21 Days of Prayer 2026

We began our year with 21 Days of Prayer for leadership and whole church renewal.

Krista Bennett, EMCC’s National Coach of Women in Leadership, invited us into prayer and meditation on Jeremiah 1:10.

She challenged us, as the EMCC family of churches, to dedicate 21 days of focused prayer for revival in Canada.

“See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.”

— Jeremiah 1:10

Many in our denomination followed along with our devotional guidebooks. We tailored these devotionals specifically for ministry leaders and church congregations, in faith that the Lord would bring fruit from both.

Our EMCC community from all over Canada met together once a week to pray on Zoom.

We recorded the sessions, and have made them publicly available so that others can pray with us even now, and so we may look back to see how God answered our prayers.

Each week we prayed along a different theme of Jeremiah 1:10. Our first and second weeks were spent asking God what to ‘Uproot and Tear Down,’ and ‘Build and Plant.’ In our third meeting we reflected on and celebrated what we saw God doing and saying throughout.

You can read the full summary of what we prayed and heard from the Lord during those meetings here:

So, how did we get here?

In Krista’s video, she shared some of how God spoke to her. But there is even more you can learn about our journey toward the theme verse for this 21 Days of Prayer.

We welcome you to read through and watch our supplementary material.

• Biblical Context and Narrative

  Jeremiah was an Israelite priest. Jeremiah 1:10 is part of his prophet call. In verses 4–10, God speaks directly to Jeremiah, affirming that He knew him before birth and had appointed him as a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah protests, citing his youth and inexperience, but God reassures him with divine presence and authority.

  • Setting: Jeremiah lived in a time of political instability and spiritual decline in Judah. His ministry spanned the reigns of several kings and included the fall of Jerusalem.

  • Purpose: This verse defines Jeremiah’s prophetic role to call people to spiritual transformation. His words would carry the power to uproot corrupt systems and plant seeds of renewal.

  • Audience: Though Jeremiah was from Judah, his message extended to “nations and kingdoms,” indicating a global scope of influence and there is much we can learn from Jeremiah 1:10 today.

• Hebrew Word Breakdown

  Here’s a look at the eight key Hebrew verbs in Jeremiah 1:10, each representing a phase of action:

  רְאֵה (rə-’êh) - “See”, a command to perceive spiritually and prophetically.

  הִפְקַדְתִּיךָ (hiphqaḏtîḵā) - “I have appointed/set you”, divine commissioning with authority.

  לִנְתוֹשׁ (lintosh) - “To root out”, remove deeply embedded corruption or sin.

  לִנְתוֹץ (lintots) - “To pull down”, dismantle structures or ideologies.

  לְהַאֲבִיד (leha’avid) - “To destroy”, eliminate completely, often used for judgment.

  לַהֲרוֹס (laharos) - “To overthrow”, break apart, often violently or decisively.

  לִבְנוֹת (livnot) - “To build”, construct anew, establish godly order.

  לִנְטוֹעַ (lintoa) - “To plant”, sow seeds of truth, righteousness, and hope.

  These verbs are in infinitive form, emphasizing ongoing action. 

  Four are destructive, the last two constructive.

• Theological Significance

  • Destruction precedes renewal: God often clears away what is broken before rebuilding. Jeremiah’s role was not just to comfort but to confront. Brokenness comes before revival.

  • Spiritual authority: Jeremiah wasn’t just a messenger, he was given power to affect real change. We as Pastors and followers of Jesus also have this spiritual authority to affect change in our day.

  • Leadership model: This verse is a blueprint for spiritual leaders today: discern what must be removed and boldly establish what God wants to grow.

  Jesus consistently called for the uprooting and destruction of religious hypocrisy, pride, injustice, and systems that hindered people from truly knowing God. His teachings and actions targeted spiritual corruption and invited true transformation.

• What would Jesus do if He were me?

  Drawing from the Gospels, here are key biblical themes Jesus confronted and invites us to confront (first in ourselves) that mirror the mandate in Jeremiah 1:10. 

  Like Jeremiah, Jesus operated as a prophet, exposing what needed to be torn down and inviting people to build their lives on truth, grace, and love. His mission was not just to comfort but to confront, not just to heal but to reform.

  The focus of this list is to help us to take inventory of our own lives as leaders.

  Our prayer is that we would hear our Good Shepherds voice (John 10:27), be do-ers of the word who aren’t deceived (James 1:22), walk with Him in kingdom light (1 John 1:5-7) and become the kind of leaders who truly walk out the Great Commission and Great Commandment.

An overview of the book of Jeremiah from The Bible Project.

Look out for our next Season of Prayer event.

We are a family of churches who prays together often!