A. Acts 1:14; 2:1 (implied): concerted prayer in the upper room before the
Day of Pentecost
Result:
1. Holy Spirit came upon them with power (as Jesus had promised) (2:2-4)
2. Proclaimed the good news (2:4, 6; 14-40)
3. About 3,000 believed and were baptized (2:41)
B. Acts 2:42: devoted themselves to prayer
Result:
1. Enjoyed the favor of the people (2:47)
2. "The Lord added to their number daily those who were being
saved" (2:47)
C. Acts 4:23-30: after the first persecution of Peter and John; prayed for
boldness (:29) and mighty signs and wonders (:30)
Result:
1. The place was shaken (:31)
2. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit (:31)
3. They spoke the word of God boldly (:31)
D. Acts 6:1-7: dispute about the welfare of the widows; apostles committed
themselves to "prayer and the ministry of the word" (evangelism?);
asked the Hellinists to appoint overseers; prayed over them to set them apart
Result:
1. Apparently the concerns were met
2. The word of God spread (:7)
3. Two of the seven became ardent advocates of the faith
E. Acts 7:60: Stephen's prayer upon his martyrdom--prayer for the
lost/those who were stoning him; prayer for forgiveness
Result:
1. He died (7:60)
2. Saints were scattered (8:1), but they continued to evangelize (8:4)
F. Acts 8:14-17: prayers for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit
Result:
the Spirit came upon them (:17)
G. Acts 9:40: Peter prayed for Dorcas, who had died
Result:
she was restored to life (:40)
H. Acts 10:30: Cornelius had been praying when he had a vision to send for
Peter; 10:9: Peter on roof to pray when he had the vision of the unclean
animals
Result:
Cornelius and his household were saved (10:44, 47-48)
I. Acts 12:12: prevailing prayer for imprisoned Peter
Result:
He was released by an angel (12:11-12)
J. Acts 13:1-3: leaders praying in Antioch
Result:
Spirit instructed them to set apart Barnabas and Saul
(:3)
K. Acts 16:6-10: Paul's vision of the Macedonian (saw a vision; was he in
prayer?)
Result:
the Spirit opened the door for new, fruitful ministry
(16:10, 13, 15)
L. Acts 16:25: Paul and Silas' prayers in prison
Result:
1. Other prisoners listening to them (:25)
2. Doors of the prison blown open for them (:26)
3. Jailer and his household saved (:30-34)
IV. Prayer Evangelism in Reaching Entire
Cities—Praying for the Lost (Silvoso 1994:57ff)
A. Principle: "Prayer is the most tangible trace of
eternity in the human heart. Intercessory prayer on behalf of the felt needs
of the lost is the best way to open their eyes to the light of the
gospel"
B. What to pray for:
1. Get to know the lost and pray for their felt
needs to be met: the lost are open to prayers on their behalf
(example of public officials welcoming prayer) (pp. 73-74)
2. Pray for their blind eyes to be opened (2 Cor. 4:4) (pp.
77)
3. When felt needs are met as a result of prayer, they will be more
open to God's reality (p. 80)
4. Give higher priority for prayers for the felt needs of
the lost than to needs of the saved (p. 84)
C. How to pray:
1. Neighborhood prayer cells
2. Pray as one church in the city
V. Other Evangelistic Prayer Models (Wagner 1993-numbers 1-9)
1. Sunday morning prayers at church by
intercessors: John Maxwell
2. College of Prayer:
Community Church of Joy, Glendale
(near Phoenix), AZ, led by
Bjorn
Pedersen (now head of Prayer
Watch International). At one time they had over 100 courses on prayer (1-13 sessions)
3. 24-hour prayer ministry:
Second Baptist
Church, Houston; Ed Young, pastor
4.
Prayer rooms—Terry Teykl, former UMC pastor; gives focus to prayer
ministry
5. Prayer chains—use to pray for salvation
6. Prayer retreats—focus on prayer
7. Prayer weeks—similar to VBS, missions week
8. Specialized prayer teams—one for evangelism
9. Weekly prayer meetings
10. Prayer banners—Forest Edge Assembly of God, Columbus: sewed names
of people prayed for into the banner
11. Prayer vigil with outreach focus
12. Prayer triplets
13. Prayer broadcasts—Park
Street Brethren Church, Ashland, OH, offers a cable TV prayer
broadcast between the broadcast of its Sunday morning services
14. Prayer booth
VI. Prayers Designed to Change a Community (Wagner 1993)
1. Praying for the community
a. Concerts of prayer—David Bryant: prayer for
"fullness" (revival of God's people and church) and for
"fulfillment" (reaching our community and world for Christ).
Based on Jonathan Edward's book, An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit
Agreement and Visible Union of God's People in Extraordinary Prayer of the
Revival of Religion and the Advancement of Christ's Kingdom on Earth.
For more information on concerts of prayer, see David Bryant's book, Concerts
of Prayer (Ventura: Regal Books, 1988; now out-of-print). Concerts of
Prayer International no longer has an identifiable web site. You can reach
them at Concerts of Prayer International, P.O. Box 770, New
Providence, NJ 07974; phone (908) 771-0146; fax (908) 665-4199;
information line (877) NOW HOPE; or e-mail:
copi@aol.com.
b. Prayer summits—Joe Aldrich, Multnomah School of
the Bible, Portland, Oregon. Bringing together pastors and other church
leaders for 3-4 days of concerted prayer.
c. Solemn assemblies—community-wide prayer meetings
for repentance and unification.
d. City prayer alerts—24-hour-a-day prayer blanket
for a community by many churches in the community.
2. Praying in the
Community (Wagner 1993)
a.
Lighthouses of
Prayer
(www.missionamerica.org/lighthouse_info.php)—The
Lighthouse Movement of Mission America is
seeking persons who will commit to their homes becoming a lighthouse for
the gospel in their neighborhoods. Its goal is simple: to pray for, care
for and share the good news of Jesus Christ with every man, woman, and
young person in the U.S. by the end of the year 2000. Over 350 national
denominations and ministries are collaborating to mobilize 100,000 local
churches to establish 3 million Lighthouses reaching a staggering
260,000,000 Americans from coast to coast. Persons/families or groups
commit to pray for the homes in their neighborhood.
b.
Prayer-Walking—Steve
Hawthorne. Focused on neighborhoods. "Praying on site with
insight." "Praying in the very place in which you expect your
prayers to be answered." Joshua 1:3: "Every place that the sole
of your foot will tread upon, I have given you." May be highly
organized, or may be as spontaneous as one family claiming their own
neighborhood. Often used as preliminary to community-wide outreach effort.
Example: Every Home for Christ in Medellin, Colombia: where a prayerwalk
team had preceded them, 55% accepted Bibles (vs. 10% in those areas not
preceded by a prayer-walk team).
c. Praise marches—Graham Kendrick,
March
for Jesus
(www.jesusday.com). Focused on cities.
Purpose: to bring the whole body of Christ to agreement in public praise
to God. Principles: not protests; built around a Person, not an issue; not
critical or confrontational; not a publicity stunt; not an evangelistic
campaign. Rather, "a public declaration by Christians of all stripes
that Jesus Christ is exalted and that He is the rightful King of kings and
Lord of lords over the city" (Wagner 1993:164).
d. Prayer expeditions—focus on regions. Isaiah 35:8,
10: "A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the
Highway of Holiness . . . [later the ransomed of the Lord shall come on
this highway "with singing, with everlasting joy on their
heads." Purpose: to open a given region spiritually for the kingdom
of God. Prayers of repentance, intercession, proclamation, blessing.
Examples: praying around the perimeters of a country (Switzerland); the
path of the Crusades.
e. Prayer journeys—focused on strongholds.
Intercessory prayer journeys (within the 10/40 window, for example); and
prophetic prayer journeys (prophetic espionage; as Kjell Sjoberg in Iraq
in 1990, prior to Desert Storm)
