‘To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world’
— Karl Barth
I read this quote at the beginning of this year and it rocked me because it challenged my notions of prayer as being far too close to ordinary. I realised in that moment that I desperately needed another paradigm shift.
Prayer is not a sideline option.
It is not for the few. It’s not an activity, something to complete or check off every-so-often; nor is it something we graduate in.
Prayer is frontline
It is warfare, the means through which we agree with what Heaven has already and is saying ‘yes’ to. To proclaim the unchanging nature of God — against all odds and in every season.
Mission and prayer are not just acquainted, they exist in complete unison. And this is the ultimate purpose and promise:
‘For the earth [to] be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea’
— Habakkuk 2:14.
Prayer is at once a battle cry and a call to arms; a cry of the Spirit to release what Heaven longs to deposit — for Jesus’ name to be glorified through His Church, in all places and to every tribe: THIS IS THE MISSION OF GOD!
Prayer is wildly exciting and dangerously charged.
Why? Because by its very nature, prayer is infused with faith. In case you needed reminding (because I often do), it is to be built upon faith that can speak to mountains and move them:
‘I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘…be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen’
— Mark 11:23.
This faith is the kind that can redeem lives, restore cities, and transform nations. We are invited, personally, into an unbelievable authority, trusted to carry the same Holy Spirit that Jesus communed with, and entrusted with a commission to reach the nations that is truly astonishing. We can only walk fully in this co-mission through a life that is fuelled by prayer.
Prayer is a sustainability ingredient
Jesus was sustained through a lifestyle of prayer, and the disciples noted it. They asked Jesus numerous times:
‘Lord, teach us how to pray’
— Luke 11:1.
In other words, ‘teach us how to know the Father, to lean on the Spirit, and to look more like You’. Prayer crafts long-haul endurance, deepens hunger, and awakens our hearts.
We are built for connection and intimacy with God Himself — and from this place, we are called to change the world.
From the unique way you frame words and envision the world to the very intricacies of your heart — there is no other before you and neither will there be the same again.
Grasping this profound truth, I charge you to believe that there are words within you that only you can speak and declare.
There are situations and circumstances that are anticipating your co-partnership with God.
To boldly go, we need a living revelation of His eagerness and attentiveness to hear us. We need an ongoing awareness of the upside-down truth that we move the Maker’s heart.
Prayer is bigger than us
it is multi-dimensional and transcending. Not only does it deeply transform us, it also unites and fortifies the Church to take its destined place in the Grand Narrative. Greater still, it ushers the outpouring of Holy Spirit, heals the land, and positions cities for revival:
‘If my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I’ll be there ready for you: I’ll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land’
— 2 Chronicles 7:14.
From the macro to the micro — we are beckoned by Jesus’ resounding call to prayer, to arise, to shine — to join in unison with the Spirit to unravel the glory of the Lord to a broken and so-loved world.
I dare you to believe today that your prayers, even those utterances you make in the darkness of night, are the very embers upon which God longs to light this generation.
