Breakthrough Prayer at Work:
Stories from the Global Harvest
When we talk about Breakthrough Prayer, we’re not speaking in abstractions. We’re speaking about real people, in real places, encountering Jesus in ways only God could orchestrate. The 2025 update from International Prayer Connect (IPC) offers an incredible hope-filled glimpse into what happens when the global Church commits to sustained, united prayer for the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
For the past five years, IPC has helped mobilize a worldwide prayer movement focused on one central aim: seeing gospel movements take root among every people and in every place. That commitment has taken shape through 24/7 global prayer, prayer for the world’s largest unreached cities, and coordinated global days of prayer for those with the least access to the gospel. In 2025, the fruit of those prayers has become increasingly visible—often in costly and unexpected ways.
Prayer Sustained Across Nations and Languages
IPC’s Global Family 24/7 Prayer Room has now been sustained continuously for five years, with believers from over 50 nations praying in more than 20 languages. Hour by hour, day by day, worship and intercession have gone forth—often unseen, yet profoundly consequential. This steady rhythm of prayer has formed the spiritual foundation for what has followed.
Alongside this, IPC and its partners have focused prayer on 110 of the world’s largest unreached cities—places where nearly 90 percent of the world’s remaining unreached peoples live. Through collaboration with house church movements and prayer networks, 24/7 houses of prayer have been launched across regions including China, the Middle East, North Africa, India, and Europe. Today, prayer movements are actively engaging 105 of those 110 cities, through prayer walking teams, local believers, and prayer-fueled discipleship.
When Prayer and Mission Converge
One of the defining convictions behind IPC’s work is that prayer and mission are inseparable. As one leader put it, “Without prayer, mission loses its power. Without mission, prayer loses its purpose.” In 2025, this convergence has borne remarkable fruit.
Research shared in the report indicates that underground house church movements connected to these prayer efforts are now growing at an average rate of more than 20 percent annually. Across 190 nations and more than 2,500 languages, an estimated 154 million people are now following Jesus within these movements. New believers are being discipled, churches are being formed, and local leaders are emerging—often in environments marked by pressure, persecution, and risk.
This year alone, nearly 96,000 newly trained workers were sent into new regions to prayer walk cities, share the gospel, and disciple new believers. These workers did not go as part of a short-term campaign, but as an ongoing response to prayer—trusting the Lord of the harvest to send laborers where they are most needed.
The Cost of Breakthrough
The IPC update does not shy away from the cost of this harvest. In 2025, more than 1,900 believers were martyred within a single family of partner movements. These losses are deeply felt, and they remind us that prayer-fueled gospel advance often unfolds alongside suffering. Yet even here, the report bears witness to the faithfulness of God—strengthening His people, sustaining their hope, and continuing His work despite intense opposition.
Stories of Encounter and Transformation
Throughout the report, individual stories put faces to the broader movement.
In the Middle East, during a global day of prayer focused on the Muslim world, a gathering of tribal leaders, refugees, and families became the setting for a powerful gospel proclamation. After hours of conversation and questions, more than 8,000 former Muslim leaders chose to follow Jesus. One woman later shared how, after losing her husband, brothers, and children in war, she encountered Jesus through believers who prayed and shared with her. “I felt like life had no meaning,” she said. “Now I want to raise my children for Him.”
In another region, “Abdul” experienced the same dream four nights in a row: people carrying light walking through his village. On the fourth night, he waited outside in the darkness—his village had no electricity—until he saw lamps approaching. The people he met told him they had come with a message from God. When they opened a Bible—something Abdul had never seen—he learned about Jesus the Messiah. Today, 18 households in his village are following Jesus and discerning how God may lead them next.
The report also recounts the story of a Syrian student who survived a bombing that killed most of the 1,000 students at his madrasa. After leading the remaining survivors on a 42-hour walk into the hills with no food or water, they were met by believers who fed them, cared for them, and shared the gospel. “How can we have studied religion for six years,” he asked, “and this is the first time we hear the name of Jesus?”
Why This Matters for Finishing the Task
These stories are not isolated. They are the fruit of years of prayer offered faithfully by believers around the world—many of whom may never know the full impact of their intercession this side of eternity. Together, they remind us why Breakthrough Prayer stands at the heart of Finishing the Task. Prayer prepares the way for Bible translation, for gospel proclamation, for churches to be planted and strengthened, and for hearts to be opened to the love of Christ.
Looking ahead to 2026, IPC is calling the global Church to continue pressing in through upcoming Global Days of Prayer and through a new 365-day prayer plan focused on workers serving in the world’s unreached cities. The invitation is simple, but the stakes are eternal.
Join Us in Breakthrough Prayer
The task before us remains immense—but God is clearly at work. We invite you to join the Finishing the Task Breakthrough Prayer Team and stand with believers around the world who are praying for every person, every people group, and every place to encounter Jesus.When the Church prays, God moves.
And when God moves, the nations are changed.
