TAKING CENTRAL FLORIDA BY PRAYER:

A CITY-WIDE PRAYER STRATEGY

"Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand" (Jesus - Matthew 12:25).

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing - life forever" (Psalm 133).

"being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3).

"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, ... be made on behalf of all men, ...(1 Tim 2:1-4).

"...your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies" ( Genesis 22:17).

"Gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, for the grain offering and the libation are withheld from the house of your God. Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly; Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord" (Joel 1:13,14).

Please close your eyes for a moment and ask God to show you what a prayed-for city looks like. I trust you saw some of the same things I did. People are praying for their neighbors and co-workers. Principalities and powers have been pulled down. There is a sense of the Holy Spirit of God everywhere you go. Most importantly, many people are coming to Christ every day, including visitors from every nation on this earth. We must remember why we are praying and leading prayer. It is not to build an organization, program or movement but it is because "God is not willing that any should perish" (2 Pet. 3:9) and "God desires all men to be saved" (1 Tim. 2:4). As we pray for others and our city we get more of God's heart for them and join God in what He is doing - bringing people to Himself. God wants His Body to work with Him and the first step is united prayer by the Body of Christ.

There are many types and formats of prayer needed in a city. At an early City Foundations Prayer Committee meeting the Lord gave a vision of a lake. At the top of the water were city-wide prayer activities such as Concerts of Prayer, Praise and Prayer rallies, and special events like March for Jesus and National Day of Prayer. These would be activities that anyone could be an active participant in, that would be a tangible demonstration of and encouragement toward unity in the Body of Christ. The power and anointing on these kinds of gatherings comes from a corporate anointing that the Lord gives when His Body comes together. These events also "stir the waters" and invite people to go deeper in their own personal prayer lives as well as prayer for the city. At deeper levels were types of prayer that required more commitment or personal preparation such as heavy intercession for the city and spiritual warfare.

The book of Nehemiah is instructive regarding building a protective wall around a city. The people all had to work together to get the job done, yet each one had his own jobs to do. It is that combination of personal AND corporate responsibility that we have largely lost in America. If the wall is not built we tend to simply move somewhere that already has a nice wall. The people of Israel knew that God had given them a place, a piece of earth that was theirs to occupy and defend against attack. Do we feel that way about our city? Has God placed you here in Central Florida or are you here by accident? If God has placed you here, is it just to hang on until Jesus comes or is it to occupy and defend the city? If you have not thought about things in this way or if you haven't resolved these issues in your heart then I encourage you to stop reading and take them to the Lord. Also ask the Lord to give you more of His heart for the city and then wait quietly and let Him do it. If you don't sense the corporate responsibility then you will probably see all this city-wide "stuff" as just another drain on your time and energy. If you do sense it then you will see city-wide prayer as an exciting way to further establish God's Kingdom in our city.

If you are here to occupy and defend then Nehemiah makes it obvious that it is not a one person job. Indeed, the wall was of limited use until it was completed all around the city. The enemy would simply come over at the low point causing a much fiercer battle (because he was inside the wall) than if the wall were built all the way around. Each person in the city was dependent upon all the others.

As I was thinking about the wall around Jerusalem I asked the Lord what about all the people that lived in the middle, not directly next to a wall. The Lord gave me a picture of a dome, like over a sports stadium, that is made of many individual pieces all attached together. The prayer over individual neighborhoods, areas of responsibility of individual churches, and individual cities within Central Florida are the pieces with which this dome over Central Florida is formed. The load-bearing sub-structures that hold it all in place are the city-wide prayer ministries, pastor's prayer groups, and city-wide Christian leadership organizations that give direction, encouragement and resources.

There are many types and formats of prayer that could be employed in a city, many with materials and training already developed elsewhere. Some of the questions we must ask then are what specific strategies does the Lord want us to use here in Central Florida? What is His timetable for implementation? What national resources should we use and how closely should we stick to those resources? These issues have been and are being investigated by different ministries and prayer groups around the city. This paper is part of Pray Central Florida's contribution to the effort. To address the first two questions I put out a survey to everyone related to Pray Central Florida in the fall of 1997 (about 80 people). The survey listed many major prayer strategies used in other cities as well as some previously used here in limited ways. The respondents rated each activity as to applicability here in Central Florida and if now was God's timing for that activity. The input from that survey as well as many personal discussions have been used by the Lord to focus and strengthen this strategy paper. The survey and results are available upon request. The appendices to this paper detail some of these strategies and where available give a local contact person for more information. The specific strategies and a brief description follow, in the order of their ranking from the survey.

Central Florida Concerts of Prayer

These are monthly gatherings where people come from across the Central Florida area for an evening (usually) of directed prayer for the area and sometimes the nation or world. A time of worship is usually included and the prayer is often directed enough that people who are new to corporate prayer will be able to fully participate. Please call 679-2645 x9600 for more information and the time and location of the next Central Florida Concert of Prayer.

Pastors Prayer Summits

An extended time of prayer (two or three days) is entered into by a group of pastors. This is not a teaching on prayer but most of the time is spent in actual prayer together as a group, in smaller groups and individually. This is being talked about in some circles but I do not know of any plans to do one in this area as yet.

Houses of Prayer/Lighthouses

Houses Of Prayer Everywhere (formerly Neighborhood Houses of Prayer) and Lighthouses are two similar programs. Both involve people praying for their neighbors with the hope that the prayer will open doors for evangelism. Please see Appendix <A> for more information.

Intercessor teams doing spiritual warfare

There are many teams of people currently engaged in spiritual warfare in various ways in our area. They are doing prayer actions at specific sites, discerning spirits, spiritual mapping, searching local history, etc. Due to the nature of their activities I cannot name names but if you feel called to get involved on this level I can give your name to a few of these teams.

Spiritual warfare included in all activities

The survey response to this item and frequent mention in many recent books and periodicals indicate that spiritual warfare is no longer on the outer edge but is now moving toward the middle. Many people may not understand it but they at least are not frightened off at the mention of it. It is time to prayerfully and tactfully include some warfare in our prayer activities. Please see Appendix <B> for more information and God's Redemptive Purposes.

Central Florida praise rallies

These are gatherings of believers from different churches for the express purpose of praise and worship. There is typically a composite worship band from various participating churches. There may be some prayer but the primary focus is on praise and worship. Some groups of churches have done these in the past and there has been at least one in the first half of 1998.

Prayer walk all of Central Florida once

This strategy comes from Joshua 1:3 - "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you". The idea is to walk every street, claiming it for the Kingdom of God and praying prayers of blessing on each house. We have in town two of the people that helped organize the prayer walk of Washington DC just before the Promise Keepers event there. It will be a do-able thing when some more churches see the value of corporate activities in general and prayer walking specifically.

Mentoring/discipleship in prayer

As you can imagine, this can be done in many different ways. Whatever the format, nothing can replace praying with anointed and experienced prayer warriors. There are some great books (see the bibliography following this paper) and classes that can broaden and deepen your knowledge but the fact remains that prayer is something that is "better caught than taught".

Open prayer meeting for Central Florida

This is the original vision for Pray Central Florida - a place where pastors, leaders, intercessors, prophets, anyone who has a burden to pray for Central Florida, all come together and seek God's heart for the city. As we pray God's heart back to Him we know our prayers are being answered and sometimes we find ourselves being part of the answer as we participate in some of the things we are praying for. Contact George Kern for more information on Pray Central Florida and other city-wide prayer meetings.

Open prayer meeting for each city in Central Florida

This would be a meeting something like Pray Central Florida focusing on an individual city in the Central Florida Area. If anyone would like to start such a meeting in your city Pray Central Florida would be glad to offer any assistance we can.

Ongoing neighborhood prayer walking

People pray for their neighbors and their neighborhoods as they walk down their streets. Many people are doing this now but no one knows which areas are covered and which are not. This activity would involve registering those now prayer walking their neighborhoods and recruiting and training people in other neighborhoods. It would seem to make sense to combine this with the Houses of Prayer.

Special prayer events such as March for Jesus, National Day of Prayer, etc.

March for Jesus is a world-wide event held in the late spring each year. People march together to publicly proclaim their love for Jesus.

National Day of Prayer is the first Thursday in May each year. People gather in various places all over our nation to pray for our country, state, city and personal needs.

Pray USA is 40 days of prayer and fasting for our nation with a daily prayer calendar in the springtime.

Please see appendix <C> for more information on these and other events.

24 hour prayer chain where each church takes one day a month

This is very powerful in New York City where Concerts of Prayer International started one several years ago. There are now over 200 churches and ministries participating. Each church picks one day a month and tries to cover all 24 hours with as many people praying as possible. Smaller churches may take less than 24 hours. Prayer materials are sent to the local church prayer co-coordinator for distribution to his/her church. Contact George Kern for more information, I am in contact with New York and am looking into starting one here.

24 hour prayer chain with individuals

Individuals would sign up for a specific time to pray and would receive materials to help direct and encourage prayer for the city. Priority Associates did a nice job with one of these leading up to the Josh McDowell crusade at UCF.

Central Florida prayer newsletter

This newsletter would keep prayer minded people informed of any prayer activities scheduled, major prayer points for the city, prophetic words for the city, editorials, etc.

Pray Central Florida puts out a monthly prayer newsletter that attempts to meet that need. The E-mail version also has some national and international items of interest. A paper version is available for those without E-mail or if you make copies for others or for your church resource area. E-mail George Kern at praycf@juno.com or call (407) 942-6665 to sign up for a free subscription.

Seminars/speakers on prayer

This activity rated the lowest with two people saying it wasn't God's timing and several saying this should be local church based. However, seminars will need to be a part of launching some of the above activities and local churches are encouraged to open any

seminars or speakers on prayer to others outside their local church. The Pray Central Florida newsletter is one way to let people know about such events.

Central 24 hour prayer center (war room)

This was a write-in suggestion on a survey that merits listing here. This room would be available 24 hours a day for anyone to use for prayer. There would be city maps posted and a notebook for recording prayers and prophetic words for the city.

The above activities are all good, have been successfully used in other cities and I believe God would use them here as well. The key is to hear specifically how to implement the above activities so they are not just a bunch of activities but key parts in God's plan to take the city. Those leading each activity should ideally be in relationship with others leading other activities so mutual encouragement, sharing of ideas and revelations and true unity could take place. All the above activities would benefit from such an environment. Some could easily be implemented by the same people or group, others could benefit from a strategic partnership. An example of this might be the following. Some people feel God is leading them to do a Jesus video distribution in our area. Part of that strategy is to prayerwalk every neighborhood prior to the video distribution. The prayerwalk people and the Houses of Prayer people could form a strategic partnership with the Jesus video people.

All would help recruit churches and promote the joint project. The database of churches and people involved would be shared by all. The prayerwalk people would help with prayerwalk training. Accurate records would be kept and input into a mapping computer program (that Vision Orlando has already offered to purchase). After the video distribution, any areas not covered would be identified for the one-time prayerwalk people to cover. Relationships would already be established with the ongoing prayerwalk people who could encourage everyone to continue prayerwalking on an ongoing basis and follow up on those that agree to continue prayerwalking. The same people would also be offered assistance to start Houses of Prayer in their neighborhoods where they have just prayerwalked and distributed the video.

This is the kind of partnership that will be necessary for spiritual breakthrough in our area.

This paper comes out of much prayer, reading and discussion with my fellow prayer warriors at Pray Central Florida, who I thank for their input. Pray Central Florida is a city-wide non-denominational prayer and action group focusing on Central Florida (defined as Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties at the time of this writing). Our vision statement is "Praying for Central Florida and encouraging the Church in Central Florida to pray".

George Kern Founder, Pray Central Florida

praycf@juno.com or call (407) 942-6665

Partial bibliography -

Loving Your City into the Kingdom by Ted Haggard and Jack Hayford

Primary Purpose by Ted Haggard

That None Should Perish by Ed Silvoso

Taking Our Cities for God by John Dawson

The House of The Lord by Francis Frangipane

Local Associations and United Prayer: Keys to The Coming Revival by Greg Frizzell

Possessing the Gates of the Enemy by Cindy Jacobs

Breaking Strongholds in Your City by C. Peter Wagner

Warfare Prayer by C. Peter Wagner

Spirits of the City by Floyd McClung

Pray Central Florida - praying for Central Florida and encouraging the church in Central Florida to pray. GK/CITYPLAN.WAR/08-98

Appendix <A> - Houses of Prayer/Lighthouses

written by David Malinowski

Houses of Prayer is a prayer-evangelism strategy that began in India in 1985. Since then over 100,000 Indian prayer cells have prayed 3 million Indians into the Kingdom of God. A similar strategy in Argentina called Lighthouses is part of the reason the Christian population has increased there from 2% to 17% in recent years. This ministry has now come to North America as H.O.P.E. - Houses of Prayer Everywhere.

The biblical foundation for prayer-evangelism is 1 Timothy 2:1, I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayer, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone.

A House of Prayer is “a cluster of two or more believers banded together to pray and to convey Christ’s blessing upon their neighbors”. Houses of Prayer may be located in neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, churches or institutions. C. Peter Wagner, president of Global Harvest Ministries, has stated, “Nothing I know of could be more strategic for opening communities to the power of God than neighborhood Houses of Prayer”.

A House of Prayer should be organized and linked to a local church. The church is God’s chosen instrument for accomplishing His work on earth and not many stand-alone prayer cells last. Each congregation with a House of Prayer ministry should have a coordinator, with regular meetings, for training leaders and accountability.

Each House of Prayer has a designated point person responsible to convene group meetings, provide information, keep records, order materials and guide the House of Prayer through five contact phases.

Phase 1 lays a solid foundation of prayer. Phase 2 is remote contact through greeting cards or door hangers identifying your home as a House of Prayer. Phase 3 is direct contact by asking neighbors for prayer requests. Phase 4 is presenting the gospel and phase 5 is inviting them to church. These five phases are low impact, long-term and depend on growing relationships and earned trust over a period of 5-10 months.

A House of Prayer member is a committed intercessor and expected to: 1. Pray earnestly each week for households in the area and prayer-walk the neighborhood as often as possible. 2. Do acts of love and kindness to demonstrate God’s love in practical ways. 3. Ask neighbors for prayer requests and keep a journal of requests and answers. 4. Expose neighbors to the gospel when the time is right and invite them to church when they are ready.

Houses of Prayer can also be developed for target-areas (crime saturated areas, high-rise buildings, prisons, government offices), city-wide initiatives (churches working together to win a city for Christ) or as a church-planting plan.

Imagine the difference in your neighborhood, business or school as God, in response to your prayers, brings peace and quiet and begins to bring those near us to salvation and a knowledge of the truth.

For more information on Houses of Prayer contact Mission 21 H.O.P.E., 1-800-217-5200 or, locally, David Malinowski, (407)-696-5361.

Editor's note: Lighthouse is the name used by Ed Silvoso of Harvest Evangelism. As David has said, the vision is similar. For more information contact George Kern at (407) 942 - 6665 or E-mail at praycf@juno.com.

Appendix <B> - Spiritual Warfare

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12).

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction or fortresses. (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).

Spiritual warfare for a city can be likened to personal ministry for an individual. There are past sins that need to be repented from, vows and curses that need to be broken, ungodly attitudes that need to be confessed and repented from, for example unforgiveness, bitterness, pride, etc. These are the kinds of things that give the demonic an opening or "legal right" to influence thoughts and actions. After learning these things, a person is walked through forgiving, confessing and repenting, which takes away the "legal right" of the demonic to stay. When a city is involved, the elders of the city do this on behalf of the city. At this point the specific demonic spirits are addressed and commanded to leave.

C. Peter Wagner, in his book "Breaking Strongholds in Your City", talks about 3 Categories of warfare preparation research. 1) Historical Research - including the city's founding and significant events, people, problems, sins, religions, etc. This is to determine both sins to repent from and God's redemptive gift(s) for the city, "The City of Lights".

2) Physical Research - plotting various things on a map including the layout of major landmarks in the area, city boundaries, locations of establishments of sin and false religions, etc.

3) Spiritual Research - spiritually discerned principalities and strongholds including their names (where possible) and geographical area of influence, curses placed on the city, and God's redemptive gifts.

Combining the three categories of research listed above should provide a good picture of the spiritual climate of the city and give some clues as to how to proceed in addressing the issues. It might be a good check and balance for a different group to work on each of the three areas and compare notes at the end, double-checking any points of disagreement. It should be stressed that the main point is not to focus on the demonic but to discern God's redemptive purposes for our city - why God put us here and what He wants Central Florida to be known for - and to remove all hindrances from those purposes being accomplished.

C. Peter Wagner also lists Six Rules for Taking a City in his book "Warfare Prayer". I think these are very instructive.

1) Select a manageable geographical area with discernible spiritual boundaries. For Pray Central Florida this is the greater Orlando area and surrounding cities - specifically Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties.

2) Secure the unity of the pastors and other Christian leaders in the area and begin to pray together on a regular basis. The pastors are the spiritual gatekeepers of the city. Wagner warns not to proceed until many, if not most of the pastors in the area are praying together on a regular basis and many are involved in spiritual warfare. I agree with this point of view (with the caveat that it will take some spiritual warfare to get to this point) and this is one of the things Pray Central Florida is praying for.

3) Ensure that the effort is not an activity of certain groups, but of the whole Body of Christ. Take steps to involve people from different backgrounds and create an atmosphere of tolerance of different forms and expressions of prayer. The important thing is that people be praying together in unity.

4) Assure the spiritual preparation of participating leaders and other Christians through repentance, humility and holiness.

5) Research the historical background of the city in order to reveal spiritual forces shaping the city.

6) Work with intercessors especially gifted and called to strategic-level warfare.

Obviously this is a very high-level summary but the point is to initiate and offer a framework for on-going dialogue and prayer regarding spiritual warfare and its application for our city. Also, it would be very important to sense God's timing regarding an evangelistic thrust throughout the city following a significant breakthrough in the Spirit. The biblical example of the demons being cast out but returning seven times worse because the house was not cleaned in their absence should be well-remembered as this has happened in some cities.

Appendix <C> - Special prayer events - March for Jesus, National Day of Prayer and PrayUSA!

written by Maureen Bravo

March for Jesus

The vision of March for Jesus is to see churches united in public worship of the Lord Jesus Christ and Christians working together to impact their city with praise, prayer and proclamation. Its mission is to provide leadership, coordination and training for an emerging national and international network of Christians who build a local relational network that mobilizes the Body of Christ.

It began less than ten years ago in England and has grown to a global event, with numerous countries represented, involving tens of millions of Christians joyfully celebrating Jesus worldwide. The faithful take to the streets to proclaim their love for Christ, and unity with each other in this event held in the late spring each year. Everyone is welcome, and encouraged to participate, as we visibly manifest our unity and oneness in the Lord. For information on the May 22, 1999 Orlando area March for Jesus, call 679-2645 x 9300.

National Day of Prayer

The National Day of Prayer is an American national observance...with all Americans invited to call on the God Who created them to move on behalf of this nation. (II Chronicles 7:14). Because of the faith of our founding fathers, civil prayer and national days of prayer have a long history in America. The Congress, by Public law 100-307, has called our citizens to reaffirm annually our dependence on Almighty God by recognizing a National Day of Prayer, and established its permanent date as the first Thursday in May each year. (The next one will be held on May 6, 1999).

On that day, people gather in various places all over our country to pray for our nation, our state and local governments, and the needs of the individual citizens. There are numerous observances in the Central Florida area, along with a centrally located gathering for the whole city, usually at 12 Noon that day. For information, call 679-2645 x 9200.

Pray USA!

Imagine your church ablaze with the glory of God! Imagine your home and neighborhood transformed by the presence of God! Imagine what God could do in a "prayed-for nation!" During PrayUSA!, (40 days of synchronized, focused, fervent prayer and fasting in the Spring of each year), an unprecedented partnership of denominations, churches, parachurch ministries, prayer groups and individual Christians join together to "Pray America Back to God!"

Last year, America was prayed and fasted for as never before in history by more than 15.5 million Christians seeking revival and spiritual awakening during the 40 days of Pray USA! The biblical discipline of fasting helps us to develop a more intimate relationship with and deeper reliance upon God, and for the first time in 150 years, there are signs everywhere that a national revival is on the horizon! We must not quit! Together we can do something none of us could do alone!

During the upcoming PrayUSA!'99, which will be February 17 through March 28,

you can join millions of other Christians by praying through the reproducible PrayUSA! 40 day prayer calendar. So, mark your calendar now! Plan to participate! Mobilize your prayer group, your church, and your entire city to join you! For additional information call the local Orlando area hotline number 679-2645 x 9100.

Addendum - THE HOUSE OF THE LORD

King Solomon built a grand temple where people could come and worship God. Building the temple took great sacrifice on the part of the people. Solomon dedicated the temple with praise from all the priests together in unity and purity (2 Chron. 5:11) along with the singers and musicians (2 Chron. 5:11 - 13) and then the Glory of God came down so thick that the priests could not even stand up (2 Chron. 5:14).

We need to see that we are building a spiritual House of the Lord in our city. It takes great sacrifice and a vision for the city as a whole, not just our individual ministry. The priests (pastors and leaders) must "Sanctify themselves, without regard to divisions" (2 Chron. 5:11) and come together (in person) in unity and purity and worship God along with the worship teams and the people.