When I joined Novo as a missionary two years ago I met many interesting people who were doing amazing things. I, on the other hand, had not traveled the world or even gone on any church mission trips. I had spent the previous 10 years at home with my kids and saw myself as “just a mom.” I knew the value of partnering with God in raising my kids, but I didn’t know that I had much more to offer. What significant Kingdom impact could someone who was “just a mom” really make in the world?
Actually, a pretty big one. In prayer, God showed me that a group of moms would be the “mothers of a movement” in Surprise, AZ, where I lived. And he’s done it! The Lord has truly surprised me by launching moms into expanding his Kingdom—in their homes, families, and community—through prayer. The truth that has launched these women into a movement of prayer is incredibly simple and yet incredibly powerful: we carry the presence of Jesus with us everywhere we go.
When I began learning about strategic prayer and taking the land for Jesus, I immediately started prayer-walking in my neighborhood and community. At first, I did this alone, but then a friend asked if I would join her in starting a prayer group at our church. She wanted to focus on prayer-walking, too—praying for our church and the school right across the street. We started the group with just a handful of women. Now, two years later, we have 35 women on the roster, and 20–25 are coming each week to pray.
As we grew, we realized we couldn’t just focus on the outward work of prayer-walking in our community. The women joining our group were coming in with a lot of hurt from things in their lives; they also didn’t understand the authority they had in Christ to make a real difference in the world around them. It was at this time that we realized we needed to focus inwardly before we could make an impact outwardly. The redemption that happens when God's people pray for healing is powerful, so together we went on a journey to restore those broken places inside of us through prayer. We each dug deep into understanding our spiritual identity and authority in Christ as his priests (1 Peter 2:5, 9), and began to truly believe that we were taking the presence of Jesus with us everywhere we went.
At one point, our group spent a series of weeks asking God about our purpose. The first week we each asked him to give us a Bible verse as a purpose statement for our lives. The next week we asked for a verse for our husbands, then for each of our kids. Eventually, we looked up the meanings of the names of each family member, and it was amazing how the verses and the meanings of each name fit together! Finally, each woman wove these scriptures and name meanings together into a vision statement for their family. It was wonderful to see how God had orchestrated each family and put them together, clearly defining their purpose and identity! Now I try to pray these scriptures and purpose over my family each day. My kids all know their verses, and it’s been good to see them taking ownership of their identity, a vision I try to keep before them so that they know that wherever they go, they are taking Jesus with them!
The growth in these women over the last year has been incredible. They are learning to listen to God, take authority and ownership over their lives and families, and pray for their kids, husbands, and for the community. We heard a report from one husband that his wife had completely changed after coming to prayer just one time. She understood her spiritual authority, shared what she’d learned with her family, and was praying for and with them. As the women have been changed through prayer, the men have started talking about launching their own prayer group.
The biggest change happened when these women realized that they truly carry Jesus with them wherever they go. Now they understand that they don’t have to go to church to be in God’s presence because his presence is with them everywhere. When they are in their homes, they know that he’s in the midst of everything they do, just as he is when they are at work, with their friends, or when they are visiting their kids’ school. Allowing Jesus to indwell them more mightily and then flow out to their families and all those around them has not only been life-changing, it's been world-changing.
Though I thought that a lasting change wouldn't happen in our community until all our focus was on prayer-walking, the work of healing in our hearts and stepping into our authority in Christ has already had incredible transformative power. After we really started praying over the church and blessing it, we saw the church begin to expand. Originally we were just one campus, but in the last six months, we have planted two new churches in different locations! One of the new churches is in a smaller community that had no prior church presence. It’s been amazing to see how being faithful in this one little area—blessing our existing church community—has allowed us to see God's Kingdom expand, especially when it happens in places that had no real Christian influence before.
These women have become a force for transformation in their homes and our whole city as they’ve invited God to deeply transform their own lives. Coming to understand their authority in Christ and the privilege of blessing and carrying Jesus’s presence has allowed us to see the larger community of Surprise shift. Currently, we’re in the middle of a focused 40-day prayer-walk around the church. After we're done, our goal is to go out into the community and pray over the whole city, street by street. I know that as we pray, God’s Kingdom will expand. After all, we carry the very presence of Jesus with us! Understanding that truth changes everything!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Becca Pressnall joined Novo in 2017 and is a member of the Prime Intercession Team. She lives in Surprise, AZ, with her husband Scott and their three kids. The families in Surprise are Becca’s mission field. She is passionate about getting more moms into the movement of God.