In 2017, a group of believers from 20 diverse church groups came together with a heart to see churches praying in unity for Waterloo, Kitchener, and Cambridge. Their collaboration led to the creation of Prayer in the Park; an annual prayer gathering drawing believers from all over the region to pray together at Victoria Park in Kitchener. In 2024, members on the Prayer in the Park Planning Team felt the burden to facilitate a more consistent, focused rhythm of region-wide prayer and to create a platform to support the prayer initiatives already taking place throughout Waterloo Region. After much prayer and planning, in April of 2024 the group launched the Waterloo Region Prayer Network marking a significant step towards these shared goals.
Currently, the Waterloo Region Prayer Network Planning Team is made up of leaders representing 8 different denominations, and 8 local Christian para-church organizations.
WORSHIP
We believe that God-honouring prayer comes from a place of marvelling in the glory of Jesus Christ as Lord, Saviour, and King of the world. We believe that as we worship, we are joining our voices together with the worship already being offered by angels and elders in the throne room of God in heaven. Our prayer flows out of this posture of worship, as we revere Jesus and proclaim our deep love for him.
HOLINESS
We believe that if we humble ourselves, and pray and seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways, then God will hear from heaven and will forgive our sin and heal our land (2 Chron 7:14). We value the practices of regular confession of sin, repentance, and fasting as ways of humbling ourselves before the Lord, recognizing our need for him, and relying on him to grow us in holiness.
UNITY
We believe that there is special significance in the corporate, unified prayers of 2 or more people (Matthew 18:19). We believe that “when God’s people live together in unity... the Lord bestows his blessing” (Psalm 133). So we promote a culture of reconciliation, agreement, and unity in prayer.
AUTHORITY
We believe that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus (Matt. 28:18). As participants in Christ, who are seated with him in heavenly places, and who share in his body, we have been given authority “over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). This position in Christ allows us to pray with confidence and boldness.
SCRIPTURE
We believe that the 66 books of the Bible are God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. We rely on the scriptures as our final authority, and use them to test and direct our prayers.
FAITH
We believe that God can and will move mountains if we pray with true faith in Him. We believe that Jesus has invited us to pray “big” prayers and make bold requests of the Father (Luke 11:8-10), so that He might be glorified in and through us. So we seek to pray with boldness and expectation.
PERSISTENCE
We believe that the Lord desires for us to seek Him and love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that He is not pleased with complacency. We believe that He honours persistent prayers of his followers, so we seek to pray with fervency and wholehearted devotion (Luke 18:1-8).
LISTENING PRAYER
We believe that the Lord speaks to His people as they wait on Him in prayer. Scripture shows us that the Lord speaks to His people through many means including the Bible, dreams, visions, angels, and in many other ways. We draw near to the Lord in times of silence with an openness to the Lord speaking to us in these ways as well. We ensure all personal revelations are tested by scripture and by other mature believers, submitting ourselves to the collective discernment of the body of Christ (1 Cor 14:29).
A POSTURE OF BLESSING
We believe that the Lord has a heart of grace towards His creation, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to a knowledge of the truth (2 Peter 3:9). We affirm that Jesus embodied radical grace towards sinners, so we seek to pray for everyone from a posture of blessing. We do not tolerate curses, gossip, slander, or hate-filled prayer towards others. Rather we petition the Lord to bring about the transformation of unjust systems, and the redemption of those who are far from God.
For more information about our values, beliefs, and prayer protocols, see our Prayer Partner Commitment Document.
United, Focused, and Persistent Prayer for Waterloo Region