Prayer in Evangelism | Lausanne World Pulse Archives

Ì¢‰âÂÒThy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.Ì¢‰âÂå These words from the prayer Jesus taught his disciples express God’s plan and purpose in this world. They bring together in the simplest and most powerful way Ì¢‰âÂÒprayer in evangelism.Ì¢‰âÂå The compelling vision of the Kingdom of God fully realised on earth draws us into a deeper commitment to Jesus as Lord of our lives. It calls us to truly repent, turn from our own agenda and fully embrace his. We are challenged to open our hearts to the renewing and empowering of his Holy Spirit, to be transformed into his likeness and to be equipped to go into the world and make disciples.

This prayer is a declaration of our sure and certain hope that the day is coming when the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and that he will reign for ever and ever. When we truly pray this prayer, God gives us his eyes to see the need of the world from his perspective and he begins to birth in us the strategies to reach them.

In the Ì¢‰âÂÒPrayer and EvangelismÌ¢‰âÂå 2004 Lausanne Forum for World Evangelization Issue Group we explored many different ways in which God uses prayer in the task of making disciples of all nations. We looked at not only the biblical and theological perspective, but also the practical information that would help us better engage in prayer in evangelism.

The paper this group produced was written with the local church in mind and seeks to provide material to inspire, encourage and educate Christians in the why and how of prayer in evangelism. Each section includes stories and illustrations from around the world.

This is a very significant time to be examining the whole question of prayer in evangelism. God is calling people to prayer at every level of church lifeÌ¢‰â‰Ûin local churches, across cities and nations and as a global community. The Ì¢‰âÂÒPrayer in EvangelismÌ¢‰âÂå Lausanne Occasional Paper (LOP) provides an excellent opportunity to understand more of why and how we can pray as we seek to engage Ì¢‰âÂÒthe whole Church in taking the whole gospel to the whole world.Ì¢‰âÂå

There were forty-four participants from twenty-five countries in the Prayer in Evangelism Issue Group. They represented every continent and are involved in a wide range of ministries. We benefited from an exciting and diverse pool of experiences, cultures and theological backgrounds as we sought God for his strategies and action steps to share with the Church around the world.

The issue of prayer and evangelism is extremely important for the Church today. If the two do not work together, the Church will not see the full fruits of ushering souls into the kingdom.

Evangelism Without Prayer
The Church has long sought to engage in evangelism. However, it has not always integrated evangelism with prayer in the way God intended. This oversight may account for much of the failure of many well-intentioned evangelistic efforts. Attempts to be involved in evangelism with little or no prayer have been discouraging and have yielded limited fruit. Without prayer, God’s people often lack the compassion and the conviction to be effective.  If God does not take the initiative in the life of the unbeliever (as he promises to do in response to our prayers), we are limited to human resources and human understanding. It takes the supernatural power of God to release those who are in Satan’s grip (Matthew 17:21) and to open the eyes of those blinded to the light of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). God will act in response to our specific prayers.

Prayer Without Evangelism
Throughout history, the Church has always engaged in prayer. However, it has not always related prayer to evangelism. This failure results in imbalance. It results in a church’s prayers and activities being inwardly directed toward the needs and concerns of God’s people and seldom or never outwardly directed toward the world that God loves (John 3:16). In our Issue Group, we sought to provide creative and practical steps toward understanding and addressing this imbalance. Here is a summary of the topics covered.

Theology and Motivation of Prayer in Evangelism

1. God summons us to pray in the pursuing of his purpose to evangelize the world. Article One of the Lausanne Covenant states, Ì¢‰âÂÒWe affirm our belief in the one eternal God, creator and Lord of the world, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who governs all things according to the purpose of his will. He has been calling out from the world a people for himself, and sending his people back into the world to be his servants and his witnesses, for the extension of his kingdom, the building up of Christ’s body and the glory of his name.Ì¢‰âÂå

2. Prayer is essential for the work of world evangelization. We must address the three components of the mission of the Lausanne Covenant: the whole Church, the whole gospel and the whole world. First, everyone is summoned to join in the work of praying for the world and for others (2 Chronicles 7:14; Matthew 28:18-20; John 17:20-21; Acts 2:42-47). Second, the gospel reaches out to the total needs of humanityÌ¢‰â‰Ûphysical, emotional and spiritual. It is a whole gospel that is to be related to our prayer in evangelism. As the Lausanne Covenant (clause 5) states, Ì¢‰âÂÒThe salvation we claim should be transforming us in the totality of our personal and social responsibilities.Ì¢‰âÂå Third, in 2 Thessalonians 3:1 Paul asks for prayer: Ì¢‰âÂÒFinally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere, just as it is among you.Ì¢‰âÂå We ask for God’s gracious provision that the gospel will have a continuing transforming effect locally, nationally and globally.

Principles and Guidelines of Prayer in Evangelism
Four things happen to those we pray for:

  • hearts are softened and changed;
  • people are convicted of sin and turn to God in repentance;
  • people are delivered from bondage and Satanic deceit; and
  • strongholds are broken such that individuals and communities are transformed.

Four things happen in the church:

  • people come to Christ, churches grow, new churches are planted and the kingdom is advanced;
  • more labourers are released and sent into the harvest;
  • the body of Christ is built up as all believers learn to pray and work together;
  • there is increased awareness of the power of prayer and increased discernment of God’s vision and guidance.

Five things happen to those who pray:

  • they have the joy of  partnering with an awesome God;
  • they become channels of God’s love birthed in their hearts by the Holy Spirit;
  • they learn to use the weapons of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 10:4-5);
  • their faith increases as they see the word of God accomplish that for which it was sent;
  • they grow spiritually and learn to be increasingly dependent on God.

We should pray that members of the whole ChurchÌ¢‰â‰Ûevery man, woman and childÌ¢‰â‰Ûbe equipped and motivated to play their part in the Great Commission by utilizing prayer as the key to effective and creative evangelism. Implementing prayer-in-evangelism action plans for the global Church will require the combined effort of all God’s people whatever their place or position in society and the church. Those in positions of leadership are vested with God’s authority to teach and lead the church in prayer evangelism. They have a prime responsibility to train, mentor and be models for believers in prayer and evangelism. Church members in touch with non-believers daily are in a unique position to be Christ’s Ì¢‰âÂÒliving epistlesÌ¢‰âÂå and to share the good news with those around them.

Those in positions of leadership and authority nationally are urged to: