The partnership Ignite Prayer Canada shared a compelling vision during its online launch gathering Sept. 19, 2024. Imagine this:
- 1,000 churches across Canada radiant with God’s electrifying presence
- continual fires burning on spiritual altars with faith-filled and united prayer, Scripture-fed and Spirit-led, fixated on God’s rule and righteousness
- intercession fused with gospel proclamation activating harvests of lost people coming to Christ, baptized, Spirit-empowered, experiencing healing, holiness and anointing – for missional witness
- a Niagara surge of flourishing churches cultivating vibrant cultures of Kingdom prayer.
This is the vision of Ignite Prayer Canada, a nationwide prayer initiative co-sponsored by more than 20 denominations, organizations and churches so far, to help churches deepen their identity as local houses of prayer.
Houses of prayer
When Jesus entered the Jerusalem Temple, He was aghast at its corruption. He branded it a den (refuge) of robbers. Citing Isaiah 56:7 He asked, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?” (Mark 11:17). The term “house” refers to God’s temple. In the ancient world, temples were built to house the gods as local residences of their presence, not as places of worship like we view churches today.
Essentially, Jesus pinpoints the central practice by which all people can approach and encounter God’s presence – prayer. Consider the major religions of the world (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism). What’s the central practice common to them all? Is it not prayer?
How would you brand your church, which is a local New Testament temple of God’s indwelling presence (1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 2:18–22)? Is it primarily a house of preaching, worship, teaching, sacraments or fellowship? Or a house of prayer?
Thousands of churches organize their services around singing and sermons but less so on supplication – prayer and a focus on seeking God’s presence. There are liturgical churches that use prepared prayers and evangelical and charismatic churches that incorporate spontaneous or short prayers. But if we tally the time spent in the preparation and delivery of Kingdom prayer it’s usually minimal. Why?
What if we practised Acts 6:4, “But we will devote ourselves to prayer [first] and to the ministry of the word.” Imagine the possibilities if preachers and worship leaders who often delegate prayer were first devoted prayer leaders who then preached and led worship.
Could some of our congregations shorten the singing by ten minutes and the sermon by ten minutes and incorporate 15–20 minutes of prayer throughout the service? Tommy Barnett of Phoenix First Assembly of God remarked, “The presence of God in the midst of a church is directly proportional to the amount of prayer that takes place there.”
Cultures of prayer
How can we cultivate vibrant cultures of Kingdom prayer that flood the worship, preaching, teaching, liturgy, fellowship and evangelism of churches, in private and public expressions? Let’s remember how Acts 1–2 describes fervent prayer birthing the missional church from the upper room in Jerusalem. Fervent prayer has ignited all renewal and revival movements.
A culture of prayer is when a mindset and practice of intentional and dynamic prayer marks the heart of church leadership, life and mission. It’s not a program or a secondary spiritual formation activity but a strategic priority which dominates and fuels a church’s vitality.
When senior pastors, staff and boards lead with prayer, they contribute to a contagious, presence-fueled culture that releases heaven on earth into the ministries and evangelistic mission of the church (Matthew 6:10). A recent book that expands on this idea is Lead With Prayer: The Spiritual Habits of World-Changing Leaders by Ryan Skoog, Peter Greer and Cameron Doolittle (Faith Words, 2024).
Ignite Prayer Canada aims to help with all of this. It curates resources, training, networking, coaching, communications, events and stories to empower your church, organization or school to sharpen its focus as a house of prayer. Ignite works with denominations and others to cultivate cultures of Kingdom prayer.
Learn more at IgnitePrayer.ca and consider becoming a participant or co-sponsor.
Roger Helland is prayer ambassador at The EFC, lead team member at Ignite Prayer Canada, and author of Pursuing God’s Presence (Chosen, 2023).
Author:
Roger Helland