My purpose here is to share a few quotes from notable people about the church, my desire for the church, and then my prayer for the church:
The Quotes:
“The perfect church service, would be one we were almost unaware of. Our attention would have been on God.” – C.S. Lewis
“I believe there are too many practitioners in the church who are not believers.”- C. S. Lewis
“What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use — men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men, men of prayer.”- E. M. Bounds
“I lack the fervency, vitality, life, in prayer which I long for. I know that many consider it fanaticism when they hear anything which does not conform to the conventional, sleep-inducing eulogies so often rising from Laodicean lips; but I know too that these same people can acquiescently tolerate sin in their lives and in the church without so much as tilting one hair of their eyebrows.”-Jim Eliot
“The True Church can never fail. For it is based upon a Rock.” – T.S. Eliot
“Prayer is a strong wall and fortress of the church; it is a goodly Christian weapon.“ – Martin Luther
My Desire:
I pray that God would begin and sustain a movement of prayer in all of your churches, beyond that of anything in your church’s history; that He would raise up people committed to prevail in prayer until all in your church are overwhelmed with the spirit of revival to the overflowing into your communities causing widespread Spiritual Awakenings!
My Prayer:
Father, we live in a day in which Your Name is mocked at every corner. I believe many times it is because of the deficiencies and sins of those of us who are within Your Church, claiming to be followers of Your holy Son, Jesus. LORD, may I be a voice for Your Church? We confess our sins and the way we have lived our Christian lives apart from complete trust and dependence upon You. We repent of this sinful self-sufficiency, and fall humbly upon Your mercy. Holy, gracious God, our words, actions . . . our very lives have often caused unbelievers to insult and attack Your very nature and character. We ask You, LORD, to arise and defend Yourself. Awaken Your people, the Church, to the reality of Your presence in our midst and transform our lives into the image of Christ which You desire to see in us. May we so live out Your life in Your Church to demonstrate Your love, grace, mercy and overwhelming power to the world? Allow the Your Kingdom principles that govern heaven to begin to be made manifest on earth. Revive Your people, the Church; cause a Spirit of prayer to fall on us, so that we may rejoice in You and demonstrate through our lives the awesome, transforming power of Jesus Christ in His Church. Amen.
