An Invitation to Pray
Believers asking, seeking, knocking and listening to the Holy Spirit formed The Wesleyan Church (TWC) in 1968. Differing opinions, priorities and practices, and distinct personalities came together, bowed in obedience, to determine the purpose and beliefs still guiding our mission today.
Wesleyans remain a praying people — a Spirit-led, praying movement — called to evangelize and make disciples of all people.
This issue of “Wesleyan Life” is dedicated to prayer. It’s theme, “An Invitation to Pray,” embodies God’s desire for us to pray and reinforces the truth that our prayers are essential for our shared mission to succeed.
In the following articles, Wesleyan authors address various prayer topics: theology, purpose, invitations, testimonies and written prayers. Our hope, by giving voice to God’s invitation to pray, is to stir within you a fresh desire and greater movement toward prayer so we, as Wesleyans, may live as holy people on mission in our world.
Your prayers are coveted for the 15th General Conference (15thGC) of The Wesleyan Church, May 17-20, 2026. The conference theme, “Empowered,” reminds us that the same Holy Spirit’s empowering of Jesus’ disciples recorded in Acts exists for and within us today. Be watching in spring 2026 for “EMPOWERED: A 15th General Conference Prayer Initiative,” a 30-day digital prayer resource that will guide us in prayer leading up to General Conference.
General Superintendent Wayne Schmidt says, “I often reflect on the fact that between Jesus’ promise in Acts 1:8 and the Holy Spirit’s empowerment in Acts 2 the disciples prayed. Jesus’ promise and the Holy Spirit’s power are constant, as should be our prayers.”
Jesus commands us today, his disciples empowered by the Holy Spirit, to go and make disciples in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Our mission remains incomplete.
We have a standing invitation from God to pray, and confidence drawn from Scripture and personal experience that he will answer. May our trust in the Lord guide and align us as we together serve the world for his glory and the fulfillment of his mission.
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