A Short History of the Prayer Movement

[Reimagine Curator]

A short history of the global prayer movement

"Prayer has been released from the closet and the church onto the streets, into the hills, onto the seas and into the air - literally!" observes Brian Mills, one of the leaders of the International Prayer Council. 

"People have traversed continents in prayer, have climbed mountains to pray on the 'high places', hired planes to fly over cities, hired boats to sail around islands or along rivers to pray. Others have gone by bicycle, in buses or cars. Some have walked and prayed around the circumference of their city and around the borders of their nation. Prayer teams have gone into war zones and into other situations of conflict. A new spirit of boldness has begun to grip the church in many parts of the world. Prayer has been the life-blood at the heart of some of the world's mega-churches. It has also been the key to some amazing stories of church planting movements in unlikely places."

Christians have also reached out to one another to pray. In the late 1980's and the 1990's millions around the globe engaged in Marches for Jesus. In the same time frame, huge stadia were hired in order to bring Christians together in prayer. Denominational barriers no longer seemed important. Houses of prayer and large prayer centres have been established in many nations. Others have established prayer towers. Mountains have been purchased and turned into 24 hour prayer centres. There are even 'prayer cities' where thousands of people have erected their homes around a prayer base in order to be near and involved daily. Some prisons have turned into 24 hour prayer turbines. City centre squares, public parks, football stadia, even beaches have been requisitioned for the people of God to gather together to pray. At the other end of the scale, there has been an explosion of small group prayer. Triplet groups, neighborhood groups, women's groups, business people's groups, and children's groups.

"Young people are leading the rest of us in discovering and developing new, dynamic, creative ways of praying." 

Millions of children and youth are part of this movement of prayer. In schools in many nations, children gather around the flag pole, kneel in the corridors and at the gates to pray. Youth prayer movements have "taken off like a rocket". 24/7 'Boiler rooms' have been established in many nations, manned mainly by young people. "They are leading the rest of us in discovering and developing new, dynamic, creative ways of praying," says Mills. 

There are regular television and radio programs devoted to prayer. Many thousands of people telephone in for prayer. Documentaries have been made about prayer and reconciliation journeys. Prayer booths have been set up in market squares. Hundreds of books and DVDs about aspects of prayer have been produced in multiple languages. Thousands of Christians regularly walk through their neighborhood in prayer. Regular calls to periods of prayer and fasting are issued the world over. At certain times of the year the church around the world gathers in prayer in their millions around a common theme. Prayer really is taking place around the Throne of God, around the world, and around the clock.

The focus of this praying has been comprehensive and varied. Some prayer movements have developed around single issues - like governments, politics and politicians, the legal profession and police, education, medicine, pandemic health issues, like AIDS, the media, arts and film world, as well as on more traditionally understood aspects of mission, like personal conversion, households, neighborhoods, unreached people groups, church planting and missionary agencies and strategies. Other movements are focused on praying for nations, for women, men or children.

"Transformation of individuals, communities and nations has been the objective of all of this," says Mills. "We want to see lives changed, communities changed, every area of social influence, like the market place, changed, and governments and local authorities uphold values that honor God and bless the poor. Inevitably prayer must lead to action. God 'puts feet on our prayers'. So prayer is not an escape from the world but the means of engagement with the world. Prayer leads to humanitarian action and global mission. We pray for all aspects of leadership to be transformed, delivered from corruption, and thus be able to operate in ways that honor God."

Source: Brian Mills


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