Quick-Start Guide
Don’t set aside Strategic Prayer for Movements until you have “more time” that may never materialize. Though there is a lot available here, it doesn’t take long to get started. In as little as 60-90 minutes, you can jump in and come out with a strategic prayer plan.
We strongly recommend SPM users to slow down and take their time with the process and the prayer resources, but we also recognize that you may need to simply try out SPM before you choose to commit significant time to it, and that's fine too.
To get started, go to How to Use this Resource (below). It will guide you to:
- Identify your work in the Stage Descriptions (5 minutes)
- Pray through a stage introduction & Assessment Questions (15 minutes)
- Skim through a few of the Resources (15-30 minutes)
- Work through the Planning Tool for Strategic Prayer (30-40 minutes)
- And consider when to repeat this short process often! The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures are always speaking.
We want those hungry for action to be able to jump straight in. But when you can put a little more time into exploring this resource, you will find more to help you! We highly recommend that you read the short “Foundations” pages in Part 1, dip into multiple stages for helpful ideas and resources, consider “Things to Pray Into for the Next Stage” at the end of each stage’s section, and browse through the General Prayer Resources in Part 3.
How to Use This Resource
A Few Caveats:
*Who is SPM for?*
The short version is that SPM is for anyone who wants to pray more strategically for movements. One does not need a deep understanding of movements to use SPM, though those operating from a movement mindset may initially feel more at home using SPM.
We recognize that increasingly movements are being catalyzed by existing movements, and that those on the cutting edge of movements globally are more likely to residents of the Global South than workers from Global North. Although the main contributors to SPM have several decades of cross-cultural experience in several different contexts, we are still working from the cultural starting point of the Global North, and the original audience for SPM was other workers from the Global North.
Some of the tools, resources, and questions contained in SPM will work well for any audience and can be easily translated or adjusted to fit a variety of cultural contexts. Others are more clearly created for Global North workers who are living cross-culturally. We freely encourage any users of SPM to adapt, translate, or otherwise adjust any original (non-copyrighted) resource contained herein, so long as the changes are made for the sake of advancing the Gospel and generating more strategic prayer for the unreached.
In the Appendices, we've also included a short list of resources that are more easily adapted or translated for various cultural contexts.
*If You Feel Alone...*
Much of the language and many of the resources in SPM assume that the user is working on a team, or in relationship with others, either local or expatriate, in some capacity. If that is not your reality, and if you are alone in whatever way in your ministry context (even if you have a team that is not on the same page as you concerning movements or prayer!), please know that you can still use SPM effectively. While we strongly believe that prayer (like most things!) is best in community, you can still apply the principles and use most of the resources here in any team or solo situation.
Getting Started
We have created this resource with two kinds of users in mind:
- The user who is already familiar with movements, is short on time and hungry to jump right into growing in strategic prayer for their movement work (take me right to the tools!)
- The user who is less familiar with movements and movement methodologies, or perhaps is familiar but would appreciate some more background before jumping directly to implementation of strategic prayer (give me some background first!)
For those wanting to jump straight in, we recommend you:
- Finish this section (which explains the layout of the resource)
- Find the stage of movement which most closely aligns with your current reality - ("Stages Descriptions: Where Am I Now?")
- Skip to the appropriate stage's section (all in Part 2) and get started
- Come back and read Part 1: "Foundations" whenever you have time
If you have a little more time, or are looking for some more background, we recommend you:
- Finish this section (which explains the layout of the resource)
- As needed, consult the pages entitled "Defining Terms" to better understand terminology that may be new to you (below)
- Read through the sections of Part 1: "Foundations", which explain a bit about the tension of God's role and our role in kingdom work, the centrality of listening prayer, and some of our starting assumptions for this resource
- Find the stage of movement which most closely aligns with your current reality - ("Stages Descriptions: Where Am I Now?")
- Skip to the appropriate stage's section (all in Part 2) and get started!
Section Contents Guide
In each section (divided by stage of movement), you'll find:
- An Introduction which gives some context for each stage
- Prayer Priorities
- Assessment Questions
- Tools for Strategic Prayer
- Questions for Listening Prayer Regarding the Next Stage
Although we have all felt the tug of time constraints, we strongly encourage you to slow down in this process. Speed and listening prayer don't often go together very well. Prayerfully read the Assessment Questions at the start of your chosen section. Make note of the questions that grab your attention, indicating where prayer strategy may be most needed in this stage*.*
Scan through the Tools on the following pages of your chosen section, choosing 2-3 tools that seem most relevant for right now, and check them out. If you're not sure where to start, any resource in bold is a great place to begin.
If you would like a way to track your progress in strategic prayer, you might consider the practical handrails offered by the Planning Tool offered in the appendices at the end of SPM. This tool will help you create a practical plan for making progress in strategic prayer. If desired, schedule more time to wait on the Lord about the assessment questions, to explore the resources, and\or to make a plan as a team.
As soon as you complete the planning tool, pause and reach out to someone to ask for accountability and input to keep your on track*.*
Consider rhythms of repeating this planning process (perhaps quarterly) to keep in step with the Spirit, to keep growing in strategic prayer, and to keep your strategic prayer plan current and relevant to the needs of the season.
Defining Terms
For those new to movement work, or familiar with movements in only one context, here we will define some terms which the user will encounter throughout this resource. Of course these definitions do not necessarily encompass every possible use of a given term, but they should help to bring clarity to areas of confusion. Terms are listed in alphabetical order.
* All definitions marked with an * quoted from Parks and Coles. 2019. 24:14 - A Testimony to All Peoples. Spring, TX: 24:14.
Alongsider - (also known as an "outside movement catalyst") A person who serves and partners with local movement leaders who are cultural insiders. Often alongsiders are cultural outsiders in a given context, even though they may have lived and worked in the context for many years, learning the language and culture to a very high degree of fluency. This is a person who walks alongside local movement catalysts in a relationally-centered, supportive role. This assumes that the purpose of outside catalysts is not necessarily to catalyze a movement in some kind of "Lone Ranger" mindset, but rather to identify, envision, encourage, and support local believers who will become the catalysts for movement in a given context. Values for humility, teachability, giving away power, and genuine partnership are crucial to this kind of outside\inside partnership.
BMB (MBB) - a believer from a Muslim background (also referred to by some as a Muslim-background believer); also HBB \ BHB for a believer from a Hindu background, etc.
CBB - a Christian-background believer, i.e. a Christian from a culturally Christian background
DBS - Discovery Bible Study - "A simple, transferable group learning process of inductive Bible study which leads to loving obedience and spiritual reproduction. God is the teacher and the Bible is the sole authority. A DBS can be done by pre-believers (to move them toward saving faith) or by believers (to mature their faith)." *
Generation - A movement typically sees several generations of house churches planted. For example, the first people to come to faith may form a house church which in turn starts 3 other house churches. The first believers might be called "generation 0", where the churches they planted would be "generation 1". When generation 1 churches plant new churches, those churches would be "generation 2 churches" and so on. The generation map here is real world example from a Western Africa context.
Global North - the Western world, comprised mainly of the USA and Europe
Global South \ Majority World - "The non-Western continents of the world, where most of the world’s population lives: Asia, Africa and South America." *
House Church - a gathering of new believers to worship, study the Word, pray for one another, share the Lord's Supper, encourage one another to share the good news, disciple new believers, and start new house churches, etc.
House Church Network - a network of house churches, sometimes within one generation, sometimes comprised of several generations in the same geographic area
Insider ("inside movement catalyst") - not to be confused with "insider movements", some in movement circles use this term simply to denote a movement practitioner or movement catalyst who is a cultural "insider" in a given context. For example, a Javanese disciple from a Muslim background might be an "insider" in terms of their ability to understand and reach Javanese Muslims with the good news.
Movement
- "Church Planting Movement (result): a multiplication of disciples making disciples, and leaders developing leaders, resulting in indigenous churches (usually house churches) planting more churches. These new disciples and churches begin spreading rapidly through a people group or population segment, meeting people’s spiritual and physical needs. They begin to transform their communities as the new Body of Christ lives out kingdom values. When consistent, multiple-stream 4th generation reproduction of churches occurs, church planting has crossed a threshold to becoming a sustainable movement." *
- "DMM – Disciple Making Movement (a process toward a CPM): focuses on disciples engaging the lost to find persons of peace who will gather their family or circle of influence, to begin a Discovery Group. This is an inductive group Bible study process from Creation to Christ, learning directly from God through His Scripture. The journey toward Christ usually takes several months. During this process, seekers are encouraged to obey what they learn and share the Bible stories with other. When possible, they start new Discovery Groups with their family or friends. At the end of this initial study process, new believers are baptized. They then begin a several-month Discovery Bible Study (DBS) church-planting phase during which they are formed into a church. This process disciples the Discovery Group into a commitment to Christ, leading to new churches and new leaders who then reproduce the process." *
Movement Catalyst - "A person being used by God (or at least aiming) to catalyze a CPM/DMM." *
Movement Leader - a leader within an existing movement, though this could refer to either a near-culture believer who helped catalyze a movement, it more generally refers to a believer from another religious background who is a cultural insider and is one of several leaders within a movement.
Person of Peace (PoP) - "Luke 10 describes a person of peace. This is a person who receives the messenger and the message and opens their family/group/community to the message." *
Stream - "A multi-generational, connected chain of church plants." *
UPG - "A sizable distinct group that does not have a local, indigenous church that can bring the gospel to the whole group without the aid of cross-cultural missionaries. This group may be variously defined, including but not limited to ethno-linguistic or socio-linguistic commonality." *
UUPG (Unengaged UPG) - "A subset of global UPGs; a UPG not yet engaged by a church planting team." *