Read the third part HERE
Paradigm shift
Which means that prayer is not just about me; which means that prayer meetings are not just a place I go to get my needs met, but rather to get God's desires met. This is a radical paradigm shift. I pray, I attend prayer meetings, and I do this without having a specific prayer need for myself or anyone I know.
I go there to participate in the accomplishment of God's purposes. It is therefore up to leaders to train people in prayer, but also to train them to listen to God to pray according to his heart, and no longer according to their own needs. Praying for the church rather than complaining about it, praying for leaders, other brothers and sisters, our neighborhoods, our cities, our nations, and for everything else on God's calendar must become everyone's business. And very often he has some surprises in store for us.
I remember one day, As a young Christian, I was praying with friends when all of a sudden we found ourselves immersed in intercession for, you wouldn't believe it, Bosnia. We were gripped, we prayed with all our hearts, and we cried out to God. When it was all over, I stood there for a few moments in amazement, thinking, "Bosnia?" Why? It was new and strange at the time. But you quickly get a taste for it; it's exciting to follow the Holy Spirit, to go home and get down on your knees because you felt a sudden need to pray, and to go off with God on an adventure in the spirit, and start praying for things and people that are often unknown to us. I felt useful to my father.
God wants us to start thinking like Him and feeling how He feels about people and nations so that we can become His agents of change through prayer. Nations can change; nations will change when God finds people who will cooperate with His plans. It is up to Christians to change the condition of the society they live in. It is time to stop wishing for change and start praying for change. I have traveled to over 48 countries, and everywhere I go, I check the spiritual temperature and the state of the church; I find here and there that the call is the same: prayer, prayer, lots of prayer.
Lots of prayer
A few months ago, I represented France at a meeting of European intercessors in the United Kingdom, and I dreamed of a continent under a cloak of prayer. After the meeting ended, despite all that had been done, I felt a deep dissatisfaction. This took me back a few years earlier to a weekend of prayer and fasting that ended with the same feeling of dissatisfaction. At the time, God had given a prophetic word urging us to greater prayer. I am convinced that only continuous and sustained prayer will bring about the transformation of nations and this continent.
The Moravians prayed continuously for over 100 years, 24 hours a day. Their prayer led to what is probably the largest missionary movement since the early church. I believe the same challenge faces us today. Who will commit to continuous and sustained prayer until things change in Europe and the gospel resonates from Dover to Moscow, and from Helsinki to the Algarve? Europe is at a crossroads and desperately needs people around the world who will cry out to God for radical change. Would spiritual deprivation be less brutal than physical deprivation? How will we stand before God and give an account of our lives if we remain indifferent when our prayers would have made a difference in the destiny of our churches, our societies, and our families?
Read the 5th and final part HERE
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