The vision is still Jesus

Just had this article up on the main 24-7prayer site. Hope you like it:

At the beginning of the last decade Pete Greig wrote in an inspired call to prayer this memorable line, “The vision is Jesus, obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus”

Hard to believe that it was written 10 years ago! In those 10 years a lot has happened; we’ve all grown up. Yet in the midst of our growing up and at the turn of a new decade we know this one thing: The vision is still Jesus.

We may have got slicker, better organized, more well known, but we have not lost sight that it is all about Jesus.

We may count prayer rooms, we may take marketing and image seriously, and we even have accountants!!! But it’s not about statistics, prayer rooms or branding - it never has been and it never will be. All this has never overshadowed the fact that what we do is all about Jesus.

It’s for the glory of His name, it’s about the advancement of His kingdom, it’s the belief that this broken dying and hurting world needs a saviour. We hold to the conviction that Jesus is the answer, and that we, his body here on earth, are called to express and bring Jesus into every sphere of life. There is no other way, and that is why we believe in calling the church to prayer.

That in our increase in intimacy and fervency as we pray, 24-7, we will be energized and inspired to proclaim the message of Jesus, the hope of the nations, to the nations. That as we get serious, devote ourselves to prayer and intimacy, that as we call out to him persistently, He will answer in order that our families, our friends, our work colleagues, our towns, our cities, our nations will be touched by Jesus. That His kingdom will come here on earth as it in Heaven.

We are serious. We have been serious for ten years. We don’t know how long this crazy adventure of 24-7prayer will last, but as long as we exist, as long as it goes on, we will seek to call the body of Christ to prayer in order that the kingdom of Jesus will be established here on earth.

We recognize that this movement has inspired new communities, but it has also inspired established communities and we are grateful that we have been able to journey alongside the old and witness the birth of the new in order that the name of Jesus would be made great and his kingdom established. There will be new initiatives, new destinations, and new adventures in the next 10 years; our prayer, hope and challenge is that all we do remains Christ centered.

Listen, Jesus is not my boyfriend! I don’t like the idea of dating Jesus! Equally I don’t like that we can sometimes feel neutered and frowned upon for declaring our love for our Lord. This is not some teenage romance that has been birthed; this is deep, serious love.

As we have prayed, more and more people have chosen to live sacrificially because of their love for Jesus. We are passionately in love with Him. That may make you feel uncomfortable! But as we have prayed, we have realized that this love has demanded change in our lifestyles, change in our attitudes and change in our hearts. This prayer movement has birthed passionate Jesus followers and we pray that this would continue.

As a new decade begins our prayer is that more workers for the harvest would be raised up; more people would be inspired to go anywhere and do anything ‘for the sake of the gospel’. That as the body prays we would see more people filled with passionate love and abandon, giving their lives to Jesus.

It’s all about Jesus and the advancement of His kingdom

We believe in a Jesus revolution - driven by Him, birthed in prayer, producing revolutionary, radical, zealous Jesus followers. That’s why we pray.

2 Chronicles 7: 14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

This is our cry and will remain our cry for the next decade. This is why we pray: we pray in order that the reign of King Jesus would be established here on this earth. That the unstoppable, relentless force that is His kingdom would be advanced, proclaimed and established in our generation. That lives would be changed, captives would be set free, the hurting would be healed, the broken would be restored, the lifeless would be revived, that people living in darkness would see a great light and His kingdom would come.

At some point in the next 10 years you may find yourself alone one cold winter morning in a small badly heated prayer room at about 2am; you may be struggling to stave off sleep, you may be tired and looking for inspiration, you may even feel like giving in to that tiredness; you may find it hard to remember why you signed up for this ‘ungodly’ hour and feel like curling up under a prayer shawl or just going home to your warm bed. But remember this:

The vision is still Jesus, “obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus”