By C.B., a pioneering missionary in the Middle East
Prayer fuels our Navigator vision: “We see a vital movement of the Gospel, fueled by prevailing prayer . . .” Fuel is a powerful metaphor, but what kind of prayer fuels a vital movement of the Gospel?
I find the answer to that question in our Navigator Values: “Expectant faith and persevering prayer rooted in the promises of God.”
For the last three decades, I have lived and worked with “the sons of Ishmael.” This context has caused me to cry out to God for a movement of the Gospel among these friends whom I have grown to love dearly. I have yet to see all that I long for, but the journey is teaching me to be like the barren woman in Isaiah 54. She was told to expect offspring that would spread out and possess the nations.
Amazingly, she was told to sing and shout for joy in anticipation while she was still barren! That’s what I call “joyful expectation.” And that’s what God wants for any of us who are waiting for a breakthrough.
Joyful expectation is not something I can make happen by self-effort. How can I learn to sing and shout for joy before my breakthrough? How can I weave rejoicing and singing (worship) into my intercession? How can my prayer be more aligned with God’s nature and what is on his heart?
In September 2019, Navigator pioneers from around the world met to explore how to advance the Gospel in the most difficult places to reach. At the end of the conference, our regional leadership team prayed some “God-sized” requests. One of our greatest longings was for God to grow a culture of prayer among us as laborers.
A Culture of Prayer
A culture of prayer emerges from the praying lifestyles of people in a community, including every area of individual and corporate life together. There’s a difference between a group that prays and a praying group. The former group typically practices the “zipper” prayer: open in prayer and close in prayer—zip-zip.
A praying group is different. For these people, prayer is the centerpiece of how we do ministry, how we plan ministry, how we connect with one another. The praying team believes that prayer is as essential as biblical teaching.
A prayer culture develops by collective experience, not explanations. It is sustained not by guilt or obligation or even the desire to see the Gospel advance; rather, it is sustained by one enduring motive: God is worthy to be sought. Worship sustains a culture of prayer.
Prayer Trios
One way to experience prayer together is to form “prayer trios.” Three people help each other to keep their eyes on God. They enable one another to see him more clearly. They are inspired by praying together. Prayer trios are a powerful way to experience “expectant faith and persevering prayer rooted in the promises of God.” We spur each other on! When one grows weary, the others have words or testimonies of answered prayer. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken!
From this collective approach, a prayer culture more readily takes shape and leads to breakthroughs. As we are filled, an overflow of blessing and movement occurs all around us. We experience joyful expectation!
A New Prayer and Devotional Guide
To help you put the prayer trio concept into practice, we have developed a new 12-week prayer and devotional guide, which can be downloaded from the resources page of this website, at this link.
This guide is designed to help us build a strong culture of prayer throughout our Worldwide Partnership, and to help us worship God as we intercede for the nations. We hope that you enjoy this new, inspiring tool as you pray together.
To read an article about prayer walking by C.B., follow this link.
