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2013 Prayer Calendar - JuneJune 2013 - Religion and PhilosophyBackground
Intercessors for Australia have provided two relevant research reports on Sydney: In the 21st century, religion in Australia is predominantly Christian. In the 2011 Census, 61.14% of the Australian population were recorded as adhering to Christianity. Historically the percentage has been far higher and the religious landscape of Australia is diversifying, along with multicultural immigration and 22.3% of people with no religious affiliation. 22.3% of Australians declared "no-religion" on the 2011 Census, and a further 8.55% did not answer the question. The remaining population is a diverse group which includes Buddhist (2.46%), Islamic (2.21%), Hindu (1.28%) and Jewish (0.45%) communities. The Constitution of Australia of 1901 prohibits the Commonwealth government from establishing a church or interfering with the freedom of religion. Australia's Aboriginal people developed the animist spirituality of the Dreaming and some of the earliest evidence on earth for religious practices among humans has been found in the archaeological record of their ancestors. Torres Strait Islander religion bore similarities to broader Melanesian spirituality. While Aboriginal people in Northern Australia would have had some contact with Maccassans prior to the permanent arrival of Europeans, the general isolation of indigenous Australian religion ended with the arrival of the first British settlers in 1788, whereafter subsequent immigrants and their descendants have been predominantly Christian. (See also Wikipedia - Religion in Australia) The majority of Australians have reported an affiliation with a Christian religion. However, there has been a long-term decrease in affiliation to Christianity from 96% in 1911 to 61% in 2011. Conversely, although Christian religions are still predominant in Australia, there have been increases in those reporting an affiliation to non-Christian religions, and those reporting 'No Religion'. In the past decade, the proportion of the population reporting an affiliation to a Christian religion decreased from 68% in 2001 to 61% in 2011. This trend was also seen for the two most commonly reported denominations. In 2001, 27% of the population reported an affiliation to Catholicism. This decreased to 25% of the population in 2011. There was a slightly larger decrease for Anglicans from 21% of the population in 2001 to 17% in 2011. Some of the smaller Christian denominations increased over this period - there was an increase for those identifying with Pentecostal from 1.0% of the population in 2001 to 1.1% in 2011. However, the actual number of people reporting this religion increased by one-fifth. Over half of the overseas-born population (56%) reported a Christian denomination; the two most commonly reported were Catholicism (24%) and Anglicanism (12%). Non-Christian religions were reported by 19% of the overseas-born population, with Buddhism (6.8%), Islam (5.4%) and Hinduism (4.3%) being the most prevalent. The proportion of the overseas-born population who reported 'No religion' was 20%, slightly lower than the level for the Australian population as a whole (22%). Recent arrivals were less likely than longer-standing migrants to report an affiliation to Catholicism (18% and 26% respectively) and Anglicanism (7% and 13% respectively). In contrast, a higher proportion of recent arrivals reported Hinduism (10.0% compared to 3.0%), Islam (8.4% compared to 4.7%) and Buddhism (7.7% compared to 6.6%). These differences reflect the larger number of new arrivals from non-European countries. New arrivals were also more likely than longer-standing migrants to report 'No Religion' (24% compared to 19%). Selected religions - longer-standing and recently arrived migrants: 
ScripturesMeditate on 1 Kings 18:16-39.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.
This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. Prayer to Break the Power and Influence of the Religious SpiritFather God we come to you boldly in the wonderful name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We just take a few moments to worship and praise You, for You are the mighty King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We know that You have highly exalted our Lord Jesus and given Him a name, which is above every name, and that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of beings in Heaven and beings in Earth and beings under the earth. We thank you that all demonic powers, and Satan himself, have been stripped of their power and reduced to 0 by the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus has taken away the keys to death, hell and the grave from the devil. And we thank you Father that all authority and power in Heaven and Earth has been given to our Lord Jesus who is the head of His body, the Church. And that since we have been raised with Him to sit in heavenly places with Him, far above all principality, power, might, dominion, all things are now under His feet. We understand that all things are now under our feet, as the body of Christ. All things are ours. We have already been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. We are joint heirs with the Anointed One. We are sons of God. We are kings and priests, and we shall rule and reign with Christ forever. Because of these great truths Lord, we obey your Word that says, "Whatsoever we bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatsoever we shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven". And the fact that Jesus said, "Behold, I give unto you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means harm you". And Jesus also said, "These signs shall follow the believing ones of which I am one". In the name of Jesus we should cast out devils. Lord, we know we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. They are the spirits that now work in the children of disobedience. They blind the minds of them who don't believe, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them. Lord, if I am bound up or have been influenced in any way by an anti-Christ spirit, doctrine of devils, religious man-made tradition of men, I want it exposed and I want to be free from it. You said everything that is in darkness shall be brought to light. I am free and shall know the truth and the truth shall set me free!! Lord, if I find out my church is operating in religious traditions; I will leave and find one that's not. Lord, I will do whatever You tell me to do. Send me good teachers, and leaders in Jesus' name. Lord, I ask You to forgive me for any religious, untrue doctrine or ideas I may have knowingly or unknowingly peddled or sowed into someone's life. Please forgive me for influencing my family with any of these ideas. I repent. Now Lord, we present to You all people in all lands that are in any way being bound up and influenced by a religious spirit in any ways. WE intercede for them and ask You to send the perfect laborers into their path with the gospel in Jesus' name. We come against the Spirits of Blindness and Religion that are influencing them. We break your power, your influence and your ideas over them. Stop your influence now in Jesus' name. We break the strongman in charge of all religions in all lands, in all areas and in our area and family in Jesus' name. Your power is broken now. We demonstrate and initiate what Jesus has already done. We free our nations, lands, cities, towns and communities now in Jesus' name. And now we spoil the Religious Spirits goods. Lord, send these people into Your great God-ordained churches. Send the Word to them and deliver them from their destructions. Lord send Your angles to route the religious spirits out of their lives and the churches lives. Let Your angels influence them into Your perfect will and church. Let the churches who will not compromise with a religious spirit receive the harvest of all those you have set free, now in Jesus' name. Lord, we pray, send your rain. Send a massive hunger and revival to Your people. Let whole lands and cities and towns once controlled by religious churches and spirits be drenched by the rain and flood of spiritual revival. Let true revelation be preached like never before, and the true church rise to its prominence and glory in the Lord. We thank You for it now, in Jesus' name. |
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