In a time when division and polarization fill the headlines, God is using prayer to bring pastors and churches together in unity. In Episode 53 of the Presence Pioneers podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network, Pastor Trey Kent shares the remarkable story of the Unceasing Prayer movement in Austin, Texas. In their city, there are now over 100 local churches involved in hosting united 24/7 prayer that has not stopped for the last 12 years!
When God began to speak to Trey about 24/7 prayer over 12 years ago, he was not even familiar with other day-and-night prayer movements like the International House of Prayer based in Kansas City or the 24-7 Prayer Movement based in the United Kingdom. However, what he discovered is that many of these great prayer efforts were led by parachurch groups and missions ministries. They were not usually led by pastors or fueled by the local church.
In Austin, God gave Pastor Trey a unique prayer model and strategy that could engage local churches in a citywide effort to establish a 24/7 prayer covering. The brand new model for prayer worked! Pastors and churches started signing up. A crisis in the city of Austin a few years ago catalyzed a fresh desire for churches to come together in prayer, and now the local initiative includes over 100 different churches who are helping to keep the 24/7 watch of prayer.
In a stunning turn of events, Trey discovered that another pastor in the state of Washington had received the exact same prayer model from the Lord and was seeing success in their city too. They realized God was wanting to do this in more than one place. As local pastors in other cities started expressing interest in the new model for united prayer, they established America Prays, which is now seeing over 40,000 churches across our nation engaged in various expressions of day-and-night prayer in dozens of cities.
You can hear more about this new 24/7 prayer model and the way it is spreading across the nation on the Presence Pioneers podcast. {eoa}
