Fivefold Plan For Prayer Evangelism For Persons of Peace

What is the Fivefold Plan for Prayer Evangelism?

The Fivefold Plan for Prayer Evangelism comes out of the teaching of Jesus in Luke 10 as He sent 72 of His followers ahead of Him to preach the gospel of the kingdom.  This five-step plan is being used in the Neighborhood Houses of Prayer Movement in India and the Lighthouses of Prayer Movement in Argentina to mobilize believers to pray for the lost in their lives.  In this plan workers in the Lord's harvest field pray for at least five persons of peace (PoP) personally, with their own household and corporately with their Biblical communities.  PoPs are lost people who are responsive, open, and welcoming when a worker in the harvest tells his story or talks about Jesus.  The fivefold plan is:

1. Pray for laborers - Ask the Father to bring workers into the lives of your PoP and their network of family and friends (household).

And He was saying to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Lk 10:2

1. Pray for God’s peace and blessing - Pray for your five PoP and their households, persistently asking the Father to bless them and bring peace to their households. 

"Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house.' Lk 10:5

1. Associate with them - Ask the Father for the Spirit's wisdom and understanding to know what to do and how to do it as you asociate with your PoP and their households through coffee, a meal together or participating in an event together and begin investing your life in theirs.

"Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. Lk 10:7

1. Pray for miracles - Ask your PoP how you can pray for them and then pray persistently for the Spirit's power to work miracles in their lives both personally, with your household and corporately with your Biblical community.

and heal those in it who are sick,’ Lk 10:9

1. Share the gospel - As your PoP experience God’s blessing, presence and power in their lives, continue to make noise for Jesus and ask if they would be willing to do a Discovery Bible Study with you.  Ask the Spirit to open their eyes to a knowledge of who God is and an understanding of the good news of the Kingdom of God.

‘say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' Lk 10:9

How does the Fivefold Plan for Prayer Evangelism work?

1.   Pray together with your household and ask the Father to show you five PoP He wants you to focus your prayer and life on.  This could be family, friends, neighbors, your kid’s friends or teachers at school, associates, clients, vendors at work, family members,families at the gym or athletic field, etc.   List the five persons of peace:

2.  Prepare the ground by praying forty days for your five PoP and their households, using the Fivefold Plan for Prayer Evangelism pray:

1. LABORERS 

Pray that Jesus would send others into the lives of your PoP and their households. Lk 10:2 

1. PEACE 

Pray that God’s blessing & peace would come into the lives of your PoP and their households. Lk 10:5 

1. ASSOCIATION 

Pray that Jesus will open a door for you to associate with your PoP and their households Lk 10:7 

1. MIRACLES 

Pray that the Father will work in a miraculous way to meet the felt needs in the lives of your PoP and their households. Lk 10:9 

1. GOSPEL 

Pray that Jesus will open a door for you to make noise for Him and lead a Discovery Bible Study with your PoP and the Spirit will testify of Jesus as you testify of Jesus. Lk 10:9

3.  After you have prayed for your PoPs for forty days, approach them and tell them that you are a part of a Biblical community that is praying for the neighborhood, or school or workplace, or community, etc.  Then ask them:

a. How can we pray for the neighborhood/school/workplace/community?

b. How can we pray for your family?

c. How can we pray for you?

4.  If they are responsive and give prayer requests, persistently ask the Father to act in miraculous ways in answer their prayer requests, and continue to pray for them using the Fivefold Plan for Prayer Evangelism.  If they are not responsive, it may be that they are not a PoP, ask the Lord if He wants you to shake the dust off your feet, move on and begin praying for others. 

As the Lord leads associate with your PoP, tell them you are praying with them and ask if they have seen God answer their prayer requests.  Continue to make noise of Jesus and ask them to join you in a Discovery Bible Study.  Invite your Biblical community to join you in reaching out to your PoP and their households.  As you pray, ask the Father to work in a miraculous way in their lives and to bring the reality of the Kingdom of God to them.   When they are ready tell them God's story and invite them to trust in Jesus.  Begin praying that as your Pop does a Discovery Bible Study God will open a door for them to lead a Discovery Bible Study with their households.

How Much Do I Need To Pray?

Often when I lead a prayer seminar at a church or organization I will have a lay person approach me and ask, "Who are you, where did you come from and why isn't my pastor teaching me these things?"  Then a pastor or a leader within the organization will approach me and ask, "Really, Clyde, how much do I need to pray?"  In asking this question, some Christian leaders are asking me to give a them a specific amount of time so they can do it and check off their daily to do list.  Other Christian leaders, may discount my suggestion as being too much time in light of their busy schedules.  

I always respond by telling Christian leaders, "I don't know.  I can't tell you how much time you should spend in prayer."  I remind him of the words of Jesus as He prayed to the Father the night before He was crucified, "I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work you gave Me to do."  I suggest, "At the end of the day, when you look back on your day, ask God, 'Father, did I bring You glory today by completing the work You gave me to do?'  'If you cannot answer yes, you may want to pray more."  I continue, "At the end of the week, when you are resting on the Sabbath and reflect on your past week and ask God, 'Lord, did I bring You glory this past week by completing the work You gave me to do?"  I continue, "At the end of the quarter, the end of the year, and you ask the question, 'Father, did I bring You glory on earth by completing the work You gave me to do this past quarter, this past year?' "  Again, I suggest, "If you cannot answer, 'Yes.'  Then you may want to pray more."  

The next question I suggest they ask the Father is, "Father, what is the work of prayer I need to do so I can complete the work you gave me to do."  Then pray, "Father, fill me with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding that I may know what to do and how to do it as I pray for the kingdom and seek to complete the work You have given me to do."  I want to suggest that Christian leaders might be led to  engage in and lead a variety of prayer efforts, praying both personally and with their  teams.  When he has done the work of prayer and persists in it, both personally and with his teams, he will complete the work the Father has given him to do. 

Twenty-four Hour Fast

What does it mean to fast?

To fast is to abstain from food for a spiritual purpose to either draw near to God for greater intimacy and worship or to seek more of His intervention for guidance, power and/or protection to do His will.  Fasting is an act of humility.  It is saying to God, “I need you more than I need food!”  And God gives grace to the humble.  It is saying, “God, I need more...more of you.  I want to give you more of my praise and worship.  I need more of your guidance…more of your power...more of your protection…more of Your grace and compassion.”  The very nature of a fast is a grieving or mourning over a situation that only God can change.

Why did Biblical leaders fast?

• Moses received more of God and His instruction. Exodus 34:28
• Israel needed more of God's deliverance. I Samuel 7:6
• Jehoshaphat needed more of God's wisdom & intervention. II Chronicles 20:3 
• The King of Nineveh needed more of God's compassion & grace. Jonah 3:5,6
• Daniel needed more of God's understanding. Daniel 10:1-3
• Ezra needed more of God's protection. Ezra 8:21-23
• Nehemiah needed more of God's wisdom & intervention. Nehemiah 1:4
• Esther needed more of God's intervention. Esther 4:15-17
• Anna wanted to give more worship to God. Luke 2:37
• Jesus needed more of God's strength. Matt. 4:1-11
• Prophets and teachers wanted to give God greater worship. Acts 13:1-3
• Paul and Barnabas needed more of God’s anointing for themselves and others. Acts 13:1-3; 14:23

How do we fast for twenty-four hours? 

We enter a fast as led by the Spirit of God.  It is a heart response of wanting more of God.  It is not to be entered into for show or personal ambition.  It is built upon a life that is already yielded to God.  And if our life is not yet yielded, that would be the very purpose of the fast.

During a twenty-four hour fast:

1. Allow yourself to be led and stirred with a sense of need by the Spirit of God.
2. Determine to not eat food after eating one meal (i.e. dinner, lunch or breakfast) until you sit down to eat that same meal the next day.  You could do a media fast if you are unable to do a food fast. (no TV, Radio, Internet, newspaper, magazines, iPods, etc.)
3. Devote the normal time allotted to the two meals missed, as well as your normal quiet time to meditate, to pray and study concerning the focus of your fast.
4. As you feel discomfort in the last few hours of your fast, use the discomfort to remind you of your need for God and utter breath prayers concerning your focus. (A breath prayer is a simple address to one of the members of the Godhead followed by a simple request, i.e. Father, set him free!)
5. Practice this discipline weekly until you are released from the Spirit of God to stop.

You might want to consider fasting if:

• You need direction for your life.
• You need freedom from bondage.
• You need an intervention of God in a very difficult situation.
• You want to see lost friends come to know Jesus.
• You want to see the Spirit of God transform the life of a friend. 
• There are people going hungry or without shelter in your community.
• You are struggling in a conflict with a brother or sister in Christ.

Looking At The Lord's Prayer Through New Eyes

Four the past three months I have been discipling a young Nepali man.  We have been doing a Discovery Bible Study together.  He chose to follow Jesus in December.  We did a Discovery Bible Study on Matthew 6:9-13 to learn about prayer.  I was introduced to praying through the Lord's Prayer by Larry Lea, in his book, Could You Not Tarry For One Hour twenty-four years ago.  I prayed through the Lord's Prayer almost daily for twenty of those years.  The outline has expanded through the years as I have used it to pray on-site for three hours at many ministry events.  Seeing the Lord's Prayer through the eyes on my new believer friend was very insightful.    One of his first observations was that God forgives us.  Another observation was that God is a guide who keeps us from temptation.  I then asked him, "In one word, who is the Father in each of these petitions?"  He then made the observation that the Father is the King.  As the King He is bringing His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.  I was blown away.  I realized for the first time that every request in the Lord's Prayer addresses who the Father is.  So with that explanation I want to suggest a new approach to praying through the Lord's Prayer.

Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your Name

You are Yahweh

We allow the Spirit to reveal within our hearts, our sense of need for God in order to accomplish the work He has given us to do.  Confessing sin, inadequacies and weakness, we ask Jesus to set Himself a part as Yahweh and appropriate His present ministry in our lives that we may be one with Jesus.

Your Kingdom come

You are the King

We listen to the Spirit for what the Father is doing and by the power of the Spirit we call on the resources of heaven to war against the powers of darkness that the Kingdom of God may be established on earth.  In this way we intercede for those the Father is entrusting to us.

Give us this day our daily bread

You are a Provider

We are turning our attention to today, declaring the character of God as a provider and asking for His provision to meet our needs.

Forgive us our debts

You are Forgiver

We allow the Spirit to search our hearts and convict us of our sin.  We confess our sin to our heavenly Father and receive His forgiveness.  We allow the Spirit to search our hearts and bring to mind those we resent that we may forgive and release them.  

Lead us not into temptation

You are a Guide

We allow the Spirit to search our hearts and reveal the nature of our struggle with sin (world, flesh and devil).  We seek the leadership of the Father, appropriating His provision to overcome the temptations we will face today in the realms of the world, flesh and the devil.

But deliver us from evil

You are Deliverer

We seek the power of the Spirit to deliver us from those areas in our lives where the devil holds us in bondage that keeps us from fulfilling God's will in our lives today.

In the Lord's Prayer, we are given a model of prayer that leads us to the mountain top of oneness with God in order that we may intercede for His Kingdom resources on earth.  We are seeking His Kingdom!  As we descend the mountain and face the day, we are given the freedom to ask for God's goodness to provide for our needs today.  We then address our obedience to God.  We seek His guidance from temptation and His deliverance from our adversary.  We are seeking His Righteousness!