418 Ministries is a Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the Spirit.  Our purpose is to engineer regional thrust for a multigenerational move of God — kingdom breakthroughs, kingdom equipping, and kingdom fullness.

In modern two-stage orbital rocketry, nearly 90% of a rocket’s total thrust comes from a cluster of engines that compose the booster stage.  The purpose of this first stage is to break through earth’s gravitational pull, powering the rocketship to the edge of the atmosphere.  The second stage then puts the payload into orbit.

Prevailing prayer is to the mission of God’s kingdom what rocket boosters are to space shuttles — a stage-one spiritual breakthrough of second-heaven demonic resistance, powering us into the plans and purposes of God for a region.  Prayer sparks and sustains a move of God, because prayer connects us to the Fire and the Fuel — and it’s “not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord!” (Zechariah 4:6)

Front to back, the bible bears witness to the spiritual reality of the breakthrough power of prayer.

Jesus' first two sets of kingdom forerunners—the 12 & 72—are deployed with this command, “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to thrust laborers into his harvest” (Matt 9:38, Luke 10:2). 

The first church devotes themselves to unceasing prayer with one accord, and in a single day, 120 becomes 3000, as all get lit suddenly with fire-power from on high for the flaming gospel (Acts 1-2).  

The early church then cries out for continued courage, and the place is shaken as they suddenly refuel with the jet fuel of Jesus — the Spirit of divine boldness and miracle-multiplying power (Acts 4:23-31).

Cornelius' prayers then break the sound barrier between Jew & Gentile (Acts 10), and Antioch’s furnace of fasted worship launches the triple-stage archetype of cross-cultural missions (Acts 13).

The examples are endless.  Whether it’s Daniel’s 21-day fast for breakthrough insight (Daniel 10), or Jesus’ 40, binding the devil and inaugurating the in-breaking of the kingdom (Luke 4), the principle is the same: prayer drives the expansion of the kingdom of God. 

Like a stage-one rocket booster, this is the breakthrough power of prayer.

418 Ministries exists to develop clusters of “Prayer Engines” to power and sustain a move of God for Long Beach and beyond.  Long term & Lord willing, a major ministry objective is to launch the next generation into orbit — a place of unceasing prayer & worship for unrivaled access to the heart, hand and face of God.

In Walter Wink’s famous words, “History belongs to the Intercessors.”  For us & for our children, Let Us Pray!