Novo

Activating Prayer Cohorts FAQ

What novo staff need to know

You can find a lot of details and info about how to register at novo.org/prayercohort

What is a Activating Prayer Cohort?

The Cohort is a six-module experiential prayer training focusing on the activating prayer tools we use in our mission contexts around the globe. The experiential part is what makes it so powerful… it’s not just head knowledge, but instead, people are practicing and experimenting every time they gather and also in between meetings.

Why should my partners and me attend a Cohort?

  1. First, we see it time and time again, people come thinking they know a lot. Slowly, they realize that they believe that God is powerful, but they feel quite powerless. They believe God can do it, but he never does, so they stop asking, stop hoping, and feel trapped inside a faith that is disappointing or worse. And no one talks about it. When people start believing what God says about them and begin to feel his power flowing through them as a partnership, it is a game changer. Hope is restored, miracles are witnessed, and a faith is born that flows from seeing God move with and through than rather than a well-crafted argument. That is what we’re talking about! 

  2. Second, one of the surest ways for our enemy to wreck our relationship with God and sideline us in ministry is to attack our identity. In the Cohorts, we are reminded of our true identities as daughters/sons of the King, as Royal Priests and are encouraged to live from this God-given identity.

  3. Third, prayer isn’t just talking to God, it’s talking with God, but many Christians are either unaware of this or don’t know how to have an relational prayer life. In the Cohorts, we learn that we can hear from God and that our spiritual authority actually flows out of our intimacy with God.

  4. Fourth, prayer is critical in laying the foundation and creating the conditions for a movement to launch and thrive. In the Cohorts, we are equipped with practical, activating prayer tools we can begin to apply in our contexts and missional spaces and given the opportunity to practice them in a safe environment before going to battle for our communities, neighbors, and friends and family.

How did Cohorts develop?

These Cohorts were originally developed to give back and bless Novo’s ministry partners. We saw a hunger in them to grow more in the power component of Word, Deed, and Power. We started with a small group at the Novo office, and now it’s expanded to 426 cities in the US and even went international with over 5,000 people going through it.

How was the content developed?

The content for the Cohort training comes directly from our field staff and from those with working experience in each area of learning. This is creating a direct line of sharing from our organizational expertise to the participants.

How can I or my partners attend?

This year we will offer the Cohort in two formats: local in-person gatherings with live facilitation and virtual calls for in-person Huddles (small groups that gather together) and individuals who prefer to join from their own home. Novo will be facilitating several virtual calls this year every week for 12 weeks, September through November.

Huddles and individuals are welcome to participate in any of these calls. Individuals that participate will be captured into break-out groups for discussion and lab times. Huddles that join will be engaging in their local meeting places during triad and lab discussions.

What if none of those times work in my timezone?

For Novo staff in time zones that won’t work with these options, contact Danny Aanderud (danny.aanderud@novouk.org) for information about the Cohort offered by Novo UK. This version is branded as E4M (Empowered for Mission). Last year the US cohorts served 38 states and 23 different nations around the globe.

Is this going to be a big stretch for my partners?

If you're concerned this might be too far outside their box or they might not agree theologically, know that we’ve had close to 50 pastors from conservative Evangelical churches go through it, and not one of them has had any problems theologically. Will it stretch them and push them out of their comfort zone? Yes it will, but it’s a safe place to wrestle and practice, and I can’t stress enough how much fruit and transformation we’ve seen.

Is the Cohort offered in any other languages?

All of the Cohort materials have been translated into Spanish and are available for groups to facilitate.

Is there a deadline to register?

The Cohort will launch in September this year, so we encourage you and your partners to register by August 31st. Space is limited in some locations and will be filled on a first come-first served basis.



What’s Your Part?

Attendance: Attendance is expected at each meeting. You will be going through this Cohort journey with a small group of people (your Cohort Huddle), and you will also be connecting with your Huddle in between meetings either in person or virtually. We know life is full, but the expectation is that you carve out space in your life and calendar to invest in this Cohort for all six modules. Please check the meeting dates for your location and compare against your calendar prior to registering. We give you all the dates ahead of time so you can block out your calendar far in advance.

Experimenting: The power of this Cohort is that it is experiential and discovery-based. There will be a short time of teaching followed by time to experiment together with a specific prayer tool during the meeting, AND you will experiment on your own between gatherings. 

Cost: Part of Novo’s calling is to equip and mobilize the body of Christ around the world. As such, Novo offers this course free of cost to all participants. There are optional costs of purchasing printed copies of the Cohort Workbook and Novo booklets, but those are also available to be downloaded for free from the online learning platform you’ll gain access to when you register.  

Resources

Follow along with each module in the Course Material (of which there are several ways to access), and prepare for each session with required reading in the Novo Booklets. There are also several recommended books which will go deeper on the topics and you're highly encouraged to read as well so you'll have a foundation on which to build.

Required:

Recommended: