

More than ever fathers – our sons, brothers, and husbands – need the undergirding strength of fervent prayer.

My parents, ages 90 and 92, visited the grave of their only son who tragically died years ago.  At 38, my brother Paul was a strong believer, heartbroken to leave his young family but spiritually ready to meet the Lord.  Not so my beloved parents who stand grieving without hope of seeing their son nor eternal life unless they repent and receive salvation.  

Father’s Day is June 19th.  In anticipation, perhaps as a community of readers, writers, and believers can we commit to pray starting Sunday June 12th for fathers and would be fathers – sons, husbands, and brothers?  May they rise up to know the Lord, pursue righteousness, and take authority in their homes as spiritual leaders, lovingingly drawing their family to Christ.  Will you join me?  

The older I get the more I like lists…perhaps you will also make a list of those you will vie for, beseeching our Father in heaven to intervene.  May they find and fulfill the call of God upon their lives and know eternal hope at their jouney’s end.

Let’s give fathers what they really need.  

Time to Quit or Go Deeper

Posted on by Standard 14

Many of you know that, after several months of praying for our neighbors, a battle arose in which we actually came to know our neighbors, care sincerely for them, and join along side them.  In the past posts, the saga of Columbia University’s take over of Haven Avenue covered our victory and subsequent defeat.  In Defeat and Confusion – Lord, Press On!  I described hope arising with in a New York Times reporter who interviewed us extensively.  We prayed for a ‘Watergate breakthrough’…. That was four weeks ago!  The reporter told us last week that it’s coming a-n-y day now.

As Columbia gets set to launch their campus expansion, another development arose, championed by the same Councilman, Ydanis Rodriguez!  After selling out the residents of Haven Avenue,  he spearheaded a major plan by outside developers to rezone Inwood, the northern part of our neighborhood.  This plan would open the gates to commercial and luxury development, zoning out much of the affordable housing and small businesses.

I will not post details or sources, but there is a lot of money shuffling under the table.

I am all for renewal and upgrade but in NYC, rezoning results in gentrification and displacement of working class families.  The Councilman in Williamsburg, for example, pointed out that rezoning displaced 30,000 Hispanics from his catchment area.  Inwood is 71% Hispanic.

I totally understand that, as this world spins into the last days and coming judgment, these issues may count for nothing.  Admittedly, we are not facing famine, human trafficking, or persecution.  But the Lord doesn’t require desperate and dire need to care and intervene.  When He fed over 5,000, described in Matthew 14, they weren’t starving to death.  They weren’t even asking Him for food!  But Jesus had compassion for their present need.

Will blocks of Haven Avenue soon close and morph into a campus?  Will the ax fall on Inwood, final vote for rezoning on Wednesday, August 8th?  It certainly looks that way!

It’s time to either quit or go deeper.  

bob and protest sign  

There is a protest march this evening in Inwood, calling for the City Council to vote against the rezoning.  Rodriguez, a lame duck in his current office, refuses the outcry of his constituents.  The grapevine describes his sites upon the office of Public Advocate.  Laugh/cry moment here!

How does a believer go deeper when the battle seems lost? 

The only way to go deeper into the battle is shutting in with the Lord.  While the world turns with backroom deals, the Kingdom of God advances through faith.  Going deeper will test you and cost you.

My neighbors will be marching this evening…it just so happens my husband and I cannot make it.  But even better, we can forge ahead with all night prayer.  I believe prayer deserves appointment and schedule, as though one were meeting with a president, a prime minister, a King!

I do not sense a call to quit but to go deeper, not only for the speck on earth called Haven Avenue and Inwood, but for my neighbors to see the Lord.   May the Lord alone be exalted even as all other hope and options flush away.

It is not shocking to find a corrupt politician or greedy opportunists.  But if the Lord puts them before you, He may be drawing you to cry out for their souls, that they come to godly sorrow and repentance. 

By the time many of you read this, my all night prayer meeting will be over.  While it may end up with only me and the Holy Spirit, I invite anyone online to join in and ask the Lord to intervene.

If your heart is burdened, if heaven seems silent, if the battle seems totally lost – even worsening – commit to go deeper.  As always, with the Lord the thing at hand is not always His focus.  He can churn a storm to bring out one Jonah.

Let’s see what the Lord will do….