Increasingly I see a central emphasis uniting many Jesus-followers who long to see churches awaken to their transformating, disciple-making mission. More and more people seem to discover that if many congregations have any hope at all for their future, prayer will provide the foundation for that hope. This does not mean the routine, "Let's open with prayer" at every church meeting, or "Oh, by the way, let's be sure to pray about this." This means praying before anything else begins. Foundational prayer prayer is yielding prayer. This kind of prayer doesn't mean coming up with a great idea for evangelism, then asking God to bless it. Yielding prayer implores God to set the agenda and the pace first, and asking the Holy Spirit to take the reins at every step.
For years, Henry Blackaby (author of Experiencing God) has urged disciples to accept the fact that God is already at work, that God invites us to join Him in his work, that God seeks a relationship with us, and that God communicates to us through that prayer-based relationship. It is pointless to do anything in ministry until prayer lays the foundation for that relationship. Martha Grace Reese has authored Unbinding the Gospel, presenting a relational evangelism posture for mainline churches. She tells churches to pray at length before doing anything programmatic in outreach. Paul Borden has served as an American Baptist executive, leading a number of established churches in his denomination through transformation. He says months or even years of prayer should precede missional transformation. Here are persons from conservative, mainline, and evangelical expressions, all saying the same thing about prayer as the foundation to fulfilling the great commission to go and make disciples.
What would it look like if prayer became the main thing in any given congregation? When we would walk into the midst of such a fellowship, how would we know that prayer is the heartbeat of the church's life? In everything from evangelism team meetings to finance committee meetings, how would a central focus on prayer be evident?
What do you think? The rivers are up everywhere, so be careful. I'll see you around the next bend.
Raking Leaves
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Fall is here. The sun is moving towards the edge of the frame where, in
just a few weeks it will hit the bumper rail and start back towards the
other side...
2 years ago
2 comments:
If there was a central focus on prayer in everything from evangelism team to finance committee, it would be evident that our emphasis on relationship and not rules was finally a reality....that making disciples was paramount!! The body(church)
would FINALLY have one head (GOD).
Gods power would be unleashed and the sleeping giant(our church)would begin to awaken.
I always think of the phrase, prayer changes things, and while I didn't have the opportunity of hearing your speaker, I bet he used a lot of prayer during his experiences - I know I have. By the way, isn't it encouraging to know that when we all get to heaven there will be no denominational names over any doors? Loved reading "More than just, Let us Pray". Blessings to all, Barb Rice
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