“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”  James 5:16b

Here in the wonderful world of Reconciled World we are getting more focused on prayer. As we arrive at the grand age of three years old, we have learned a few things. For one, the incredible importance of prayer and how much we need you (yes YOU, reader), and your church and friends to join us in praying.

As Nam shared last week, the gospel is a partnership. It’s not something one person, even the apostle Paul, can do alone. It takes the whole body of Christ. We are designed for unity. We need people to do the hard work of praying.

There are two key reasons why we need your prayers:

• Changing beliefs – We are seeking to change beliefs that people have held for a lifetime, often beliefs that have existed for generations. Beliefs such as “girls are burden and worthless,” and “poverty is our destiny—it’s unchangeable.” These beliefs lock people in poverty and suffering. They are tools of the devil. We do our best to teach God’s truth, but only the Holy Spirit can cause the scales to fall off people’s eyes. It takes prayer.

“This kind can come out only by prayer.”  Mark 9:29

• Not flesh and blood – It turns out, when you take on these lies and see people set free, you get push-back. God’s word is correct—we aren’t fighting flesh and blood, but principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12).

In the first half of this year we continued to grow at our usual (terrifying) pace. However, we also noticed that we were facing more challenges than ever. People were sick—one (the prayer director) could barely get out of bed for months. Luggage was lost, goods were stolen, family members struggled, exhaustion and discouragement attacked many. In April and May we started to get intentional about asking more people to pray for us. As they did, we saw a significant decrease in the dramas that we faced.

It was a great reminder that we can’t do this alone. As we continue fighting on the front line—training, teaching, bringing truth—more than ever, we need an growing team standing with and behind us in prayer.

What is involved?

Every month we will send out a prayer brief—it includes two sections. The first section looks at an area that we are focusing prayer on that month—it might be a topic like gendercide or elections or a country or a ‘lie’ (for example, hopelessness). The second section will include our top four to five prayer needs for the month.

We are looking for people who are willing to commit to praying for us at least once a month, either alone or in a group.

How do I sign up?

Easy—you just need to go to our prayer page where you will see a space to sign up. All we need is your name and email address. If you’re praying with a small group, we’d love to know that too. In return, you will receive the monthly prayer briefs and our immense gratitude.

Please do consider joining us in prayer. Our capacity to effectively carry out the work that God has called us to is directly tied to the prayers of His people.