USA (MNN) — Today is the National Day of Prayer in the United States. Sadly, prayer sometimes receives little more than an eye roll. Some people see prayer as a lackluster response to real life issues. And in the ministry world, some see prayer as bare-minimum support for outreach — certainly not as desirable as tangible donations.
However, Barry*, the international prayer leader with Global Disciples, says they hold a high-level view of prayer and its impact.
“We believe at Global Disciples that prayer often precedes and lays the foundation for God to work in lives and communities and even nations.”
Putting Words to Action
Global Disciples seeks to reach the least-reached around the world with the Gospel. They have over 1,600 programs and directors leading church planting movements among the least-reached.
(Photo courtesy of Global Disciples)
Additionally, Barry explains, “We ask all of them to work at developing a prayer team. So we potentially have…about [1,600] prayer teams internationally that are being encouraged and equipped and developed and are praying. That’s a pretty amazing network.”
The ministry also has eight regional prayer leaders who advance on prayer initiatives in their regions around the world.
“We have one regional prayer leader who is focused specifically on developing teams in restricted access regions. That’s something we are just getting off the ground and so that’s pretty exciting too. They are going to be focused on areas in the Middle East and North Africa and in Asia where it’s particularly restricted for missionaries or others to go in,” Barry says.
“We also send teams into groundbreaking areas [and] least-reached areas ahead of our programming. We also try to have an on-site prayer team at all of the training events and things that we do.”
First Line of Defense
Sending prayer teams ahead of ministry initiatives means prayer is literally Global Disciples’ first line of defense.
Barry says they saw the power of prayer firsthand when a Global Disciples team recently held a gathering event in a high-crisis region.
“There was lots of violence, lots of rampant gunshots, and it was a really difficult area for people to gather. There was a lot of uncertainty about what would happen, but they decided to hold the event anyway.
(Photo courtesy of Global Disciples via Facebook)
“So there was a team that went in ahead of time to pray and they sent me an email basically saying that during that week, there were no gunshots. The whole region was quiet — totally, almost unexpectedly — and they had no issues with any of the people arriving there safely. While the event was happening, there was only one person who became sick and they prayed for them and they were healed and able to fulfill their responsibilities.
“[It was] just an amazing way that our on-site team was able to really quiet the area through prayer and through God’s work.”
Barry also heard another powerful story from a woman in a least-reached village in Asia. She and her three children suffered from illnesses and demon possession. Then a prayer team with Global Disciples visited her village and met her. The team prayed for her family, but nothing happened.
“She just was weeping as she told the story. [The prayer team] left and went back…and decided that they were going to pray and fast and then eventually go back. So they prayed and they fasted. They went back to this house and surrounded it with the whole team. Then a few of them went in again and prayed over this family.
“This time, God healed this family, and the oldest son in that family is now the pastor of the first church that’s planted in that village.”
Join the Movement
There are several ways you can be part of this Gospel-based prayer movement. You can pick a people group or country and pray with boldness for their people to seek the face of Jesus. Pray for Christians going into least-reached regions to find favor and a platform to share the Gospel.
(Photo courtesy of Global Disciples)
You can also join Global Disciples in prayer and fasting on the first Friday of every month. Several of their team members set their alarms for either 9:38 or 10:02 as a reminder to pray. The times represent Matthew 9:38 and Luke 10:2.
Finally, Global Disciples has several prayer resources available at their website here!
“We have a 7 Day Family Prayer Guide on there, which is a really good resource for families,” Barry says. “It talks about different people groups, a little bit about the Muslim world, the Hindu world, the Buddhist world, and so forth, and just can educate families on how to pray into the work of reaching everyone with the Gospel. There’s also a 40 Day Prayer Guide for the least-reached, so you can access those through the website.”
Today, as we recognize the National Day of Prayer, please join MNN and Global Disciples in praying for God’s name to be made great in least-reached communities around the world.
“I think the foundations that are being laid in prayer right now are going to open the way for some pretty powerful things that God is going to do in the world in this generation.”
*First name only for security purposes.
