Urban Leadership Foundation

 

Prayer Movements

City-Wide Prayer Gatherings.
In a divided city church, prayer is a common element that builds mutual trust and relationship. From prayer vision is birthed for the city. These are carefully planned citywide gatherings of the churches in the city for prayer. Concerts of Prayer in America have thought through process, and have a basis for working together between Pentecostal and non-Pentecostal, resourcing issues, formats for events etc.

Prayer Walking
The Intercessory Prayer Manual developed by John Huffman of Christ for the Cities in Latin America is one of the best tools for integrating prayer and research at a local church level. It involves 14 days where each church in the city sends out an intercessory team to walk the ten blocks around the church. On the first day they walk and pray for those in need in the community. On the second they pray for places of sin. On the third they pray against places that are demonic strongholds, etc. It engages the church with the neighborhood. After 14 days, the churches gather for a major crusade, having first laid down a prayer barrage.

Neighborhood Prayer Groups
Some have systematized neighborhood prayer groups across a city by using houses of prayer, some prayer triplets or what Ed Silvoso calls "points of light".

In our street of about 40 houses or apartment blocks, and 200 families, we have visited every house and offered to pray for them if they have needs, then again visited every house with cookies one of the brothers made. Then again visited every house to sing Christmas carols. Then again to offer marriage seminars and earthquake seminars, kids clubs and boys clubs. Our community houses are known as a place of prayer on the street to which people can come.

The dream is to have every street with a house of prayer, where all the churches encourage their members to find other Christians in the street and for each street to have a regular prayer meeting.

Pastors' Prayer Retreats
The beginning of unity is often when a significant number of pastors go away from the city for 3 to 4 days with one purpose: to pray and seek the Lord together. There is often an outbreak of revival from such times as God deals with dissension and inner personal life of these pastors. In Wanganui, it began with a brother confessing his bad words about another, and continued as one by one sins of jealousy, envy, malicious speech, were dealt with between pastors in the city.

From Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, Oregan in the U.S. has been a remarkable movement of such retreats known as Prayer Summits.

Incomplete Teaching on Prayer
Last night as I was teaching on reaching poor communities in the city, a woman worker made a comment, "We are always going and praying for the city, but three years later we are still praying for the city. We need a plan of action like you are giving us." What she was expressing was what many have sensed. Prayer movements last about three years unless there is ongoing structure to move from prayer to action.

As with revival, prayer movements alone do not reach cities. They are a building block through which an aspect of divine intervention occurs. Many writers communicate as if prayer is the answer, and nought else is needed. Such teaching is divisive and ends in frustration.

Prayer is the source, the center, the empowering, but it is not an end in itself. There are many other components of man's working with God that grow into the salvation of cities, many other giftings beyond intercession, discernment and deliverance, that work together for liberation from darkness. God is spiritual. He is not super-spiritual.

 © Viv Grigg and the Encarnação Alliance Training Commission
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Last updated: 05/15/09.