A powerful movement is growing across the globe. The infusive movement has millions of followers and can be strategically organized but seems best suited to flare up by spontaneous combustion in unlikely venues. The tenets of the movement are simple and ancient, and have been practiced for centuries around the world. There is nothing new about it – yet it carries with it the freshness of tomorrow morning’s rising tide. Wherever this movement occurs there are social and cultural ramifications, and people who come into contact with it are dramatically changed. It appears to be occurring everywhere – in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, in South and in North America. It is the worldwide prayer movement and it isn’t slowing down-quite the opposite- it’s picking up steam!

The rapid growth and international scope of the prayer movement hasn’t escaped the notice of interested researchers. For instance, author C. Peter Wagner, a former seminary professor and missionary has written extensively on prayer and has concluded, “In recent years the expansion of the prayer movement has been exponential. Quality of prayer is increasing along with quantity of prayer. Flames of prayer are being lit in virtually every denomination on every continent. Pastors are giving prayer a higher priority… and prayer movements and prayer ministries are proliferating….” From the ivied halls of academia to the sparse prayer rooms springing up in the densely populated old cities of Asia and Europe, public university dormitories in the United States, Pentecostal mega-churches of Brazil, and the evangelical Anglican revivals in Africa, people everywhere are noticing the growing interest of Christians in prayer.

In the early 1990’s David Bryant, former chairman of the National Prayer Committee, wrote that three hundred leaders representing 160 denominations and para church organizations met for 24 hours of prayer “to inaugurate a new initiative in spiritual leadership for prayer across the Body of Christ.” He went on to say, “Since then, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in national prayer events, initiatives, ministries and coalitions, serving the national prayer movement.”

In 2001, as a result of a South African businessman’s vision of prayer, 45,000 people gathered for repentance and prayer at a Rugby Stadium in Capetown. The vision grew. By 2010, a total of 220 nations participated in The Global Day of Prayer as hundreds of millions of Christians gathered in venues around the world for the largest unified prayer gathering in history. Something undeniable is clearly happening. It cannot be viewed as isolated, the prayer movement is real.

Parts 2 and 3 coming soon!

“Anything God has ever done He can do again. Anything He’s ever done anywhere He can do here. Anything He’s ever done with anyone He can do with you!”

~A W Tozer

For all of us concerned about the spiritual “climate” in the US right now, the “Jesus Movement” is an encouraging reminder that God can still work miracles. He can do even more than we ask or dare to think!

Fairbanks, Alaska in the late ’60’s and early ’70’s was a cultural Wild West show! Hippies were everywhere but so were the crew cut and hard hat types from Texas and Oklahoma eager for the Trans Alaska pipeline to get underway. Along with those extremes were the typical Alaskans who were “counter culture” decades before it was cool. They thrived on the rugged extremes of the “last frontier” and tended toward a “mind your own business” individualism.

I was in my early teens from a traditional family and I wasn’t sure where I fit into the mix. The guys at school who wore their hair long were getting away with something I envied but my dad wouldn’t allow at the time – but their drug use and anti-establishment vibe scared me a little. I watched the news every night. The cities in the “lower 48” were erupting in riots, leaders were being assassinated, the Vietnam War divided the country and it was a generally anxious time.

Then one day at school I saw a group of long haired freaks in a circle in the parking lot. I assumed they were smoking dope as usual until I got a little closer and heard them praying like they were in the midst of an old fashioned Baptist tent revival. The Jesus Movement had hit my town and it burned like a summer wild fire ignited by a lightning strike! I couldn’t believe it.

Throughout my high school years the Jesus Freaks openly witnessed, sang and played Christian folk-rock music, held Bible studies in the hallways and parking lots, and spread the gospel with a fervor I could never dismiss. I knew them when they were high on weed and acid, and I knew them when they were high on Jesus, and there was no denying the sincerity of these people- something real had happened to them and their lives had been changed.

Later, when I started following Jesus myself and attending college, I met students from the mid-west and other areas from around the country who had similar stories about the Jesus Movement during their high school days. Today I realize the Jesus Movement occurred almost spontaneously in places all over America and, I believe changed a generation. In later posts I will reflect more on the phenomenon, but here I want to note a few simple observations.

1) Spiritual Awakenings are possible when you least expect them! They have happened before and they can happen again- even it looks like culture has abandoned God. Keep praying!

2) People on fire for Christ change their environment in measurable ways and they never keep it to themselves. Keep praying!

3) People who have genuinely been in the presence of Jesus might seem a little odd at first- but they are infectiously hard to resist because their joy is so obvious. Keep praying!

4) Even if revival appears “spontaneous,” somebody behind the scenes has been agonizing in prayer. Keep praying!

5) God raises up leaders to fan the flames of revival. He always does. Keep praying!

The Jesus Movement was for then. God can’t be limited by expecting Him to do it exactly like that again. But God will move through His people again and when He does- people, cities, and nations will change.

I’m praying for that day to come! I believe it will. Keep praying.

-jkb

Check back later this month for posts, videos, photos, and more!