The Age April 26, 2007
Worshippers from various churches gather in Fitzroy Gardens yesterday to pray for an end to the drought.

AUSTRALIANS are literally looking to the heavens for the solution to the nation’s crippling drought, according to Prime Minister John Howard.
Mr Howard urged Australians to “pray for rain” last week, when he warned that parlous water supplies in the Murray-Darling Basin could lead to allocations for irrigators virtually being cancelled.
But a letter from Mr Howard’s office obtained by The Age suggests his calls for prayer may have been more than just rhetoric. The letter, sent to a Niddrie man on Mr Howard’s office letterhead on April 2, said many Australians believe religion is one way to restore the nation’s declining rainfall.
“There is a widely held view that there is a place for both scientific assessment to examine ways to relieve the impact of drought as well as the spiritual approach,” the letter said.
Written by Mr Howard’s principal private secretary, Peter Langhorne, the letter was a response to suggestions that rainfall was controlled by a deity.
Mr Howard’s office tried to distance itself from the views when contacted by The Age.
“They are not Peter Langhorne’s views; it’s acknowledging those views are held in the community,” a spokesman said.
Mr Howard’s Niddrie correspondent would have found many fellow travellers in Fitzroy Gardens yesterday, where Pastor Danny Nalliah, president of Catch the Fire Ministries, implored a crowd to pray for the drought to break.
More than 200 people from a variety of churches met to pray for rain.
“When the Prime Minister first talked about everybody praying for rain, I was really excited about it,” said Anglican Cath Ward, who went along to the meeting.
Yesterday’s prayer meeting carried the message that it was Australia’s ambiguous morality that had caused the drought, not environmental factors.
“We are a materially rich country, but we are a spiritually and morally bankrupt nation that has turned our back on Jesus,” Pastor Nalliah told the gathering.
He said that because of the prayer session, the drought would break within days.

Dear Friends and Family in Christ,

Thank you so much for responding to the call to pray on Wednesday 25th April (Anzac Day)! Even though it was short notice to marshal the troops to pray, I thank the Lord for the tremendous response of passion, zeal, and commitment exhibited by the faithful prayers to break the drought as the heavens open to send the rain across this Great South Land!

Following is an article from the Age on Thursday 26th April capturing a moment of the Melbourne prayer meeting at Fitzroy Gardens.  Additional media coverage occurred on Wednesday 25th as Channel 9 News at 6pm reported the prayer meeting in addition to a remarkable statement by the news anchor that prayers were answered as the much needed rain is on the way over the next few days!

Furthermore, I received several telephone calls from New South Wales bringing good news that a significant rainfall has begun!

Thank you once again, to everyone who participated in the Australia Day United Prayer, 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting, the National Solemn Assembly in Canberra, and the Anzac Day call to prayer.

Additional thanksgiving to Prime Minister John Howard for calling the nation to pray and the Lord’s faithful prayers who responded in obedient action.

Let’s continue to prayerfully seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness at all times!

Thanking & Blessing You,

Ps. Danny