Mission24 has an urgent mandate to call the Bride of Christ back to her first love and to prepare her for the shakings that are promised before Jesus’ return. Every time the New Testament refers to the end times we are warned not to be deceived and to be alert in prayer.  We must break into another reality that we are part of a supernatural kingdom — that the God who chose us from before the creation of the world awakened us, called us and set us in ministry is still on the Throne!  He is burning with passion to see His servants re-envisioned and set ablaze with His love.  The way that we move into this reality is through the daily lifestyle of encounter prayer and kingdom living.

Jesus is urgently calling His people to fulfill the Great Commandment to love God with all our hearts and to participate in the community He calls His “house of prayer.”

Remaining Faithful to the End

The passionate Christ of Scripture has promised to return to earth to judge His enemies and reward His faithful servants.  Prior to His return, the earth will be reeling in the grip of global birth pangs and chaos.  He promises that before His return He will shake everything that can be shaken–so that only what is eternal will remain (see Heb 12).

These shakings will produce at least two results:

First, great multitudes in the church who never really knew Christ will be offended by a God who could allow people to go through so much pain.  Many will fall away. (Matt 24:10; 2 Thess 2:3) This will actually happen to prune the church and purify the Bride.

Second, the Bride, now purified, will be ready to receive and disciple the harvest of souls who will turn to God when everything else has failed them.

The Worthy Lamb will have a Worthy Bride!

When we stand before the Lord, what will we offer Him?  The only thing of worth that we can give will be a heart of voluntary love and devotion.  In the end, the only thing that will matter is that we know Him and He knows us.  It is only the knowledge of God growing within us that has eternal value (Phil 3:8).  Our buildings, ministries and platforms will have no significance before the King of Glory unless they were used to bring people into this growing experience with HIM (Matt 7:21-23).

The Father has promised the Son a pure and spotless Bride!  Even now, Jesus is stirring His Bride across the globe to make her ready for His return.  He is waiting to hear a global cry from the heart of His Bride saying, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

Crucial Questions to Ask Yourself

• Do you believe Christ is still looking for pure devotion, and for us to love Him with all of our hearts, minds, soul and strength?
• Are you ready to deepen your encounter with God?
• Have you been sensing the need for more of Him in your personal life and congregation or ministry?
• Do you believe Jesus’ declaration that His house (people) will be a house of prayer is for you?

It is only as we begin to agree with God about who He says He is and what He says He wants to do that sustained break through will come.

If your answer is yes, you are not alone!

Mission24 will come along side of you on your journey of establishing and strengthening encounter prayer in your congregation. Here’s how:

• Seminars
• Workshops
• Sunday support
• Regional Events
• Network of Relationships

Ministries

• Encountering God Events
• Articles

Pastor, are you concerned about the spiritual condition of your congregation?

• Is prayer really happening in your people’s lives? Are they growing deeper in passion for Jesus?
• Do you desire to see your people vitally connected to God’s heart and bearing genuine, lasting fruit?
• Have you tried leading your congregation into prayer in the past without much success?
• Do you have a genuine desire to see prayer grow in your congregation, but need help?

Cultivating prayer in the hearts of the people will bring powerful transformation—if it is built on the right Biblical premise!

A PROBLEM:  Duty or Delight?
Have you noticed that most teaching on prayer is based on the concept that prayer is biblical, and that since Jesus, Paul, and the early church prayed, we must also pray because it is our Christian duty? Some teach that, if we want God to move in revival, we are obligated to pay the price in prayer and we need more discipline in our lives if we are to walk out the Christian life.

The problem with all of these prayer motivations is that, even though there is a basis of truth in them, the picture most believers get is that God is boring and dull. Prayer is something we must endure, as hard as it is, if we are going to get what we want!

These motivations will only produce temporary results at most and leave people feeling disillusioned, guilty, or condemned! In addition they will be unprepared for the challenges and troubles ahead and will be easy prey for the enemy!

A SOLUTION: A new paradigm – Enjoyable Prayer!

In this hour, the Lord is calling His people back to prayer that is rooted in Scripture and experience. The Father is seeking those who will worship in spirit (heartfelt experience) and truth (Scripture) – see John 4.

We must experience God, Himself. The Psalmist said to “taste and see” that the Lord is good! He said that there are “pleasures forevermore at God’s right hand.”  God said to Abraham “I am your very great reward.”  Paul prayed that we would be “rooted and established in Christ’s affectionate love and filled to the fullness of God!”

We have discovered from years of calling people to pray that the human heart is captured by encountering the person of God.  We, like Isaiah, become awestruck, broken and then willing to serve wholeheartedly after encountering the Holy One!

Encounter-Based Prayer

While spending 10 years leading prayer meetings, workshops and house of prayer internships we have discovered that God is infinitely more committed to “encountering us” than we could ever imagine. Prayer becomes easy when we get a glimpse of His burning desire for His people – and for us as individuals. This is called Encounter-Based Prayer!

When the sincere believer encounters the affection of God in a fresh way there is instant renewal on the heart level. The training we offer is a primer on learning to position our hearts before God, to experience these encounters, and then to enter into a lifestyle of enjoyable prayer.

The Lord is leading His people back to “first love”.  The Great Commandment must be established in the lives of your people before they can ever be effective in The Great Commission. He has led us to trumpet a greater hunger for God in the DFW region to prepare the bride of Christ for the shakings that are coming.

• Prayer is not a magic formula to get revival or a larger ministry. It is obedience to the Great Commandment to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength.

• Prayer starts like a small seed in the heart of man and will only grow where it is encouraged, cultivated and watched over. Hearts must be yielded to the Lord and His word, sin must be forsaken.

• Sheep are easily scattered.  The shepherds must model faithfulness in leading the way to green pastures and still waters.

• The shepherds must gather the hungry ones and teach (model), coach and encourage any signs of growth.  We must “teach them to pray.”

• This is about a lifestyle change which brings a long term vision for going deep into Gods word and personal intimacy.

• As people grow in prayer, they will grow in giving, service and outreach.

• No revival will start or be sustained without ongoing prayer.