In the city of Maradi, a growing number of Fulani men and women are encountering Jesus, but it’s enraging Fulani Muslims, who use different tactics to persecute Christians. In response, Open Doors local partners ran persecution survival training for 120 new believers. ‘Thanks to this training, my eyes are opened to how to respond to persecution,’ says Lydia. ‘I now understand that these are the footsteps that Jesus Christ left for all those who believe in Him. Persecution is inevitable, but we must stand strong, and we should pray for our persecutors.’ ‘I am blessed with the Word of God; I have strategies to overcome the persecution,’ adds Zeinabou. ‘I never knew anything about persecution response, but now my eyes are open - I am more than victorious, I must overcome persecution because Jesus is with me, and He will never let me down.’

2% of Palestinians are Christian, outnumbered and persecuted by their Muslim neighbours, facing marginalisation outside their Palestinian community under occupation. Yet Palestine is a top missionary-sending country, sending out roughly 3,400 missionaries per one million Christians. Jack Sara of Bethlehem Bible College says, ‘Palestinian Christians are very proud of their faith and will share it wherever they are. The situation with occupation and difficulty suffering certainly has made them resilient. This commitment to missions reveals the Gospel heart cultivated in the Palestinian Church and serves as a challenge and encouragement to other believers. The global Church would do a good thing to provide a platform for Palestinian Christians to speak, to come and share experiences and lessons learned from living the Gospel in such hard circumstances. These hard circumstances qualify Palestinian missionaries to connect with people in other countries where life is difficult and offer them the Living Hope of Jesus Christ.’

Over 90,000 people have crossed into Chad from Darfur as Sudan became gripped by war when fighting began between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on April 15th. Amid the chaos, fighting also reignited in the west of the country that is still haunted by 20 years of conflict between Arab militias and non-Arab groups - including the Arab Rizeigat tribe and the non-Arab Masalit - fuelled by competition for dwindling resources. At least 500 people died across Darfur in the first weeks of fighting, according to Sudan’s health ministry, while over 250,000 people in West Darfur were displaced. The figures are likely to have increased since they were reported before a total communication blackout in el-Geneina on 19 May. el-Geneina suffered two waves of violence at the end of April and in mid-May. They both started when Arab militias stormed it, exploiting the army’s non-interference.

Our vision is to see the 110 most unreached cities in the world reached with the Gospel, praying for thousands of Christ-exalting churches to be planted among them!

We believe prayer is key! To this end we are reaching out in faith to cover this outreach with the powerful prayers of 110 million believers - for breakthrough, praying around the throne, around the clock and around the globe!

WILL YOU JOIN US?!

Watch the video invitation to pray with 110 million people for 110 strategic cities! (Psalm 110:3)

Here’s 3 ways you can get involved with 110 Cities!

1. Pray once a day!                       
2. Join our 4 Days of Prayer 
3. Pray the interactive Map   

The 110cities.com website is chock full of resources to use in whatever way suits you... browse the 110 Cities and their prayer points along with the 24-7 worship and prayers of our Global Family 24-7 Prayer Room or stream the International House of Prayer Kansas City worship and intercessions.

Join us now at: https://www.110cities.com/

Come to the Table is a collaboration of worldwide prayer & missions networks & movements, uniting in global prayer, communion & mission in 2023.

The 40+ leaders gather monthly to hear from the Lord and each other, and to pray.  We are excited to be experiencing a growing unity that is bound by our common vision to see all peoples reached with the message of the Gospel. (Luke 10:2) 

We agree that prayer and mission together is the key!

The listing on the website contains just some of the many joint worldwide events that are taking place this year.

We invite you to bookmark the page and to visit us regularly for updates!

www.cometothetable.world

Ian Cole, Senior Advisor to IPC and founder of the World Prayer Centre, Birmingham, UK has written an Easter to Pentecost Declaration to declare the truths of God from Easter through to Pentecost.  Read / pray it below!

Download and Print

AN EASTER TO PENTECOST DECLARATION 2023

I declare today the greatness and love of God the Father.

The supremacy of His Son Jesus the Christ, and the power and eternal work of the Holy Spirit.

FATHER GOD. I declare You are perfect in all your ways; in love, justice, goodness, wisdom mercy and grace.

Your love for the world You created and all its people never ends.

Father God, I declare you are my Rock, my Deliverer and my Sustainer.

I declare your love for me, my family, my friends and my community, never ends.

JESUS. Today I declare that you lived, died, rose and ascended to the right hand of your Father, there to intercede for me.

By the grace of God, I declare you are my Saviour, Redeemer, Healer and coming King.

I declare that through your blood Jesus, I am ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven.

I am a child of God!

Today, I declare that in your name Jesus, through your victory at the cross,

I will silence the lies of satan and nullify his schemes.

HOLY SPIRIT. Thank you Holy Spirit for inspiring people to write my bible reading today.

I declare that this same Holy Spirit, who raised Christ from the dead, is dwelling in me.

Holy Spirit, “It is your breath that enables me to live, serve, worship,

praise and represent Jesus to those I meet today.”

I declare that the same courage and boldness you gave the early Christians

at Pentecost is available for me to use every day.

My prayer today

Thank you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I live every moment with your presence, promises and power surrounding me, because you promised never to leave or forsake me. Hallelujah!

Thank you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit that your answers far outweigh

the problems and challenges I am facing. Hallelujah!

Thank you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the plans You have for me,

supersede satan’s schemes and attacks. Hallelujah!

Thank you, Father Son and Holy Spirit that I can join with all of heaven and with millions of brothers and sisters around the world in praise, thanksgiving and worship this Easter to Pentecost season.

CHRIST IS RISEN HALLELUJAH!

2023 © World Prayer Centre. The declaration can be copied and distributed freely acknowledging World Prayer Centre

www.worldprayer.org.uk

Ian has also written “A Gift of Hope”.   The new e-book contains the Trilogy of Hope articles written by Ian Cole and the Daily Declaration.  

May the Gift of Hope bring you joy at Christmas! If you would like to purchase the Gift of Hope e-book, you can purchase and download here.

He has also written a Daily Declaration. Let us declare faith, hope, and truth for us and our families.
Download a PDF of the declaration

Prayer Global is an interesting new prayer tool that enables you to strategically pray for specific places and peoples in the world!

The site has a method for integrating a community together to pray for 4,770 provinces/counties (1 "lap around the world") - "300 people, each praying 16 minutes, can pray for every place in the world --1 lap-- in one week."

Very easy to use and engaging!  Prayer.Global is available on iPhone/iPad and Android platforms.

Check out this 10-minute video describing it

This Pentecost, May 27th and 28th will mark the beginning of a decade of prayer, evangelism and discipleship, launching a ten-year journey of global collaboration between churches of Bible-based denominations, and mission organizations responding to the Commission of Jesus to make disciples of all nations – mobilizing the whole body of Christ for a Bible, a believer, and a body of Christ within everybody's distance. Everybody needs to know somebody who's a Christian. Everybody needs to have access to scripture. Everybody needs to have a church that they can get to and why?

Because of the absolute worth of Jesus – he is all deserving of all our worship, all of our obedience and all of our affections.

We are currently in the year 2023 - 10 years away from 2033 - the 2000 yr anniversary of the death, burial, resurrection, the ascension of Jesus, the  Commissioning of the church and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Organizations and collaborations across the Body of Christ are joining together in obedience to the call of the Lord -

The first Protestant missions’ movement sprang up from a group of Moravians led by Count Zinzendorf, who dedicated their community to a scripture found in Isaiah 62

“On your walls, O Jerusalem,  I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night  they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance,  take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem  and makes it a praise in the earth”. (Isaiah 62:6-7)

The Moravian community established night and day prayer and worship after a move of the Holy Spirit and from this community a 100 year, 24/7 prayer meeting was launched, resulting in one of the greatest missions movements in the history of the Church. 

Like the Moravians I believe today we are seeing the convergence of a global prayer and missions’ movement around the world -  until Jerusalem becomes a praise on the earth!  

This Pentecost will also be the 3^rd Global Day of Prayer for more than 100 Million plus believers from Jewish, Arab, and Gentile backgrounds focused on Praying for the salvation of Israel and the Jewish people worldwide. With the promise from Paul in Romans 11:11-12,

“I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. ¹² Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!”

Each year from 2023- 2033 the global prayer movements are committed to praying for the 110 most unreached cities in the world on four global days of prayer each year – for the Buddhist world, the Muslim world, the Jewish world and the Hindu world! We are praying together for Jesus Christ to be enthroned as King over these unreached cities, and nations with the vision to make disciples of all nations!

2033 COMMITMENT:
A CALL TO THE GLOBAL CHURCH FOR A DECADE OF GREAT COMMISSION EFFORT

Recognizing the need of the more than 8 billion individuals on earth to hear and respond to the good news of Jesus Christ,

Believing that God our Savior has provided the way of salvation for all people through the mediating work of His Son and that it is not His will that any should perish but that everyone should come to repentance,

Responding to the commission of Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations, preaching the gospel to everyone in the power of the Holy Spirit,

Approaching the 2000 year anniversary of Christ’s Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost,

We therefore unite to:

• Collaborate with one another toward the fulfillment of the Great Commission
• Pray for the salvation of our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and the people of the nations of the world
• Mobilize the followers of Jesus entrusted to our ministry and local churches in reaching every person on earth with His grace and truth
• Invest increased resources in evangelistic efforts especially for people who have never heard the gospel
• Go with the good news using every means available so that everyone has the opportunity to know Jesus Christ.

We dedicate our lives to obeying Christ’s command and call for the global Church to unite with us in making the next ten years the greatest decade of Great Commission effort in history.

1 Timothy 2:3-6; 2 Peter 3:9; Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15

To become a signatory of the 2033 Commitment, please complete the form HERE. Thank you!

More info and sign up for Amsterdam 2023: https://amsterdam2023.com/

May the Lamb who was slain receive the due reward for his sufferings as we unite together in prayer and mission in this next decade 2023-2033!

For the Supremacy of Christ in all things,

Dr. Jason Hubbard – Director
International Prayer Connect
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

By the late Dr. Charles Stanley with thanks to IFAPray.org

Lord Jesus, teach us to pray in a way that moves mountains.

Dr. Charles Stanley, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia, addressed the National Prayer Congress in October 1976. With his kind permission, his talk was revised and edited for inclusion in IFA’s February 1977 newsletter. We bring you this timeless message in honor of his life and ministry.

This excellent message pinpoints characteristics of effective, dynamic prayer. Not until we recognize the power behind the forces that oppose God, can we realize how great our prayer offensive must be. Nothing less than total commitment and obedience will dislodge satanic strongholds that cripple the Church and hold our nation in spiritual bondage.

And when they were come to multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him and saying,

Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me.

And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

Then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said, Why could not we cast him out?

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting (Matt. 17:14-21).

I believe the supernatural prayer of God is available to every single believer, to remove any and every “mountain” in his or her life, and by “mountain” we mean any circumstance, any event, any aspect of a person’s life that prevents him from doing or attaining the will of God for his life. Above all, we need to remember that God is in the mountain-moving business: He knows exactly what to do to remove any and every “mountain” that comes our way.

Often when we face such a circumstance in our lives, rather than looking to God immediately, we complain, and we moan and groan to our friends. We get down in the dumps, we lose our faith, we ask God where He is-while all the time the Scripture says we should bring our mountains to God so that He can move them for us.

But even beyond our personal mountains, when I look at our nation today, I see mountains that seem absolutely insurmountable from a human point of view. When we look at these mountains and then at our own resources, we tend to say, “Lord, there’s no way for these mountains to be moved.” That’s correct-as long as we look at ourselves-for it will take a supernatural miracle of God to change what is happening in this country. The most powerful resource we have as God’s people is in looking to God in prayer, believing Him to move the mountains that threaten to destroy this nation.

Now, all the praying we can do is great, but the kind of praying that I want to specifically talk about is the kind that moves mountains no man can budge. The type of praying that moves mountains is the prayer of faith. The Lords says throughout the Scriptures, “If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.” He says, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” He says, “Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not,” He says, “This is the confidence that we have in him, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of him.” Hebrews 11:6 says, “Those who come to God must believe that God is.” God is what? God is able to do anything and everything. God is really willing to release His supernatural divine power in human circumstances if He can find somebody who is willing to believe Him and expect Him to do it.

Do you believe that God will move the mountains that keep us from being the people God wants us to be, or from being the nation God wants us to be? I believe that God is just as much in the mountain-moving business today as He was 2,000 or 4,000 years ago. What He’s looking for are men and women who are willing to trust Him, willing to get out on a limb and believe that God will intervene in any and every human circumstance.

The second characteristic of that kind of prayer is that it must focus on God and not on the mountain. You see, one of our difficulties in praying is that we get caught up in the problem. One of the most beautiful examples of the right kind of praying is in 2 Chronicles 20 when Jehoshaphat heard that his enemy was approaching. What did he do? He didn’t call a committee! The Scripture says he fell on his face before the Lord and cried to Him for the rescue and protection.

He didn’t begin saying, “O God, look at our enemy; look how strong they are; look how powerful they are!” No! He began by saying, “O God, Thou art the Creator. You are the one who brough us out of Egypt.” He began to pray a prayer that focused completely on God. And the next day, the Scripture says, he went out to meet the enemy. Do you know how he went out? He went out with his choir out in front of his army singing their way to victory. Why was he able to do this? Because Jehoshaphat knew that the secret to mountain moving is to focus upon the God who moves the mountains and not on the mountains themselves.

The third characteristic of prayer that moves mountains is that it must be faithful praying. Many of us get excited about a prayer need for two or three days; then when somebody asks later, “Are you still praying for so-and-so?” we reply, “Oh, I almost forgot about that.” The Scripture says a man ought always to pray and faint not. That expression “to fain not” doesn’t mean to fall down and lose consciousness. It means to “lose heart, to give up” because the answer doesn’t come immediately.

How many of us are willing to pray with the same tenacity that Jacob had when he wrestled the angel? He said, “I’ll not let you go until you do what I want done.” I believe God is looking for people who are willing to hold on to Him, to bombard heaven, to keep on asking until the asking becomes praising and thanksgiving. The kind of prayer that moves mountains may start off in weakness, but it ends up in strength. It may begin with asking, but it ends up in thanking. God will honor that kind of tenacious hold on the promise of God.

The fourth essential characteristic of mountain-moving prayer is it needs to be fearless praying. If we’re going to see miracles, we’re talking about something only God can do. If we want to see in this nation the release of supernatural power that can change when voting cannot change, what councils cannot change, what committees cannot change, it can only come by God’s intervention. And if that’s true, there must be fearless prayer…prayer that comes to God expecting Him to do something.

There is a passage in Isaiah that most people have probably never read. Isaiah 45:11 says, “Concerning the work of my hands, command ye me.” You and I might think, “Who in the world are we to command God?” But God says, “Concerning the work of my hands-concerning what I want to do-command ye me.” God is more willing to answer prayer than we are to ask Him. He doesn’t want us to approach Him hesitatingly, as if we were beggars, or as if we were unworthy, but rather with confidence and boldness. We aren’t coming in our own righteousness, but in the blood of Jesus Christ. And when we approach the throne in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, He says, “You can command Me, and I will answer your petition.”

If ever there was a time when the people of God need to lie prostrate before the Lord and hear Him say, “Command ye me with fearlessness, with boldness, with anticipation, with excitement, with expectancy,” this is the time! Little puny prayers that we lift up while hopping out of bed or going down the expressway in the morning don’t get the job done. God is not going to change a life or change a nation with that kind of praying. I know the excuse people give: “You can pray anywhere.” Sure, you can, but you don’t move mountains by praying down the expressway! The kind of prayer that approaches God, expecting Him to do something and not giving up until it happens.

How many times have you said to God, “Lord, here’s what You said You’d do. I am not giving up until You do it. I’ll keep throwing it back up to You until the answer comes pouring out of heaven, just like I ask.” That’s fearless praying!

Another characteristic of that type of praying is that it comes from a person who is able to feel the burden of the Lord. We’ve all heard people get up in Sunday school and read off a little prayer: “Now Lord, bless our Sunday school, this, that, and the other.” God doesn’t hear it! What I mean by prayer that feels God’s burden is this: when you and I are willing to get quiet enough, long enough for God to share something of the tremendous weight of the burden of His heart with us, then we’ll experience prayer that moves mountains. There has to be some weight. There must be something of a burden from God.

When is it that your praying really gets down to serious business? When somebody’s life is at stake? When some tremendous burden is placed upon you and you begin to vicariously feel something of the hurt, and the pain, and the suffering in somebody else’s life? Then when you pray you tell God what you want. You quote Him a Scripture. You remind Him of what He promised to do. That’s the kind of praying that moves mountains.

Can you imagine Elijah walking up to that altar of sacrifice and saying, “Lord, I want to pray in Jesus’ name, or in the prophet’s name, and I sure hope you’ll take care of this.” Nothing would have happened. Elijah, before God, felt the weight of the paganism and the unbelief of Israel. He said, “It’s time you began to make a choice. Stop halting between two.” The problem with Christians in this country today is we don’t hold much burden for this country. While we see these mountains engulfing us, we run our way with our pleasure, doing the thing we want to do while God looks for Christians who are willing to be quiet and to feel the burden of what God feels.

When you begin to feel what God feels, something will absolutely transform your prayer life. It will no longer be light little perfunctory prayers at bedtime, when you spend just two or three minutes with God. It’s going to be the kind of prayer that drives you to your knees, prostrate on the floor before God when you plead with Him to do something you are unable to do.

Another characteristic of prayer that grabs hold of God is that it must be mixed with fasting. Jesus told the disciples, “The reason you couldn’t heal that boy was because of unbelief in the kind of prayer that moves mountains; it is the kind of prayer that is mixed and intermingled with fasting.” Now, why? Because fasting necessitates and involves the discipline of one’s life-getting your life under control and determining to hold on to God. It declares that your devotion to Him is more important than eating, more important than sleeping, more important than fellowship. It means that you are willing to bear the burden of God, willing to become what God wants you to be in order for God to use you the way he wants to.

Remember–God is the mountain mover; we are the instruments; but prayer is God’s plan for moving the mountains. If He can find a group of people willing to pay the price, I believe God could change the history of this nation. When you look back in history, it’s amazing to see how many times God has altered the history of a nation, the course of its direction, because a handful of people were willing to pay the price in prayer.

The supernatural power of God is available to each of us if we’ll meet the requirement of getting God in on what we’re up to. I remember back in 1957 when I was a student in school at Ft. Worth, Texas. I was in a corner of my living room and had been praying for quite some time when I felt God say something to me, I have never forgotten. I had been talking to God about what I wanted to do with my life, and I felt Him saying to me, “Charles, whatever you accomplish in your life you will accomplish only on your knees.” As I look back on my life, I see the times when I have gotten up, and nothing happened. But as long as I stayed down, God has done some tremendous things.

I believe the principle is not only applicable to me, but to every believer: God releases His power only when men are willing to get on their knees in humility, submission, surrender, and yieldedness to the will of God, depending in faith upon God’s supernatural power. I believe when we can do that, the windows of heaven will open a tremendous flood of the blessings of God will come upon us.

We have done everything else. You name it and we’ve done it. We’ve had crusades, we’ve tried everything that comes down the track, but there still has not been a time when this generation of Christians in America fell on their faces before God in desperation-holding the inspiration of the Scriptures in their heart, believing God, clinging to Him until the asking turns to praising. We only have one resource for levelling the mountains that threaten to crush us, and it is available to every one of us. That resource is to pray. If we do not pray, my friends, I want to ask you—what shall we do?

On Tuesday, April 18, 2023, In Touch Ministries announced that beloved pastor Dr. Charles Frazier Stanley had passed away at 7:30 a.m. that morning at age 90. Known to audiences around the world through his wide-reaching TV and radio broadcasts, Stanley modeled his 65 years of ministry after the apostle Paul’s message in Acts 20:24: “Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love.”

With thanks to:

https://www.charlesstanley.com/

https://ifapray.org/blog/prayer-that-moves-mountains/