Outreach Canada Blog

We are excited to be launching the new year at Outreach Canada with a new blog series on PRAYER. As we focus on and explore the topic of prayer, we also want to provide helpful tools for you to use in your own life & ministry.

So, we asked our Outreach Canada team for their recommended prayer resources - apps, podcasts, videos, books, prayer guides - especially those resources that have had impact in their own lives. And then we rounded up all the recommendations in one list to share with you!

Our desire is to share from our own experience and to encourage you to dig a little deeper in prayer. On behalf of our Outreach Canada team, we hope you take the leap, and jump into exploring one (or more!) of these incredible resources. 

As we kick off our new focus on PRAYER, here is our list of 29 Recommended Prayer Resources for 2024:

I remember sitting in a seminar once hearing the presenter ask, "If your local church disappeared, would anybody in the neighbourhood notice?"

Stinging words. Sobering. Sit with that question and chew on it. Let it disturb you the way it disturbed me.

Christian community is intended to be noticeable, and it’s intended to be transformative to the surrounding community—light in a dark place. And what makes us noticeable and transformative, according to Jesus, is our good works.

So what good works is your church offering your community that are being seen and noticed by your neighbours, bringing light to the surroundings, and causing them to give glory to our Father? What are you offering that would be missed if you stopped?

A few years ago, I spent several months reading and re-reading the book of Acts. I was trying to understand how the Church had gone from a handful of people hiding out for fear of the authorities, to a bold and fearless community growing at an exponential rate.

As I read, a pattern began to emerge:

Prayer preceded Holy Spirit empowerment, which led to bold, public witness about Jesus Christ, accompanied by affirming signs and wonders,

resulting in many coming to faith AND active opposition from others,

which then caused Jesus’ followers to go back to prayer … starting the cycle all over again.

Here are 8 disciple-making principles that have become crystal clear to me from the Acts accounts ...

Here is a collection of 40 quotes about Disciple-Making -- words of wisdom from Christian thinkers, including Outreach Canada team members ...

How can you recognize a disciple of Jesus? 

In some circles, discipleship is measured by activities such as reading the Bible and praying; attending church and participating in religious programs. These can be valuable, but is discipleship determined by such activities?

John B. MacDonald proposes that Jesus is the source, the substance, and the goal of true discipleship. 

Here are five attributes that distinguish disciples of Christ from others... 

5 Questions to Consider as you Build Cross-Cultural Friendships.

Vanilla describes most of my childhood: Food was predictable, community was homogenous, and the exotic or unusual was reserved for travelogue shows on TV.

Vanilla was my ice cream flavor of choice. It was safe, predictable, and delicious. All those other flavors might not be as good…and risking ice cream disappointment seemed unimaginable to me. It wasn’t until my teens that I discovered the delights of Mint Chocolate Chip, Maple Walnut, and other wonderful flavours.