Prayer RevolutionSýnishorn

How the Holy Spirit Advances Ignite in Prayer

When it comes to mission strategy, we all easily agree that prayer is important. But when it comes to putting our plans into practice, few are willing to make prayer first in priority and first in sequence. A study of the powerful expansion of the early church, however, confirms the primacy of prayer. In fact, prayer initiates every advance of the kingdom.

Prayer is at the deepest core of kingdom advance. When we lose sight of this unalterable truth, we must go back and get in step with the Holy Spirit. For our strategies to be in line with God’s Word, we must begin on our knees and immerse everything we do in prayer. Visions that once pulsed with life grow old and wooden unless they are forged, shaped, and reshaped in prayer.

As we pray and plan in prayer, we will be caught in the Spirit’s forward momentum and carried into the mission of Christ. When we become tethered to outdated and ineffective mission strategies, only the Holy Spirit can unshackle us.

A survey of the Acts of the Apostles, which is first and foremost the acts of the Holy Spirit, reveals the central role of prayer in the advance and expansion of the church. When it comes to Christ’s mission, prayer is a first priority and comes first in sequence. In the early church, believers met every challenge with earnest and united prayer; every advance began with a praying people. Leaders and members launched the mission in steadfast prayer. From united prayer flowed bold and sacrificial evangelism. As thousands of people were saved, new believers were enfolded into a praying community. When the Spirit was in charge, leaders devoted themselves to prayer and the Word. Prayer formed everything the believers needed to advance the gospel: leaders exercised church discipline, deployed other leaders, nurtured lay evangelism, and championed church planting. As believers united in prayer, the early church enjoyed explosive, joyous expansion.

The order of events in this historical record is no accident; it is how the Holy Spirit works at all times and places. If we hope to experience the powerful leading of the Holy Spirit today, we too will need to enter the flow and sequence recorded in the early church.