Is prayer important? Well, is it? The obvious answer, the "expected" answer is "yes!" But I think we demonstrate how important we think prayer is by how we "walk our talk!" Consider this:
Some research indicates that the average Christian spends five minutes a day in prayer, and the average pastor only seven minutes.
Wow! No wonder the church is in trouble. How can we expect to be a strong church when we are comprised mostly of Christians who have a weak prayer life? Christians who have a weak prayer life make up a Church who has a weak corporate prayer life. Not good. Not good at all.
So is prayer important? Well let me borrow from Daniel Henderson's message to us at the conference on Saturday. (I use this with his permission.) Why should we pray and pray effectively?
1) Jesus expected His church to pray.
"And He began to teach and say to them, 'Is it not written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations"? But you have made it a den of theives.'" (Mark 11:17)
2) Jesus Himself prayed. The Bible tells us in many passages that Jesus was praying, went away to pray, etc. (See Luke 11:1-4, Luke 9:18, Luke 9:28, and Luke 22:39 for starters.) If Jesus (who was fully God Himself) prayed and relied on that connection with Father God, why would we need that any less than he did? The last time I checked, no one among us is God!
3) Prayer is vital to supernatural impact. The church is shrinking. Pastors are leaving the ministry in droves, and the Church's efforts to fulfill the Great Commission are severely hampered because of our lack of committment to effective prayer.
4) Prayer is the key to genuine revival. Check your history books, folks! Whenever there has been revival, it has always begun with a Church that prayed in unity.
It is important that we all learn to pray individually and corporately in effective ways. I pray that you will all join me in a commitment to not only pray more, but to learn to pray effectively. This is our only hope for us as individuals, as a church, as The Church, and as beacons of light to a lost world. When you think of it that way, it is a pretty staggering responsibility.
I'd like to see our fellowship be known as a people of prayer. How awesome would that be! Who knows how God would use us in this community if we would begin to be serious about prayer? No amount of outreach is going to do the job if we don't front load the outreach project with a train load of prayer.
Who is with me? Send me an e-mail or give me a call to tell me you're on board to learn to pray effectively. Or, if you like, you can post a comment! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Monday, December 14, 2009
What Should I Do While I'm Waiting for God to Answer?"
On Sunday we talked about waiting for answers to prayer. All of us have experienced that at one time or another. We pray and we wait, and then we pray again. Do you ever wonder if God is just really busy or if He is sleeping? It brings to mind the old Andrae Crouch song
One thing I hope that you got from my message is that delayed answers to prayer always have a purpose. Let's expand on a couple of the points, shall we?
1) When answers are delayed, consider how God is preparing your life for what He has for you. Ask God what He is trying to say to you or what He wants to change in your life. God always has a plan, and part of His plan is to use things in our lives (including having to wait for an answer to prayer) for good.
He wants to accomplish something, so the best thing you can do is cooperate with that. Start seeking not only answers to your prayers, but answers to the question of what God wants to say to you and what He wants to change in you.
2) When answers are delayed, understand how God speaks in your life. If all you are listening for is the answer to your prayer, you may not hear what else God is saying to you. You will hear God best in the context of worship. If you are living your life as an act of worship to the Lord, you are much more likely to hear Him speak to you.
As a side note, part of our worship involves fellowship with believers, so it is important to be in regular fellowship with others in the body of Christ (i.e. Sunday services, small group, one on one, etc.). Why? Because sometimes God speaks through other people!
3) When answers are delayed, recognize how God evaluates your life. While you're waiting, evaluate your life and spend some time asking God what your life message is. Ask Him to show you opportunities to share His love with others, and ask Him to help you be an example of His grace to those around you.
If you put all of your faith and energy into praying fervently for an answer, you may put your life and your ministry on hold. That would mean a lot of missed opportunities to let God use you in the lives of those around you.
What are your thoughts? How do you respond to delayed answers to prayer? How do you deal with waiting for an answer? Talk to me!
He never sleeps. He never slumbers.
He watches me both night and day.
He never sleeps. He never slumbers.
The reason I know - He told me so.
He watches me both night and day.
He never sleeps. He never slumbers.
The reason I know - He told me so.
One thing I hope that you got from my message is that delayed answers to prayer always have a purpose. Let's expand on a couple of the points, shall we?
1) When answers are delayed, consider how God is preparing your life for what He has for you. Ask God what He is trying to say to you or what He wants to change in your life. God always has a plan, and part of His plan is to use things in our lives (including having to wait for an answer to prayer) for good.
He wants to accomplish something, so the best thing you can do is cooperate with that. Start seeking not only answers to your prayers, but answers to the question of what God wants to say to you and what He wants to change in you.
2) When answers are delayed, understand how God speaks in your life. If all you are listening for is the answer to your prayer, you may not hear what else God is saying to you. You will hear God best in the context of worship. If you are living your life as an act of worship to the Lord, you are much more likely to hear Him speak to you.
As a side note, part of our worship involves fellowship with believers, so it is important to be in regular fellowship with others in the body of Christ (i.e. Sunday services, small group, one on one, etc.). Why? Because sometimes God speaks through other people!
3) When answers are delayed, recognize how God evaluates your life. While you're waiting, evaluate your life and spend some time asking God what your life message is. Ask Him to show you opportunities to share His love with others, and ask Him to help you be an example of His grace to those around you.
If you put all of your faith and energy into praying fervently for an answer, you may put your life and your ministry on hold. That would mean a lot of missed opportunities to let God use you in the lives of those around you.
What are your thoughts? How do you respond to delayed answers to prayer? How do you deal with waiting for an answer? Talk to me!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Pray Continually
On Sunday we talked about the importance of prayer and Paul's admonition to "Pray continually." I Thessalonians 5:17
Sometimes we think of prayer as a formal thing, with lots of "rules." We think we must do it "right" in order for our prayers to be acceptable to God. In some ways, we must do it "right" in the sense of coming with a thankful heart, coming in faith, etc. But there are no rules about proper words or grammar or physical posture. God just wants us to pray.
I like to think of prayer as a conversation with God. If we are to pray continually, have a continual conversation with God, that is much easier if we continually walk with God.
Beverly and I will be driving over to to Ft. Bragg this week for a few days of rest. During the drive over, we will be spending time together in the car. Close proximity to each other. It is a natural outcome of that for us to engage in conversation. We can talk about deep things that are on our hearts, or we can simply make comments about the things we see on the drive. We may talk about ideas or we may laugh together about things that we see. We will be together, and conversation will come naturally.
If we drive together for very long without talking, it would feel like something is not quite right. It is a natural thing for us to share whatever is going through our minds at the moment.
It is the same with God. If we are walking with Him each and every moment of the day, then conversation with Him will just happen. We may ask Him for guidance. We may ask for protection. We may ask Him what He thinks about a situation we are facing. He's there, so we naturally communicate, just as if He was physically sitting across the lunch table from us or sitting in the passenger seat of our car.
But COMMUNICATE is the operative word here. Remember that communication is not just about talking. It is also about listening. So when you pray, take time to listen to what God says. It would be rude to call a friend for a chat, share everything you have to say, ask for whatever favors you need, and then hang up without finding out what your friend has to say. Remember that in your conversations with God.
Talk to me! I want to know what you have to say, so post a comment!
Sometimes we think of prayer as a formal thing, with lots of "rules." We think we must do it "right" in order for our prayers to be acceptable to God. In some ways, we must do it "right" in the sense of coming with a thankful heart, coming in faith, etc. But there are no rules about proper words or grammar or physical posture. God just wants us to pray.
I like to think of prayer as a conversation with God. If we are to pray continually, have a continual conversation with God, that is much easier if we continually walk with God.
Beverly and I will be driving over to to Ft. Bragg this week for a few days of rest. During the drive over, we will be spending time together in the car. Close proximity to each other. It is a natural outcome of that for us to engage in conversation. We can talk about deep things that are on our hearts, or we can simply make comments about the things we see on the drive. We may talk about ideas or we may laugh together about things that we see. We will be together, and conversation will come naturally.
If we drive together for very long without talking, it would feel like something is not quite right. It is a natural thing for us to share whatever is going through our minds at the moment.
It is the same with God. If we are walking with Him each and every moment of the day, then conversation with Him will just happen. We may ask Him for guidance. We may ask for protection. We may ask Him what He thinks about a situation we are facing. He's there, so we naturally communicate, just as if He was physically sitting across the lunch table from us or sitting in the passenger seat of our car.
But COMMUNICATE is the operative word here. Remember that communication is not just about talking. It is also about listening. So when you pray, take time to listen to what God says. It would be rude to call a friend for a chat, share everything you have to say, ask for whatever favors you need, and then hang up without finding out what your friend has to say. Remember that in your conversations with God.
Talk to me! I want to know what you have to say, so post a comment!
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