In the Footsteps of St. PatrickAlain Emerson - 8 Aug 2011

At the start of this year, as we prepared to step out into a year of prayer in Ireland, I felt God speak to me through the verse Isaiah 22:22.

I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open

It has been quite funny and a touch weird how many times this year I have looked at my phone, a random clock in someone’s house, the time on my laptop or the digital clock in my car and have seen 22:22 staring back at me!! The constant reminders have me pretty convinced that God is trying to teach me something about prayer…

When someone gives you their key it speaks trust; of how that person trusts you enough to give you authority over what belongs to him or her. As we have journeyed through this year of prayer in Ireland we have been learning how to live and move in the authority that God grants us through Jesus.  In the upside-down kingdom of God we are also realising that authority is linked to humility - greater kingdom authority seems to come with greater humility. Many times throughout 2011 we have been humbled to think that God has entrusted us with something of His heart for this nation.

We are not always good at recognising our true authority in God but as we continue through this year we are drawing inspiration from our great Celtic heritage.  This heritage is full of ordinary men and women who thought little of their own lives. Rather they were convinced in the power of the resurrected Christ in them and confident that God their Father heard their prayers and was deeply effected by them.

The ‘human-trafficked’ slave boy St Patrick epitomises this as he changed the reputation of Ireland from violent, pagan barbarians to passionate followers of Christ who took the Good News of the Kingdom to the nations with fire in their eyes! Hundreds of year later, I am reminded of the line that Pete Grieg wrote in the Vision poem:

“And my feeble whispered faithless prayer evokes a thunderous, resounding, bone shaking "Amen!"

It has been said that prayer moves the hand that moves the world and as this year progresses faith is rising in our hearts as we see begin to see kingdom fruit from seeds sown in prayer. 

As we accept the key of authority that God is handing to us we are seeing new initiatives and kingdom possibilities open up and we also believe that works of darkness are being shut up and trampled on. It has been amazing to witness 120 prayer rooms across the nation so far during 2011. In Londonderry/Derry (a place of much conflict and division over the last 50 years) we witnessed inter-church unity as church leaders knelt together in unified prayer for the city. 

At a national level we are also watching something shift. People spilled onto the streets in their thousands after the terrible tragedy of the murder of Ronan Kerr declaring notinmyname. and later in the year how heart warming it was it to see the Queens reception during her visit to Ireland.  Something is happening in the spiritual atmosphere of our land.  We must not miss these movements but be alert to ‘understand the times.’ Father God has given us access to His heart for this land and there is such power when we ‘lay hold of his willingness’ (Martin Luther) and pray His heart back to Him.

Time and time again this year when I feel inadequate and question any significant difference we are making, God keeps getting my attention through the numbers 22:22 showing up somewhere random!!  ‘I have given you a ‘key’ through prayer to help shape the destiny of this nation,’ is the whisper I hear in my ear.  We are opening doors of eternal kingdom possibilities this year. What if we take hold of the keys God is handing us? What if the doors we unlock stay open? Everything changes…