Dear Partners in Prayer:

Last week we met with several friends in the town of Whitland, about 30 miles to the south of us, at the commemorative Hywel Dda Centre. He was the king of Wales around the middle of the 10th century.

He is remembered as one of the most responsible native Welsh rulers of all time. His name is linked with the development of a body of Welsh laws, generally known as the Laws of Hywel Dda. The latter part of his name (“Dda” or “Good”) refers to the fact that his laws were just and good, with an emphasis compassion rather than punishment, common sense, and the recognition of basic rights of women.

This is where that historic assembly took place over one thousand years ago, making this a significant place for our prayer. Although we were a small group, we did some strategic and powerful praying towards seeing the laws and righteousness of God be reestablished in Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom.

In the photo we are holding a text that we read aloud together of a prophetic declaration given last year elsewhere in the U.K. I want to include it here and recommend it as good prayer and proclamation for any nation.

We declare that there will be JUSTICE and righteousness in our nation, and that justice will be balanced with Godly wisdom and with mercy and kindness.
We decree the RULERS of our nation .... to have the wisdom of God in all their affairs, discussions and decisions. That our rulers, governors, leaders and Queen will be guided by the Spirit of Truth and will operate with integrity, diligence and humility. We declare our leadership will be inspired by the true and living God.
We declare PROTECTION over our nation...... protection over our cities, towns, villages, suburbs. Protection over our young and old, our vulnerable and sick and weak. We declare protection from all of Satan's attacks, from corruption, from wars and violence, from diseases and famines.
We call forth the PROPHETIC WORD to go out in our nation... in our churches, all over our land... that the word of God will be delivered and will be heard once again.
We call forth the CHURCH of the living God in our nation.... to wake up, to stand up and be counted as children of God, and the Bride of Christ. We call forth the Church to become SALT and LIGHT in this dark world. We call forth the CHURCH of God.... to RISE UP and MOVE OUT in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit, declaring the Good news of the Gospel and displaying the miracles, healings, signs and wonders, and the works of God in our land.
We call forth the LOST SHEEP in our nation... those who do not yet know the Lord and have not heard of Him ... we call you to come out of your prison cells, out of your comfort zones, out of your sin and darkness, into the light, love, power and presence of God.
We call in a HARVEST OF SOULS, and a harvest of young people with vision and fire within their hearts. We call forth a revival that shakes our nation.
We declare and decree the PEACE of God that passes all understanding over our nation.
We call ALL these things forth in the name of JESUS and we decree them to the earth, in His precious name.
   Adapted from Ruth Griggs, 2011

In the afternoon we went to a nearby where the two counties of Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire run side by side for another time or prayer and blessing over the whole area. This little square held the town pump that brought people together from both sides of the county line to a common source of water. Our prayers are that people from here will once again recognize their need come to Source of Living Water, Jesus Christ.

How great is the need for people of every nation to come to the Savior!

Thank you for joining your prayers with ours to this end,

Dick & Gladys

Sitting in the pulpit this morning at the chapel the Lord has made this prayer come alive in a remarkable way. We are each one a living part of this house the the Lord told David He would build for him (vs.27) and as such we are empowered to pray for and proclaim and rejoice in the part He has encommended to each one of us to build up and establish in all its extension.
  Therefore let us "find it in our hearts" also to sink our all into this prayer of Thanksgiving!

2Sa 7:18-29
David's Thanksgiving to God

18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said: "Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord God; and You have also spoken of Your servant's house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lord God? 20 Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord God, know Your servant. 21 For Your word's sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them. 22 Therefore You are great, O Lord God. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 And who is like Your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for Himself a name—and to do for Yourself great and awesome deeds for Your land—before Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, the nations, and their gods? 24 For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, Lord, have become their God.
25 "Now, O Lord God, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, establish it forever and do as You have said. 26 So let Your name be magnified forever, saying, 'The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel. ' And let the house of Your servant David be established before You. 27 For You, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant, saying, 'I will build you a house. ' Therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray this prayer to You.
28 "And now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant. 29 Now therefore, let it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You, O Lord God, have spoken it, and with Your blessing let the house of Your servant be blessed forever."

Love and grace in Jesus' name,

Dick & Gladys Funnell

http://walesawakening.org

Dear Praying Friends:

With mostly sunny days, last week was full of blessing after blessing! One special day was Wednesday when a friend visited with a Bulgarian pastor and his wife and son, as well as some members of their church's worship group from Sofia who have been ministering in the UK.

For us it was the first time we've had a group of professional musicians. Though they sang in Bulgarian, and "unknown tongue" for us, we spent a wonderful time in the presence of the Lord.

I felt like we were planting a big seed of real spirit-led spirit-filled worship and that there will come a glorious harvest of more in God's perfect timing. They also had a surprise forGladys - a song in Spanish. You will enjoy watching it at this link.

Later that day we had two houseguests - one an old friend from North Wales and the other a new friend from South Wales. It was the first time they had met, and it was great to see how well they connected. We had some good times sharing and laughing. It is wonderful to see how the Lord encourages us in our walk by orchestrating these special encounters.

I've had something very unusual going on lately and would like to ask for your prayers. Four weeks ago today I started having the focus in one of my eyes intermittently get very blurry. I went immediately to the optician and everything checked out fine except the prescription needed adjustment.

By the following week with new glasses things did not improve, and I was beginning to see double images, even without my glasses. Tomorrow I see an ophthamologist and hope to get to the root of the problem quickly. This is sort of what it's like and as you can imagine it is quite distracting. We went for a walk with Gladys a while ago I thought we were on a Star Wars planet with two moons!

I'd like to pass along some things the Lord has been speaking to me through this situation. This is the first scripture that came to mind one morning from Mathew 6:22. In the King James Version, Jesus says, "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." Of course that's the most obvious one, but it speaks of something very important - keeping our eyes on Jesus and the things of God's kingdom. How easy it is to become distracted by things that just don't matter in the big picture.

He continues in verse 24, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Again the point is made even clearer. We all live in this world and need some money to get by, but how easily that can set our priorities rather than the Lord and the things He has called us all to do.

We each have received gifts for His purposes, but do we dedicate our heart time and energy on His goals for us, or our own? Ezekiel 7:19 says, "They will throw their silver into the streets, And their gold will be like refuse; Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them In the day of the wrath of the Lord."

Idolatry is not a pleasant sounding topic, but if we don't make a regular concerted effort to keep our eye single, we can easy drift towards that extreme. Ezekiel 14:4-5 says, "...Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols."

The world around us is fueled by idolatry - idols of security, success, fame, power, ad infinitum. So wouldn't this make a great prayer - that the Lord would grab our hearts and turn us to Himself? And how about the church at large? And also for natural Israel that is so desperately embroiled in conflict because they've left the Lord out of the picture for so many centuries?

Psalm 27:4 reveals the sure cure for double vision! "One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek after: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple." Now there is treasure worth going after with our whole hearts!

Thank you very much for your prayers! And be encouraged as we pray together for the nations.

Dick & Gladys