By Van Kicklighter, Associate Executive Director, Church Planting
Of the three Go New Places commitments, the first is prayer (Pray, Partner, Plant). There is no more needed, yet neglected, activity in the Christian life than prayer. While this is true of us personally, it is also true of the missionary activity we call church planting.
There are two compelling needs for prayer in church planting. The first is for us as Illinois Baptists to pray for the hundreds of places around our state where a new church is needed. I don’t understand how it works, but God is moved to open doors of opportunity in response to our praying about people who need to hear the Good News of Jesus. As we talk to the Father about lost people (prayer), He responds by giving us opportunities to share the gospel. We have 200 priority church planting needs (people and places) across the state. Would you commit to take one of these and consistently pray for the people who live there, that they will have an opportunity to hear the Gospel?
Second, we need Illinois Baptists to pray for the church planters who are already sharing the gospel and planting churches to help people grow into mature disciples of Jesus. Church planting is exciting, new, and dynamic; it is also hard, lonely, and sometimes discouraging. Church planters face spiritual opposition from the Evil One. They often work without resources. Too often, they are working alone. Even the Apostle Paul recognized the need to have people praying for him:
“Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough in Him to speak as I should” (Eph. 6:19-20 HCSB).
Will you commit to pray consistently for one of our church planters? I will be glad to help you connect with a church planter somewhere in Illinois.
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