November 2025 | 13
Transforming Prayer Impacts London Correctional Institute By Steve Hopkins, prayer consultant
reason she is still here is that she can pray for her family. I realized I am not praying for my lost family members. I am now committed to praying for them, so my grandmother can go to heaven.” Mark was also moved by his experience with the men. “This has been a truly transforming experience. The men were hungry to learn and grow in their faith. They read ‘Transforming Prayer,’ along with God’s word, and the Lord transformed them,” he said. Every week, the men had to be coaxed out of the chapel because they were gathered at the altar, praying. Seeing God at work, feeling him move in my own life, has been life-changing.” “‘Transforming Prayer’ certainly lives up to its title,” Chris writes. “It will forever change the way I see prayer.” As Mark and I began to leave on the last night, five men gathered around us. They prayed over us, offering some of the most powerful prayers I have ever experienced. It was definitely more of an encouragement for me to be there than anything we did with them. Because of your giving to the Cooperative Program, each man received “Transforming Prayer” and “21 Days of Transforming Prayer.” The Transforming Prayer group study is available for your church at strategicrenewal. com . Also, mark your calendar—Daniel Henderson will be in Ohio on October 23-24, 2026, at Jersey Church for a prayer summit.
The entrance of the London Correctional Institute in London, Ohio.
For the last several years, I have been doing prayer ministry with Mark Painter, a deacon at Violet Baptist Church, Pickerington, and recently we were invited by Chaplains Kehr and Haynes to come to the London Correctional Institute to share the book, “Transforming Prayer” by Daniel Henderson, with the men incarcerated there. About 40 men gathered each Wednesday from 6-8:30 pm for teaching and prayer together. On the first night, two men prayed to receive Christ, a testimony to the great work the chaplains are doing in a challenging environment. Chaplain Kehr shared that they had 50 waiting for baptism! Adopting the request of the disciples, “Lord, teach us to pray,” we studied the Model Prayer (Matthew 6:9- 13) over five sessions. We learned that the motivation for prayer is “He is worthy!” and our response is “We are needy!” Together, we came to understand what it means to pray “scripture-fed, Spirit-led, worship-based prayers.” I sat and talked with Kevin after a time of prayer in small groups. Others were still praying, so we had a few minutes. He shared with me the two things that impacted him most from “Transforming Prayer.” “The way ‘bless’ and ‘be with’ dominate most of our prayers,” said Kevin. “I’m learning to be more specific.” Kevin also noticed what people pray about. “We spend more prayer energy trying to keep sick Christians out of heaven than trying to keep lost people out of hell,” he said. “My grandmother is 97. She is eager and ready to go home and be with Jesus. However, she believes the
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