Call to Prayer and Mission
by General Paul A. Rader (R)

God is calling our Army to prayer!

He is calling us to urgent, prevailing prayer for the renewal of our love for Christ, a recommitment to our spiritual priorities in mission, and a clearer vision of His purpose for the Army as we approach the year 2000.
He is calling us to urgent, prevailing prayer for the renewal of our love for Christ, a recommitment to our spiritual priorities in mission, and a clearer vision of His purpose for the Army as we approach the year 2000.

The Salvation War in which we are engaged is real. The enemy against whom we fight is powerful. But he is not invincible. Indeed, he was defeated at the Cross and exposed to open shame (Colossians 2:15). Still, the battle rages on. Never has the conflict been more intense. Never has there been a greater need for prayer.

We rejoice in every evidence of a revival of prayer in our ranks - and beyond: prayer fellowship, prayer vigils, prayer marches, prayer support teams for musical sections, schools of prayer, nights of prayer, concerts of prayer and much more. In one hundred countries around our globe the voices of Salvationists in prayer ascend to the Throne of Grace every hour, day and night. We are a praying Army. But let us confess that for all too many of us, prayer may quickly become a lifeless routine, an empty and powerless ritual, if it is not neglected altogether.

Let every Salvationist take a personal inventory of the place, priority and power of prayer in his or her own life. Do I have a regular time for personal and family worship and prayer? What is the place of prayer in our planning and programs at our corps and centers? When do we pray? Who prays? With what expectation? With what result? Is God calling some of us to a specific ministry of intercession or spiritual warfare through prayer?

As General of The Salvation Army, I am asking that every Salvationist and every center of Army activity consider making a specific commitment to prayer for the next twelve months. The nature of that commitment should be negotiated personally with the Holy Spirit. I seek a commitment beyond our present routines. Let prayer be more disciplined, more specific, more consistent.

For what then, shall we pray?

• Pray for peace and an end to tribal and ethnic violence, while confessing our own failure to be instruments of His peace. Ask God where we ourselves might bring healing as His ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20) — in our homes, our marriages, our corps, our communities.
  
• Pray for unity among us, the two or three together in His Name, and as a global force for salvation and healing of the nations — Partners in Mission.
  
• Pray for the salvation of the lost - for a new spirit of holy aggression in our evangelism.
  
• Pray for world evangelization - the salvation of the unreached peoples of earth, according to 'the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey Him.' (Romans 16:26).
  
• Pray for the growth of the Army in spiritual depth and devotion. Pray for new corps and new people, 'brought out of the dominion of darkness and into the Kingdom of the Son He loves.' (Col. 1:13)
  
• Pray that God will raise up an Army of senior soldiers, women and men, a million strong, around the world, marching under the one Flag.
  
• Pray for Army leaders - for vision, grace and courage. Pray for them not just as leaders, but as vulnerable human persons.
  
• Pray for the confusion and defeat of all the stratagems of Satan and for the deliverance of those held captive to his will.
  
• Pray for the salvation and moral protection of our young people, for a love for the Word of God, courage to stand for Christ, and a willingness to give radical obedience to His will.
  
• Pray for officer candidates, lay volunteers, and those who in mid-life will put their skills and experience at God's disposal.
  
• Pray for our Army's world-wide ministries of helping, healing and wholeness among the sick, the powerless, and the poorest of the poor.
  
• Pray for children caught in the crossfire of war, the homeless, brutalized and abandoned.
  
• Pray for the beauty of the Lord our God to be upon us as a movement - the beauty of His Holiness. (Psalm 90:17)
  
• Pray for a new appreciation of our royal privilege of coming to God at His invitation, for a daily audience with our Saviour King, 'that we might receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.' (Heb. 4:16)
  
• Pray that a Spirit-inspired movement of prayer reaching the Throne of God will bring a mighty tidal wave of salvation blessing sweeping over our Army around the world, a Tsunami of the spirit, cleansing, refreshing, and renewing us for mission.
  
• Pray that Jesus Christ will be glorified through this His Army.
  
• On our knees, let us look again at our own homes, our communities, and our world, careening out of control toward the next century. If you believe with me that God is calling His Army to prayer, then decide now to do something about it — and do it now, for Jesus' sake, and for the salvation of the world for which He died. Let us go forward — on our knees!

General Paul A. Rader (R)
Westminster Central Hall,
London November 1994