The story behind Ceaseless http://ceaselessprayer.com
I’ll be the first to admit that I can be pretty selfish. Prayer isn’t something you’d normally think of as self-centered, but there was a time in my life when I managed to make it about myself. All of my prayers were about me—my anxieties, my problems and my desires.
I wanted to pray for others too, but it was hard and usually felt impersonal. Also it’s overwhelming! There are just too many people and needs to keep track of, much less pray for. And, let’s be honest, I knew that I couldn’t count on self-discipline to manage prayer lists that in the past would quickly be forgotten.
I was thinking about my selfish prayer dilemma one day, when I realized that I had easy access to a list of people to pray for: my Facebook friends.
And instead of praying for everyone in general, I could specifically pray for a few friends each day, which would eventually lead me to pray for everyone, including friends who would never ordinarily ask me to.
I spent a few weekends building an app that integrated with Facebook and sent me an e-mail with several friends to pray for each day. After spending some time using it, I was surprised at how easy and helpful it was. Every morning, I would look forward to discovering who to pray for that day. In a couple of cases I even felt prompted to reconnect with friends I had not spoken to in awhile.
Is it useful?
I named the product Ceaseless and shared it with my friends to see if it could help them too.
After about 6 months of praying for friends, I discovered that with 70 users we had prayed for over 20,000 people. Mind blown. I did a bit of math to see how high this number could practically go. Assuming everyone had completely unique friends (math stuff here), 10 million Christians could pray for the 1.3 billion people on Facebook in less than 2 months. How? 3 friends a day. Beyond that, it isn’t hard to see that if we can do this for the 1.3 billion people on Facebook, we could also pray for the 7.2 billion people on earth.
This realization opened my mind to thinking of Ceaseless as more than a product. It could be the start of a something much bigger. What would God do if we prayed for people we have never prayed for before? What might He do as we pray regularly for others with all the breadth and depth that he invites us to?
I’m excited to find out. You can too.
How:
Step 1: Pray for 3 friends a day
Download Ceaseless for iPhone or iPad and start praying for 3 friends each day! Without you, a lot of your friends may not be prayed for. But it’s more than just a responsibility—I’ve found praying for others to be a refreshing source of joy and love as well. (Add your name to this list if you need Android. Use this form if you need something else).
Step 2: Share your joy
If after using Ceaseless you’ve experienced more joy in God, the next step is to share it and invite others to join.
Step 3: Going above and beyond
Finally, if God moves you to support this mission beyond just praying for your friends, please let me know. It is my passion to see believers unleashed in using their gifts to advance the gospel and whether that be through financial investment, volunteer effort, collaboration, access to platforms to share the vision and inviting brothers and sisters to the task or anything else, I would be delighted to talk with you.
I close this letter with an invitation to joy. Jesus said:
“Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”
(John 16:24, NIV)
Paul also taught:
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, ESV)
God wants us to be joyful and prayer is one way He shares His joy with us. Can you imagine the awesome experience of seeing God publicly respond to our prayers in ways we didn’t think were possible? Can you hear the inspiration of story after story of God’s abounding grace spreading to others through our prayers? Can you feel the deep satisfaction of knowing that God heard you and granted your request for someone else because He loves you?
The invitation to pray for others is nothing less than an invitation to joy. Let’s share it.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Christopher Lim
Founder, TheoTech
http://ceaselessprayer.com
The burden to pray in Europe was born around the year 2011 during one of my prayer journeys in USA. I have been praying in USA since 2009 following a burden placed upon my heart during a visit to the grave of David Brainerd and Jonathan Edwards in Northampton, Massachusetts, USA. But my visit to Europe came about only this year, 2017. Lord miraculously provided a family in Hamburg, Germany – Pavan and Hanna - to host me during my visit. This enabled me to attend the International Prayer and Mission Leaders Consultation in Herrnhut, Germany from 8 – 12 May.
Immediately after the Herrnhut meetings, I left on a six-nation prayer walking tour. I was able to visit 10 cities – Leipzig, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Geneva, Zurich and Copenhagen. I also had the opportunity to visit Wittenberg and of course I spent four days in Herrnhut earlier, the birth place of the Moravian Movement. It was a very solemn experience to be in Herrnhut and to reflect upon the vision, the commitment and the life of Count Ludwig Nicholas von Zinzendorf.
This was my first visit to continental Europe and I could only visit six countries in Western Europe. I have no idea of how Eastern Europe is and its needs. Therefore it must be stated that this is by no means comprehensive of the situation in Europe. And I wish to add that it is more through the eyes of one from India, called to preach and teach the word of God and of one who has been following the Lord for nearly 44 years and has been involved in preaching and teaching the Word of God for almost the same number of years.
At the outset I must state that, as in USA so also in Europe the main focus of my prayer was not so much those who do not know God, but my focus was the people of God, the Church – for God’s people to live lives worthy of their calling. If the Church is as she should be, then the world would be reached too. In my opinion the church at large has lost her witness and her authority as well through compromise with the world.
- Before leaving for Europe, I asked the Lord what I should be praying for in Europe. Lord answered that I weep for these cities and the people. This is what I did in each city I visited.
- My first stop after Herrnhut was Leipzig. I attended a Bible study with a small group of young people, all of them were in their 20s. After the study, I asked the group if there was one thing that I could pray for Germany, what that would be? One of the young men answered, “Pray for the burden of guilt that we carry. The guilt of what our ancestors did in the past.” This threw a totally different perspective for me on what some of the Germans might be going through. Another young man at the same group said that there were many who do not see any need for God in their lives and that there was a total lack of knowledge and belief in God or in Christ, These two statements expressed by two men in their 20s gave me an idea of what to pray and this became my focus in Germany.
- One scripture passage that was brought to mind constantly as I walked through these cities, was Romans 1: 18 – 31. These classic words of Paul in Romans tell us the spiritual history of man. I began to understand how this probably came about in Europe, especially regarding the ‘suppressing of truth’ and the consequent ‘revealing of God’s wrath’ – God giving them over to: idolatry, irrationality, immorality and impurity of every kind. I then understood, why Lord wanted me to to weep for these cities and their people.
- In Amsterdam, as I was looking for the hotel where I was booked to stay for the night close to the Central Station, I strayed into the red light area. (I am not sure if this is the famous red light district of Amsterdam). As I walked through and prayed and observed the people, I began to have a sense of foreboding and a palpable sense of the presence of evil all around. It felt as if some one was driving me away to leave the place. I wept. I had the same feeling of foreboding in Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen, Denmark. I felt totally uncomfortable and out of place walking through. I strayed into the place and did not know what it was until I read about it later.
- While travelling by bus from Brussels to Paris, I felt the Lord telling me, “Speak judgement upon these cities”. All along the journey from Brussels to Paris, the route was dotted with small farming villages. And practically every village had a structure with a steeple. Obviously those were small cathedrals and that means there are or were Christians there. This gave me no joy. Unless there are dynamic groups of the body of Christ, cathedrals and physical structures of any kind were of no use. I wept.
Practically everywhere one can see tall physical structures, probably chapels and cathedrals. All these structures as well as the institutions they represent have actually obscured the knowledge of God. They neither represent Him nor His Son, Christ Jesus. The urgent need of the hour is for dynamic groups of followers of Christ, who would truly represent Him in their lifestyles and not in their programmes and projects. I, then understood why I was to speak judgement upon these systems, structures, cities and people – they were not true representations of God. It was as if man erased God’s glory in His creation and built structures which represent his own image – the image of his fallenness. I wept!
In general that was the burden of my prayer all over Europe – that God would raise not bannered groups but living and dynamic groups who would live as the Body of Christ, the way Christ lived. I believe unless such groups arise the world over, there is no hope for the world and the church as well!
- As I walked in Geneva, Zurich, Frankfurt and Copen Hagen and as I looked upon the huge buildings – the financial houses, banks, malls, store-fronts, museums, the art and the architecture, Lord began to say to me, “These are the temples in these nations.”. These have become the source of sustenance, security and identity for hordes of people and thus have supplanted God in their lives. I wept!
Idolatry in the West is not the same as in the East. In the East, they rejected God’s general revelation in His creation and began to worship the creature rather than the Creator. In the West, people seem to have rejected God’s revelation both in creation, His word and His Son and have begun to worship the creature. The only difference is that the gods were different. These gods were gods of money and matter. Ostensibly they appear neutral and innocuous. Yet these demand no less devotion and allegiance and one is as enslaved to these gods as the gods in the East. All these gods blind the eyes of the people from seeing the glory of God in the face of Christ.
I began to sense the presence and the power of Mammon all around. And I began to wonder if Mammon has overtaken us all, both in the West and the East by surprise including many Christians and many churches. We seem to revel in our riches and our material affluence. We do not see money or Mammon as the single greatest rival to the worship of God, as Christ taught in the sermon on the Mount.Instead we think that money is needed to serve God and in the bargain we give more time to making money than to worshipping or serving God. Ofcourse we justify it by super-imposing our work upon worship lapsing into the eastern mindset of ‘work is worship’. I wept!
- Finally, in the midst of it all I prayed for the remanent faithful people of God, who already there sincerely living and following Christ all over Europe – that they would be a potent witness for His Kingdom. I believe they are already there. AMEN, LORD!
'An attempt to overturn November's election and forcibly remove a duly elected president'
http://www.wnd.com/2017/06/new-warning-resistance-turning-into-american-coup/
Please pray that the human and spiritual forces of division and hate will be bound and overthrown in the USA and that the institutions of government and the media will serve the American people honestly and fairly.
Religious leaders have achieved a truce between rebel groups in the Central African Republic through a ‘spiritually inspired’ method.
JUNE 20, 2017 —One of Africa’s worst conflicts may have finally ended through a rare type of diplomacy. On June 19, more than a dozen armed groups in the Central African Republic signed a peace accord. Yet they did not do so through an official negotiator. Rather a religious group in Italy used what it calls a “spiritually inspired” method – building empathy and compassion – to help forge a truce.
This diplomatic feat was achieved by the Community of Sant’Egidio, a Roman Catholic lay group that works quietly and discreetly around the world to end conflicts. It puts prayer at the heart of its mediation. Its efforts have been so successful that the United Nations formally signed an agreement on June 9 to cooperate with Sant’Egidio in ending other conflicts. Its president, Marco Impagliazzo, says the group’s success lies in being seen as a neutral party that relies on patience and shared values to create trust between foes.
A Dutch scholar, Gerrie ter Haar, explains such faith-based diplomacy: “Bringing the spiritual dimension into the peacemaking process can create access to the more deep-seated, affective base of the parties’ behavior, enabling them to examine critically their own attitudes and actions.”
The conflict in the Central African Republic erupted in 2013 when the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels took power, triggering violent reprisals by militia groups that are nominally Christian. As many as 6,000 people have died. From the start, however, local religious leaders – Islamic, Catholic, and Protestant – played a key part in protecting civilians and initiating talks. They described their “weapons” as “prayer and dialogue.”
As fears of genocide grew, however, the UN, France, and the African Union sent in troops to quell the fighting. This allowed the election of a new president last year, although his influence barely extends beyond the capital. When fighting erupted again in May and more than 100,000 people had to flee, Sant’Egidio was able to bring 13 rebel groups to Rome for talks and reach a deal.
Many details of the pact still need to be implemented. And victims of the violence await the establishment of a commission to document the atrocities and achieve a level of justice and social reconciliation.
But the country, which is one of the poorest in Africa, is now rebuilding. And that is due in part to a type of conflict resolution that uses spiritual qualities to transcend divisions and end wars.
Let us rejoice that united prayer can be used of the Lord to heal conflicts and begin to pray for those areas of the world where there are ongoing conflicts.
The Finishing the Task initiative is helping to coordinate the final push to share Christ’s Good News with the last unreached peoples. Would you please consider adopting one of these people groups and beginning to pray for them until they are reached? It will make a huge difference because Jesus told us to “pray the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth laborers” into the harvest.
Please find attached the current focus list of the unengaged, unreached people groups being promoted by the FTT network on the attached website with other helpful information. If you have any questions please contact:
Lara Heneveld
Project Manager
Data and Research Team Lead | Networks and Partnerships
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.finishingthetask.com
Joshua Project at joshuaproject.net also has much helpful information about adopting an unreached group and offers a good number of prayer profiles for this purpose.
October 15th will be the first of eight annual global prayer gatherings to centralize the spiritual unity and power of prayer against all spiritual forces of evil that are preventing the Bible translation movement from reaching the remaining 1,600+ Bibleless languages with His Word. Please pray:
Please join us in praying for the first annual Global Prayer Gathering held by the Seed Company on October 15th, 2017. The gathering is focused on celebrating God’s goodness in accelerating the Bible translation movement over the past 25 years. The Global Prayer Gathering also calls the Bride of Christ to pray and join Vision 2025, the effort to reach the remaining 1,671 languages that completely lack Scripture by the year 2025.
Pray for God to bring international prayer leaders to the gathering who will dramatically help with Vision 2025.
We are asking for 12 of the most influential prayer leaders in the global church to be present.
Pray for the worship leaders and speakers for the gathering. Pray for God to both guide the selection of worship leaders and speakers and bless their efforts as they begin to prepare for the gathering
Pray for spiritual protection, unity, wisdom, and divine creativity over the Seed Company prayer mobilization team as they lead the event and for.
Pray for the global marketing and networking for the prayer gathering. We are praying for 1,600 attendees in person and for one million worldwide to view the event online live or after the gathering.
Desire of the nations, speed up and empower the Bible translation movement, rescue the nations out of darkness with the Light of Your Word. Amen.
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Indonesia One, prayer movement, freedom of religion
“Indonesia One”: Over 400 Cities Joining in Prayer!
This video, though in the Indonesian language, will encourage you with how the Holy Spirit is working in this vast island nation of Southeast Asia, the largest Muslim-populated country. It now has one of the most significant prayer movements on earth with many millions of adults, youth and children taking part. Enjoy the pictures and rejoice with our brothers and sisters in Christ there!
https://youtu.be/jKu8lU6nXgw
Pray with them for continued freedom of religion and for the spread of the Gospel throughout this far-flung archipelago with many diverse people groups and languages.
Russia threatens power grids with cyber weapon. The Washington Post reports hackers allied with the Russian government have devised a cyber-weapon that has the potential to be the most disruptive yet against electric systems that have the potential to disrupt all American lives. The malware, which researchers have dubbed CrashOverride, is known to have disrupted only one energy system (Ukraine). In that instance, the hackers shut down one-fifth of the power generated in Kiev. Once modified the malware could be deployed against U.S. electric transmission and distribution systems to a devastating effect. A cyber-security firm says the malware “is the culmination of over a decade of theory and attack scenarios.” “It’s a game changer.” …Unfortunately the U.S. is slow addressing the threat and as a result is very vulnerable.
Russia stages 100,000 troops on NATO’s border. Defense One reports Russia and Belarus are preparing for a military exercise on NATO’s flank. Russia’s every-four-year joint exercise with Belarus, Zapad (“West”) 2017, simulates a full-scale conflict with the West. Lithuania’s defense minister said “it’s not comfortable at all when we expect to have 100,000 troops around our borders.” It is noteworthy the scheduled exercise will be the first since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Defense One reports several Baltic officials believe Russia may leave troops in Belarus after the exercise, something similar seen in past operations such as the Republic of Georgia, Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine conflict escalates. Radio Free Europe reports the U.N. announced hostilities have been escalating in eastern Ukraine in recent months because parties to the armed conflict have “repeatedly failed to implement cease-fire agreements.” The U.N. announcement said cease-fire violations on both Ukrainian armed forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have allowed “hostilities to escalate and claim more live as the conflict moved into its fourth year.” The conflict that started in mid-April 2014 has claimed 10,090 lives – including 2,777 civilians. Note: Russia fuels the conflict and will never back-down because Ukraine is the psychological birthplace of the Russian people.
Robert Lee Maginnis
https://www.facebook.com/RLMaginnis/
Pray that Russia will change its attitude and pull back from its aggressive actions on the border with NATO and in eastern Ukraine. Pray that a better relationship may develop with the USA and between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
Syrian rebels close to victory over ISIS in Raqqa. The Atlantic reports Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) could be days away from victory over ISIS in Raqqa. The SDF, a group of Kurdish and Arab fighters backed by the U.S., have captured a number of key areas near Raqqa. That announcement signals their progress of a larger offensive launched just this past week to overtake ISIS’ capital. In May, the Trump administration offered critical support by agreeing to arm and train members of the SDF’s primary Kurdish militia, the People’s Protection Units (YPG). Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reports ISIS is expected to retreat in the coming days.
U.S. troops in Raqqa. The Military Times reports U.S. Special Operations troops are on the ground alongside partner militia forces in Raqqa, ISIS’ capital. They began their advance against an estimated 2,500 ISIS jihadi backed by coalition air power and American combat advisers. “Coalition SOF are in Raqqa, and they are close to the front lines,” said a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition battling ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
ISIS’ caliph on the run. Reuters reports ISIS’ leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is losing his main centers of power and is on the run. ISIS is close to defeat in Mosul and Raqqa, said officials and they said Baghdadi is hiding in thousands of square miles of desert between the two cities. “In the end, he will either be killed or captured, he will not be able to remain underground forever,” said the head of counter-terrorism at the Kurdistan Regional Government. Reuters reports that one of Baghdadi’s main concerns is to ensure those around him do not betray him for the $25 million reward offered by the U.S.
Iraqi forces make gains in western Mosul. The Washington Post reports U.S.-backed Iraqi forces pushed toward a medical complex in western Mosul, trying to dislodge ISIS jihadi’ hold. Iraq’s 36th brigade commander said his forces had established a foothold at the edge of the medical complex using artillery and coalition airstrikes.
Tortured corpses dumped in Iraq – Iraqi forces responsible? The LA Times reports 26 corpses tossed to the side of deserted roads near Mosul had their hands tied behind their backs; they had been blindfolded. Human Rights Watch concluded the bodies were victims of extrajudicial killings probably carried out by government forces since the start of operations to retake Mosul from ISIS. The Times reports that those residents fleeing the fight and who are flagged for ties with ISIS were held, often without charge, where they undergo investigation before being sent to trial. Note: Extrajudicial killings are unfortunately commonplace in Iraq. Years ago while visiting Iraq I was taken to the burial place for hundreds of people murdered by gunshot to their heads. We were shown evidence that the victims were blindfolded and hands tied behind their backs.
ISIS’ chemical weapons capability degraded. The Military Times reports Iraqi success in Mosul and the killing of ISIS’ chemical weapons experts has degraded the jihadi’ production capability, although it retains some capability to produce small amounts of sulfur mustard and chlorine agents. There have been a number of reports of ISIS’ use of chemical weapons in both Iraq and Syria. “The operation to isolate and recapture the Iraqi city of Mosul coincides with a massive reduction in Islamic State chemical weapons use in Syria,” said an analyst at HIS Markit. The analyst continued, “This suggests that the group has not established any further chemical weapons production sites outside Mosul, although it is likely that some specialists were evacuated to Syria and retain the expertise.”
Robert Lee Maginnis
https://www.facebook.com/RLMaginnis/
Pray for the conquest of ISIS and the remnants of its forces in both Syria and Iraq. Pray that its leaders will be apprehended and brought to justice for their horrific crimes against humanity. Pray that both nations will return to peace and that the needs of those millions whose lives have been disrupted my find that good, especially coming to know Jesus Christ, will come out of the appalling evil and trouble they have experienced.