Displaying items by tag: John D Robb

Be encouraged as you listen to John D Robb, Chairman of International Prayer Connect being interviewed by Daniel Lim, CEO of iHOP about how the Lord has led him in his service to the Prayer Movement around the world in recent decades.  John shares some of the breakthroughs.

More at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k4lurlki5dfQV7Aju1vbqvWiD4CaHva-/view?usp=sharing

The prophet Jeremiah felt so immature and inadequate as God called him to a ministry of prophetic prayer for the people of Israel and other nations. We often feel just the same, as if our prayers will make little difference, but they can actually have the awesome power of the Almighty to change the history of nations!

The Lord told Jeremiah that He had put His words in the young prophet’s mouth and that as that happened, He was appointing him “over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer. 1:9-10).

Modern Bible scholars say that later history demonstrated that Jeremiah’s prophetic prayers and declarations were actually fulfilled in the way things worked out for Israel and those other nations to which his ministry was directed.

For those of us who follow Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and who are also members of His eternal family, should we expect anything less to happen when we pray for nations? If anything, we ought to expect far more! According to the Apostle Paul, we have been raised in Christ to sit with Him in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). Through the Spirit and joined to our victorious King, we are actually “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion (1:20-22).

Jesus told His disciples that all authority had been given to Him, and therefore they should go and make disciples of all the ethne (people groups) on earth (Mt.28:18-20). They had also already observed that the spirits were subject to them and heard the Lord tell them: “I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy” (Lk. 10:17-19).

He had also most categorically taught them that whatever they bound on earth would be bound in heaven and whatever they loosed on earth would be loosed in heaven. In the same teaching session, He clearly tied this exercise of authority that would move from earth to heaven, affecting things there as well, to their practice of the prayer of agreement. Such authoritative praying will apply to anything His followers agree on with one another (Mt. 18:18-20).

In the case of Jeremiah, it is the presence and guidance of the Lord as the prophet prays that causes his words to carry such immense authority. However, because of our position in Christ and the resulting link with heaven itself, Jesus has extended even more authority to His own family members who are willing to exercise it. They can use this awesome power in “whatever” circumstance they face and pray about “anything” they encounter – in His name and according to His will. No limits are given by the Lord. Have we grasped this in our own experience yet, or are we holding back like the unsure and inadequate prophet of old?

In the 1990’s, while serving with an international humanitarian organization, colleagues and I were driven to desperate prayer by the number of hopeless, impossible ethnic conflicts happening in the countries our organization was seeking to serve. Our relief and development staff cried out, saying they needed prayer more than money. Although I had never mobilized prayer before and had mainly been a mission activist, I began to take ministry teams into war zones. We decided to take God’s ancient promise literally, that He would come in and heal a country when His people went through a process of humbling themselves, praying, seeking His face and turning from their evil ways (2 Chr. 7:14).

Over and over again, we were utterly amazed at what the Lord did as spiritual leaders of all denominational and ethnic backgrounds urgently came together for these national prayer initiatives. As they went through a process of repentance and reconciliation followed by united, authoritative prayer, history would be changed before our eyes. Political leaders on both sides of those hopeless conflicts would then implement what we had transacted with the Lord and one another. Peace agreements sometimes happened while we were still in the midst of the initiative or shortly thereafter. Everyone knew that it was God being faithful to His promise as His people stepped up to using the authority He had delegated.

Our teams saw at least nine such civil wars and ethnic conflicts ended this way. We also saw other marvelous transformations as the Spirit of the Lord removed wicked political leaders from power, brought about the revival of apathetic believers, and ignited mass turnings of hitherto unresponsive unbelievers to Christ. Having now done such initiatives in 61 nations, we know these things occurred not through serendipity but by the merciful interventions of God!

Let me urge you along with other brothers and sisters in Christ you are close with--even a small number will do--to take the awesome authority you have already been given and use it to transform your nation, believing God for even the biggest challenges you face. You will be amazed at how things can change, even suddenly with a whole new socio-political atmosphere becoming evident. “According to your faith will it be done for you” (Mt. 9:29)! Of course, we must be careful not to do this presumptuously or arrogantly but humbly and dependently, always relying on the guidance and anointing of the Holy Spirit to reveal how we ought to pray. We also need to be always watchful, maintaining His love and unity with all those on our team. This is a recipe for breakthrough after breakthrough as God’s people have experienced through the centuries.

It is all from Him, through Him and to Him--glory be to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!

John Robb

IPC Chairman

Focus: The Power of People Group Thinking, a Practical Resource for Reaching the Unreached

If you have a heart for prayer and mission for the fulfillment of the Great Commission, this book is written for you!

It has been put together for followers of Jesus who share His heartbeat for the peoples of the world. It is designed for you if you want to see His love, justice, and salvation begin to operate within a particular group of people for whom you are specially concerned.

If you are a missionary, an evangelist, a pastor, or a lay person who wants to better understand your target audience in order to have a greater impact, this book can help you. It will give you the tools to develop a ministry strategy that, coupled with Spirit-led prayer, will be relevant to the people you are trying to reach. Focus! will enable you to both pray and communicate the Gospel with new effectiveness and greater response. It will assist you to design ministry outreaches and programs that the Spirit of God can use to move a whole unreached group toward the salvation and social well-being He so deeply desires for them.

The author, John Robb, who serves as chairman of the IPC has devoted his life to both prayer and mission initiatives in more than 100 countries for over 50 years. Focus! went through three printings, was translated into over 20 languages, and has been used by many involved in cross-cultural missions around the world. Feel free to download it and also to share it with others who have an interest in making Christ known to those who still do not know Him.

Free Download available HERE

Focus: The Power of People Group Thinking, a Practical Resource for Reaching the Unreached

If you have a heart for prayer and mission for the fulfillment of the Great Commission, this book is written for you!

It has been put together for followers of Jesus who share His heartbeat for the peoples of the world. It is designed for you if you want to see His love, justice, and salvation begin to operate within a particular group of people for whom you are specially concerned.

If you are a missionary, an evangelist, a pastor, or a lay person who wants to better understand your target audience in order to have a greater impact, this book can help you. It will give you the tools to develop a ministry strategy that, coupled with Spirit-led prayer, will be relevant to the people you are trying to reach. Focus! will enable you to both pray and communicate the Gospel with new effectiveness and greater response. It will assist you to design ministry outreaches and programs that the Spirit of God can use to move a whole unreached group toward the salvation and social well-being He so deeply desires for them.

The author, John Robb, who serves as chairman of the IPC has devoted his life to both prayer and mission initiatives in more than 100 countries for over 50 years. Focus! went through three printings, was translated into over 20 languages, and has been used by many involved in cross-cultural missions around the world. Feel free to download it and also to share it with others who have an interest in making Christ known to those who still do not know Him.

Free Download available HERE

By John D Robb

1. God desires and requires intercessory prayer for the accomplishment of His salvific purpose for the peoples of the earth.

Jesus told us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven." Abraham interceded for Lot in Sodom, Moses prayed that God would turn from His wrath against Israel, Daniel for the return of Israel from Babylon. Ezekiel was told by God, "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it but I found none" (Ez. 22:30}

Why does God desire and require His people's intercession? Most likely because God originally gave dominion of the earth to humankind. That dominion has never been revoked by God. Satan's dominion achieved through rebellion against the Creator is a false, illegitimate, usurped dominion. Redeemed through Christ, we can exercise our God-given right to influence the affairs of this world through the exercise of intercessory prayer. Like Kuwait's request for the multi-national force to come against the illegitimate dominion of Iraq, so we in prayer as God's redeemed children, pray that His will be done, His kingdom come on earth. Prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit breaks through the false dominion of the enemy, and clears the way for His deliverance and shalom to come to all peoples. Linked through prayer with the risen Christ, sitting at His side (Eph. 2) far above all authority and dominion, we share in the accomplishment of His redemptive purposes.

Dick Eastman, president of World Literature Crusade, recently shared with our staff at World Vision how early in 1988, God had led him to take a team of intercessors throughout Eastern Europe. Their mission was "to confront the strongholds of Communism." In obedience to God's leading, they carried out a "prayer walk" around the Politbureau building in Bucharest where less than two years later, Ceaucescu made his last stand after pridefully announcing his regime would last for a thousand years. While in Berlin, God led Dick to go out with a German friend in the middle of the night to face that still forbidding wall. Moved in intercessory prayer, they both laid their hands on the wall and prayed, "In the name of Jesus, come down!"

In the dramatic events of the last year in Eastern Europe God has used the prayers of His people to shake the nations. He can do the same thing in the unevangelized world. He is seeking those who will stand before him in the gap for the 2,000 major unreached peoples, the 1,000 unevangelized cities, and the 30 unevangelized countries.

2. Victory in the spiritual realm is primary, and it is won by prayer.

Remember Moses' intercession as he held up his hands before God while Joshua and the army of Israel fought the Amalekites in the valley below? Each time Moses' arms grew tired and faltered, Israel's army was pushed back. But as he sustained his stance in prayer with uplifted arms, the Israelites were victorious.

Later in Israel's history. King Jehoshaphat relied on the weapons of united fasting and prayer, public worship and praise which brought God's intervention against the invading armies of Israel's enemies. Bible teacher, Derek Prince, writes: "These weapons, scripturally employed by Christians today, will gain victories as powerful and dramatic as they gained for the people of Judah in the days of Jehoshaphat.... Victory in the spiritual realm is primary. It is to be obtained by spiritual weapons. Thereafter its outcome will be manifested in every area of the natural and material realm."

These two Biblical episodes vividly portray intercessory prayer as being the winning factor. Why should this be any different in today's battle for world evangelization?

3. Prayer has always undergirded and extended the missionary outreach of the church.

Prayer is mentioned over 30 times in the Book of Acts alone, and generally it is mentioned as occurring just before major breakthroughs in the outward expansion of the early Christian movement. For the Apostles extended times of united prayer and waiting on God together were pivotal in their mission to the unreached. Before the first great outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost and Peter's mighty sermon that brought 3,000 into the church, it is recorded that the Apostles "all joined together constantly in prayer" (Acts 1:14). Then, as the Apostles and their new converts "devoted themselves to prayer," signs and wonders occurred, the city was filled with awe, and people were added to the church daily (2:42-44). It was "after they had prayed" that the place where they were meeting was shaken, all were filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke the word of God with boldness (4:31).

The Apostles early on let it be known what their priority in mission was- "We will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word" (6:4). The result of the Apostles determined adherence to this priority was that "The word of God spread and the number of disciples increased rapidly, and a large number of the priests became obedient to the faith" (6:7).

Peter's prayer resulted in signs and wonders such as the raising of Tabitha. Later it was a time of prayer that opened his eyes to the revelation that the gospel was also for the Gentiles, making him willing to go and preach to Cornelius. It was also the church's prayer that brought the release of Peter from prison.

A period of prayer and fasting by five leaders of the Antioch church led to the setting apart of Paul and Barnabus for their frontier mission to the Gentiles. Afterwards they were sent out with more fasting and prayer (13:1-3). It was through prayer that Paul was not allowed by the Spirit of Jesus to enter Bithynia, but redirected into Macedonia. And it was through the prayer and praise of God by the imprisoned Paul and Silas that an earthquake helped to originate the church at Philippi!

The whole European side of the modern Protestant missionary enterprise grew out of Pietism, a revival movement that was steeped in earnest prayer. From its influence the Danish-Halle Mission to India went forth and the Moravian movement under Count Zinzendorf emerged. One author writing about the Moravians said that "the glorious movement of the Spirit... among the Moravians at Herrnhut in 1727 [which] transformed them into what has been the mightiest evangelizing force in the world for the past two centuries, was borne in prayer."

The prayer meeting which the Moravians began in 1727 went on 100 years! By relays they offered unceasing prayer for the church and needs all around the world. This prayer effort kindled their desire to proclaim Christ to the unreached and led to the beginning of modem missions. And from this one small village, over 100 missionaries went out in 25 years.

Decades later, William Carey, while still employed as a humble shoe repairman to support his part-time preaching, drew a homemade map of the world, entering all information he could find about its regions and countries. As he mused over the world's appalling needs and problems, he turned the information gathered into heartfelt intercession. His biographer reveals: "Often in the silence of the night... by the dim rush light, he would scan that map and then kneeling before it, pour out his soul to God." Prayer for the world was a definite motive force in the call and service of the one who came to be known as "the father of modern Protestant missions."

In 1806, a few college students from William's College took refuge from a sudden rainstorm beneath a haystack. Sitting in the midst of hay, they used the time to pray for the world and its needs. Out of that unlikely venue for a prayer meeting, the American mission movement was born.

Robert Glover sums up the role of prayer in the history of missions:

"From Pentecost and the Apostle Paul, right down through the centuries to the present day, the story of missions has been the story of answered prayer. Every fresh outbreak of missionary energy has been the result of believing prayer. Every new missionary undertaking that has been owned and blessed of God has been the germinating of seed planted by the divine spirit in the hearts of praying saints."

John Robb, IPC Chairman

(Excerpted and adapted from the article by John Robb “Prayer as a Strategic Weapon in Frontier Mission” Published in the International Journal of Frontier Missiology in 1991)