For a season, I was a disciple making movement (DMM) trainer, and one of the foundations of DMM is extraordinary prayer. Dig into any movement, and you will find heaps of prayer. Thus, one of the secrets to seeing movements, they say, is to pray, pray, pray.

Here’s the thing... visit lots of places in which no movements are happening, and guess what you’ll find? Heaps of prayer. What are we to make of that? Perhaps God isn’t aware of the formula?

Regardless, in this issue we focus on prayer movements. We are not focusing on how to pray (although there is some of that), nor are we giving a theology of prayer (but you will find some of that), nor are we emphasizing answers to prayer (though these are included also), and we don’t cover all the different types of prayer (yet many are included). Instead, we are highlighting where prayer for the unreached, mainly among the unreached, is happening. Some of those places have seen miraculous answers and others have been relatively dry.

Now, what’s laughable in this is that I’m the editor when this issue is being published. God has a sense of humor, and two signs of it are that I was a DMM trainer and that the magazine I edit is focusing on prayer. We didn’t see movements among any of the multiple people groups with whom we worked, and although I helped catalyze extraordinary prayer (one of the movements described in this issue was started by my team), I, myself, am not a prayer warrior. Oh, I’m constantly in conversation with God, but I’m still an infant when it comes to sustained prayer to see God move among the unreached. I am where I am on this journey and am thankful that God is the true author, the maker of movements.

So, what are we doing here? As with everything I do, my focus in this issue for myself and for you, the reader, is to encourage us to keep becoming like Jesus, continue to sauté in his love for us and for those who are not yet in his forever family. There is no condemnation, nor shame. God is inviting us deeper into him. How will we respond as we read about his moving in others?

How is God moving people to pray in Africa and Eastern Europe as well as Western, South, and Southeast Asia? Read on to have your heart moved and learn about how to join, if you wish. Whether you are writing books on prayer, an infant like me, or somewhere in between, God is inviting you deeper. He’s not demanding more from you; his yoke is easy and light. Abide and enjoy. Let him do his work in you and may these stories play a role in that process.

Of course, our much-loved features are here as always. You will see another perspective on 50 years of Frontier Ventures, formerly the US Center for World Mission, and hear from our columnists. Every issue features a column by someone from each generation, from Z (Jasmine) to Millennial (Irene) to X (me) to Boomer (Greg). These diverse perspectives give breadth and depth to our magazine. And with the war in Iran (still uncertain as we create this issue), we chose a poem for our Final Reflection from someone who was forced to leave the region.

Enjoy! And may reading this issue move your heart more in alignment with the heart of God.

Duke Dillard

P.S. Don't miss our award on the previous page! It is a testimony to our amazing team and a praise to God for his kindness in calling us to partner with him in calling his people to share his love and hope at the edges.