Key: Pray

PRAY and ask God about your role in planting the church among the unreached

Stephanas learned the vital importance of prayer through experiences in the church that met in his neighbors’ home. God answered their specific prayers for boldness in proclaiming the Gospel as well as prayers for healing and miracles. They were inspired by a report about the Jerusalem church, which, after praying in the same way, God responded with an earthquake and everyone was filled afresh with the Holy Spirit![1] [2]

Following Jesus’ instructions, the church faithfully prayed “to the Lord of the harvest…to send out workers into His harvest field.”[3]

Everybody in the church was encouraged to pray to discover how God wanted to use him or her in helping the church to grow and multiply. God would reveal to each person the part they had to play if they would simply pray and do what He said.

To be commissioned and sent away by the church to plant new churches among an unreached people group, it was important to have a clear call from God. Although Stephanas gained ministry experience through his active participation in the church, which met in his neighbors’ home, he wanted to be confident that it was God leading him to another land and culture.

God speaks to His people through:

• The Scriptures
• Prayer
• Circumstances
• —His Church

– To reveal Himself, His Purpose, and His Ways. ^[4]

Paul the Apostle was a living example to Stephanas of a fruitful, cross-cultural church planter. Paul seemed to have a view of divine guidance consisting of three levels; each level supported and gave direction to the next. Paul understood God’s will through:

1.  The Scriptures and flow of God’s work in history. Paul knew God’s unchanging purpose and promise: “all the nations shall be blessed.”[5] He used Scripture to confirm his guidance to work to reach the nations. [6]

2 A life mission. Paul knew his life’s mission. He put it in writing: “…proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” ^[7]

3.  Seeking God about what to do next, day-to-day guidance. Paul seemed to have confusion sometimes in this area. On one occasion his decision to visit some believers was frustrated by the devil.[8] Another time the Spirit of God blocked two well-intended ministry projects until clarity was finally reached.[9] A group of disciples, moved by the Spirit, urged him not to go to Jerusalem, yet they could not get him to change is mind.[10]

Apparently Paul was not always sure of the next step. In a funny way, this encouraged Stephanas. He realized that Paul was a lot like him and most other believers—he occasionally struggled to know the right decision in the short-term.

Stephanas believed that if he made choices based only on the third level of day-to-day guidance, without the foundational levels of God’s purpose and his own life mission, he would not make long-term progress. Stephanas made it a habit to evaluate his immediate choices (level 3) in light of his life calling (level 2). Likewise, he tested his life calling by Scripture (level 1). When he experienced occasional difficulty with short-term guidance, he had confidence that God would direct his path toward a life of increasing fruitfulness.[11] [12]

[2] Extraordinary Prayer: A UNIVERSAL ELEMENT IN CHURCH PLANTING MOVEMENTS “Prayer has been foundational to every Church Planting Movement we have observed,” reports David Garrison in his outstanding booklet, Church Planting Movements. After surveying Church Planting Movements spreading among unreached peoples around the world today, he identifies ten universal elements present in every one of them. With Garrison’s permission, we will point out each of these ten universal elements as we go through the keys. Garrison and the IMB have generously made the booklet available as a free download.  www.churchplantingmovements.com Since the publication of his booklet in 2000, many more church planting movements have surfaced in all corners of the globe! Researchers are tracking over thirty of them. As follow-up, Garrison recently wrote a new book, Church Planting Movements, How God is Redeeming a Lost World, filled with faith-building, exciting stories and expanded, practical insight. Order a copy through the website above.

[3] Luke 10:2b

^[4] EXPERIENCING GOD: Knowing and Doing the Will of God, written by veteran church planter Henry Blackaby is a must for all church planters.  This study helps you to: know when God is speaking, find out where God is working and join Him and experience God doing through you what only God can do!  Order EXPERIENCING GOD from LifeWay Press, 127 Ninth Ave. North, Nashville, Tennessee 37234 USA. or call 1 800 458 2772.

[5] Galatians 3:8

[6] Romans 15:8-12

^[7] Romans 15:16

[8] I Thes. 2:17-18

[9] Acts 16:6-10

[10] Acts 21:3-4, 11-14

[11] Proverbs 3:4-5

[12] “The Three Levels of Guidance”,  taught by YWAM leader, Jim Stier at a church planters conference in Athens, Greece