praying ceaselessly

hal haller

“Never stop praying” I Thessalonians 5:17

Prayer is ongoing. Prayer never stops! As you breathe in and out, so your prayers to God should be uttered. Prayer is THE foundational element of what we do at Reproducing Churches. As a network, we understand that without prayer our work is in vain. Prayer must be at the centerpiece of all that we do – whether apart or together.

In the early morning, as I lay in bed, I typically ask God these two questions:

“God, do you have anything to say to me because I’m listening.”

“God, is there anything you need me to do because I’m ready to do it”

And for the rest of the day, I’m trying my best to listen and respond to God’s voice. My desire is to speak with Him all through the day. The reason I pray these two prayers is because God often changes my plans.

As a group of pastors at Church of the Highlands Lakeland, we took 21 days to fast and pray. Our goal was to continually pray throughout the day and ask God to show us what He wanted to do. Each morning we met, asking each other what God might be saying to us as a group. We had over 50 items on our specific prayer list that we were praying about. At the end of the fast, there was a clear message – and it wasn’t on our prayer list – we sensed God telling us to start churches (that’s right churches in the plural) along Interstate 4 in Central Florida.

That was an incredulous message to all of us since our church was 9 months old and about 40,000 dollars in credit card debt as we were financially floating the church. How could God give us that message? It seemed impossible but the message and the mandate were clear. As a result, we changed our plans and within a few years, a number of new churches were started out of Church of the Highlands, Lakeland.

Prayer allows me to listen and to respond to whatever God is asking me to do.

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas are preaching the gospel from city to city. They have made plans but the itinerary is not working out. One night, God speaks clearly to Paul: Go to Macedonia. The next day, Paul and Silas are on their way. They heard God clearly and were able to change plans and respond to His instructions.

God’s desire is to discover people who are finely tuned into Him. Most of the time our reception to God is fuzzy. My 60 inch television is the envy of most red-blooded men but there is one catch: I don’t have cable or satellite; I only have rabbit ears! Sometimes I have to twist and contort my body in such a way (like my arm raised up in the air) so I can get a better signal on my television.

Prayer gives me a clear signal.

We know what God is saying and we can then respond to Him. With certainty, we can engage into his mandate for our lives and for our church. Making plans without prayer is foolishness. It’s trying to think up what God wants you to do rather than reacting and responding to His mandate for your life.

Prayer is the foundation of revival and spiritual movement.

Can you name a movement of God that was not first preceded by prayer? You’ll have an impossible time identifying one. When people pray, God’s heart is moved. His Spirit is unleashed in the world and he causes people to respond to God. Read the book of Acts and you’ll discover that prayer was the foundational element of the move of God.

Prayer is the best recruitment of spiritual, reproducing leaders.

Jesus gave us clear instructions about how Kingdom work would be accomplished. It would be done in prayer, asking God to send many leaders for spiritual cultivation and harvest. There is a tendency to recruit spiritual leaders through organizational methods (and there is nothing wrong with that) but in the truest sense, God raises up the leaders.

Jesus said:

“So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” Matthew 9:38 (NLT)

So as a part of His instructions, we are constantly seeking God for the provision of leaders. We know the work cannot be accomplished by a few, extraordinary leaders but by a multitude of spiritual harvesters who gather people to Jesus. The work must be delegated and decentralized so that the Gospel can spread to all people.

Prayer opens the door to mutually working together.

Often times, I have an agenda to fulfill but when I am in community with others who are living sent, my agenda broadens and expands. My attention focuses on others. My prayers include their hopes, dreams, and needs. I begin to understand that my calling finds completion when I am true fellowship and partnership with others in God’s work.

For me, there is nothing more satisfying than being on my knees in heartfelt prayer with others. There is a joy, a sense of team, a sense of unity that brings us all together.

Developing Leaders

by hal haller

“Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing.” Philippians 4:9 (NLT)

The foundation for reproducing churches lies in the raising up and sending out of new leaders. Leaders don’t magically appear. Leaders are cultivated, developed and sent. Leaders are forged and developed in mentoring relationships.

We can find an intentional leadership development strategy from the Apostle Paul to the Philippian church that makes use of formal learning (heard from me – that’s teaching) and informal learning (saw me doing – that’s modeling). In leadership development, you need both. The Apostle Paul said ‘listen to me’ and ‘watch me’ as you put your learning into practice. Our goal at Reproducing Churches is to establish these very kinds of relationships that will increase our ability to develop and send out more leaders.

There are several key ideas tied to developing leaders:

We trust that Jesus will always answer our prayer for leaders by sending leaders for His harvest.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” Matthew 9:36-38 (NLT)

Ultimately, we know God is the one who will provide the leaders we need. So we spend a great deal of time on our knees asking God to divinely raise up leaders for the harvest.

We trust God for the future leaders to come from those who will one day trust Him.

Paul said to Timothy:

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. 1st Timothy 1:15-16 (NLT)

Over the years in starting a number of churches, I have discovered this principle: the best leader opportunities come from those that I have led to Christ. I used to pray that God would send me Christian leaders. After God answer that prayer, I begged him to send me lost people that I could develop for Him.

We believe that a true leader exists for the success of others rather than the promotion of self.

We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.

I Thessalonians 2:8 (NLT)

We pour our lives into others selflessly. We don’t hold back but freely share what we know and what we have. We purposely invest in others. That can be exhausting and tiring but we do it because we love them and want to see the gospel spread.

Leaders are interchangeable, mobile, and “position-less” and will be shared among the network for the greater benefit of the Kingdom.

“But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28 (NLT)

If we are looking for a title or badge, we remember that we are first servants of Jesus Christ. Titles and positions of authority often get in the way of being a great, reproducing leader because we are looking to be served rather than to serve. I remind myself that I can lead up front or I can take the back seat. It doesn’t matter, whatever my brother or sister needs from me, I’m willing to serve them. My first question is, “How can I help you?”

Leaders will be developed within the context of relationships through the process of mentoring and internship, challenged in their very construct of church as a “who” and in practical methods of execution, and then unleashed to live to the fullest of how they are wired and gifted in their specific context.

“Then he held daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for the next two years, so that people throughout the province of Asia—both Jews and Greeks—heard the word of the Lord.” Acts 19:10 (NLT)

Our goal is provide specific guidance and instruction to those who desire to live and lead out for Jesus. We want to engage in their dreams, passions, abilities, and giftings and help them on their journey to being the church where God has called them. It’s not cookie cutter teaching but a customization plan for each person. Why? So the Gospel can go out to all peoples…so that all can hear the word of the Lord.

churches planting churches: blossoming networks

Hal Haller, Rick Lawrence and Gregg Kappas give insight into the importance of networking locally, nationally, and internationally as the church blossoms.