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Pray For Your Church
By Dr. Dan Reiland
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"Prayer is the key that unlocks all the storehouses of God's
infinite grace and power. All that God is, and all that God has,
is at the disposal of prayer."
- R. A. Torrey

The more I learn, know and understand about the local church -
the more I think I don't know. Have you ever experienced that?
For a "church expert" I can feel pretty inadequate at times, but
my love and passion for the church keep me in the game...seeking,
learning, and growing. Let me share what I'm learning right now.

Here's what my field level experience and the voice of God are
saying to me:

+ We have a whole lot less control over what happens in the local
church than we think we do. God is in control.

+ Our best wisdom and natural power pales compared to God's
wisdom and supernatural power.

+ God is calling us to a greater dependency upon Him to build His
church.

Don't get me wrong -- I love church stuff and always will. I
love church models, ministry models, ministry strategies,
leadership development, evangelism processes, and the list goes
on. My life is dedicated to the improvement of these kinds of
things. But a big something seems to be missing as I contact
churches -- prayer. We (me too) seem to spend so much time on
the run and so little on our knees. Is the answer to abandon the
strategies and become monks in the desert? Of course not, but
something tells me that God would open the gates of Heaven in a
big way if the local churches really tapped into prayer.

My visit to Seoul Korea in 1991 was life changing-well at least
life impacting (I'm apparently a slow changer). I was
overwhelmed with an all-night prayer service in which 25,000
people in beautiful harmony and dignified order prayed for their
church and the world. It is no accident that Paul Yongi Cho's
church is the largest church in the world. Numbers aren't the
issue; why it's large, healthy, and growing, is the issue.

There are many factors that contribute to church health and
growth, but the more I see, the more I'm convinced that prayer is
the key. The reason for this is simple-prayer lets God in on the
process! And the process begins with you.

The following is a sermon/lesson I have written. If it speaks to
you, you may teach/preach it to others.

_______________________

I. Get your personal prayer life in order first.

Prayer isn't easy and it doesn't come naturally to anyone. It's
work. Prayer is a joyous privilege; but it's a challenge. The
concerns of the world distract us from prayer. The irony is that
prayer is what helps us overcome the concerns of the world.
Commit yourself to sincere and earnest prayer and God will open
the doors of heaven to you. This doesn't mean perfection -
progress is the key.

A. Overcoming common prayer hurdles.

1. Lack of consistency. This is by far the most common of the
hurdles.

A lack of consistency often stems from a lack of understanding of
our relationship with Christ and the actual role of prayer.

God is not a cosmic slot machine.

Prayer is not like a daily vitamin.

More or less prayer doesn't make you more or less saved and
loved by God.

Prayer is a relationship of regular and continual communication.
Understanding your relationship with Christ moves you to prayer.

a. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
(Romans 8:1-2)

God, the Judge in the courtroom, pronounces us "not guilty"
because of Jesus.

b. God loves you unconditionally. (Ephesians 2:4-5)

"God doesn't love you because you're valuable, you're valuable
because God loves you."
- Ian Pitt-Watson

I love my kids no matter what they do.

c. God's heart is grace-oriented.

Christianity is not a performance-based religion. It's not about
earning spiritual brownie points with God. It is a relationship
established by grace and received through faith in God through
His Son, Jesus. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Remember the story of the prodigal son? He left home, wasted
his money, lived with bad character, yet his father still took
him back with open arms.

School tests focus on how many answers are wrong! When a math
test is returned it says: "-2" or "2 wrong." I believe it should
be "+18" or "18 right"!

God focuses on how many you get right. Satan focuses on how many
you get wrong. The point is that while God does care about our
spiritual shortcomings, He always operates out of His basic
nature; love.

Prayer is not a deed or a duty, but a way of life.

"Prayer is the sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the
heart or soul to God through Christ in the strength and
assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God hath
promised, or according to the Word for the good of the church,
with submission and faith to the will of God."
- John Bunyan

2. Lack of listening.

Most of us talk more than listen when we pray!

The truth is that silence begins to reveal our real self. In
silence we slow down enough to see things as they really are. We
begin to see ourselves as we really are in comparison to how God
sees us, and this makes us uncomfortable.

3. Lack of faith.

We all lack faith. It's the simple truth. If you and I really
believed that Jesus could move mountains, heal the sick, and
raise the dead, wouldn't we pray for more miracles? Instead - we
pray for a good parking spot at the mall!

Your faith may be based more on what you believe than on what God
has promised.

To reverse this, and believe more on the promises of God than
your own finite beliefs, you must stretch your faith by trusting
God completely. The good news is that it's not how much faith
you have, but whom your faith is in. Jesus is the person and the
power of your faith.

B. Tap into the power of prayer today.

Don't wait until you have time.
Don't wait until you are more spiritual.
Don't wait until someone asks you to pray.

If you are already faithful in your prayer life, ask God to lead
you to a new level of prayer.

If you are sporadic in your prayer life, start small and start
today. Don't worry about the length of time; the Holy Spirit
will take care of that as prayer becomes a habit in your life.

II. Pray intentionally and strategically for the life and
ministry of your church.

There are six areas in the church that require prayer on a
regular basis. If you faithfully and consistently pray for the
following, your church will recognize powerful blessings.

A. Pray for the hearts of those who are unchurched.

+ Pre-evangelism - Cultivation

+ Pray that God would speak to the hearts of people in your
community who do not attend church.

+ Don't hesitate to pray for specific people.

B. Pray for people to receive Christ as Savior.

+ Decision - Harvest

+ Pray that God would melt the hearts of those who don't know Him
as their personal Savior, that they would seek a relationship
with Christ, and make a decision.

+ Pray that your church develops a passionate heart for the lost
and responds with lifestyle evangelism. By the way, prayer
doesn't override action, but it is the priority.

C. The Holy Spirit's power. (Acts 1:8)

The Spirit of God in us, the Holy Spirit, is the power that
brings all the lasting fruit or results in your church. What we
can accomplish on our own is extremely limited and short-lived.

+ Pray for God's anointing power to energize your church for a
truly eternal difference.

"Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers
equal to your tasks."
- Phillips Brooks

D. A spirit of love and unity.

Scripture calls us to both a spirit of love and a spirit of
unity. One cannot exist without the other (Ephesians 4:3-5).
Pray that your church remains steadfast in its commitment to love
one another and actively seeks a unified spirit that pleases the
Lord.

Churches fuss over the dumbest things!

Whether to buy chairs or pews
What kind of computers to buy
Whether or not to sell, give away or burn the church bus

Sometimes churches fight over not so dumb things:

Worship style
The pastor's leadership
New building campaign

The point is, don't fuss and fight-stick together! That is the
only way God can accomplish His mission through you.

I can just imagine God saying to Jesus: "Son, if they'd just stop
arguing long enough, I'd tell them what I want them to do."

E. Maturing of the body of Christ.

Praying for new people and salvation have been stated already,
but what's next?

Philippians 1:6 teaches us that God desires to complete the good
work He began in us. So what is this completion? What does it
look like?

God literally calls for us to "grow up" from being children to
becoming mature in our faith.

Gift-based ministry
Fruit of the Spirit
Generous financial giving
Time in the Scriptures and prayer
* Lifestyle sharing of your faith with the unchurched

F. The leaders in the church.

Pray for the primary leaders in your church, and don't forget to
pray for the pastor. Praying for the pastor is so important, and
the entire issue of the next "The Pastor's Coach" is dedicated to
giving you a simple plan of how to do that.

I hope this personal and yet practical material is helpful to
you.