I praise God for Jason Mandryk and his team who put together the seventh edition of Operation World. The subtitle is The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation. Just the other day I was having my world adjusted by reading and praying over the section on Palestine (The Palestine Authority).

Where does a book of this scope come from? What drives its production? It’s the vision of God, and the laugh of faith. Here’s the answer:

All the earth-shaking awesome forces unleashed on the world are released by the Lord Jesus Christ. He reigns today. He is in the control room of the universe. He is the only Ultimate Cause; all the sins of man and machinations of Satan ultimately have to enhance the glory and kingdom of our Saviour.

This is true of our world today — in wars, famines, earthquakes, or the evil that apparently has the ascendancy. All God’s actions are just and loving. We have become too enemy-conscious, and can over-do the spiritual warfare aspect of intercession.

We need to be more God-conscious, so that we can laugh the laugh of faith knowing that we have power over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). He has already lost control because of Calvary where the Lamb was slain. What confidence and rest of heart this gives us as we face a world in turmoil and such spiritual need. (Patrick Johnstone, Operation World (Kent, England: STL, 1987), 21).

The regularly updated online version is at http://www.operationworld.org/.