Pray KC
1 Corinthians 1:10 “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
When God’s people pray in unity, incredible things happen. Sometimes the answer comes quickly. Sometimes, it takes years. But God hears all prayers. At times, a burden is placed on our heart and we don’t know exactly what or how to pray for something, but prayer is always the answer for opening doors no man could attempt on his own.
In Kansas City we have a great prayer heritage. You likely are thinking of your own stories where prayer has had an incredible impact on individuals, groups or communities with whom you are intimately acquainted. All because someone had the audacity to pray.
Pray KC is a multiethnic, multi-generation and multi-denominational city-wide movement seeking a new spiritual awakening in the Kansas City metro area. The core heart of the movement is believing God for a “fresh wind of his Spirit” and a faith revival in the City.
What if every church in Kansas City agreed to pray for that on a monthly or daily basis? What if there was someone (or multiple someones) praying for spiritual awakening in our beautiful city every hour of the day? What would happen? What would happen with race relations? Schools? Covid 19?
Perhaps your church has been asked to consider getting involved in Pray KC. If you have yet to make a decision, perhaps this conversation with Pray KC leader (Founder??) Adam Cox will help.
Why create a movement on the basis of prayer?
Jeremiah 33:3 frames it best. It reads, "Call to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Our witness and the witness of Church history would tell us that prayer moves God. God responds to our response to Him. The book of James reminds us, "You don't have because you do not ask." So many noble endeavors have been attempted for Christ that were not first rooted or grounded in prayer. Can you imagine what would have become of those endeavors had they started, been cultivated by, and sustained by persistent prayer!? Our entire team has been in ministry for years, and between us, we have started dozens, if not dozens of dozens of ministries without prayer. Firsthand, we've experienced the hard work of living for God, and are now finally convinced that the grace-filled adventure of living with him is much, much more fruitful. If the Church in Kansas City would come together and call on the name of the Lord, there is no telling what could happen here.
How have you seen prayer shape the lives of those involved?
Prayer is firstly the place where sonship identity is imparted through the powerful adoptive love of the Father speaking, "you are my beloved." Pray re-centers us in Christ, teaching us about being before doing. Through the years, God has worked in the hearts of many leaders and people across the Church in KC. He has helped us downshift from frenetic activism to daily receive our new identity as His beloved, and live from that place. This powerful work of the Spirit - this work of spiritual adoption, is primarily imparted through prayer. God shows us our slavery identity - our compulsion to perform and earn our worth in God's eyes through accomplishment. Hand in hand, He reveals an orphan identity - where we feel rejected and alone, and thus, seek acceptance and belonging outside of God. From these two tendencies, we become addicted to activism, and fail to live from our adoption as sons and daughters of God. Our "ministry life" is not initiated by his voice, but rather our human zeal or strategy. We have been learning to live and lead from the secret place. God saves us from busyness, burnout, and a whole host of good ideas that God never initiated.
What is the impact that you're seeing on the people of Kansas City?
In 2004 Pastor Gary Schmitz attempted to lead his Church to pray for 168 hours, unsure if they would even make it through the first day. That prayer week turned into 180 days of 24-7 prayer in their Church. Through the year, 50 other churches joined in from various denominations to help keep the prayer going for 18 months. It was in the place of prayer that unity across denominations and various ethnic backgrounds began to form. That small seed of prayer has grown until today into a family of friends across the city.
What do you believe that prayer does for the individual? For the Church as a whole?
As we pray together, we focus on Jesus, experience his friendship, and become like him in his humility. This foundation of friendship and humility in prayer is the garden for God's missional dreams. We learn to move at the speed of trust, in true friendship, by God's voice, not our best ideas. If we keep coming back to the table in our differences, we start to see the miracle of Jesus' John 17 prayer for oneness answered.
Through dozens of retreats and prayer gatherings over the years, walls have come down between leaders, hearts healed, and friendships formed that have turned into immeasurable kingdom impact. We have found that prayerful connection, covenant love, and trusted friendship leads to sustainable kingdom partnership in mission.
The simple seed of prayerful friends on mission has grown into 12 regional groups of kingdom leaders made up of civic, commerce, clergy, and creatives collaborating for the transformation of Kansas City and its surrounding areas. There are hundreds of stories of these regional groups called "village fires" partnering with mayors, police departments, social services, schools, fire departments, etc. to serve the needs that arise in our city.
One of the powerful ministries birthed out of this pattern is Caring for Kids. CFK began as a group of praying friends who had their hearts broken with compassion for vulnerable children and families of Kansas City. They began to interview leadership in the public school system by asking, "How can we help you reach your goals to help students reach their highest potential?" Once again, the little bit of yeast (the values) that began all those years ago in a prayer room has now spread to uplift and reform the city's education system. Today around 400 church, business, and civic partners have served over 40,000 children in 7 school districts. In prayer and through friendship, we receive God's heart and hope to cross the racial barriers.
Pray KC has been laboring for racial healing and justice throughout its history to the present. Prayer is where we begin because it is a battle not against flesh and blood, but firstly spiritual. In prayer, we find the patience to listen, the power to persevere, and the perspective that racial healing is possible remembering it is Jesus who alone can bring justice, and no other human solution will work.
If someone is interested in joining Pray KC, what next steps do they need to take?
It's currently July 2020 at the time of this writing, and COVID-19 is still very much in play in Kansas City. We came into 2020 with a strong sense that Pray KC was to host four quarterly in-person citywide prayer events. So, if things were normal, we would encourage people to join one of these large gatherings. However, meeting in large groups today is not ideal, so we have moved those gatherings online. These online prayer gatherings have proven to be a VERY compelling innovation. They have allowed us to reach and include many more people, and have helped profile the growth of what we call "Prayer Circles." Prayer Circles are small groups of people (3-10) committed to praying for one another and spiritual awakening in Kansas City. The beauty of Prayer Circles is they can pray anywhere and everywhere. If someone is syncing up with Pray KC, and they are already in a small prayer group, GREAT! Consider that a Prayer Circle. Don't rename it! Just keep doing what you are doing, and we'll resource your group! That would probably be the best way to get involved right now. Of course, people can learn more about us at www.praykc.church
