About
IFA
Get to know the largest national prayer ministry dedicated to praying for our government and leaders.
Who is IFA?
God has a plan and purpose for America, as He has for every nation. His calling is seen in our country’s founding documents and in the circumstances of the nation’s birth. Every generation since then has played a part in the fulfillment of God’s calling for America. For 50 years, IFA has been praying for our government and its leaders. Our mission has not changed, but the hour grows ever more urgent to stand up for religious freedom, to speak truth into the culture, to call for godly government, to offer hope to our fellow citizens, and, of course, to glorify God. We are blessed that, in all we are called to do, we can do so in partnership with other praying believers. This is what makes IFA not just a policy and prayer organization but also a revolutionary community of prayer and action for our nation.
How does IFA fulfill our mission? News. Prayer. Action. Since our founding in 1973, IFA has informed, connected, and mobilized a growing number of people praying and fasting for the nation. For decades, God has inspired us to pray in accordance with His will and answered our prayers. IFA speaks into governmental issues that are based on the Word of God. Our desire is not to be political, but uphold biblical positions on issues facing our nation. Core issues include, religious freedom, life, national security, gender and sexuality, Israel, marriage and family, economy, immigration, creation care (environment), education, civil society and spiritual warfare.
News
The average Christian does not have the contacts, time, or energy to stay informed about most issues on the national, state, and local levels. More and more, some of these issues threaten our essential freedoms. Others undermine the basic moral fiber of our country. With each emerging concern, we need to seek God’s intervention and guidance for our leaders. IFA publishes news that Christians need to pray about in a variety of easily accessible formats.
Prayer
Through our 50 years of experience, we have witnessed a surge in the number of intercessors in the past seven years joining with us to pray and fast for America. In 2022, inspired by the Holy Spirit, IFA organized state prayer in every state. Thousands of intercessors connect with other praying believers in their state to pray about local and state issues. State pages on the IFA website share state-specific news and provide opportunities for community connection and prayer.
Action
Prayer for the nation naturally and inevitably leads to action. IFA intercessors send millions of prayer messages to elected officials each year. IFA helps intercessors find their voice to speak into government. Many of our intercessors serve as election staff, on school boards, in state legislatures, throughout the halls of Congress, and even in the executive branches of the state and the nation.
Scope of our work
God specifically calls some to a ministry that focuses on praying for the nation while requiring all at some level to pray for leaders.
God is calling more and more people to pray. Effective intercession requires a prophetic perspective: by hearing the voice of the Lord through the leading of the Holy Spirit, coupled with vetted and strategic information that is never presented in a sensational manner. Teams of researchers and writers curate the news, seeking God’s perspective and the spiritual underpinnings of the headlines. IFA’s Headline Prayer is a trusted daily resource for over half a million readers.We pray about the roots of the issues facing America, not just the fruit.
There is an Enemy of our souls and our nation who orchestrates a coordinated battle plan that is discernible and beatable with spiritual weapons. Passion and boldness for prayer are stoked by collective times of prayer, by praying as if the course and destiny of America hang in the balance.
IFA hosts national webcasts and organized prayer sessions in every state. Grassroots prayer, led by IFA leaders in all 50 states, brings together a community of intercessors to pray for local and state governments and leaders. Collective fasting on the first Friday of every month is the single most unifying action the IFA community does together. God is looking for those who will stand in the gap and intercede on behalf of the land. IFA intercessors are answering the call of God. Prayer and action initiatives, such as Vote Your Values, 10 for America, and Appealing for Life, mobilize intercessors on timely and critical issues in the nation.
Religious Freedom
Religious freedom is America’s first freedom. From the time of the Pilgrims onward, ensuring that America remains a place in which faith can be lived out freely has been a core principle. This is even the very first right protected in the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. The United States became a beacon of light that draws individuals who seek the freedom to live out their deepest beliefs without fear.
Life
Abortion is a subject that divides Americans and even Christians. It is a scourge that destroys human lives. Having already claimed the lives of millions, abortion is far more than a political issue. It is a crisis that touches our communities and our churches. But God is bringing victory on this front as we persist in our prayers and in working to advance a culture that honors the sanctity of human life.
Gender & Sexuality
America’s societal norms of marriage and sexuality have changed with dizzying speed in recent decades, particularly since 2015, when the U.S. Supreme Court ignored millennia of history and clear constitutional principles to brazenly redefine marriage for the entire country. Then, the Obama administration jump-started a cultural revolution through federal directives for sexual orientation and gender identity, often called SOGI. Citizens run the risk of being labeled bigots and fired, fined, or potentially worse for holding to biblical teachings on marriage and gender. We are confident that chaos and darkness will never overcome light, and that we ourselves will not be overcome by evil, but through Christ will overcome evil with good.
Marriage and Family
One of the three institutions God ordained is family. It is not a coincidence that one of the key foundation stones of our nation is a strong, healthy family, and such families are begun within the covenant of marriage. The stability of this relationship promotes family unity, which is the backbone of a stable society. The “American way” of life could find description in Isaiah: “ … each of us has turned to our own way” (Isa. 53:6 NIV). The independent spirit of “doing my own thing” has brought America into decline and to a dangerous place. Forces are at work that use subtle ways of encouraging a lawless spirit. The family should be a vital link between the individual, the nation, and the Church.
What we believe
The Bible is the inerrant word of God (2 Tim. 3:16–17). Solutions to a nation’s problems are spiritual, and they rest in the hands of the Church, beginning with prayer and an utter dependence upon God’s power (2 Chron. 7:14). God gives us the authority to affect the course of nations (Acts 17:26). We must pray for God-fearing leaders (Exod. 18). Godly government is the result of an effective Church (1 Tim. 2:1–3). The mandate of the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” is God’s purpose for government (Matt. 6:10). We can expect results from our prayers (1 John 5:14).
Equipping you for Prayer
Find resources, prayer guides, podcasts, webcasts, and more, all designed to fuel your prayer for America.
