Wednesday night David Mohan spoke at our Michigan District Council service. He pastors New Life Assembly of God in Madras, India that has now grown to 30,000 people. They are currently building a sanctuary that will seat 55,000. He began the church with 7 seekers.
When they started small group ministry they launched 50 small groups. They now have 4,500 small groups. A few weeks ago New Life baptised 900 people in water. About 100 of them were converting from Hinduism.
They've also mothered about 120 church plants.
I was struck by his simple passion for prayer. On Friday nights they have between 400 and 1,000 people who gather at the church to pray all night long.
At one point he began talking about a 100 million dollar Hindu temple that is being constructed close to his church. He became so irritated while mentioning it in his message that he paused and began leading all of us in prayer that the construction would be halted.
His most striking comment to me was this.
If I don't pray as a pastor, then I am saying I can build my church without God's help.
David Mohan's story reminded me of something so simple. Cities aren't changed because of good ideas. They are changed by God's power. Prayer connects us to God's power.
Looking back over 4 years of church planting, I can identify definite stretches when I practiced prayer more than others. That's not good enough. My goal is to develop consistent dependency on God by saturating every season of my life in prayer.
Prayer can do anything God can do.
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