1. Prayer is the greatest weapon God has given us. Satan knows it. So Satan successfully deceives and manipulates us into not gathering together wholly. And we seem to accept it.
2. Followers of Christ are so far gone in their need to be entertained in church that the ability to be together in prayer without entertainment has been completely lost. And we seem to accept it.
3. The designated night for prayer is simply a bad night of the week (accept for personal socials or other things that people choose to do on that same night). And we seem to accept it.
4. People say, "We pray at church or missional community or other places." Really? You intentionally every week pray for 60 plus minutes with a group of people in an intense strategic way? I doubt it. And we seem to accept it.
5. We don't truly believe that prayer makes a difference. Of course, nobody wants to go on record saying this so we say it with our actions and choices. And we seem to accept it.
There is probably more excuses but these are five that come quickly to mind. I'm appalled that we seem to accept it.
Rob
Whew. What a challenge, Rob. I'm convinced that prayer is a powerful weapon and convinced that the devil wants to keep us from praying together! I am convicted of my own excuses for not coming to corporate prayer, and also convicted of my excuses for not spending more time in prayer alone.
ReplyDeleteOf all the church related events I've attended during my time at ComChap, Tuesday night prayer has been for me one of the most powerful and enjoyable. There's a feeling of peace I have while there that I don't get anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteThat said, Tuesday night prayer is a tough sell for me for one reason -- time. Sounds lame, I know, but hear me out. It's so easy for church to feel like death-by-meeting. If I'm meeting for a worship gathering on the weekend, a missional community another night, accountability partners another night, prayer on another night, and on another night a date night to keep my marriage strong, pretty soon I've lost much of the time I could be spending reaching out to those who aren't in the church.
I truly don't mean to be argumentative. I guess I'm just wondering what to expect of myself in terms of time commitments to structured church activities. I love going to prayer and recognize its critical importance in the life of our church, but I can't wrap my mind around how it fits in with all the other ways God asks me to commit my time.
All of those things are TRUE! I think you should take one weekend and make both services a prayer time like Tuesday night...it would freak people out I bet! (Keep it secret) But WOW...it would be powerful!
ReplyDeletethanks so much for all your comments. very helpful and encouraging. The time piece is the only of the excuses that I do understand. For example, it is very difficult for Jenn to make it do to all the reasons you have named.
ReplyDeleteOne thing we have talked about is possibly arranging a once a month attendance of prayer so all kids, miss comm, date night, one on one, and all the other ministry stuff can happen weekly without interruption. This might be an option for you as well during this season of time.
And btw - I have contemplated a few times to focus an entire weekend modeled after Tues prayer and than the next weekend model it after a miss comm. I still just might do that! Appreciate all 2 of you!
Rob
meant "all 3 of you!" type error
ReplyDeleterob
Thank you for saying this Robbie. I have made so many excuses for not going to prayer on Tuesday nights, and now when I actually cannot because I work until 8...its just another excuse. I still need to make a point to spend long periods of time in prayer each week even if I can't physically be with the Church. Thank you for the push.
ReplyDeleteAmen! that is great option Lauryn. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteI love Beth and Luke's idea. What if we were to take a typical Saturday/Sunday service and make it a prayer servce? Or even take 15 minutes to, as a community, sit and be still before God?
ReplyDelete