I ran across this article by Thom S. Rainer entitled, “Eight Things I’m Praying Will Happen in Churches.” This is also my prayer request for your church:
- For greater emphasis on prayer. Many, if not most, churches have a woeful emphasis on corporate prayer. Churches who do not give prayer a high priority are churches without God’s power.
- 2. For standing firm on biblical truth. Culture is trying to push our congregations away from the truths of Scripture. We cannot yield to that pressure. If we do, our congregations cease to be true, biblical churches.
- For greater unity in our churches. There is too much infighting in many of our congregations. And there is too much disunity from church to church. The world is watching our fights. “Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us” (1 John 3:23).
- 4. For greater intentionality in evangelism. The typical church in America is doing very little to share the gospel of Christ boldly and intentionally. May we be so grateful for what Christ has done for us that “we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).
- 5. For greater emphasis on groups. Churches should grow larger by growing smaller. A church member not in a small group or Sunday school class is not fully committed to the body.
- For membership to be more meaningful. For many churches, membership has become nearly meaningless. For others, membership is a perceived entitlement, much like country club membership. I pray that membership in our congregations will become truly biblical as Paul demonstrated in 1 Corinthians 12.
- For clear plans of discipleship. Too many congregations cannot clearly articulate how members can become more obedient followers of Christ. Churches with a simple process for reaching and maturing people are expanding the Kingdom.
- For more ministry involvement and impact in our communities. I pray that our churches will become known by the positive impact they have in their respective communities. As we obey Acts 1:8, we must first be obedient to our own Jerusalem.
These are my eight prayers for your church. What do you think of them? Will you pray with me for your congregation?
Rainer says in his book, Simple Church, that the ability of the process of growth as a Christian must be communicated and understood by the people. You must give them the simple steps in the process that causes people to move to a greater area of commitment. The key is removing the unnecessary programs that cause congestion in the church.
I want to share with you how the Lord helped me to make these prayer requests a reality in the last church I served. Jerry Moen, one of the pastors that followed me led the church to be one of the largest in Yamhill County. I have written three biblical articles on how God wants you to motivate each person in your church. On my web-site www.faithencounter.org you will find the articles entitled The Three Great Priorities of Life – 1, 2 & 3.