By Roger Helland courtesy Light Magazine

Imagine 1,000 churches across Canada radiant with God’s electrifying presence. Imagine continual fires burning on spiritual altars with faith-filled and united prayer, Scripture-fed and Spirit-led, fixated on God’s rule and righteousness. Where intercession fused with Gospel proclamation activate harvests of lost people converting to Christ, baptized, Spirit-empowered, experiencing healing, holiness, and anointing – for missional witness. Imagine a Niagara surge of flourishing churches cultivating vibrant cultures of Kingdom prayer! Launched September 19, 2024, this is the compelling vision of Ignite Prayer Canada – a nationwide prayer initiative of nearly 20 co-sponsors (denominations, organizations, and churches) and expanding – to help churches become local houses of prayer.

Houses of Prayer
When Jesus entered the Jerusalem Temple, he was aghast at its corruption, branding it a den (refuge) of robbers. Citing Isaiah 56:7, he asked, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?” (Mark 11:17). The term “house” refers to God’s temple. In the ancient world, temples were built to house the gods as local residences of their presence, not as places of worship like we view churches today. Essentially, Jesus pinpoints the central practice by which all people can approach and encounter God’s presence – prayer. Consider the major religions of the world (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism). What’s the central practice common to them all? Is it not prayer?

How would you brand your church, which is a local New Testament temple of God’s indwelling presence (1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:18-22)? Is it primarily a house of preaching, worship, teaching, sacraments, or fellowship? Or a house of prayer? Thousands of churches organize their services around Sundays, singing, sermons, and studies but less around supplication (prayer and seeking God’s presence). There are liturgical churches that use prepared prayers and evangelical and charismatic churches that incorporate spontaneous or short prayers. But if we tally the time spent in the preparation and delivery of Kingdom prayer, it’s usually minimal.

Why? What if we practiced Acts 6:4, “But we will devote ourselves to prayer [first] and to the ministry of the word.” Imagine the possibilities if preachers and worship leaders who often delegate prayer were first devoted prayer leaders who then preached and led worship. Could we shorten the singing by ten minutes and the sermon by ten minutes and incorporate 15-20 minutes of prayer throughout the service? Tommy Barnett of Phoenix First Assembly of God remarked, “The presence of God in the midst of a church is directly proportional to the amount of prayer that takes place there.”

Cultures of Prayer
How can we cultivate vibrant cultures of Kingdom prayer that flood the worship, preaching, teaching, liturgy, fellowship, and evangelism of churches in private and public expressions? Remember, Acts 1-2 narrates how fervent prayer birthed the missional church from the upper room in Jerusalem. And fervent prayer has ignited all renewal and revival movements.

A culture of prayer is when a mindset and practice of intentional and dynamic prayer marks the heart of church leadership, life, and mission. It’s not a program or a secondary spiritual formation activity but a strategic priority that dominates and fuels a church’s vitality. When the senior pastor, staff, and board lead with prayer[1], it becomes contagious presence-enflamed fuel that releases heaven on earth into the ministries and evangelistic mission of the church (Matt. 6:10).

Presence-enflamed Prayer
In May 2024, I attended the largest Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada national convention ever, where 1,400 leaders gathered in Niagara Falls. I taught two workshops on prayer. I left profoundly impacted by the penetrating depth of zeal, humility, worship, preaching, panels, and mission, which matched the magnificence of the nearby falls. God’s manifest presence radiated the convention and seminars largely due to scheduled waves of presence-enflamed prayer.

In one seminar, I reminded the packed room of about 100 leaders of their history. The Pentecostal movement launched from a small group prayer meeting at the home of Richard and Ruth Asberry, 214 Bonnie Brae Street, Los Angeles. African-American holiness pastor William Seymour led 15 people in prayer for the baptism of the Spirit. In March 2024, my wife and I prayed in the living room of that Pentecostal heritage home, where, on April 9, 1906, the Spirit arrived dramatically.

Over the next few days, word spread, and the crowds swelled. The meetings moved a few miles away to 312 Azusa Street, where, for three years, thousands from around the world gathered. A culture of presence-enflamed prayer engulfed the Azusa Street Mission. The PAOC and other denominations and organizations have a national vision to cultivate houses of prayer and serve as co-sponsors of Ignite Prayer Canada.

Ignite Prayer Canada curates resources, training, networking, coaching, communications, events, and stories to empower your church, denomination, organization, or school in how to build houses of prayer and cultivate cultures of Kingdom prayer.

Roger Helland is the prayer ambassador at The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, lead team member, Ignite Prayer Canada, and author of Pursuing God’s Presence.

[1] Ryan Skoog, Peter Greer, Cameron Doolittle. Lead With Prayer, Faith Words, 2024.