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What is a Fellowship of Prayer Strategists?

We believe prayer is the ‘indispensable key to the unfinished task’ among the ‘Forgotten Fourth World’– the one-fourth of the world with little access to the gospel.

Unquestionably… God has impressed this burden of prayer upon us as the Body of Christ. He has been growing a global prayer movement for decades now. The Lord has been calling people of prayer to model and assist others in cultivating conversational relationships with God and to ignite movements to Christ based on extraordinary prayer and intimacy with Him. This urgent necessity quickly became obvious, not only to survive, but to see fruit flourishing in these mostly hostile environments. In the course of pursuing loving obedience to His call, major prayer innovations have been and are being birthed. One of these seems to be the emerging role of the ‘prayer strategist’ that links passion for and practice of prayer and connection to prayer movements and networks with strategic field efforts to catalyze cascading movements to Christ.

The ‘prayer strategist’ has a posture of servanthood, supporting others in the Body of Christ. Think of the person sitting in the crow’s nest of a great ship, watching the horizon and advising the helmsman of events and circumstances beyond his awareness. It is a position of influence more than a position of authority. Using the analogy of constructing a building, someone needs to be watchful to make sure that all the components have been fit together according to the architect’s design. The prayer strategist, along with his or her teammates, would watch for any gaps, challenges or opportunities that emerge in that ministry so they can be appropriately addressed in prayer and action.

1 Chronicles 12:32 speaks of the men of Issachar who understood the times and knew what needed to be done; these people might be representative of ‘prayer strategists.’ Nehemiah is another example. Nehemiah interceded about the broken down walls of Jerusalem and he gained favor with the king, permission and resources, mobilized teams to do the actual work, and oversaw the completion of the project. Prayer was the way he received a strategy and was integral to the project’s success. In the New Testament, Barnabas was an encourager, connector and prophetic intercessor for in the spread of the Early Church. He brought Saul into relationship with the apostles and served alongside Paul in pioneering new work for the gospel. He was an another example of this same function in the Body of Christ.

What kinds of prayer strategies should be a part of the effort to see the advance of the gospel among the unreached?

• Prayer as conversation and intimacy with God is foundational to igniting movements to Christ, both for individuals and for teams.
• Fasting prioritizes the best things for His glory and kingdom.
• Prayer mobilization, training and team building facilitate God’s manifest presence and our cooperation. Love and unity demonstrate the truth of our testimony, but are impossible without abundant prayer.
• Prayerful End-visioning is using reverse problem solving to form your strategy to take Christ to your people group.
• Worship is both a form of prayer and a form of spiritual warfare. We draw near to God and He reveals to us the strategies of Heaven and empowers us to release His kingdom on earth as in heaven. Establishing permanent lighthouses of continuous prayer and worship creates beachheads for the kingdom of God.
• Personal restoration and transformation ministries, healing and deliverance ministries, conflict resolution, all grounded and guided through prayer, help us access Jesus’ abundant life. Often, signs and wonders also result.
• “Representational confession” or “identificational repentance” makes reconciliation and renewal possible for families, churches, communities, tribes and nations. God wants to direct us in prayerful action to be part of releasing breakthroughs by addressing offenses.
• Moving prayer onsite into the community brings the presence of Christ where He is not yet recognized and worshiped. The church models the whole gospel to the whole community such through onsite prayer.
• Spirit-guided research into the supernatural underpinnings of reality produces more informed, effective intercession and outreach.
• As we witness the acceleration of wars, rumors of wars, plagues, famines and earthquakes indicated by Matthew 24, as believers walk in conversational relationship with God, they will be ready to seize these as opportunities for the Gospel.

Our battle IS prayer and through prayer we appropriate the victory Jesus bought at great cost. In obeying the Great Commission while following the Great Commandment, we pursue the Great Commitment to a lifestyle of unceasing prayer. If you sense God drawing you to join hands with others to apply the indispensable key of prayer to finish the task, you may find strength in the fellowship of others walking this journey.http://www.ethne.net/prayer is your portal to find resources and to connect with others along the way. If you or others you may know are interested in attending a Fellowship of Prayer Strategists gathering, please contact prayer@ethne.net. Pray with us for God’s Presence to guide and empower us for this new season in which we live and work so that peoples join hands to glorify God among all peoples in this generation! – Elizabeth Adleta’s Article “The Emerging Role of Prayer Strategists and Strategies of Prayer”