As we mature in Christ, we are inevitably confronted by the prospect of carrying in our body the sufferings of Christ for others as the will of God, (2 Cor 1:5, 4:10). The sooner we can get over idealistic notions of what this feels like, the quicker we can escape the temptation of self-pity and simply die so that others might live.
Die to what? Living for extravagant comfort. Living for recognition in this age (emphasis Jesus' - Mark 6:4,6). Living to pile up enough money now so that we can be secure later. These things can be "push buttons" used to manipulate us to be driven by fear and not love.
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” - Jesus teaching in Mark chapter 8:34-38
The costs of building and sustaining (!) night and day prayer are high. As are the costs of reaching whole cities with the gospel and the discipling of nations. But these are not directions borne by naive fantasy or presumptuous delusion. To consider them as such reveals a mindset that is not grounded in the scriptures and disconnected from Jesus' dealings with His disciples, as well as a worldview removed from God's intentions as the Holy Spirit came and birthed the Church, (ie. a people called and led by God to declare His kingdom to the ends of the earth). But to those Christians in their cities who will hear this: these are God's will as the Body of Christ prepares for the return of Jesus. The world around us is swayed by the thinking and agenda of the evil one, (1 John 5:19) and thereby is largely opposed to God's purpose to save a people for Himself from every nation, tribe and tongue. What I am referencing here in this paragraph as God's will is not a lie, and these are "buildings" which will last forever.
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans chapter 12)
