What a powerful day yesterday! It was amazing. One person said to me yesterday, "I could just feel people being set free. This is why we love this church. People are encouraged to come as they are but they aren't allowed to stay that way." True words for sure.
God was really up to something in our church family as we began our latest series. For the many who responded at the invitation time and the others who followed up in our post-service counseling time, it was truly a defining moment. Seems like God has allowed us to experience many of those in recent weeks. You know what that means, right? The enemy is furious. You can bet your last nickel that he will do whatever he can to fight the forward momentum of any child of God. So, I'm asking you, my family and friends at RCC (and any others who read this blog and would like to join us), pray harder than you have ever prayed regarding God's Spirit and His freedom to move in our midst. With that in mind, I want to share some words with you from one of my dear friends and professors and Southwestern Seminary, Dr. Dan Crawford. This is good stuff:
A recent survey asked more than 800 pastors to name the critical ministries of their churches by listing the top five. Only five percent of participating pastors listed prayer/prayer ministry/prayer groups in the top five. Do they not know that exclusive of the Psalms, which is a prayer-book of its own, the Bible records 650 definite prayers, 450 of which have recorded answers? Do they not know that the most widely used verb in the ministry of Jesus was the verb “to pray?” Do they not know that almost every great spiritual leader in Christianity has listed prayer as utmost important in their life? Do they not know that the countries in the world where Christianity is growing fastest are countries where prayer is paramount in the churches? The answer is that they do not know. Or at least, if they know, they forgot when they took the survey. No wonder the majority of churches in America are either plateaued or dying. No wonder ministerial burn-out is at an all time high. No wonder theological schools are forced to teach conflict management courses while ignoring courses on prayer. Jesus said, “Therefore, pray . . .” (Matthew 9:38). God help us!
Well said, Dr. Crawford. And therein lies the reason why we must become more and more a people of prayer and a people of the Book. I invite you to pray like never before for what God wants from you. Our staff prays every Tuesday morning for our needs. Our LIFE groups are praying each week in their meetings. Our worship team prays every Tuesday at rehearsal and every Sunday at 9 a.m. Here's a good place to remind you about the men and women who pray every Sunday morning at 10 a.m. in our worship area for the services that are about to follow. This is for anyone who would like to join in. I don't care where you do it or who you are doing it with, just pray!!
Come with a sense of expectancy this Sunday and see what God has in store for us.
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