Some questions and thoughts are heavy on my heart tonight about prayer.5 different people have come to me in the last 3 months to share their burden for more prayer at CCF. I agree, I agree, I agree and I share the same burden. I believe that prayer opens the windows of heaven, keeps us connected to God and God connected to us as His church! I want to see so much more prayer at CCF...a deeper hunger for it, more people doing it and it becoming a more intricate part of who we are.
Tough questions on my heart (this is me being real here):
- Why have so few people attended every prayer initiatives that we have offered in the past? We have tried Sundays, Saturdays and Weekday Mornings (over the last 3 years).
- Why did we average 12 people at prayer for all of 2007? I know that I am throwing my vest open in asking these questions, but I need answers. The only way you get answers is by asking questions.
- Is prayer lived out in the church only as a calendar event (I sure hope not because people have voted with their feet and they don't seem to be giving up another night for the church)? Or are there other ways to build prayer deeply into the life of the church? If so, what are they?
- How can members/lay people become involved in leading different prayer initiatives? I cherish the day when people lead out and live out their ideas and passions for prayer. In being very honest, I feel that oftentimes people share their ideas and passions and then sit and wait on me or the Pastoral Team to carry them out. I am not sure that is how it should work. I want people to feel released to move with and LEAD what they feel passionate about regarding prayer. It should not require pastoral presence or leadership to validate it. How do we get there? How do I (we) encourage this as leaders? How are standing in the way?
6 comments:
I am hoping that this posting will call attention to the need for prayer and cause many people to come out this Sunday night for our first evening of Adventures In Prayer! The Kayes and the Goods are very excited about the future of prayer in our church.
Your question about weaving prayer into the lives of CCFers will continue to be lived out as more small group leaders and attenders take the matter of prayer to a new level. My challenge would be --- is every ministry group making prayer a priority or running on their own strength?
Two great book -- Where People Really Pray and The Prayer Saturated Church.
Thanks for your great words. I wish I knew who you were so I could connect your wisdom with the right person. I appreciate your challenge. How true it is that we run on our own strength all too often.
It's Mom and I don't know how to make the thing right.
Personally, I would list three things at the top of the list for lack of engagement with prayer ministries (both from my personal point of view).
First I would say that people don't pray because we don't understand prayer. I know that I know a lot about the various "-ologies" but I know very little on prayer-ology. It's all a bit of a mystery and it is hard to really engage in something that you don't understand. I would suspect though that if more people really understood prayer and the importance of prayer, they just might engage more.
The second thing is that prayer often seems fruitless. I mean, I know theologically that it isn't but every prayer meeting I've been to has a laundry list of people and things to pray about but we seldom if ever hear back if any of our prayers have been answered. It's hard to give an hour for something that we think we would never see any results from.
The third thing is that prayer seems too passive. (This is more of a guy issue.) I regularly hear that pastors are frustrated that so few men take part in prayer ministries. I heard/read one author that said that they conducted interview after interview and the main reason men gave was that they would rather be actively DOING for the kingdom rather than passively praying for it. (At least, passive from their perspective.) From my own experiences I have to say that 99% of the prayer warriors that I have met have been women. Prayer seems passive and relational, both of which men tend to shy away from. Maybe the perception is wrong. Perhaps dealing with #1 and #2 above would reduce or eliminate #3. I know if someone asked me to go to an hour long prayer meeting while another asked me to grab my hammer and help someone repair an elderly person's house, I know I'd be FAR more excited to grab a hammer than to grab some prayer knee pads.
ybic
Kevin
Good stuff Kevin! Hitting a home run again with deep thoughts. You are on, dude! Is it Ok that I call you dude? Smile.
You can call me dude. Just don't call me late for our next fellowship meal. bo)
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