World Prays is a movement of churches covering their cities and nations in 24/7 prayer. Our mission is Every Church in Every Nation a House of Prayer. We are a multiethnic, interdenominational, Jesus-centered prayer movement. World Prays is a part of America Prays, a registered 501(c)(3) tax-exempt ministry.
Our vision is to unite and equip churches in every nation in 24/7 prayer for a global spiritual awakening.
We believe that the world is in desperate need of spiritual awakening and that only united prayer can revive our communities. As J. Edwin Orr observed, “No great spiritual awakening has begun anywhere in the world apart from united prayer.” We are believing for churches of all sizes and theological backgrounds in every nation to adopt a monthly day of prayer and join us in praying for the greatest spiritual awakening in history.
In January 2009, churches in Austin, Texas under the leadership of Pastor Trey Kent and churches in Bellingham, Washington under the leadership of Pastor Jason Hubbard began covering their communities in 24/7 prayer. Their model was simple—each church adopted a monthly day of prayer or half day of prayer. Believers prayed in 30- or 60-minute segments from home, school, work or church.
On January 1, 2017, Pastor Brian Alarid and a group of pastors launched New Mexico Prays using this same model. Today there are over 100 churches in 27 cities and towns that are covering New Mexico in unceasing prayer. On On October 9, 2017, we launched America Prays to unite and equip 40,000 churches in 24/7 prayer for a national spiritual awakening. By Spring 2018, the movement had spread to other nations and we launched World Prays to serve as a relational network of pastors and leaders who are covering their nations in 24/7 prayer.
Brian was born in southern California and spent much of his childhood in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, where his parents served as missionaries. While on the mission field, he became fluent in Spanish and developed a passion for missions. Brian gave his life to Christ at the age of four in Guatemala. He was water baptized and received his call to ministry at the age of twelve in Costa Rica, went to Bible school at the age of seventeen, and has been in full-time pastoral ministry since 1993.
Brian holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Regent University and a Bachelor’s degree in Theology. Brian is the Founding Pastor of Passion Church and has 28 years of pastoral ministry and executive leadership. Brian is the President and CEO of America Prays and World Prays.
Brian’s first love is spending time with Jesus in prayer, but his other passions include preaching God’s Word, leadership development, evangelism, serving the poor, and foreign missions. Brian has preached to thousands of people and trained thousands of leaders in many nations. Brian has been married to Mercy for 24 years and together they have three beautiful children: Chloe, Colin, and Lauren. They reside in Austin, Texas. You can connect with Brian at brianalarid.com.
We are a movement of Christian churches who affirm the Statement of Faith adopted by the National Association of Evangelicals.
“We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We also affirm the Lausanne Covenant and the Apostles’ Creed. With regard to all other doctrines, we adopt this approach: “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.”
These are the values that define our culture and shape our movement.
1. Christ-centered
2. Bible-saturated
3. Love-motivated
4. Discipleship-driven
5. Local church-based
6. Spirit-empowered
7. Unity-focused
1. Christ-centered: We seek to honor Jesus Christ in everything we do and say. We strive to put Christ first and give Him the preeminence in all things. There is no room in world Prays for pride, self-promotion or arrogant boasting. We live for His glory and His renown, not to exalt ourselves or our ministry. The primary motivation behind everything we do must be to honor Jesus and give Him the supremacy. Jesus is the Head of World Prays and we are His servants. It’s not about us—it’s all about Jesus.
Colossians 1:15-18, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”
2. Bible-saturated: We believe the Bible is the infallible and inspired Word of God, and the only foundation for life. We want God’s Word to saturate our lives and permeate everything we do. The Bible is our ultimate authority and our moral compass. We strive to be men and women who meditate daily in the Word and apply it to our personal lives, much like the early followers of Christ.
Acts 2:42, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” We seek to build our lives and ministry on obedience to God’s Word. It is only the Bible that has the power to purify us, transform us, and keep us in the path of eternal life. As Howard Hendricks said, “Dusty Bibles always lead to dirty lives.”
3. Love-motivated: We are motivated by Jesus’ two greatest commandments to love God and love people (Matthew 22:37-40). Love is the essence of who God is, what He expects from us, and what He offers to us. Love is the goal, the purpose, the motivating force, the outcome, and the culmination of everything we do at World Prays.
Jesus held up love as the most important benchmark of discipleship, saying in John 13:35, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Jesus didn’t say that the world will know we are His disciples when we love Him, but when we love one another. What shows the world that God is real is not when we express our love for God, but when we genuinely love one another. We will serve each other in love and make allowances for each other’s faults. Love will be the ultimate benchmark of our success.
4. Discipleship-driven: We believe that radical devotion to Christ should be the norm, not the exception. We are called to make disciples, not just converts. We are driven by a desire in to see the Great Commission fulfilled. Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.”
5. Local church-based: The church is God’s primary vehicle to bring salvation, healing, hope, and transformation to a broken world. We want to partner with pastors and churches to cover their communities in 24/7 prayer. When pastors and intercessors pray together and support each other, the Holy Spirit begins to transform the church. Pastors have to champion prayer in their church or their church will never become a house of prayer. Jesus said in Mark 11:17, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The church is supposed to be a house of prayer. Our dream is to see every church develop a culture and rhythm of prayer.
6. Spirit-empowered: By the grace of God, we submit our plans and decisions to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. We humbly recognize that we are dependent on God and can’t do anything apart from Jesus (John 15:5) and the Help of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13). Once we hear the Holy Spirit as he instructs us through the Scriptures, we will boldly follow his lead as we partner with Him to glorify Jesus in all that we do (John 16:14).
7. Unity-focused: Jesus prayed in John 17:21 that His followers would be one just as He and the Father are one “so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” The greatest witness to the world that Jesus is the Son of God is the unity of His church. We are focused on building and maintaining unity between pastors and churches from many different denominations and movements.
There is no room in World Prays for anything that causes division, namely: pride, selfishness, a judgmental spirit, unresolved conflicts, jealousy, and gossip. Rather, we will serve one another in humility, prefer one another before ourselves, show mercy, resolve conflicts before they turn into offenses, celebrate one another’s success, and protect each other’s reputations.
Ephesians 4:3 commands us, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” We lay aside theological differences for the sake of working together to accomplish the Great Commission of making disciples of all nations. Theology was meant to be a tool to help us grow in our relationship with God, not a wall to divide us.
Garrison served as executive director of U.S. Missions from 2005-2007; as superintendent for the Arkansas District from 2001-2005; and as pastor of First Assembly of God, North Little Rock, Arkansas, from 1986-2001. Throughout his pastorate, First Assembly saw significant growth, both numerically and financially. In 1996, First Assembly gave $1.4 million to world and U.S. missions. Garrison served as an evangelist from 1968-1985.
He has authored the books: A Spirit-Empowered Church, Acts 2 Church, Hope in America’s Crisis, The 360° Disciple and Building a Winning Team. Johanna Garrison authored the book: Tangled Destinies, an account of her family’s hardships through the Nazi holocaust and an Indonesian revolution and their subsequent immigration to the United States.
Garrison and his wife, Johanna, have one daughter, Lizette, and one grandson and one granddaughter.
Prayer and Worship gatherings across the nation such as UnitedCry D.C. 2016, a gathering of pastors and leaders to pray on the Lincoln Memorial on April 9th, 2016, as well as the Response in Cleveland, Ohio two days before the RNC, and other national call’s to prayer in 2016 such as Awake California in
Bakersfield. Doug has been extensively published and is often quoted by others in articles and books. He has been a guest on numerous radio and television programs as well as a guest host. Somebody Cares ® has produced made- for-television programs entitled Living Life Beyond the Moment with Doug Stringer, that have aired on various networks. Doug is the author of many books such as, *The Fatherless Generation *Somebody Cares *Who’s Your Daddy Now? *Hope for the Fatherless Generation* and his most recent books are *In Search of A Father’s Blessing and *Leadership Awakening, Foundational Principles for Lasting Success.
Doug, his wife Lisa, and daughter Ashley, currently reside in Houston, Texas area.
He enjoys spending time with his family, reading, and snow skiing with his wife and two kids.
Some things he finds valuable in our Church today include Church planting and Evangelism.
His Spiritual Gifts are encouragement, teaching, and shepherding
Favorite Bible Verse(s): “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
John went through Christ-centered recovery program and went on to plant churches in LA and
the Philippines. He has earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology and Church Leadership from
Central Bible College and an MA in Urban and Intercultural Studies from the Assembly of God
Theological Seminary at Evangel University. Currently, he is working on a doctorate degree at
the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.
In 2015, he started the journey to plant CityReach Springfield Church, where he currently serves as lead pastor. John also oversees the Midwest church plants for CityReach Network and is the executive director for the Midwest Hope Homes recovery program. Most recently, he authored and published his autobiography, My Prison Became a Palace, available in English and Spanish. He is married to Hannah Rose Alarid and they have a beautiful one-year daughter, Brooklyn Adelina.
Dr. O'Brien serves as lead pastor of The Church at Pleasant Ridge in Harrisonville MO & concurrently as Pastor of Prayer at Connection Point Church in Raytown MO. A multisite church in the KC Metro.
Recently he become one of the executive directors of the City Wide Prayer. This movement seeks to engage 100,000 people in prayer to "Love KC" and tackle the giants of fatherless, racial unity, & church prayer collaboration in Kansas City. Caring for Kids began out of this movement and mobilizes hundreds of volunteers for multiple Title 1 Schools in the Kansas City.
His primary passion and calling is prayer for spiritual awakening. Malachi finished his doctoral degree in 2016 in social media. He leads a social media agency for various ministries and organizations and is involved in a social media influencers groups that includes leaders from the largest churches, denominations, and organizations in America.
Mark has been married to Karen since 1976, they have 6 children and 10 grand children.
He served as Senior Associate for Prayer for the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization for eight years. His responsibilities included training and motivating Christians worldwide to pray for world evangelization.
He is a founding member of America’s National Prayer Committee that plans the National Day of Prayer Activities on the National Day of Prayer and that encourages united prayer for America.
Prior to the beginning of International Prayer Ministries in 1986, he pioneered the Office of Prayer and Spiritual Awakening for the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention for almost eight years.
Ordained by Central Baptist Church, Warner Robins, GA in 1961 he pastored Baptist Churches in Georgia and Kentucky for 20 years.
He has spoken in over 150 nations on five continents and in all 50 states. His speaking commitments include crusades, evangelism conferences, state and national conventions, university and seminary campus lectures, and many Para church and trans denominational events. He served on program development of the American Festival of Evangelism in Kansas City in 1980. He was a speaker and workshop leader for the International Prayer Assembly in Seoul Korea in 1984. He spoke for the Canadian Revival Fellowship International meeting in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and delivered the inspirational messages for the Australian Baptist Convention in Sydney, Australia in 1985. He taught a workshop on "The Role of the Evangelist in Praying for Spiritual Awakening" at Amsterdam ‘86, which was sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He presented the Global Prayer Strategy and coordinated the Prayer Tract for 18 workshops for 5000 participants from 189 countries at Lausanne II in Manila in 1989.
He received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from Valdosta State University in 1988
He has written for several Christian publications including DECISION MAGAZINE, W I N, THE BAPTIST PROGRAM and other Christian publications. He is the developer of The Prayer for Spiritual Awakening Seminar, a 60 page, eight-hour prayer-training seminar. With his wife, he co-authored THE GLOBAL PRAYER STRATEGY MANUAL, and he wrote MY AFRICAN DIARY, the account of a mission trip to four countries in Africa.
His wife Jacquelyn is a teacher, counselor and writer. She is founding director of Springs High School and Learning Center. She frequently teaches prayer seminars with her husband. Their three grown children and their mates along with eight grandchildren are on the mission field.
