A missional Church is necessarily a praying Church. Why is this? It is because the Holy Spirit is the main agent of our salvation. Prayer prepares the hearts of people to believe in Christ when they hear or read the word of God. Their conversion is the result of God’s sovereign work in response to God’s people interceding for them.
If our Church wants to bear fruit and make new disciples, it must necessarily pray for those it seeks to reach. The earlier prayer is introduced into an evangelization project, the greater the impact and the more numerous the fruits.
It is equally essential that pastors be convinced of the effectiveness of prayer. If the faithful see their pastors praying for the lost sheep, they will be much more inclined to engage in intercessory activities themselves.
The first step in becoming a missionary Church is therefore to set up prayer and intercession groups. Prayer alone does not accomplish all the work of evangelization, but it is an essential part of it. Without it, our efforts will not produce the expected results, namely new people following Christ for their salvation and the salvation of the world.
Pierre-Alain Giffard
Other articles:
- Pope Francis on Evangelization
- Revitalizing the Rural Parish for Mission
- Factors Leading to Christian Conversion
- Evangelizing Through Random Acts of Kindness
- Questions To Start Spiritual Conversations
- Three Feet From Gold
- Spreading the Gospel One Act at a Time
- Gather, Witness and Invite
- Prayer to Receive the Spiritual Gifts of The Holy Spirit
- The Language of Evangelization
- Key Factors for Parish Growth According to Rich Birch
- How to defeat Satan?
- Bringing Love, Hope and Healing Through the Gospel
- Love: Our Fundamental Vocation
- Touched by the Master
- A Man, a Dog, and the Ultimate Love
- The essence of evangelization: Loving God and our neighbours
- Loving Our Enemies and Reconciling with Others
- A Powerful Prayer for Healing: You Are The LORD Who Heals Me
- Living a Life of Love: Mother Teresa’s Legacy
- Living a Life of Love: Lessons from the New Testament
- In The Shadows Of Darkness, A Powerful Force Is At Work
- 19 Pastoral Orientations for Parish Renewal and Growth
- The Missionary Renewal of Catechesis
- Characteristics of missionary parishes
- Powerful healing prayer attributed to St. Padre Pio
- We are called to share our faith with others
- Should we seek to grow the Church?
- Find a Need and Fill It – Revealing God’s Heart in the Community
- 15 Habits to Evangelize on a Daily Basis
- The Church’s Mission
- Three Barriers to Building An Invitational Culture In Your Parish
- The Relational Evangelizer
- Doing Church at Home
- The Blind Girl
- A Group of Frogs
- The Elephant Rope
- A Shared Faith is a Growing Faith
- In The Shoes Of The Unchurched
- Parish Evangelizing Cells
- Six Unique Features of Missional Parishes
- Steps Towards Becoming A Missional Parish
- What Is Evangelization, And How Should It Be Carried Out?
- Discussion And Self-Assessment Questions For Parish Evangelization
- A Missional Church Is A Church That Prays
- The Jesus Prayer: A Method To Pray At All Times
- What can help children raised Catholic continue practicing the faith as adults?
- An Example of a Missionary Parish: Phoenix First Assembly of God
- Satan’s Tactics
- Learning to Be a Missionary
- When we cry out to God, he answers
- Presence and Proclamation
- Saving those who are lost
- Saint-Nazaire Parish: The story of a missionary transformation
- Small Groups and Evangelization
- Evangelizing By Inviting People To Receive Jesus As Lord And Saviour
- You Will Receive Power…
- Have You Heard About the Law of Three Hearings and Seven Touches?
- Three Habits of a Fruitful Christian Life
