When God is about to move in revival power, He stirs people to pray. As EM Bounds wrote, “Prayer unites us with the purposes of God and secures those purposes.”
How do we pray? In many, varied ways. But whatever our preferred style and whatever resources we use, it is important to connect with apostolic and prophetic ministries whether that is within the All Nations family or wider.
If we want to see churches planted that reflect what we see in the New Testament, our praying needs to be apostolic and prophetic. In other words it needs to be inspired by sharing discernment on the Lord’s direction and what we need to ask Him to change in a locality, and it needs to be directed to seeing disciples made and joined together to form churches that plant churches!
God meets us in the place of prayer.
His Holy Spirit changes us in the place of prayer.
We hear the voice of Jesus in the place of prayer.
So let’s pray! But what is different and special about praying together?
The promises in scripture are staggering:
Jesus said, Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. Matthew 18.19
It is no coincidence that Jesus makes this breathtaking promise to his disciples in the context of brothers and sisters getting on with each other! Unity is crucial to prayer. Jesus goes straight on to say that his very presence with us is also dependent upon our unity, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18.20
Prayer like this is a richly supernatural activity. Without the wonderful participation of the Holy Spirit, we humans seem incapable of being together for long without disagreements and disunity! But God is full of grace. He knows our hearts and he covers our weaknesses when we abandon ourselves, our wills and our preferences to his sovereignty.
How do we live like this?
In All Nations, we embrace the joy and the safety of living in authentic community by being intentional about relationships. By being vulnerable and accountable to those to whom we are close, and by speaking the truth in love. By being quick to forgive and refusing to hold grudges. We recognise and submit to apostolic authority. Thus we discover together that iron sharpens iron, that the various gifts given by the Holy Spirit are to build us together “so that we may be no longer children..…rather we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” Ephesians 4.14,19
When we pray like this, and give priority to unity because it is on God’s heart, we can lay foundations for planting healthy churches that reproduce.
