“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Mark 11:17)
“Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2)
In every Missions Base that we establish, a night and day a prayer center will be at the heart. This is because Jesus made prayer the heart of mission. When speaking of the greatness and difficulty of reaching the harvest Jesus did not say, “go out and preach more” which is what we would have expected. Instead he declared, “pray the Lord of the harvest”. In Youth Ablaze Africa we believe that night and day prayer and the training and sending of laborers into the harvest are inseparable. Continual prayer is vital to the success of the mission.
As we near the return of Jesus Christ and endeavor to bring the gospel to the hardest countries on earth, there is a need to raise the standard of prayer. The House of Prayer, is a night and day prayer center, “A fire shall always be burning on the alter; it shall never go out (Lev 6:13)”. As the church lifts up sustained and continual prayer for all nations, God will pour out His Spirit in an unprecedented way unto His glory and salvation among all peoples. As we lift up His name in continual praise, He will lift up the poor, the broken and the destitute of the earth. He will release prophecy, dreams, visions and the power of the Holy Spirit in unparalleled ways as His people press into united and continual fasting and prayer (Acts 2:17-18).
Worship and prayer are not just activities that the church does; they are the core of our identity and destiny. For all eternity the church will be a House of Prayer. Forever we will be worshiping and growing in our love and knowledge of God, and forever we will be legislating with Christ through prayer. Thus, the greatest context for discipleship is in a community committed to continual prayer and worship. Laborers must first be worshipers who have cultivated intimacy with God. It is those who have intimacy with God that will have true impact at the End of the Age (Dan 11:33).
The book of Revelation shows that the primary anointing on the church in the last days is prayer and worship. The saints will partner with Jesus in finishing the great commission through prayer. They will also release the judgments of God on the earth and the Antichrist, ushering in the Lord’s return (Rev 5:8-10). As we enter the final days of human history there is an unprecedented increase of spiritual warfare. As the spirit of Antichrist rises in the world, so also must the prayers of the saints (Eph 6:18). In light of these things Jesus told us to, “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man (Luke 21:36).”
The Church of Africa is called to send forth many laborers to the Islamic world and to help fight the forces of darkness in some of the hardest and most destitute nations of the earth. We believe this is a critical hour for the church of Africa to enter into night and day prayer.
