“We need to exude the love of God for Canada, and that means we need to love each other when we don’t agree.”

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

The National House of Prayer (NHOP) is once again being led from Ottawa, under their new directors, Chris and Marilyn Byberg. The Bybergs took over leadership in January and are working toward their goal of establishing a “canopy of prayer” across the country.

“The way we feel the Lord leading NHOP is that it is not going to be Ottawa-centric,” Chris states. “What we hear [from the Lord] is a canopy of prayer and canopy of networks across the nation, developing prayer.”

NHOP has always had a focus of prayer for government, and that remains. Both Chris and Marilyn have a background working in politics. In fact, they first got involved in politics with the aim of bringing a subtle presence of prayer into their local political circle.

“Years ago, I felt the Lord speak to me about getting involved with government,” says Chris. “I started to develop a relationship with my local member of parliament and he later asked us to join his board.”

“What we want to do eventually is have each electoral district association (EDA) for each party, in each riding, have a prayer presence, whether it is covert or overt.”

Marilyn became the fundraising chair, while Chris became the vice president of the riding association, and later the constituency manager for his MLA. All the while, they prayed for God’s hand in their riding and in the government. It’s a model they hope to spread among believers.

“What we want to do eventually is have each electoral district association (EDA) for each party, in each riding, have a prayer presence, whether it is covert or overt. We need to go in as missionaries. This is why many EDAs have only one narrative. There used to be a time where Christians were involved in every party and influenced policy.”

A crucial aspect of this vision is encouraging believers to build positive relationships with their government representatives (at all levels of government), regardless of their political party.

“Don’t just write letters to them when you are not happy. That’s not a very nice relationship to have. Build positive relationships.”

Chris says believers should meet with their member of parliament at least once a year—and pray for them regularly. “You don’t need to vote for them,” he adds, “but come with ideas and solutions.”

“We have to love one another.”

Learning to work alongside those we disagree with is a key topic Chris and Marilyn want to see the Church address, especially among believers. COVID politics has tragically created rifts among Christians, with people on both sides lashing out in nasty ways.

“We have to love one another. This is how they will know we are disciples. If we are slandering each other about disagreeing over vaccines and other issues, we are going to need to mature. We need to exude the love of God for Canada, and that means we need to love each other when we don’t agree. That will take maturity.”

Beyond politics and government, Chris and Marilyn ultimately hope to stir up the Church to pray for revival and for the Gospel to spread across Canada.

“Our prayer is that the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord reaches out in our neighbourhoods, schools, and in Parliament,” says Chris. “Our prayer is for the Church to preach the Good News and release prisoners from captivity and declare the year of the Lord’s favour, so the people we are praying for in the community become oaks of righteousness and rebuild ruined cities. That is our prayer.”