Prayer, Presence, Power - Interview with Ed Loughran

Jesus told Ed Loughran something in an encounter he still can't shake: "My church doesn't understand prayer, presence, and power." Ed is a practicing attorney, a lead pastor, a church planter, and a member of the Kingdom Pursuit board. He's ministered in roughly 65 countries and helps oversee a church planting partnership in Central Asia. In this conversation with Josh Hopwood, he walks through the three-part progression most of us get backwards — and why skipping presence to grab at power leaves you empty. Ed talks honestly about starting out terrible at prayer. Laying on his bedroom floor so he wouldn't fall asleep. One month of goosebumps, then a month that felt like ten thousand demons in the room, and the question God asked him in the middle of it. He shares the prayer that changed his wife's medical scan, the night a paralyzed man dropped his crutches, and the word that reframed spiritual warfare for him: "You're being attacked because you love me, not because there's power on you. A man or woman in love will never quit." If you've tried to build a prayer life, gone a few weeks, seen nothing, and quietly concluded it isn't for you — this one is for you. Ed closes by praying over everyone listening. 🔥 Kingdom Pursuit exists to equip everyday believers to walk in the power and presence of God. Learn more at thekingdompursuit.org 👉 Subscribe for new conversations, teaching, and equipping. 💬 What's been the hardest part of building your prayer life? Tell us in the comments — we read them. 0:00 Meet Ed Loughran — lawyer, pastor, church planter 3:18 The encounter: "My church doesn't understand prayer, presence, and power" 4:01 Challenged to pray an hour a day in tongues 4:50 Hearing his own tongues in English on a college run 7:01 The objective of prayer is cultivating presence 8:17 Why you won't see anything in seven days 8:51 Why the West struggles to pray at all 9:40 How worship multiplies truth back into your heart 11:26 "God, I suck at prayer" 12:04 Praying on the floor so he wouldn't fall asleep 13:31 Month one: goosebumps. Month two: ten thousand demons 14:01 "Do you pray because I asked you to, or for the goosebumps?" 15:59 Lawyer or pastor — what he'd do differently 18:32 Power: praying from fullness instead of fear 19:23 Functional atheism and the goodness of God 20:59 God is not shaken, so you don't have to be 22:11 Shoofly prayer vs. prayer that makes the enemy pay a toll 24:00 "It's amazing how much you can do without the Holy Spirit" 25:10 Three conditions for planting the church 28:50 "If you can bloom in Nazareth, you can bloom anywhere" 30:09 A curse, a spirit of death, and a prophetic word 33:43 Josh: growing up cessationist, then Zambia at 19 36:48 The math of presence: one hour, two hours, three hours 39:08 "We measure so smallly" 42:05 His wife's appendix, the growth, and a bold prayer 44:03 "I command that appendix to disappear" 46:12 "You believe bigger than I do" 49:26 Moving up the demonic hit list 53:12 Why people skip presence and go straight to power 54:20 John Wimber, New Zealand, and a paralyzed man who walked 56:57 The woman who hadn't slept in ten years 58:22 Ed prays over you