Men Praying Everywhere Call to Prayer and Action Initiative (MPE)
Summary Document for the Men Praying Everywhere Initiative
God calls men to lead in every area of our culture. (1 Corinthians 11:3)
Through Men Praying Everywhere (MPE) Executive Director (ED) Thomas Bush’s experiences with Promise Keepers men’s ministry (https://promisekeepers.org/) and the Luis Palau community transformation movement (https://citygospelmovements.org/) he sensed it would please the Lord and fulfill a strategic kingdom purpose to see more men engaged in kingdom-advancing prayer and action.
Men Praying Everywhere Call to Prayer and Action (MPE) Initiative Plan
- Our Culture Desperately Needs Godly Men
- Within men is the DNA of revolutionary impact.
- Training men to pray is a strategic kingdom priority.
- We must call men to prayer and spiritual activity!
- MPE provides a strategic opportunity to engage men in prayer and action.
- MPE is a movement of prayer and action led by men in partnership with pastors, men’s ministry leaders and praying men who share the passion to raise up more prayer-activated men.
Two important issues led to the development of the MPE initiative:
1. The commitment to connect men with God through Biblical prayer and instruction.
John 15:7 CEV says: “Stay joined to me and let my teachings become part of you. Then you can pray for whatever you want, and your prayer will be answered.” This kind of Bible-centered and faith-filled praying is often missing from our praying experiences.
2. Providing prayer and ministry coaching suited to the unique characteristics of men, using the “Male Context.” (Why Men Hate Going to Church, D. Murrow, 2005, pp. 156-160)
“Male Context” Characteristics
| a. Men follow men. b. Men will not lead in areas where they do not feel equipped and competent. c. Men need male leadership. They are looking for men who will lead them to greatness. |
d. Men need vision. e. Men need purpose. f. Men respond positively to being disciples. g. Men are visual and want to conquer territory. |
- The primary MPE ministry goal is to see men obeying God’s word and becoming the kind of men who pray and lead the Body of Christ to be the “house of prayer” church that Jesus desires. Matthew 21:13
- 1 Timothy 2:8 and Daniel 11:32:
1. “I want men to offer prayers everywhere. They should raise their hands in prayer after putting aside their anger and any quarrels they have with anyone.” 1 Tim 2:8 CEV
1 Timothy 2:8 is a call for God’s men to be praying and on mission with God in every place in our culture where God’s kingdom is called to advance.
2. Daniel 11:32 says: “The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” Daniel 11:32b NKJV
- Knowing God and being strong come from God-centered prayer and connection.
- Carrying out great exploits comes from being empowered by the Holy Spirit and working together in the Body of Christ.
When God’s kingdom men advance and take their rightful position, faith, hope, and love become evident everywhere they go. They are “Psalm 1” men, delighting in God’s word, nourished by God’s Spirit, bearing good fruit in season, prospering in the things of God in every place where men serve.
Intercessory Prayer Partners Needed
Men Praying Everywhere is dependent on a move of God that is covered by Hebrews 11 faith-filled praying that advances the Kingdom of God and overcomes the strongholds of the world, the flesh, and the devil. (1 John 2:16)
Intercession is prayer that “hits the mark”, reflecting the Lord’s specific will and standing in prayer before God and between God and others to see His Kingdom come and will be done – on the earth as in heaven. We are looking for intercessors who will stand in the gap in prayer for this movement.
Conclusion
Romans 8:19 says “Creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed.” MPE believes now is the time for God’s sons to be revealed.
This movement starts with men who know and love God inviting other men into the spiritual battle for lost souls and the advance of the Kingdom of God. We are believing God that He will move among His men so that every man will fulfill his Ephesians 2:10 purpose.
Each man is a masterpiece of God, filled with purpose and recreated in Christ, positioned to complete the good works God has prepared for him to do. The men who “know their God” will be “strong, and carry out great exploits.” Daniel 11:32b NKJV
MPE is poised to engage men in a spiritual and cultural revival of prayer and action.
MPE Barriers to Overcome and Intercessory Prayer Targets
To be successful, MPE must overcome significant barriers. MPE is praying and looking for intercessors to intercede with and for this movement so that God will reveal specific strategies to propel this movement forward.
Here are 5 specific barriers and prayer targets for the MPE initiative:
1. Need for Leadership: Leadership is critical to creating a culture of prayer in the Body of Christ. Generation after generation of spiritual leaders have not been discipled in prayer and subsequently do not disciple their people in prayer. This cycle of inadequate prayer leadership must be broken.
Prayer Target: Ask the Lord to help MPE develop resources for discipling leaders in prayer and resources for leaders to disciple their men in prayer.
2. Need for Discipleship: Prayer is meant to be the essential moment-by-moment connection with God to build our relationship with Him as His child. Sadly, many men have not been discipled to develop this kind of prayer relationship with God. Discipleship is needed to help a man become a man of action. Through a Biblical discipleship process, a man can identify and activate the call of God in his life so that he cando the “good works” that God created him to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
Prayer Target: Pray that God would use MPE to provide tools to disciple men into being prayer-activated men who have a vital moment-by-moment prayer relationship with God (John 15:7, Philippians 4:6-7) and live the abundant life that God provides as they pursue their God-given calling. (John 10:10, Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 2:13)
3. Lack of Understanding of Men: Without an understanding of the “male context,” leaders will have limited success in engaging men in prayer and action. Without trained prayer and action leaders who are men, this movement will not grow and flourish.
Prayer Target: Pray that MPE will be inspired and equipped by God to develop effective prayer and action training materials that consider the distinctive elements of the “male context.”
4. Need for Increased Knowledge of Biblical Prayer and Action: There is a general lack of knowledge among men of the Biblical role of prayer and action in the Body of Christ. Most leaders are trained in Biblical prayer and action, however, there are few initiatives that engage all men in prayer and action.
Prayer Target: Pray that God would use MPE to inform all men of the Biblical invitation to prayer and action that God gives to us.
5. Overcoming Obstacles to Prayer: A good amount of our current prayer practice does not agree with the Biblical pattern regarding prayer, and needs to be changed or corrected. Here are common prayer practices that the Bible says NOT to do:
| a. “Pray to be seen by men.” Matthew 6:5 b. Think we will be heard because of our “babbling” or “many words.” Matthew 6:7 |
c. “Pray with sin in our heart.” Psalm 66:18-20 d. “Not asking God.” James 4:2 e. “Ask with wrong motives.” James 4:3 |
Because of the “male context,” we must provide opportunities for “active” prayer and action for men. Active prayer and action includes: a good target to pray for, something to accomplish or overcome. Invite men to places where we want to see God work and see the impact of their prayers and action. Men are visual and want to conquer territory, so we can use “prayerwalking” to inspire prayer and action at home and in the community.
Prayer Target: Pray that God would use MPE to help men know and overcome obstacles to Biblical prayer and to implement “active” prayer and action.
MPE History
The MPE initiative and ministry (https://menpraying.org/) grew out of a men’s prayer meeting for Attorney Allan Parker of the Justice Foundation. (thejusticefoundation.org) Someone in the meeting dreamed out loud that there would be 1 million praying men in America.
The Lord quickened the desire to mobilize men to prayer and action in MPE Director Bush’s heart and he has been pursuing the goal of raising up prayer-activated men ever since.
Women of God:
We know that women have been crying out to God that men would take their rightful place in ministry. Be encouraged, women of God, God is answering your prayers.
We are specifically asking God to supply a woman’s prayer team to come alongside this movement. To learn more about MPE’s call to prayer for women, visit: https://menpraying.org/women-of-god/