Canopy of Prayer

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Brad and Chris share the story behind NHOP's Canopy of Prayer, connecting intercession, government, and practical relationships with elected leaders. They invite believers and pastors to pray intentionally for Canada and build meaningful engagement with their MPs.

Transcript

I say this to pastors all the time. Pastors, you should be having coffee with your MP at least once a year. And if anything, and I've had pastors say, "What do we talk about?" Tell Tell them, pastors, tell the MP what God is doing in your congregation. Tell them. >> Because one thing we learned out of COVID, most MPs had no idea that church was essential. Remember that dialogue? Remember we said And that was our own fault because we never let anybody know we were essential. [music] They didn't know. Welcome to Prayer Stream, a podcast from the National House of Prayer [music] in Ottawa. We're here to have conversations with leaders and authors about prayer

and how it intersects with the local church, politics [music] and government, Israel, and anything else that might pop up in the news. Join [music] me, your host, Brad Fieldler, along with Chris Biber as we wade into the Prayer Stream. All right, hello everybody. Welcome to another episode of [music] Prayer Stream. I'm Brad Fieldler, your host, with Chris Biber. Chris, say hi. >> Hey, hi everybody. How's it going? >> Yeah, we're we're glad to be with you again today. Today, what we want to do is we want to talk about an NHOP initiative that we rolled out a couple years ago. It's called the Canopy of Prayer. And we want to tell you the story behind it, where it came from,

what it's about, because this really this really encapsulates our heart and our thinking as a ministry on Parliament Hill that works in the government sphere dealing heavily in prayer. That's our main thing. This ministry, this this initiative is kind of the the combination of prayer and government. It's where the two kind of overlap for us or where they intersect. So, Chris, today we're just going to tell the story of where Canopy of Prayer came from. So, why don't we start with tell us the background behind you, ministry, getting into politics, and where the idea came from? >> That's fantastic. You know, I've I've had a hunger for a prayer in the nations

home going back a long, long time. Like even when I was first saved, when I was 10 years old, right? I was fortunate to have a godly prayer warrior warrior of a great grandmother. And she really taught us how to pray when when I was young. Taught us how to listen to the voice of the Lord. I actually learned a lot of my worship leading skills from her because she would she just would she wasn't a musician, but in her prayer time, she would sing songs of praise to the Lord and she'd be listening for Holy Spirit to lead her in these songs. And I picked that up. Maybe it's a genetic thing. Maybe that's what it is. But that's where it started. And so I always had

this hunger for prayer and worship. And then became a youth pastor, you know, got married, youth pastor, business owner, worked in leadership, became elders in the church. Eventually we became pastors on staff, associate pastors, worship leading and youth and everything else that was a part of that. We had a lot of fingers in a lot of jars in ministry. But my heart was really for worship and and intercession. And in fact, when we were that was the main job. I like I will do these other jobs so I could do that job, right? So I I was happy to do that and and we grew in that and and moved to various places, started off with uh you know, with draw with rather Brad in Niagara Falls and

then ended up in Exeter, Ontario and then out to the Durham region, which is east of Toronto. And experiencing and wanting to grow 24/7 worship and intercession. That's that's what's in our heart. And on one day I was working bi-vocationally. I was working at church and I was working in sales and marketing. And on the way home, it was actually the day of Jim Flaherty's funeral. And he had passed away. He had been my member of parliament. And I felt the Holy Spirit. We >> And real quick, and Jim Flaherty, what was his role in the government? He was a reminder. Finance Minister under Harper, correct? >> Under Harper. He was a he was a genius. He actually helped us get through that

difficult period between 2008 to 2009. It was Jim Flaherty. And Stephen Harper, because he was an economist as well. So he had the brain for it. And they they we were able to weather the storm, making Canada the strongest middle class in the world, right? This this this thing was pretty man. So anyway, at his funeral, I was driving home from and I felt the Holy Spirit say, "How many intercession prayer people were at the funeral today?" And my response was, "I don't know, Lord. How many were there?" Right? And his response is, "There were none. So I want you to change direction." And for me, it was like, "What do you mean change direction? What direction?" I I want you to start to

move towards things that are political. And I'm like, "Ew. Yuck. Why? What did I do? Why that? I mean, I wanted to do this worship and intercession. I wanted to do Psalm 27, gazing upon the beauty of the Lord. That's what's in my heart." And then Lord said, "I want you to change direction and go into politics." And I was like, I felt this really strongly. And I said, "Okay, I will." And I have to lay down leading worship. AND IT WAS LIKE, "WHAT? THAT'S What did I do? No. That's not fair." But I did it. And I had no I had no grid for politics. I wasn't a political guy. I didn't know anything [clears throat] about it. I didn't know even what to do. So I called I called my

member of parliament at that time. They didn't do anything. And but shortly about about 18 months after that there was an election. And uh so I engaged actually it wasn't me that engaged it was actually Marilyn. It was my wife Marilyn and it was Marilyn says Chris we need to this is the time we need to engage. You know that thing that the Lord told you you better do it. Right? That's the thing when the Lord tells you something you better do it. Right? So often we think we when you think in terms of of the the the parable of talents, right? This is real stuff. When God gives you something he expects you to work it and for it to produce fruit, right? And so

okay. So I went I went I was supposed to go door knocking. Right? I've never done that before. I actually I think I could chicken out. Right? I was supposed to go Marilyn went to work. She says you're going door knocking today. Yes, I went but I thought no I don't want to go knocking. I don't want to be like a Jehovah Witness and knock on doors. >> Right? A political Jehovah's Witness. >> Yeah, that's right. I don't want to be one of those guys. I don't like it when they come to my door. I don't want to be one of those people. Right? Because I didn't really know what was required of me and and I was a little chicken and so I didn't go. So Marilyn came home from

work and she says, "So how was it?" I didn't go. And so she sort of reprimanded me and says, "You pick up the phone and you're going to be at the next one." And so I picked up the phone. Thank goodness for Marilyn. And when and I went and it was way better than I thought it was. It wasn't anything like I thought it was going to be and I actually got to spend the afternoon with the member and I got to hear his heart and I found out he was just a guy like me. Just [clears throat] a regular fellow. You know, he wasn't this lofty up there. He was just a regular and most of our MPs are like that. Most of them. Not all of them. You know, we know what's what some people

can be like. There's there are people that have a lust for power but most of our members of parliament are just regular folks like you and I. So anyway, so we ended up getting close to this MP. We helped him in that election. The MP had won his seat. Mr. Harper didn't win his seat and we were asked to come on to his board of directors, which is called an electoral district association. And that is a very important word. Remember those words, electoral district association. Some places call them a riding association, right? Usually the the provincial side calls them the riding association, the feds call them electoral district association. >> And that often gets referred to as an

EDA, correct? >> Yeah, just for to make it go quicker. >> And so you can >> And uh and you know what? We had a lot of skills, but our skills came from church. Right? If you're a leader in church, right? If you've been any leadership role, a Sunday school teacher, you had any kind of involvement at church, those skills are really desirable in the workplace. And so we had all kinds of skills, right? Marilyn had tons and tons of skills. So we were able to move in very quickly and move up through the ranks to the point where I was a vice president of election readiness and uh and policy, cuz I like talking about policy, and Marilyn was very, very good with finances. And she became the

fundraising chair. And so we had lots and lots of favor and lots and lots of great things happened. And then in time, and eventually I ended up sitting on four different of those EDAs. >> Okay. >> Right? Because it was uh my skills were desired. And from there, I became a chief of staff for a member of uh a member of provincial parliament, or an MLA. And uh we sat there and became very close with high uh provincial leaders, the Treasury Board president, the the caucus whip, the finance minister. And my minister my MP was the parliamentary assistant to the attorney general. So she was the assistant attorney general. And um And so so I was able to walk in these

higher higher spheres of government, you know, that you know, way back just a few years ago when the Lord said, "I want you to go in this direction." I had no idea it meant would meant that high. >> You did not see that coming. Yeah. >> I did not. I just like I thought I was going to stick sticks in the ground so they could put signs on it. That's what I thought was going to happen. >> Right. That's what you signed up for. >> That's what I signed up for. The because I was obedient and I did this move motor along and while I got in I'm in this position and I'm on my Marilyn and I are on this EDA we started to think because one thing this what we we recognized is

we weren't there to raise money and we weren't there exclusively to get that that person elected. Our real job our real job was to pray for them. That was the real job, right? The other stuff was the end also, >> Right. >> real job was to be in there, build a relationship, right? Learn their heart, know their heart, hear what they're saying, pray for them, and care for them, right? That was the thing. Care for them and their family. So, while we're there I said to Marilyn, you know, you know what, Marilyn? Wouldn't it be awesome because her and I were praying and we would get a couple of other people praying in the EDA, a couple of them. It wasn't as much as we wanted

because cuz they didn't really have a culture for prayer but they liked the idea and I started to envision, what if we had one of these teams in every riding in the nation, >> Okay. >> and that's that's where that thought came from. So, then after a few years at a couple years working with the MPP, I got a call and it was from one of the board of directors at National House of Prayer and he said, "Chris, what do you think about leading National House of Prayer in Ottawa?" And I went, "That's why I had to do this. That's why I had to go and learn how to be a politician >> Right. >> because I still had this heart for prayer but I had to learn things that were political and learn to learn to

speak a political language right and how to learn the protocols and how to to navigate our political system and I was very good at it. I had a great job. I love my job working as chief of staff and and it was it was a lot of fun. It was a lot of a lot of a lot of bumpiness a lot of problems but I like solving problems and it was a great job. But then it was like that's why you did this. That's why we had to take this. That's why I had to lay down leading worship and I had to go to this other place to learn this language and get ready to come to National House of Prayer. >> Very cool. So you're Yeah, you it's starts with obedience. It starts with just saying yes when the

Lord asks you to go somewhere you don't want to go. You know, you when you're saying that you remind me of you know, the old joke how many Christians does it take to change a light bulb? Change, what do you mean change? I don't want to go there. But um uh Yeah, see it's it's it starts with this obedience and going to serve. He didn't say go here and I got to get you into some pretty cool spots. He just said show up and serve and be a prayer guy, right? Right. And that's exactly it and serve. And so when we got this opportunity to come to National House of Prayer, we inherited a ministry from Robin friend wonderful people the founders of the National House of Prayer started back in

2001 with a prayer walk from Calgary to Ottawa. This is the 25th year since that happened and they found a house. They have this 20 bedroom monastery where people would come across the nation to come and pray and it was wonderful. They would go to the house. We had interns. It was great. It was great season. It was wonderful. So many historic things happened in that house. You know, reconciliation between first the first peoples that was connected to National House of Prayer. Recon- reconciliation with those we were kind of connected to those that in the Jewish community are from the St. Louis. That was all kind of a part of it. That movement was a part that came into that kind of birth

National House of Prayer. So so we've seen we used to have dignitaries and MPs and ambassadors at the house all the time. It was great. But Marilyn and I in- inherited a a National House of Prayer without a house because in 2019 Rob and the the Board of Directors felt it was it was time to sell the building. And the reality what had happened is when Stephen Harper was the Prime Minister, um they had no problem filling the house. People would come from all over the country to come and pray all the time. And when when Justin Trudeau came in, they stopped coming. And that was a real problem. They stopped coming. They did not want to pray for him. And you know, we talked about this in

the last episode about about we pray for all kinds of prayers for everybody. The people we like and the people we don't like. For kings and those in authority. Doesn't matter whether we voted for them or not. We're going to be praying for them. We're going to be holding them before the Lord. We're going to be trying to see what God sees and they're trying to find a heart of the Lord for those members. Right? So we can pray appropriately what God wants to pray. And so it was difficult. So they sold the building. So we inherited we basically had the National of Prayer. But when Marilyn and I came into this role, we already started to see this canopy. We were saying when we were

working in that place of government and volunteering in that those EDAs, wouldn't be awesome if we put a team in every riding. We could do this. And so we have some teams right now. We've got a bunch of teams. We have lots of individuals. We have got lots of churches. We've got lots that are happening and we're working now to maybe make it a little bit more cohesive, right? But we're working and we're building a map right now to show everybody where all the teams are. And and we want to build those teams. But anyway, we'll get back to that. So yeah, that's what happened. So we had the Lord while we were in government gave us a strategy even before we got here on

to build a canopy over the nation. It's like you know, I I I I when I was thinking about what does it look like? How do you take a picture of a canopy of prayer? And I was in this beautiful provincial park in the first year during COVID. And then and when when I went for this walk and we went through this beautiful under this beautiful tree canopy. It was a path with this beautiful tree canopy. In fact, it was raining raining raining. We came we we got out of the parking lot. The parking lot was all open. Started to pour while we were unpacking our gear and we ran under that canopy and it was a complete covering. And I thought we should take a picture of this as a

picture for canopy of prayer as a covering over the nation, a covering of prayer and protection over the nation. >> Very cool. So let's let's let's get practical with this again. So going back to when you came in as executive directors of the National House of Prayer and the National House of Prayer doesn't have a house. And we and we go into COVID at 2020 and on from there. So in 2021 when you began with National House of Prayer, we started Zoom prayer calls, right? >> That's right. >> So talk about talk about that and how that kind of shifted the the focus of NHOPS ministry and how we how we started to view encouraging prayer in the nation. >> So COVID, we all remember that. It was a

difficult time, but it was a wonderful time for learning some new tools. Cuz we needed new tools to adapt to that current situation. Right? Because we were pretty Nobody could come to Ottawa, right? Well, very few could come. And you remember what it was like, only so many building, blah, blah, blah. Very difficult to do any of those things. But we learned very quickly that Zoom was really fantastic. And so, we started with one Zoom call on a Wednesday night, and then it's expanded it to Tuesday and Wednesday. And we still have those two calls. They're wonderful. I mean, I we've got great relationships. Been over 5 years with many of the people that are still on that call. And so, so praying

with them is seamless, right? Because we built this these relationships, and it's just it's so fun. Like, just last our last Tuesday morning call, you know, I think we prayed 35 prayers in an in an hour and a half, and everyone was loaded full of the word. I mean, I made this note cuz I I keep notes in everything that while we're praying, I keep a journal while we're praying, and I keep notes of the scriptures that we're praying, and it was a powerful, powerful time. But from then, we did decided that oh, so we can do prayer, and because part of Ingathering's mandate in the past was come to Ottawa, we'll teach you, we'll disciple you. Then we realized we could do prayer schools on

on this. So, we started to do prayer schools. And now, you know, we have Canopy Prayer We used to call it Canopy Prayer School, but now we just call it Ingathering Prayer School. And so, now we have hundreds of people that join us on that with with those calls. And they're two semesters. We try to do two semesters a year. I I I I winter spring semester, then a late fall going into December semester. And those have been very, very productive. Where in the past, we would have teams that would come maybe five or 10 at a time, Now we're able to disciple hundreds at a time and and we're expanding that, right? And to the point now we're we're not doing a a semester this this semester because

we're we're launching our podcast right now. So we thought we would try a little different format so we can discuss a little more. Still be it there's an element of teaching you need to be on here, but it's going to be not so much lecturing and speaking at but more conversational. >> Yep. Yep. So we had we had that season of COVID and now instead of Canada come to Ottawa to pray for government, now we're encouraging Canadians where they live to pray. You don't have like you don't only have to come to Ottawa obviously, but yeah, the focus kind of shifted from calling people to Ottawa and praying from here to now wait a minute, let's be praying where you live on the ground. So talk to us about

constituencies >> Yes. >> and members of parliament and the the dynamic there cuz we always think all the MPs live in Ottawa. We kind of think that they live in Ottawa, so that's where we go to pray for them. Talk about constituencies and MPs and that whole thing. >> Well, actually the members of parliament spend more time in their constituencies than they do it all in Ottawa. They're not here in the summertime. You know, we have a a a Christmas break which is usually about 6 weeks. >> Okay. >> And and then there's there's a break in March and then they're they're here for like 2 or 3 weeks then they're back in their constituency for a week, right? When the house is in session. >> Okay.

>> So we were starting to realize that, you know, your MP lives with you. Their address is with you. And in fact, I'd like to say it's not that your MP is in your you are in that MP's constituency. That MP is in your constituency and you get to care for them and you get to pray for them and you get to build a relationship with them, right? Whether it's pastors or leaders, but this is the way you should be building, whether you voted for them or not. I mean, I remember one time a pastor said to me, "Chris, are you telling me that I have to support my member who I did not vote for?" I won't tell you the party because And I said, "Yeah." "But I didn't vote for them." Doesn't matter. Right? It

doesn't matter if you didn't vote for them. Go and serve them. >> And it was like, "What? Where's that >> that in the Bible? Where's this servant heart in the Bible with with with with the leaders, with the Christians or Jews, right? Where is that?" And it's like, "Well, it's it's Joseph, it's Daniel, it's to a certain extent Esther, >> Right? Mordecai. >> to to to one of my favorite little verses in Philippians where the Apostle Paul says, uh Philippians 4:21, "And say hello to the house of Caesar." Right? This little He has this impact with the people there, with the house of Caesar, whether it's staffers, it's probably staffers that he's having a relationship, but he's had impact where

where the rubber meets the road. And you are the rubber meets the road. So, you can build relationships. You can build friendships. You can build servanthood. You know, go and go I often times I say, "Go into that office. Ask if you can volunteer." "I didn't vote for them." Go and ask them if you can help them, right? Because friends influence friends. >> Right? >> Have real viable conversations with each other. If you're always this, if it's always this, this never gets anywhere. When I worked in the constituency office, we used to get protests. And I was the the odd duck in all of caucus cuz every We had a protocol of when the protesters come, you're supposed to

close the blinds, lock the doors, send the staff >> Well, I would send >> I would send people home because some people would sometimes they'd get really awful, right? Except I would walk out there and I'd go talk to them. And they go, "What are you doing?" I'm going to talk to them. I'm going to listen to what they had to say. And you know what? Many times they had what they had to say, they were valid, right? They had valid concerns, right? And so often we need to be able to hear because we get locked into echo chambers, right? Of just our side hearing what we want. And yeah, sometimes there's a lot of unrighteousness out there. I'm not saying it there isn't, right? >> Right. Right.

>> There's a lot of stuff that's pretty stupid out there to tell you the truth, right? Maybe we're going to edit that, I don't know. Maybe not. But nevertheless, you need to be able to hear. And you And you need to hear the stupidity. Like you need to because if anything, it gives you something to pray for. When you get to see what's actually in the hearts of people, whether it's a stronghold or deception or anything like that, it gives you the wherewithal to understand what's going We're called We're in the spirit and with understanding, right? And unless you dig deep, sometimes you're just not going to understand, right? So sometimes we have to dig a little bit

deeper, find out what's really going on. And And so that's Those are the things we did. So building this canopy, all right, putting us in the riding. This is what I would say, "You take care of the MP at their home with your home. I'll take care of them here on Parliament Hill." And there are times you can come visit us and we'll do it together on the hill, >> Right. >> or sometimes I'll come to where you are and we'll do together there in your riding. What do you think, right? This And we do this. And so we're building these great relationships. So we both, you know, Brad and I, we we've seen members of Parliament in their ridings, right? >> Right. >> We saw Cathy one time and and and

others, you know, so we we are doing this. I'm working on something with them right now. I'm working on something with a member in Atlantic Canada. Oh, that's as as vague as I can get on that. And to come to talk to pastors about about how the church can support their member of Parliament regardless of the party they're in. >> Right. >> And so and to teach them to how to have dialogue with each other because many times we don't. We're learning dialogue, but this needs to be ongoing communication because they don't know. I'll just share this story. >> Well, first can I I'm going to ask a quick question real quick. I remember having a wrong idea about this and when

you said something about it it kind of changed everything for me. You said so a constituency office where your MP works in your constituency, is that a partisan office? Is that home base for their party? >> No, it is not. It is a non-partisan. You can't even show the colors in that place, right? It is a non-partisan place. You can't have a pin. You can't get in big trouble. >> Wow. >> It is the constituency office. It's the office for the people. That's it. So you can lay down your partisanship. And I've said this to pastors. I say this to pastors all the time. Pastors, you should be having coffee with your MP at least once a year. And if anything and I've had

pastors say, "What do we talk about?" Tell Tell them, pastors, tell the MP what God is doing in your congregation. Tell them because one thing we learned out of COVID, right? The most of the at least on the financial side, most MPs had no idea that church was essential. Remember that dialogue? Remember that? And that was our own fault because we never let anybody know we were essential. They didn't know. People only know what they know. >> That's right. >> MPs actually think unless they are involved with you, they most of the time they think that church is for Christmas and Easter, weddings and funerals. That's what and a few people show up on Sunday to sing some songs and listen to

a guy talk or a girl talk, right? And and they they don't know. They don't see the the vitalness to the community that a local church has. So, youth past youth pastors, okay? I'm talking to you youth pastors. So, prayer people, if you have a youth pastor, you're doing an event with your young people. Say you're having a special get-together with your young people. Invite the MP, invite the MLA, invite them to see what you're doing, right? Invite them because it changes their minds. They have no idea. And let them see the works that are that you are doing so they can glorify the our father in heaven. >> That's right. We often see that We often see when a church has an MP in or

someone like that, the mayor or whatever, and we can think they're trying to score political points or they're trying to they're trying to get close to get political power. You know, there's a lot that gets talked about around those lines with Christian nationalism nowadays. Really, the goal is we want them to see what God is doing in and through his people. We want them to see what is the value what what is the value we're bringing to society, to the constituency. Like we have nowadays, you know, at the time of this recording, there's Bill C-9 is being talked about in the house like being So, that's dealing with hate crime hate crimes legislation, and they want to

include the Bible in that. And if they don't hear all the good that churches are doing in the community, if they don't hear what benefit we're bringing to Canada, what's to stop them from from writing legislation like that? But when they when they see how the church is doing so much good and what God's doing through the church, when they see that more, they're less likely to push legislation that would that would restrict the church. So, it's it's important for us to let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds, like you just quoted. Don't don't hide it under a bushel. Let's let Let's let some of these guys know. >> Exactly. And that's why we are building

this canopy. That it's a relational canopy that you could be a part of it. I'm going to tell you a story about um Doug. And uh this is it's one of my favorite stories. It's a good one. >> Yeah, I've shared it often and I love it. So So they're in the 2021 election. We had just coming in and so this was like with May or June. And so we've been in the in in the job like less than 6 months. And and there was a guy on one of our calls on Tuesdays. And he's a beautiful brother. And and so he calls me up and he says, "Well, there are some ministries out there that are saying we should only vote for pro-life people." And I said, "Well, I'm pro-life. Pro-life people are good." Yes. He says,

"Except this candidate there's a pro-life candidate that they're vying for candidacy and a and a not pro-life candidate, right? What do I do?" I said, "Just continue to pray. Pray that you know that the that the Lord would pick you know pick the person. Do your do the best you can. Go campaign for that pro-life candidate. Go knock on doors. Go do the things. Do all the things that you can do to support him. Use all the tools in the toolbox to support him, right?" Well, that person didn't make it, right? So this this other person won. And she became the member >> the pro-choice person she became the member. So he calls me up and he's really disgruntled. He goes, "My person didn't get in

and this person won won the the the is now the MP of my riding. And even though it was the party that I chose, I don't like her her values. I don't like what she stands for. I don't like that she's not pro-life. What do I do?" And I said, "Well, you're going to pray for her. That's what you're going to do. You're going to pray. This is what 1 Timothy does. We're going to pray." Yeah, but you know, I had these other ministry is saying this stuff and I I don't know what to do. So he ended up having like five different phone calls. And he is so despondent. You know, he wasn't listening to me, you know, and I'm thinking like I'm not saying something he's not under-

I don't know why he's not understanding this. It's pretty simple. Pray for her. >> I think he's under he's understanding it, but sometimes it's just >> He just he just doesn't >> the idea. >> Right? Because >> Yeah. >> There's got to be >> Honestly, yes. >> You got to give me something better. Right? And I I appreciate it. He was like that that widow knocking on the door right with the judge. And so I said I said so this is what you do. When she does something good in the house, right? Send her a note. Don't send her an email, right? Don't do any of that. Send her a handwritten note with your name, your address so she can identify you as in the constituency. Put your phone number

there and put your email address there. Make sure you got that and tell her that you're praying for her. So you're going to tell her you can do all the good things and then tell her you're praying. So he did this for about 6 months and she was pretty good. She did some good things. I went out to see him in his riding and and look at what's going on and you know and and and he was telling me, you know, she's good really good member and she does this. She's not pro-life but she has a heart for the poor. And and so I thought that was really excellent. So then all of a sudden after 6 months he gets a text from a private number. So if you get a private number come up on the phone,

it's either the RCMP is after you or it's an MP, right? That's usually what it is. When I get a private number I know it's an MP trying to call me. I hope I hope it's not the RCMP. But but every time so far it's been it's been an MP. And this text comes in and it says, "Hey, what does this Bible verse mean?" And it just goes he goes, "What?" Didn't see that coming. He's shocked. All of a sudden he's sowing these seeds of shalom, right? James 3. He's sowing these seeds of peacemakers, shalom makers that sow in shalom or reap a harvest of righteousness in James 3. So he's sowing these seeds. She writes back, "What does this mean?" And then he explains her. And

"I need prayer for this." She sends a text. Oh, "I need help with this." And she starts to build this relationship with him. And she's connecting with her, involved with her, involved in her life. So, anyway, so I don't remember we were at a national day national prayer breakfast in 2022. And so, I saw her because I know all this stuff is going on. I actually alerted some of my MP friends in the House of Commons to watch for her and and have conversations, and they have been. So, your work working on that, informing us what you're doing helps us to minister them while we're on the hill, and we can put people in their way to help them minister. It's incredible. It's just

It's It really works great. But, this thing works It works so well. And so, I come up to her, and she's actually standing with with Pierre Poilievre. And so, I come up to her and I said, "Hey, I'm Chris. This is Marilyn. We're with the National House of Prayer, and you know our friend." And I give him a name his name. And she goes, "Doug, I love that guy. He's such a blessing to my life. Oh, I'm so grateful for this guy." >> Wow. >> And you know, so that is what we want to build, right? A true canopy. Let me It is not just And it's good that we're praying. Yes, it's good with we're praying, but it's this that all men and women will be saved and come to the

knowledge of the pure truth. You can be a part of that. On our part. You can be a part of that encouraging your members of Parliament as a matter what party, right? I'm so grateful this year we received at Christmas time our first Liberal Christmas cards. >> [laughter] >> You know, it's been a long time coming, right? Because they they were They have been offish, right? They have been. It's not from us not trying, right? But, we're starting to make inroads, which is so so encouraging to us. And you can be a part of that. Like we did this this summer this winter. I know we did this Christmas card campaign. And I know many of you engaged with that because you

told me. And you reached out and you sent a Christmas card and you told them you were praying and you're opening the doors for those relationships. So when they're at Perth County Fair, you know, your regional fair, go and see them, right? If there's a festival in your region, they'll probably there. Go and say hello. Come into the office. I'll tell you something, here's another really important thing. Those staffers go love on the staffers. >> Right. >> Because the job is so difficult. Let me tell you when when I >> yeah. >> You would know. I had to hire people. And so this was the opening line when I had to hire people because it was a very difficult job. The task wasn't bad, but

it was the blowback they were getting perpetually. Plus we were in COVID, so everybody was extra angry. >> Extra complainy. >> My first question would be when I was hiring hiring a potential employee was, "How do you feel about people swearing at you and yelling at you?" I had to and they would go, "What?" Yeah, because that's here. That's what's what they go through. >> From the public. >> From the public. >> From the member. >> [laughter] >> I'll say that. >> No, no, no, no, it wasn't or from me. >> I know. >> I was always nice. >> Always always always nice. >> I was known as the nice guy. I was actually known as Sometimes they would call me me the MPP's father. I was

really kind of funny. But um Uh but yeah, care for the staffers, right? Go in, build a relationship, bring them coffees or cookies or stuff like that. Tell them you care about them. And just you know what, even if you're just call them up and just just talk to them and say, "How are you doing? I'm thinking about you today." That You know what, and those things opens doors. It really do because when they realize you're not a hornet's nest. >> Mhm. >> Because [clears throat] who wants to talk to a hornet? >> Yeah. >> You know, I And the reality is And it's like and I'm going to say this, too. If you only complain, if your only interaction with your MP is only to

complain, you become what is known as a frequent flyer. That's what we would call you, a frequent flyer just to complain. Now, there are times that we have to complain. And there are times we have to voice what we don't like. And that's to say that that we don't have to We I'm not saying that. But if this is the only thing you do, who wants to listen to you? >> Right. >> Who wants to be heard? >> even think about it for yourself. Do you Who can speak correction into your life? Is it people who complain about you all the time? Or is it people who you know love you and care for you and want the best for you? You're going to receive instruction from or correction from them

way more than you're going to receive correction from someone who doesn't know you and screams all sorts of nasty stuff about you. Like it's common sense. It's common sense. >> And but we don't because I don't know what it is where we feel and maybe it's the advent of social media or whatever it is that we have this license to act like a jerk. And you don't. You don't. You are required You are required to produce fruit, right? You are required to If you are walking with Jesus, the expectation is that you produce fruit. And it's love, joy, peace, patience, self-control, all those other wonderful fruits, right? That that's there and that needs to be evident. Not being the

angry Christian. Right? And And we don't want to be the angry Christian. You don't want to be That doesn't glorify your father in heaven. When you do that, right? >> Right. >> We want to be Romans 5 Romans 15:5. I love this verse. You know, may the the God of endurance and encouragement, >> Right. >> God of endurance and encouragement, right? So that you can be walk in harmony with one another, right? This is the whole thing. It's like God spirit of God, that God of endurance endurance and encouragement that you will walk in harmony. So, with one voice you can glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's so huge, right? And that's how we walk. So, when you call up

your MP, you're going to be you're from the God of endurance and encouragement. That's That's what you carry. >> So, so that looks like being long-suffering, enduring with them. >> Yes. >> If we think that one one letter or one visit is going to change everything, it won't. Let's have some endurance. Let's Let's Let's set our heart on pilgrimage, Psalm 84, on that thing. And encouragement, right? He's He's not the He's not the God that tears a strip off you every time you do something wrong, right? There's encouragement. There's encouragement in there. Therefore, we're supposed to be as he is in the world, right? >> You know, even when when I was working in Oshawa on our EDA, and I want to I

remember one time the the member didn't show up for a vote cuz it was a very contentious vote, and so he just kind of didn't show up. And uh and he was he thought for sure he was going to get scolded cuz a lot of people scolded him. And I called him up cuz I noticed he wasn't there. And it was And it had to do with had to do with some um you know, family family rights and validity of the family. And he was he was being a little afraid. He was being intimidated cuz it is some can be very intimidating at times. And so, I called him up and I said, "I'm just calling to just encourage you. And just to remind you that I've got your back. I've got you. You know, Marilyn and I we're standing

with you. Even when you do Even when you do the things that are really difficult, we're standing there, right? And it's just so if you become afraid, just know we are with you. Don't be afraid. We're with you." And you know what? The next time a difficult bill came around, he was there, right? Cuz he wasn't sure what was going to happen, right? So, that's the kind of people we want to be. We want to be the people of endurance and encouragement. That's really pivotal. Yes, there are times that we need to say, and this is why you want to build the bridge that is strong enough to withstand a difficult conversation. That's what you You don't want to just be angry all the time, right? Nobody

wants that, right? And you know when sometimes when we're looking at our our current government rate government right now, nearly a hundred billion dollars in deficit, that just makes me go, "Oh my gosh." Right? And you see them pushing particular legislation, yeah, we're going to stand firm and use the tools in the toolbox, but we're still going to have the attitude of Christ. Yep. >> Yep. I'll just add two things to this. Number one, Daniel for me is such a an incredible example of doing this very thing, of walking with and serving and building relationship with leaders you don't agree with. Like, if you read the first six chapters of Daniel, it's the storyline, it's Daniel's story. And he

serves Nebuchadnezzar, he serves Babylon, which is held up as an example of as an of evil empire in the rest of the Bible. So, you've got he serves in Babylon, and then when Babylon is overthrown by the Medo-Persian empire, so you have the Medes, he serves them and the Persians, he serves them. He served under all these kings from even from three different empires, and you never see him screaming at them or taking a negative adversarial approach. That's the word I'm trying to say. >> That's right. >> He never sets up as an adversary. It And it's things like when he's pulled out of the lion's den, you love to say this, his first phrase is, "Oh king, live

forever. I'm okay. I'm safe, right?" And things like things where, you know, if a king threw us in in a lion's den, we probably wouldn't bless the king when we came out the next morning, right? And just And even the time when Nebuchadnezzar had or I forget which leader it was, but one of them had the dream that was Yeah, it was Nebuchadnezzar about how he was going to be cut down and how he was going to be humbled. And Daniel says, "I really hope this is for your enemies and not for you." And we're talking about a king who, if you look in the first chapter, you get the impression that he kills his staffers when they don't do what he what he what he likes. You know, this is a

This is a wicked, wicked king and Daniel's serving him and loving him. And he does that through his whole life through how many decades. So, you you got that one. And the second one for me, so, you know, there's that obvious thing, "Why should I serve my member or come alongside them? I didn't vote for them. I don't like their party. What do I do with that?" There's a story I wish I'd looked this up before coming on here. Abraham Lincoln, I believe it was, who, you know, leading through a very tumultuous time in American history. And remember hearing a story about how he had befriended some members on the other side of of the aisle in Congress. And his party was very, very upset with him

about that, saying, "You can't befriend your enemies." And he said something to the effect of, "If I turned my enemy into my friend, have I not destroyed my enemy?" And it's just this thing of we we so often think we need to dig in and oppose them, right? And there's there are policies and there are trends in culture that need to be opposed, but we wrestle not with flesh and blood. The people holding up those those policies or those those ideologies, the people are not our enemies. They're the ones that Christ wants to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. So, we can step forward and serve them and befriend them and encourage them, even if we disagree

with them on some things. And that's I think that's the big difference, right? That's That touches on Matthew 5, Jesus talking about loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you. And in that passage, the end of Matthew 5, he says he basically says when you love your enemies, that's when you look like sons of your father in heaven. That's when you're actually representing this is what his heart is like. And so, that and that just fits right in this whole thing of we want to encourage people to engage with your members, to befriend them, to serve where you can, even if you don't vote for them because of 1 Timothy 2:4, because of Matthew 5, I want to say 43, but I could

be wrong on the verse number there. Because of things like that. We're supposed to step towards them, not stand back and love hand grenades at them. >> That's That's so good. You know, one of the lessons we learned from when we were with the premier prime minister Trudeau is we started to really hear that we needed to pray for him as if he were our son. And this applies for Mr. Carney, it applies for Pierre Poilievre, it applies for your member of parliament. Right? Treat them, pray for them as if they were a part of your family, right? Because God gave them to you, right? Because scripture tells us he sets up kings. So, the word put them there. And he does it so he gave them These are

They are a gift from the Lord to you. And you get to care with them for them in prayer and in friendship. So, it's not that hard. I know some of us live in other places and stuff like that. Build a friendship, send a card, find out when their birthday is, send a birthday card. Be Be gracious to them. Right? And And when they when they do things that you don't like, build a bridge so you can actually have a a real meaningful conversation with them. Like I We've shared this before. One conversation with an MP, face-to-face or telephone conversation with an MP, is the equivalent of over a thousand letters. Look at the impact you will have if you build this way. And

let's go back to what you said earlier when you worked for your MLA or your MPP and people would protest outside the office and everyone would close the shutters and and hunker down and hide and you'd walk out and talk to them. That's That's rare. And so this this thing of when people protest, when they chant and scream and and whatever, we tend to brush it off as they're just really really angry, right? It It can be tempting to go to discount what they're saying because of how they're saying it. Whereas there's often very real concerns at the heart of it. >> Yeah. >> And so if we want to share those real concerns with members we didn't vote for and who we don't agree with, if we do it

shouting and screaming and complaining all the time, grumbling all the time, they're not likely to hear the valid concerns at the heart of it. They're more likely to hear it when they know when they know you a little bit, they know you're safe, they know you're for them, even if you didn't vote for them, you're for them as a person, you pray for them, for their families, you bless them, they're more likely to hear your valid concerns than if all you do is yell and scream. >> Yeah. >> That's just Again, that's just common sense human nature stuff. >> Just one little story and then then I'll let you >> So when I was working in the in the constituency office, the office I was in

was had a conservative member in it. And and and our constituency sat in three different municipalities. So so we had to deal with three different mayors. >> Okay. >> And we're that the the those we got along well with the conservative mayor, but we didn't get along well with the two liberal mayors, right? That we had this reputation and it was because it was a a partisan thing. >> Yeah. >> Right? And I remember the the member saying that you need to be careful, these are they're they're they're on the other side, right? You have to be careful. And I said, "Oh, no, no, no, no, they're going to love us." And she says, "No, No, no, they're on the other side." "No, they're going to

love us. No, she goes she just no, they're on the other side. I said, "Listen to me, they're going to love us. You just wouldn't see." Right? So, then I was at a an apple festival in the one municipality. It was the fall. And the mayor comes up to me and and I became good friends with this mayor. And the mayor comes up to me and he said, "Chris, you know something? I've been the mayor at this time." He was the mayor for like 15 years. He says, "We have never had a relationship with the NDP's office like we have today." And I said to him, I said, "Well, you know why it is?" He goes, "Why?" I said, "Because we love you." That's what I said. "We love you." And I said, "You want good things for

this riding?" Yes. "So do we." We want good things for this riding. And we totally demolished the political spirit and worked in collaboration, got so much stuff done. >> Nice. >> It's the way with the pointing of the finger. And then it became out and it was and it was so evident that even we were by the time the Santa Claus parade came, the the the mayor says to our member of parliament, MPP, and she says, "You know, we need to do something a little different here. We need a float." She says, "Yeah, we do. Chris will put it together." This there was always this everybody had long arms like became a spirit of collaboration, a spirit of working together, building together,

building that community together. It was so so so imperative. And you know, you can have these things, right? It doesn't have to be all partisan. Yes, there are times that partisan political things done. And it does, right? But there are other ways that of doing things. And because we're in the kingdom of God, we can use the kingdom rules, right? And those kingdom rules, the kingdom of God is listen to this, righteousness, peace, and joy. How good is that? >> That's so good. And I think that a huge building block to be able to work like that is to remember most of them are regular people like you and me. Most of them aren't sociopaths or with lust for power. They want to serve their

communities. And they might have different ways of of seeing things and going about doing that, but if we can remember that's the heart, that's the starting point, it's easier to come alongside them and bless them. So So, that's a little bit of the story behind the canopy of prayer. And the National House of Prayer, our our vision is to not always have people coming to Ottawa. We still like it when you come to Ottawa. We still welcome you to come and pray there, but we want to see teams of people on the ground in every riding across our country who are actively praying for their their member of parliament, their member of legislative assembly, or member of provincial

parliament, their mayors, city council. Pray for kings and all those in authority in your riding. And more than that, you know, especially those of you who feel some sort of calling to the political sphere, we hear from you sometimes, right, Chris? You get those calls and emails a lot. >> All the time. >> Start with coming alongside, introduce yourself, bless them, serve them, help where you can, and just start there. Because like Chris shared, it's amazing. He came He showed up to to bang signs in the ground, and it turned into much more than that. And so, this isn't a guarantee that it's going to become much more than that for everyone, but the point is just to step in, to engage, to

serve, to bless. And can you imagine Can you imagine how things would change if we had that in 343 ridings across the country? >> Right. >> And so, if you're interested in more information, you know, it's more than just signing up for something. We do provide you with resources, teachings, you know, we can help connect you with other people in your riding who have the same heart, who are praying with you. We want to equip you to do this well for the sake of Canada. Because yes, we're going to pray so that we can lead peaceful and godly lives, but also we do this because God's desire is that all men would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. And so, if you

want more information on Canopy of Prayer, you can visit our website at enhop.ca. You'll find Canopy of Prayer there. And yeah, check it out. If you have any questions, reach out to us. We'd love to answer your questions and walk with you and get you started on this journey in your own writing. So, Canopy of Prayer, enhop.ca, check it out. Chris, any last words? >> I have spoken a lot today. So, thank you everybody. It was so fun to share this story. We hope you catch the vision and write. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, thanks a lot for joining us for for putting up with us for for an hour here. I hope you've enjoyed it. I hope you're encouraged by it. Thanks for joining the Prayer Stream. We'll see you

next time. Bye for now. >> Thanks for listening to Prayer Stream, a podcast from the [music] National House of Prayer. Click the like button, share, and subscribe to stay up-to-date on all our future episodes. For more information [music] on upcoming events, prayer resources, or the Canopy of Prayer, please visit us at www.enhop.ca. [music] See you next time.