Worship, Fasting, and Discerning Prayer: Fueling a Multiplication Culture
- Rev. Zach Kingery
- Aug 4
- 3 min read
As we continue pursuing the vision of becoming a Conference where Every Church Plants, it's tempting to focus first on strategies, systems, and structure. And while these are important, we must remember: evangelism, discipleship, and multiplication begin with spiritual alignment, not organizational efficiency.
In Acts 13, the early church at Antioch was not in a strategic planning session or developing a marketing campaign when Holy Spirit said to set aside and send out Barnabas and Saul. And I think clarity is important here: Holy Spirit said to set apart and send and the church heard and obeyed.
Are we as clergy, local leadership, and congregations in a practiced posture of submission so that when the Lord speaks, we are able to hear and obey? Are we intentionally spending time listening for God’s will in worship, fasting, and prayer?
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. Acts 13:2-3
This is a clear reminder: Our mission does not begin with us; it begins with God.
The command (because it is a direct command: Mt 28:18-20) to multiply disciples, which results in birthing new congregations, comes from the Holy Spirit, not spreadsheets.
Is structure and developing proper processes needed? Absolutely. But they must be the result of our connection to God, not a replacement for Him.
Fasting and prayer position us to hear clearly - personally and as a congregation. They silence the noise of our preferences, our busyness, and even our fear. Through spiritual disciplines, we learn to trust God with every part of the process and follow His lead. (To hear more check out Ep.07 of the Multiplication Minute with Cam Scott who is planting 1927 Church in Des Moines, IA: youtube.com/@UpperMidwestMultiplicationTeam)
One of the overlooked truths in Acts 13 is that the discernment didn’t come to Paul and Barnabas alone, but it came in the context of prayer, fasting, and worship within a local church. Multiplying churches are praying churches, and multiplying leaders are discerning leaders.
You might be asking, What Does This Look Like for My Congregation?
1. Establish a Spiritual Development calendar.
An intentional rhythm of corporate discerning prayer, worship, and fasting results in a culture that listens for and obeys the will of the Lord. It also results in identifying and developing leaders who grow in spiritual maturity. Congregation → Leaders → Core Spiritual Leaders
2. Form a Discernment Group.
As the rhythm of spiritual disciplines is established, curate a group of spiritual leaders who regularly seek God’s direction in the mission of your local church.
3. Surrender, Ask, Listen, Obey
Surrender. As you draw closer to the Lord, learn to surrender your preferences to Him and to one another: confess your preferences when discerning direction on decisions and learn to truly trust.
Ask. Inquire of the Lord “Who are we not seeing in our community?” “Where are you sending us?” “What needs to be released in us so we can better hear and obey?” “Lord, what question should we actually be asking?”
Listen. If we ask a question we must listen for the answer. Learn to be in silence as a group and listen. After a time of silence, ask if someone heard a word from the Lord. Did a verse come to mind, or a particular instance from our history as a church, or did a deeper question surface, etc.?
Obey. The reason we surrender first is so that we can better obey. Too often we inquire of the Lord without first surrendering and when we sense a direction we then negotiate. We learn the voice of our Great Shepherd (Jn 10:27) so we can know Him and follow His commands (1 Jn 2:3). A choice of partial obedience is disobedience.
