Archive for the 'Prayer' Category
Now is the Time to Bring Prayer Back into Our Churches and the Southern Baptist Convention
Do our churches and Southern Baptist Convention talk more about evangelism and prayer than practice evangelism and prayer? Our annual statistics show this is definitely true about evangelism. Yet, prayer itself does not have the same type of visible scoreboard of evaluation as evangelism.
The Bible says this about Jesus Christ: “…He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.” (Matthew 14:23) If Jesus Himself sensed the deep need to pray and fellowship with God, how much more we need to pray!
A Nod or a Necessity
Our churches and Southern Baptist Convention give an acknowledging nod regarding prayer. It is rare to see a meeting begin without a brief prayer. We believe in it, yet our convictions regarding prayer seem to deepen in actual priority and practice only when the diagnosis is bad, the problem is overwhelming, or the crisis seems to lead to great loss.
Prayer deserves much more than a simple nod because prayer is an absolute necessity. Not just in our personal lives and church worship services, but also in our Southern Baptist Convention. The greatest action we can take is to pray.
Prayer does not eliminate other actions. If a person needs a job, we do not simply pray for a job, we also take the action of trying to find a job. But prayer must become a matter of priority and prominence in your life, your church, and in our Southern Baptist Convention.
Bringing Prayer Back into Our Churches and Our Southern Baptist Convention
Christians want prayer back in the schools; however, we ought to first bring prayer back into the worship services of our churches and into our Southern Baptist Convention! Most churches spend more time promoting the ministries of the church than praying in their worship services. Many Baptist gatherings I have been involved in follow this same pattern.
It injects a sense of “let’s move on to more important things” rather than taking prayer seriously like it is the necessary air we breathe in order to live and thrive.
Yet, Jesus wants His church to be a house of prayer for all the nations! When is the last time you experienced an entire Sunday morning worship service dedicated to prayer? Has this ever occurred? Has prayer received more than a small focus in any worship service you have attended recently?
If not, why? If we are not filling God’s churches with passionate prayers that are focused with purpose, what are we filling our worship services with? Could it be that we are not seeing that our greatest need is for the power of God to intervene in our lives, our church, our convention, and our nation? Could it be that we do not connect the deep need for prayer with the church’s greatest mission—to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the nations?
Four Characteristics of Building Prayer into Churches and Our Southern Baptist Convention
Some churches are committing an entire worship service to the ministry of prayer. Will your church do this soon? At least a decade ago, I remember leading the entire staff of one of our national entities of our Southern Baptist Convention in an entire day of focused prayer.
America is falling apart. The world is becoming more dangerous daily. The church is way too content to keep on doing ministry without the power of God. Now is the time to pray! When we set aside special times to pray, implement these four characteristics:
1. Teaching
Each prayer time needs to be based on a teaching time from God’s Word. We stand on His Word, not on our words or passions.
2. Principles
Each prayer time should be focused on principles like repentance, revival, surrender to the Lordship of Christ, the filling of the Spirit, spiritual awakening, or reaching the world for Christ beginning in your own community. Additionally, include specific principles that relate to your specific needs contextually.
3. Led by the Spirit
Worship and prayer moments should be led as God’s Spirit leads, not necessarily according to the order of service. We plan specifically, but always leaving latitude to follow God’s leadership spontaneously.
4. Expression
Hymns and worship songs are given to us to express our worship of Jesus Christ as our Lord. These can be powerful expressions as transition moments, moving from one prayer time to the other. We see David model this in the Psalms.
Just Imagine
What could happen in your church if an entire Sunday morning service was turned into a prayer service? You could experience God moving in ways unlike you have seen in a long time, perhaps ever. People could come to Christ. Personal repentance could result in a releasing of the Spirit upon your church, unleashing the church to greater worship and ministry that is on mission with God.
Here is what I know: If we do not plan to pray, we will not pray!
It is past time for us to prioritize prayer, both personally and in the church, as well as in our Southern Baptist Convention. For far too long, we have seen what we can do; it is time for us to see what God can do. This can only happen when we pray.
Acts 4:31, “When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak God’s message with boldness.”
This is why the entire evening session on Tuesday, June 14 at the Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis will be committed to prayer. We will begin at 6:30 p.m. This prayer gathering is far more important than eating with friends, conducting secondary meetings, or attending a Cardinals baseball game. Please make plans now to attend.
Now is the Time to Lead,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Senior Pastor, Cross Church
President, Southern Baptist Convention
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Dr. Ronnie Floyd is currently serving as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention. The Southern Baptist Convention is America’s largest Protestant denomination with more than 15.7 million members in over 51,094 churches nationwide.
To request an interview with Dr. Ronnie Floyd
contact Gayla Oldham at (479) 751-4523 or email gaylao@crosschurch.com.
Visit our website at http://ronniefloyd.com
Follow Dr. Floyd on Twitter and Instagram @ronniefloyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
Pastors, Lead Your Church into Special Seasons of Seeking the Lord Seriously
There are moments in the life of the church where the pastor needs to lead the people of God to seek the Lord seriously. Through the years, Cross Church has chosen to do this in many ways.
We are in a season of seeking God as a church right now. We are calling our church to go on a spiritual journey with God for twenty-one days in the month of January. It is simply called 21 DAYS.
The Bible challenges us in 1 Peter 4:7, “Now the end of all things is near, therefore, be serious and disciplined for prayer.” I believe as we continue forward in these days, there are moments we need to resolve to take our spiritual life seriously. We do this by being disciplined in prayer.
The Challenge is Clear
We are challenging our people to be disciplined to pray for twenty-one days successively for their own spiritual life and development, for our church, and for our nation.
Relating to their own spiritual life and development, we are asking our people to determine a specific breakthrough needed in their life. The challenge is also to identify and pray for a family member or friend who needs Jesus Christ. Additionally, we are asking them to establish a spiritual goal for their life in 2016. As our people go on this journey, we believe if they pray about their own spiritual life for twenty-one days in a row, especially if they target these things, God will take them to a new level.
We have also extended a challenge to join us in praying for our church and our nation. We have defined three specific things to pray for our church and our nation. In fact, you can see exactly what we have enclosed in the 21 DAYS booklet. Please give attention to the heart of the book on pages 3-4.
Make it a Win
Through our preaching over the past few weeks, we have tried to make our focus a win for everyone. Our appeal has been: Just think what God could do if you focused on your spiritual life for twenty-one days in a row and joined thousands of others praying for our church and our nation at the same time.
We have challenged our people to establish some level of commitment by giving up something they love during this time. At the same time, it is a challenge for many to focus on praying about these specific matters for twenty-one days successively.
Therefore, our ultimate challenge has been: Find the level you believe God wants you to go to, and go on this journey with us. Everyone can find their level of commitment, even if they have to depart from it a few days due to travel or personal matters. Our goal is for everyone to take their spiritual life seriously enough to go on some kind of journey with God. You can see our commitment card here.
As a pastor or church leader, you may be wondering how we extended these challenges from the pulpit over the past couple of weeks. Two weeks ago, we spoke on 21 DAYS and this past week on How to Pray Through Your Problems.
My desire in making these sermons and other resources available is to be helpful and encouraging. If you do something like this for one day, seven days, or twenty-one days, you will need to adjust things for your situation and church.
Walking in Expectation
Many times, we do not walk in expectation. Journeys of faith move us to walk in expectation.
I can assure you, I am expecting great things from God for my own life and in the life of our church. I am looking for the Lord to do some powerful things in the lives of our people.
If we believe prayer really matters, then we will see the Lord do great things.
William Carey was a missionary to India. Among other things, he was known as the father of modern missions and this statement is credited to him: “Expect great things; attempt great things.”
Pastors, live your life, operate your ministry, and lead your church to expect great things. When you believe our God is able, you will not just expect great things, you will attempt great things.
This is why as spiritual leaders we need to lead God’s people to seek God seriously. Our God is able. Expect and attempt great things!
Now is the Time to Lead,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.