What is a gospel movement?

A church planting movement (CPM) or disciple making movement (DMM) can be defined as “the multiplication of disciples making disciples and leaders developing leaders, resulting in indigenous churches planting churches which begin to spread rapidly through a people group or population segment.” Click here to read more about gospel movements.

Declare a Promise

Psalm 22:27 “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before you.”

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Lord, all the earth shall remember you and turn to you; every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Christ is the Lord. Thank you, God, that all the sects and all the tribes and all the villages and all the families this region will one day bow before you. We declare, again today, that the people of this region are destined to bow down and worship you.

Today’s Movement Theme: BAPTISM

Movement practitioners have collected stories and data, and what the reports seem to indicate is the following: if people get fuzzy on baptism, they get fuzzy on a lot of things. In other words: baptism is really, really important.

When it comes to establishing new gospel communities in the Muslim world, the issue of baptism is paramount. Therefore, we will pray.

Scriptures to Pray

Acts 2:36-38 “‘So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!’ Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?’ Peter replied, ‘Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’

1. Pray that new followers of Christ would repent, turn to God, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
2. Ask for courage over our brothers and sisters from Muslim backgrounds, that they would identify with Christ in baptism and stake out a new identity in Him
3. Intercede for the emerging streams of movement happening in the Middle East right now, that waves of baptisms would sweep over them

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Acts 9:15-18 “But the Lord said, ‘Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.’ So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.”

1. Intercede for Apostle Pauls to be baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit
2. Pray that radicals opposed to Christ would be powerfully converted and quickly baptized
3. Ask for Christians like Ananias to embrace their former persecutors as ‘brothers’

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Acts 16:13-15 “On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there. One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. ‘If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.’ And she urged us until we agreed.”

1. Pray for women and men of influence to receive baptism and to open their homes
2. Pray that communities would be baptized not just individuals
3. Ask specifically that whole families would be baptized together as so often happened in Acts

No Place Left

Each day, we pray for one of the countries the Grove represents, believing in faith that a disciple making movement will touch each and every community throughout these nations.

Today, we pray for the diaspora of South and Southwest Asians in the Arabian Gulf. There are over 17 million people from these regions who reside in the Gulf, and many are Muslim.

• Indians and Pakistanis living in Labor camps in the United Arab Emirates… that they would hear of Jesus and respond with baptism
• For believing Filipinos living in Saudi Arabia to be an effective gospel witness

Prayer

Lord of new identities, Christ, we pray for mercy. Lord, have mercy; Christ, show mercy. We pray for our Muslim brothers and sisters to be filled with courage and faith, that they would take the radical step of baptism, and take it quickly. We ask Holy Spirit that you would fill these new churches and believers with your presence. May they be baptized in groups, Lord, in order to establish to new churches, and may they never walk alone. We ask for your grace. Grace upon grace upon grace over our Muslim brothers and sisters.

Amen

More Information About the Grove and Ongoing Prayer Needs

What is the Grove?

The Grove is a learning and implementation community of 23 intentional kingdom workers from 7 different nationalities serving in 8 strategic nations within the Middle East and North Africa. We have intentionally banded together for 2023-2024 to learn, grow, experiment, pray, and serve together.

What does a learning and implementation community do?

• Learning:
  • 3 face to face trainings over the 2 years
  • 1-2 ongoing learning meetings monthly
• Implementation:
  • We put into practice our learning right away in our individual contexts
  • We band together in cohorts to support each other in implementation
  • We are intentionally experimenting together and sharing our experiences and learning

How can I be praying for the Grove aside from the daily Prayer Fuel?

• For the participants to grow together in unity and fruitfulness
• That participants would continue to develop their authentic personal witness
• For new and creative ideas to share within natural social groupings rather than just individuals