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Intention

To be encouraged to pray for the Church, because a revived Church is the only hope for a dying world.

Scripture

“On this rock I will build my Church (Ekklesia), and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

– Matthew 16:18

Reflection

“I think we have to again pray for the Church, the Ekklesia.” These words shocked me. It wasn’t what I expected.

My name is Warwick Marsh, and I am the leader of the Canberra Declaration. I was contemplating what the theme of our annual October month of prayer and fasting should be in 2026.

I had just asked Kym Farnik, the Canberra Declaration Prayer Director, for his thoughts about what we should be praying for. I was not expecting the answer: “The Church.”

My first reaction was, “What would people think?”

My self-talk continued, “Warwick has forgotten that we prayed for the Church last year. Warwick is becoming religious. He is losing the plot.”

This initiative to pray and fast during October began with the Catholic Church in 2016. In 2017, we prayed again — this time for the preservation of marriage between a man and a woman. Sadly, we lost that battle in December 2017 when our Federal Parliament redefined marriage.

But we’ve continued the October tradition every year since, believing a month of national prayer and fasting is worth persisting in. Every year we have had a different theme — except for the first two years (praying for marriage, for obvious reasons).

Kym’s idea of praying for the Church — again — rocked my little world. But I am a man who believes in prayer and prayerful collaboration. So, I prayed and asked God: What do you think of this idea?

That’s when I started to remember a few things. You see, every morning I celebrate communion with my wife when we awake. We pray for our family, ourselves, our friends, others, some Christian ministries and several countries.

The first prayer I pray is for revival, repentance and reformation for Australia. I began to wonder how my prayer could best come to pass.

Then I recalled what Jesus said about the Church in Matthew — and how seven great men of God had said revival, repentance and reformation will only happen through the Church.

Here is a taste of what these seven great men of God had to say:

1. A. W. Tozer (1897–1963): “A revived Church is the only hope for a dying world. Programs cannot save a nation; only the presence of God manifested through His people can.”
2. Charles G. Finney (1792–1875): “Revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God. It consists in the Church’s return from her backsliding.”
3. Leonard Ravenhill (1907–1994): “The Church holds the keys to the kingdom. If the Church fails in her prayer life, the nation fails in its moral life.”
4. Andrew Murray (1828–1917): “The Church is the body of Christ, the organ through which He works. A body without life can do nothing; a Church without revival cannot manifest Christ to the world.”
5. Charles Spurgeon (1834–1894): “The Church is the pillar and ground of the truth; and if the Church fails to hold forth the word of life, where else is the world to look for light?”
6. John Wesley (1703–1791): “What may we reasonably expect to be the consequence of a revival of religion? The Church will become the light of the world and the salt of the earth, preserving society from corruption.”
7. Billy Graham (1918–2018): “An awakened Church is the greatest evangelistic tool in the world.”

What these mighty men of God said about the pivotal role of the Church really challenged me. I then shared this idea of praying for the Church again with our small prayer leadership team. They all said yes.

Then the majority of our Canberra Declaration prayer warriors also said yes — and here we are today, the first day of 31 days of prayer and fasting for the Church. Thank you for joining us!

Please watch the video interview below, which I recorded with Dr Allan Meyer, a well-known Australian Bible teacher, about the importance of the Church in God’s plan.

Video

Prayer

Father, awaken your Ekklesia from her slumber. May she arise and blossom like a rose in the Garden of God that all men will see the glory of God and billions of people will come to Christ! In Jesus’ name, amen!

Author Bio

Warwick Marsh has been married to Alison since 1975, and they have five children and eleven grandchildren. He is a family and faith advocate, social reformer, musician, TV producer, writer and public speaker. Warwick is well known in Australia for his advocacy for prayer, children, marriage, manhood, family, fatherhood and faith.

Prayer Points for October 2026

We are praying for the Church to:

1. Awaken to her first love for Jesus (Ephesians 5:14; Revelation 2:4).
2. Awaken to evangelism so that millions will trust in Christ (John 3:16; Proverbs 11:30).
3. Awakento her prophetic voice to the nation (Isaiah 52:1; Matthew 14:4).

We invite you to support this campaign to multiply prayer in Australia for revival and see millions come to faith in Christ. Every donation to the Canberra Declaration helps us promote prayer and make a stand for family, faith, freedom, life, and the good news of God’s love through Jesus Christ.

Sign up to receive daily devotions during October in your inbox (and find extra info) here.

Join Us for Our Nightly Zoom Prayer Call:

DATES: Every night from Thursday, 1 October to Saturday, 31 October

TIME from 1–3 October: 8 pm AEST; 7:30 pm ACST; 6 pm WA

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME from 4–31 October: 8 pm AEDT; 7:30 pm SA; 7 pm QLD; 6:30 pm NT; 5 pm WA

ZOOM URL LINK: zoom.us/j/776881184

ZOOM TUTORIAL: youtube.com/watch?v=pAMDxH_H_Cs

View all October 2026 Awaken devotionals

Daily devotions are brought to you by the Canberra Declaration.

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Image via Adobe.