In January 1980, a few months after coming to faith, Bob Perry knelt at an altar in Salt Lake City. The Lord spoke to his heart: You must become a man of prayer. Begin your life of prayer.
He began that April — two hours a morning, five days a week, with a handful of desperate men in their twenties. They cried out to God, and God moved. Bob never stopped.
In the decades since, Bob has led prayer in all 50 states and 58 nations. He has planted churches, trained more than 100,000 people to pray, and spent time under mentors like Lou Engle, Dick Simmons, James Goll, Don Finto, Bill Johnson, and Jack Hayford. He holds a Doctor of Intercession from Christian Leadership University.
The mobilizer
From the beginning, Bob burned to mobilize people — to pray, to evangelize, to make disciples. As a young leader he took teams to prayerwalk all twelve Midwestern capitals, then to Manila, where a team of 63 helped plant a church that baptized 3,000 people in six weeks. That church now numbers over 90,000 across metro Manila, having planted churches in more than 30 nations.
Twelve years in Latvia
From 1992 to 2004, Bob and his wife Sharon lived as missionaries and church planters in the former Soviet Union, based in Riga. They founded Morning Star Church, planted across the Baltics, and worked to unite pastors across bitter national and denominational lines. When they left, the Latvian Lutheran Archbishop paid Bob one of the great compliments of his life: that unlike leaders who raise up others who all look like them — "a dozen roses" — Bob's gift was developing flowers for the whole bouquet.
Nashville, and the years since
Called to Nashville to unite the city in prayer, Bob founded the Nashville House of Prayer, coordinated Lou Engle's 70,000-person stadium gathering, served ten years as the NCAA Final Four prayer coordinator, and facilitated Sacred Assemblies in all 95 Tennessee counties. In 2016 he received the Keeper of the Flame award — the fourth recipient, after Michael W. Smith, Ricky Skaggs, and James Goll. He has prayed over Air Force One at a President's request.
Today
Bob co-founded Workplace Prayer, Prayer Mentoring, and Makarios Press. He hosts the Bob Perry Prayer podcast, writes books on prayer, and covers businesses in daily intercession. He lives in Eastern Tennessee with his wife. He still walks about 34,000 steps a day — and prays most of them.