David Clark

I grew up in a church that said the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday, but as a child I had little appreciation for its value. To me, the low monotonous tone had little appeal. As my personal relationship with Christ deepened throughout my youth, however, prayer itself became increasingly important to me. It seemed that the more I prayed, the more God responded. Seeing His hand at work in the lives of those around me, and in my own life, I became increasingly excited about the possibilities that the Lord opened to me through prayer.

As a nineteen-year-old freshman at Wheaton College, I made a radical decision. Through prayer, I had come to the conclusion that anything was possible with God. Thus, with no church or organizational sponsorship, and with no committed financial support, I left my life in the U.S. behind and headed off to Mexico as a missionary. Living in a cardboard shack, sleeping in a hammock, and cooking my food over the fire—I began reaching out to an impoverished community in the city of Merida. Armed with a puppet named “Bobby the Gospel Monkey,” I invited the neighborhood children to come to Saturday morning Bible class. Over time, I began to build relationship with their parents, and after about year, a small church was planted. I spent six years in Mexico, pastoring that small congregation and continuing my work with the kids. I am happy to say that many years later, that church, and others they planted, are still going.

When I returned to the States, my vision was to train and send out other young people like me who had a passion for missions. The path led me and my new wife Kimberly to the organization Youth With A Mission (YWAM). In 1998 we founded YWAM Minneapolis, and since that time have been able to disciple and mobilize hundreds of young people from all over the world. YWAM is a community deeply committed to prayer, and I like to remind our staff and students that “God created us to create, and to collaborate with Him- through prayer-- in the renewal of all things.”

As I have had the privilege of being a leader in YWAM over many years, I have also had the opportunity to continue my education. After completing a Master of Divinity, I decided to pursue a PhD on the topic of Lord’s Prayer. Having now spent many years studying this prayer, I feel that I have “come home.” I no longer think of it as a boring recitation. Now I see it as the greatest prayer that has ever been taught. What else could we say about a prayer taught by Jesus himself? My passion for prayer, and my faith in its power are now fully integrated with my love for the Lord’s Prayer.