Archive for February, 2014
Leading Your Church in a Sunday Morning Prayer Meeting | Just Imagine
On Sunday morning, October 13, 2013, I led our entire Cross Church Family in a prayer meeting. I believed it was time to issue a call to the Cross Church Family for spiritual revival in the church and spiritual awakening in America.
Our Purpose
Why dedicate an entire Sunday morning service to a prayer meeting? I felt God leading me to alert our Cross Church family of the need for spiritual revival and awakening in America. I lead them through a spiritual process that was both personal and sequential, and then sent our church out with a burden for revival and a hope for the future. Revival is the manifestation of the presence of God in our lives. Revival begins with me. Revival begins with you.
A Personal Conviction
I have a personal conviction about why we pray for revival and awakening. Personally, I believe we need to pray for personal revival, revival in the church, and awakening in the nation, so that we can see the Great Commission of Jesus Christ escalated and accelerated to completion in our generation. I am compelled to call the church to revival and the country to be awakened spiritually, so that we can see the completion of the Great Commission in our generation.
Word-Based, Spirit-Led, and Worshipful
We focused solely on praying, and everything we did was based upon the Word of God. I took the Word of God, read it, taught it briefly, and then led our people to respond to God through prayer. Throughout the worship experience of teaching and prayer, we expressed various moments through songs of worship.
Prayer Times Built Upon Biblical Principles
I taught through five specific principles, spending four to six minutes on each.
- A Vision for Revival in the Church and Awakening in the Nation
- The Exceeding Sinfulness of our Sin
- Cleansing and Renewal
- Fully Surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and Experiencing the Fullness of the Holy Spirit
- Advancing the Gospel Everywhere
After each principle was taught from God’s Word, we moved to prayer. We prayed silently, we prayed together, we prayed on our knees, we prayed standing, and we prayed at the altar. My desire was to lead by the Spirit’s direction; built upon the Word of God, responding to God through prayer, and expressed through worship.
It was a Wonderful Experience
Without a doubt, the entire service was a wonderful experience. Lay people and pastors want to pray. Those who do not know how to pray want to learn to pray effectively. As spiritual leaders, we need to create a pathway for them. It was a highly memorable day for many, and life changing for some.
Just Imagine…
Just imagine what would happen in America if every church spent an entire Sunday morning worship service focused on prayer for revival in the church and awakening in America? Just imagine what would happen if each of those services led toward praying about advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ regionally, nationally, and internationally, calling upon the church to rise up and complete the Great Commission in our generation?
I am convinced that every great movement of God is preceded by the extraordinary prayer of God’s people. Now is the time we rise up as the church of Jesus Christ and elevate prayer in our churches. If we are not careful, we will reduce prayer in local church worship services to routine and less important than announcements.
Jonathan Edwards said it This Way
Jonathan Edwards, the man God used as the catalyst for the 1st Great Awakening said,
“So it is God’s will that the prayers of His saints shall be great and the principal means of carrying on the designs of Christ’s Kingdom in the world. When God has something to accomplish for His church, it is with His will that there should precede it the extraordinary prayer of His people.”
Oh friend, just imagine, if every church in America turned just one entire worship service into a prayer service, calling upon the God of Heaven to bring revival into our lives personally, in His church, and awakening in our nation, so that we can see the Great Commission escalated and accelerated to completion in our generation.
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
5 Principles About Vision
A vision is beyond just a good idea. It must be a God idea. God does not obligate Himself to our good ideas or brainstorming sessions. God commits Himself to us when we connect with His heart and vision for the world.
There are five principles about vision I want to share with you today.
1. Vision Given: God alone gives the vision.
Therefore, we have to connect with God not only daily, but deeply. Vision is not duplicating what someone else does. Vision is crafted by God into your life and leadership, using your giftedness within the context you are ministering.
2. Vision Written: Write down what God is saying to you.
Daily, I write a one-page prayer to God. I record what God is putting into my heart and what He has said through His Word to me. Whenever I am about to communicate a major vision to our church, I write down the vision.
It is easier to stay focused on the vision when it is written down. It is also easier to bring others alongside you in your vision when they see it in words and graphics.
3. Vision Declared: Communicate by faith what God has put into your heart.
When you know God has crafted His vision into your life and you have it recorded in writing, you can stand and communicate it effectively. Communicating a vision is critical to allowing others to join you in the vision. A well-crafted document that can be communicated clearly and in a compelling manner can ascend the vision greatly.
4. Vision Faithed: Trust God via prayer until He fulfills it.
There is a period of time that can become a little uncomfortable. It is the time between communicating the vision and seeing it realized. Therefore, your faith has to be strong. Your trust in God increases until you see with your eyes what you have already seen spiritually. True vision is seeing it before you see it! Therefore, until you see with your physical eyes, you trust God and communicate the vision clearly and in the most compelling way.
5. Vision Realized: If God says it, in time, He will do it.
The Lord finishes what He begins. When He places a vision in your heart, consuming you with the vision, in time, our God will fulfill the vision! He will do it! You have to forget the “what ifs” of your vision and embrace the “what we will do when we see it happen” moments.
There is nothing like seeing a vision realized that God has placed into your heart. It ignites your faith and energizes your very soul. Yes, you can count on this: If God indeed gives you a vision, in time, He will do it!
Oh, by the way, if you will go right now and read Habakkuk 2:1-4, you will find these biblical principles for vision. God always has the final word, even the final word on vision.
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.