By Tom Planck
Powerful moves of God are always preceded by a passionate praying people. These moves are also accompanied by a people who have a deep desire to see God show up in big a way. These praying people are deeply burdened to see a great harvest of individuals find their way back to God.
The pages of Church history prove the truth of these statements over and over again.
There is a growing number of passionate church leaders in Indiana that desire a fresh move of God’s Spirit. They long to see hundreds of people come to know Jesus. Disciples who make disciples to multiple generations of reproduction is their growing heartbeat. They are praying for answers to the pressing question of how our church will multiply?!
A small group of Indiana pastors have been meeting monthly via Zoom to pray for increased momentum on the multiplication front. We firmly believe these sweet moments of monthly prayer are a precursor to the acceleration of multiplication movement in Indiana and beyond.
As the February prayer meeting was unfolding, I was reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:7-8. Those verses capture these two powerful sentences, “7Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
While I listened to others pray, I quietly quoted these verses a few times to myself. I then chose to get very specific with the prayer I offered in that moment. I asked for the following.
- 120 disciple making churches in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana with at least 40 of those being from Indiana.
- 37 multipliers who will courageously start a new multiplication venture.
- 37 generous sending churches willing to send their best leaders to help launch something new.
- 37 new churches who will reach people for Jesus, make disciples, and start other new churches.
Looking at this list it is easy to get overwhelmed by the incredible needs listed above. We indeed need God to show up in a big way for any of this to happen. We need a passionate praying people willing to beg God to answer our prayers.
Would you be willing to ask God for these specific requests? Will you put this list in a place where you will see it often? When you are reminded of these important requests, will you pause and ask God for each of them?
prayer request: Please pray that God would deliver me from a spirit of timidity and that He would give me a spirit of love, power, and a sound mind.