James 4:2, "...you do not have because you do not ask."
I feel like ranting for a little while today. It's not because I'm in a bad mood but rather that I have something on my heart that I want to talk about. And what I want to talk about is prayer.
First of all, I just want to say that if anyone understood the importance of prayer it was James. James was the half-brother of Jesus. As an Apostle he became known as "camel knees" due to his time spent in prayer. However, while Jesus was alive he was in disbelief about who is brother really was. I tend to think that James (being human) beat himself up a lot about his life before accepting Christ. Think about it: Your brother is the Messiah and you missed it! Think about the questions he could have asked or insights into the realities of God that he could have gained. Don't you think that had to be one of the reasons he spent so much time talking to his Heavenly Father? The point is that James knew what prayer could accomplish. He knew about the importance of prayer. And he knew first hand that you don't have because you don't ask.
This is a strong message for the church today. Do you want to know why many of our churches struggle for relevance in today's world? It's because they don't ask. Do you ever wonder why many of our churches are caught up in struggles for peace within rather than victory without? It's because they don't ask. Do you know why many of our churches are more concerned about budgets, programs, worship styles, etc. rather than souls? It's because they don't ask. We have found a way to bypass prayer (so we think) and still accomplish some sort of success, however the power of God is not manifested in our services. Unfortunately this is a growing trend in our churches, our membership, and even our leadership. We do not have because we do not ask.
Churches can have meeting after meeting, special events, potluck fellowships and the like, with great attendance, but as soon as a prayer meeting is called, where are the masses? They must have eaten so much at the last fellowship that they are too sleepy to come out and pray with one another. This may sound sad - but you can have a bean supper at some churches and get longer lasting results than some prayer meetings. Why? Because we do not ask!!!
Listen folks, prayer is all about intimacy with God. Prayer is what fuels the church to accomplish all that God has for us. Prayer is more important than a church budget, church vision, church staff, and whatever else we can place on our priority list. A church can have the best laid plans but without prayer she will accomplish nothing. We need to see a revival of prayer within our churches. We need to swith our focus from being "purpose driven" to being prayer driven. We must remember that the Word of God teaches us in Zechariah 4:6 that it's not by might nor by power, but by His Spirit.
I have to wonder how long it will take (what it will take) before we see churches become houses of prayer again. When will we see record attendance for prayer gatherings over worship services, business meetings, or concerts? The church has to overcome our entertainment mentality and focus upon the lasting results of prayer. We do not have because we do not ask. Or in my own words: We don't because we won't.
May God help us to be mighty men and women of prayer.
Shalom.
1 comment:
You probably nailed a vast majority of the churches to the wall with this one.
It's the typical Amercian mentality - to find the path of least resistance and still "look" successful on the outside. We just attended an Evangelism Conference where the turnout was just as sad as the turnouts for most prayer meetings in churches. It's a sad testimony that speaks of a heart issue of the American Church....does anyone care that the lost are lost, that their neighbor may go to hell because they've never heard, that we don't have because we won't ask? If actions truly speak louder than words than the Church of America need to reevaluate their actions.
The "actions" that speak show that the Church of Amercia is more worried about man-made programs and agendas than the lost. We blast our pastors for not calling someone that's sick or get mad at a deacon for not visiting, yet we never say, "Hey Pastor Joe, when's the last time you shared the gospel one-on-one"?
What's happened to Church that we read about in the New Testament? I'll tell you...Status, pride, ego has happened. We've become so agenda driven that we risk missing God or writing Him out of the picture altogether.
We want to lay all of the responsiblities of evangelism and discipliship upon the leaders of the church and never want to own up to any of the responsibility ourselves. While many words come to my head, the word luke warm is the one that scares me the most. Revelation 3 says, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." I don't know about you but that scares me to my knees. It's time for action that speaks for the Church...our action in prayer, our action in evangelism, our actions daily (not just our Sunday morning fix) as Christians. Let's take action before we get spit out!
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