Subject: FW: NCCS Prayer Time
From: "Celeste Bishop" <[email-masked]>
To: "Mike Bishop" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:54:05 -0400

From: [email-masked]
To: [email-masked]
Subject: NCCS Prayer Time
Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:13:10 -0400

Dear Parents,We have had some powerful and poignant times of prayer this week.I have attached some prayer points for you to consider if you cannot stand with us at morning prayer.Also, I have included, please see below, a very pertinent reflection that was sent to me by a colleague. I commend it to you as appropriate for the context our school. Kind regards, Iain 
Ask Now!

When you run out of wine, get ready for miracles.

Whenever God does something for the first time in Scripture, it's like a big
neon highlighter saying, "Pay attention to this!" The first time God acts,
He is setting a precedent we can draw on for eternity, and it becomes ours
to possess and step into today.

Jesus is just beginning His public ministry when He and His disciples are
invited to the Cana wedding. In fact, He hasn't even done any miracles yet.
But on this day, all that is about to change, the first time His glory is
revealed in miracles.

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of
Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the
wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him,
"They have no wine" (Jn. 1:1-3).

The first detail Scripture gives us is it happened on the "third day." This
is important. The number three signifies divine fullness. On the third day,
God came down to meet Moses on Sinai. On the third day, Esther gained an
audience with the king. On the third day Jesus was resurrected from the
dead. We are in a season of the Third Day. We've just entered the third
millennium since the Resurrection, and so we are prophetically the Third Day
Church. This is the time to get ready to step into the miraculous. So if you
have run out of wine-you need a miracle in your life, your health or your
finances-this is not a time to get frightened. This is the time to exercise
faith in Jesus Christ. God wants to manifest His Third-Day Miracles in His
Third-Day Church.

Three also signifies abundance. No one would have died of thirst at the
wedding. They had water, as we know from the story. But it would have been a
major blight on that family's name to run out of wine at such an important
celebration. Water is a basic requirement for life, but wine surpasses
water. It indicates abundance. The wine jars may have been empty, but Jesus
was there at that wedding, and where Jesus is, there's abundance. John 10:10
says, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more
abundantly."

In the midst of what we are experiencing-reports of economic malaise,
recession, drought, wars, disaster-God is releasing His Third Day Glory. He
wants to take us from a survival mentality to a fullness mentality. We
aren't going to just survive on the bare necessities, but we are going live
out of a place of faith, abundance and fullness.

Put a Demand on the Anointing
Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My
hour has not come." His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to
you, do it" (Jn. 2:1-5).

Jesus basically said, "Mom, it's not exactly the hour I was planning on
working miracles." But Mary had a fullness mentality. It probably wasn't
public knowledge that the host had run out of wine. She had probably noticed
the servants whispering, seen the looks of panic in their eyes as they
realized the situation as the contents of their vessels dwindled. It wasn't
Jesus' hour, but she saw the need and stepped in to shield the family from
embarrassment and shame. She put a demand on the anointing. Prophetically,
the Lord is saying to us today, "Put a demand on Me, even if everyone says
now is not the time, I'm going to come down and move on your behalf."

What is your empty vessel? It could be a health need. It may be your wallet.
It may be your relationships. It may be your child's salvation. It may be
our nation's economy. It doesn't matter the impossibility, God has
positioned you to be the change agent. You have direct access to the Father.
So let's be like Mary, and press in for miracles. Now is the time to
flourish. Now is the time to see miracles. God is inviting us, "Put a demand
on the anointing. I want to demonstrate My glory in you and through you to
draw people to Me now in a time of famine when they least expect to see My
goodness and abundance."

Journey to Fullness
"Fill the water-pots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. And
He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the
feast." And they took it (Jn. 2:7-8).

We all know the end of the story-the water that the servants drew became
wine. Not just any wine, but the best wine. What we don't know is exactly at
what point the water turned to wine, but we see that the servants obeyed
Jesus-even filling the pots to the very brim-and as they obeyed, the miracle
took place. They were on a journey from lack to abundance, from survival to
fullness. The challenge became their opportunity to participate in Jesus'
first miracle.

The challenges you face today are your invitation to make the journey from
mere survival to fullness. They are your opportunities for God to turn water
into wine.

A few years ago, Donna, a woman came to a meeting where I, Mahesh, was
ministering. She had been diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. Her doctors had
asked not, "How do you want to be treated?" but. "How do you want to die?!"
She came to that meeting in desperate need for a miracle. She was kneeling
in the back of the room at her chair, silently crying out to God. Strangely
enough, almost as soon as she said something to the Lord, she heard me
repeat it from the pulpit. The first time, she thought, 'That was odd." The
second time, "Hmm..." The third time, she had prayed, "God, cancer's not too
hard for you." Then she heard me say, "No, cancer's not too hard for God."
At that moment I called out for people with cancer to come forward for
prayer. She said, "I was at the very back of the line, when Mahesh asked,
'Where's the woman that is dealing with this.' I raised my hand and he
called me up to the front of the line. He prayed for me and said, "As
suddenly as this came on you, God is going to break this death sentence."

Needless to say, Donna was completely healed that night! Now she and her
husband are not only living in health and wholeness, but that journey in
their hour of need deposited them on the other side with fresh vision and a
call that birthed a church which they are pastoring today. It started out of
that healing. Click on this link to see and hear her testimony.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q61PkaqQvgI

This is Your Hour of Power
God's word to us individually and as His Church is it is time to advance.
You are a people of power, miracles, healing and deliverance. He is
anointing you to bring a turn-around in your family, your workplace, your
city and nation. The effective prayers of the righteous avail much. It
doesn't matter what you see all around you. It doesn't matter what other
people are predicting. This is God's hour to act. We are not in survival
mode. We are on a journey, and God wants His Church to arise and put a
demand on His anointing that will show forth His glory. Like the apostles in
the book of Acts, let us pray, "Now Lord, look on their threats...stretch
forth your hand to heal that mighty signs and wonders be done in the name of
Your holy servant, Jesus" (see Acts 4:29). Wherever you are, you are a
conduit of His anointing. You are there to stand in the gap and get the word
of the Lord for that situation. You are there in advance to bring the power
and presence of the Holy Spirit wherever you go.

We have an opportunity to pull on the anointing for our nation today. The
vessels of this nation's economy are getting low, our national leaders are
looking in those empty jars and don't know what to do. But we have an
answer. It's the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that our founders called
upon when they laid out our laws. The Holy Spirit's imprint is on our
nation's discovery, formation and birth. God has not given up on His dream
for our nation, and He has placed you here in this day and hour to stand in
the gap. You are connected to the throne that is above every other power and
authority. You have a direct connection to the One who holds kings and
leaders in His hand. It is not a time to sit back in complacency, or tremble
in fear. You are the defender of a precious inheritance that the Lord has
anointed you to preserve and pass on to future generations. Your spiritual
weapon is prayer.

Our first responsibility as Christians is to pray, and our first priority is
to pray for our government so that the church may flourish and God's kingdom
advance (see 1 Tim. 2). Don't go into survival mentality. The Captain of
Angel Armies word for us today is, "Don't just survive. Thrive! Put a demand
on my anointing to release My fullness where there is lack, My miracles
where there is impossibility. Be aggressive and press in for your
inheritance for your children and grandchildren, and see My possibility
invade your impossibility."

Let us press in right now for God's turn-around, starting with the destiny
and security of this nation. God wants us all to thrive. So no matter what
you face, know this, when Jesus is involved in our feast, He turns our water
into wine.

Mahesh and Bonnie Chavda, 7/27/2011