United, Spirit-led prayer is a dynamic force.
We see it in the Bible and Christian history as people turned to God to transform their world.
I sense that we are moving in that direction in North America.
Houses of prayer are popping up in North America and Europe as people pray for themselves but also for the society around them. The International House of Prayer in Kansas City is one of the best known and Pete Greig's 24-7 Prayer International has had a particularly great impact on young people in many countries around the world.
In our city of Ottawa, Canada, the National House of Prayer was established some years ago to pray for our government. And in recent years, Pray Ottawa has organized a week of prayer annually for our city.
When people come together to pray for what God wants, great things happen.
A good example is the young Christian church just after Jesus' resurrection and ascension to heaven.
In Acts 4, we read how the believers reacted after Peter and John were arrested and told by the religious authorities not to preach the gospel. They heard from the apostles and then prayed together as one.
Defiantly, they prayed: "And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
God confirmed their prayers by shaking the house in which they were praying and giving them the boldness they requested. Many people were healed and many became followers of Christ.
In Matthew 18:19-20, Jesus says that he will give whatever people request if they pray in unity and according to "my name" or will.
Unfortunately, Christians are less likely to put aside their differences and seek God's will when times are peaceful and pleasant. But as social tensions rise, the economy worsens, and persecution begins, Christians increasingly turn to God.
Some of those symptoms are already evident in our society.
The other elements in spiritual transformation are repentance and a vision of what the world can be.
Great revivals begin when Christians acknowledge that they have wandered from God.
And vision played a major role in the remarkable 100-year, round-the-clock prayer vigil of the Moravians which launched a great missionary movement around the world.
May we, as Christians, become conscious of the need to draw together and pray as one for God to change our world.
We see it in the Bible and Christian history as people turned to God to transform their world.
I sense that we are moving in that direction in North America.
Houses of prayer are popping up in North America and Europe as people pray for themselves but also for the society around them. The International House of Prayer in Kansas City is one of the best known and Pete Greig's 24-7 Prayer International has had a particularly great impact on young people in many countries around the world.
In our city of Ottawa, Canada, the National House of Prayer was established some years ago to pray for our government. And in recent years, Pray Ottawa has organized a week of prayer annually for our city.
When people come together to pray for what God wants, great things happen.
A good example is the young Christian church just after Jesus' resurrection and ascension to heaven.
In Acts 4, we read how the believers reacted after Peter and John were arrested and told by the religious authorities not to preach the gospel. They heard from the apostles and then prayed together as one.
Defiantly, they prayed: "And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
God confirmed their prayers by shaking the house in which they were praying and giving them the boldness they requested. Many people were healed and many became followers of Christ.
In Matthew 18:19-20, Jesus says that he will give whatever people request if they pray in unity and according to "my name" or will.
Unfortunately, Christians are less likely to put aside their differences and seek God's will when times are peaceful and pleasant. But as social tensions rise, the economy worsens, and persecution begins, Christians increasingly turn to God.
Some of those symptoms are already evident in our society.
The other elements in spiritual transformation are repentance and a vision of what the world can be.
Great revivals begin when Christians acknowledge that they have wandered from God.
And vision played a major role in the remarkable 100-year, round-the-clock prayer vigil of the Moravians which launched a great missionary movement around the world.
May we, as Christians, become conscious of the need to draw together and pray as one for God to change our world.
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