Effectiveness in prayer is often related to knowing what to ask. This is the list of the top twelve prayer points used by Shodankeh Johnson and others in movements in West Africa.
Pray...

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1. For God to send labourers into the harvest field. For an increase in disciple-makers and intercessors.
He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Luke 10:2 NIV)
“Don’t go out looking for the labourers and they send their resume and we look for the well qualified. In God’s business the person you think is qualified for God is not qualified. And the one you think is not qualified for God is qualified. Let God send the labourers. Your job is to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers.”

*** Lord make our church a prolific breeder of TransForMissional Intercessory Disciplemakers ***

The labourers are in the harvest. Open our eyes to the abundant harvest of people ready to hear your gospel and receive you as Lord and Saviour, and reveal to us and enable us to identify your labourers - the persons of peace, the faithful people who are able to disciple, teach, and equip others also.

We ask not just for attenders nor do we ask for consumers but for faithful, available, teachable, and reproducing disciple-makers flyer your own heart who will become labourers in your harvest.

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2. That God touches the hearts of people and draws them to Himself.
“Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valour whose hearts God had touched.” (1 Samuel 10:26 NIV)
“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.’” (John 6:43-45 NIV) “On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” (Acts 16:13-14 NIV)

“If God is not touching them, they are not coming If God is not drawing them, they are not coming. Our job is to lift Jesus up. its not about us. it’s about him.”

Pray for God to arrange ‘divine appointments’ for us with open and responsive people.
Pray for God to turn the heads of the people walking past to see our church building and to be irresistibly drawn to enter and stay. Beckon and call them to enter and encounter you through us. Fill our people, your people, and the chapel with the fullness of your presence and glory. Make it tangible and real for everyone who enters.

Pray for God to open the ears (to listen) and the hearts of those people to respond to the gospel message we share.
Pray for God to transform any hearts of stone into hearts of flesh; for rocky soil to be tilled so that your word may take root deeply and permanently in their hearts; for soil surrounded by choking thorns to be cleared and liberated to grow with a pure and sincere heart, devoid of idolatrous distractions or fatal attractions; for the soil to become good and fruitful some 30 or 60 or 100 times!

3. For open doors for the Gospel.
“And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” (Colossians 4:3-4 NIV)
“Pray for the move of God.
Pray for the Hand of God.”

Pray for clarity in communicating the gospel message
Pray for the removal of all barriers to faith
Pray for readiness and preparedness to proclaim the gospel message Pray for the gospel message to be unchained even if we are chained and restricted in some way.

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4. To find persons of peace And households or communities of peace. “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.” (Luke 10:5-7 NIV) “P.o.P. is someone God has gone ahead and prepared ahead of you, touching their and their family’s hearts to open their doors and receive the gospel message. S/He is also a “bridge” for you to enter into that home or community. God, please help us find the persons of peace. God, this is your job. Go and touch the heart of the persons of peace in our community. [Arrange a divine appointment for us to meet our persons and households of peace.]
Lydia and Zaccheus were persons of peace.”
Help us to follow and imitate you in seeking and saving the lost, praying daily to find persons of peace where we live, work, study, rest and play; and to stay with them to disciple and train them to be intercessory transformissional disciplemakers.

5. That every stronghold and lie of the enemy is broken.
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV)
Pray that God would bind the strong man controlling their hearts
And break down the strongholds captivating and enslaving their hearts
And remove the veil that covers their eyes to see and unstop their ears to hear with clarity the gospel message
And render their objections and arguments and excuses useless and ineffective against your mighty power and presence
Converting all their objections to Christ into obedience to Christ
For nothing is impossible with you, our Impossibility Specialist!

6. That He would grant boldness in sharing the gospel.
“And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word...” After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:29,31 NLT)

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)

O Lord, fill us with boldness and remove all fear, shyness, reticence and timidity from our souls. Let not any threats or attacks deter nor discourage us from demonstrating and proclaiming the good news of your kingdom and Jesus as our

 

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reigning king who has come to restore, reflourish, and renew our world. As we pray this daily, may the earth shake again and may we all be filled to overflowing with your Holy Spirit - a Spirit of power, love and self-control; a Spirit that enables and empowers us to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgement.

May we never cease to preach the gospel that brings beauty, goodness and justice, day and night, in and out of season. Season our gospel words with salt, gentleness and respect so that may will hear and understand and receive your word. Prepare our hearts and minds to answer anyone any question they have regarding our faith with clarity, lucidity, wisdom and conviction.

7. For fresh anointing and the power of the Holy Spirit on the disciple- makers.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” (Luke 4:18 NIV)
“I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49 NIV)

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 NIV)
“And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 13:52 NIV)

8. For an increase in signs, wonders, and miracles.
“Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:30 NIV)
“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.” (Acts 2:22 NIV)
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12 NIV)
“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5 NIV)
Romans 15:18-21 (ESV):
18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—

  

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so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, 21 but as it is written,

“Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”

9. For protection for workers in the field.
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16 NIV)
He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. (Luke 10:18-19 NIV)
Some of us may lose our lives.

10. For resources for the work to be done.
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19 NIV)
“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV)

11. That there will be multiplication in the hearts of people that leads to movements.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV)
“Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:7 NKJV)

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28 NIV)
1 Thessalonians 1:5-9 (NIV)

5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say

  

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anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

12. For other movements and disciple-makers all around the world.
“We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 NIV)
Pray for a kingdom mindset and a spirit on unity among all churches.

BONUS:

1. For children. For Chatswood. For Willoughby. For the North Shore. For the Northern Region.
Psalms 88:1-2 (NIV)
1 LORD, you are the God who saves me;

day and night I cry out to you.
2 May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.

Genesis 30:1 (NIV) When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I'll die!”

Genesis 30:22-24 (NIV) 22 Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” 24 She named him Joseph, and said, “May the LORD add to me another son.”

Isaiah 54:1-3 (NIV)
1 “Sing, barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,”
says the LORD.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,

 

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strengthen your stakes.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.

Lord of the harvest, have mercy on us. “Give us children or we will die!” We cry out to you day and night. “Give us children or we will die!” Turn your ears to our cry. “Give us children or we will die!” Let us not be jealous and envious of other churches that have flourishing children’s and youth ministries and forgive us for doing so, but help us rejoice with and pray for them for your gracious and abundant and continued blessing! As for our church, “Give us children or we will die!” Remember us, O Lord, listen to our heart broken cries. Strengthen our little and feeble faith so that we may trust in your promise in Isaiah 54:1-3 that you will bless us with a multitude of children, both young and old, who will become transformissional disciple-makers, far more than we can ask or imagine. We will sing. We will burst into song. We will shout for joy. In anticipation of you, our faithful and merciful and gracious God, answering our cries speedily. “Give us children or we will die!”

2. Pray in the Spirit
Lord, whatever your Holy Spirit wants to do, do it! We are open to whatever you will in our church that you may fulfil your will and purposes in power and in the Spirit, without limit. Let the mighty wind of your Spirit blows where it wills

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