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PART FOUR: How to Pray for the
Church
4.1
Don't Jump!
If
you have picked this up on online and have gone to the front Contents,
please do not just jump to this final Part. My absolute belief
is that if we pray without the knowledge of the Pressures on the
Church (Part 2) and aspects of Church Life (Part 3) we will very
quickly run out in our praying and end up grinding to a halt and
not focus our prayers on the real issues. Not only that, we will
not pay attention to my warnings in the Introduction and so fail
to give due thought to what we need to DO in respect of the issues
raised in those previous parts.
4.2
An Approach
a)
Preparation
For
us to pray meaningfully, consistently and persistently, we need:
•
to be aware of the things we have
been considering about the Church
•
to ask for a sense of holy dissatisfaction
(a recognition of what could be, seen against what is – in us
and in the Church)
•
to accept a coming to the end of
ourselves, to produce compete reliance upon Him, and to allow
Him to do whatever He wants in and through us.
i.e.
heart and mind preparation is all-important if we are seeking
God for renewal of the Church, if not revival. The heart focuses
on Jesus, the mind focuses on the problem of a church falling
short of the divine design. A renewed church will be an obedient
church, and empowered church and a wise church.
b)
Purity
In
order to pray righteously
and graciously for the Church we must purpose to:
-
avoid judgmentalism,
-
recognise we are all at different places in our walk with God,
and
-
pray lovingly with humility.
As
we move into prayer there must be a cleansed
heart, a heart set free from past divisions and schisms. We do
not pray against the church (or parts of it) but for it, all of
it. We do not pray against leaders but for them. We do not pray
against people but for them.
c)
Praying
We
need to pray with awareness of:
i)
the Problems
– the work of the enemy that we need to resist.
His interventions in the pressures we considered previously:
1.
Affluence, Materialism, Consumerism
-
which breeds complacency & indifference (unbelief)
2.
Progress in Science & Technology
-
which creates a distorted mindset (we are gods)
3.
Cultural Relationship Changes
-
that abandon God's design
4.
Demeaning of Scripture
- that undermines the foundation of faith &
behaviour.
In
respect of these four things
•
pray for a new awareness in the
people of God that our materialistic societies
are essentially self-centred and godless,
•
pray that we may identify such ways
of thinking in us and reject them, turning to God for deliverance
from such attitudes IN US,
•
give thanks for the technology
and scientific advances that have been made, particularly
in medicine and surgery and in means of providing food for the
world population,
•
ask for His help to deliver us from
the folly of thinking we are masters of our destiny and affirm
afresh that only He is, and that we WILL rely on Him,
•
ask Him to purify us and help us
ensure we are in line with His will and His word as far as personal
relationships are concerned,
•
ask Him to give us a fresh hunger
for His word and a confidence in it and give
us teachable hearts that yearn to learn from His word, and grow
in knowledge, understanding and wisdom..
ii)
the Possibilities
– a renewed church, that Jesus
wants:
a)
Countering Hindrances
•
read again the five undermining
aspects of modern church life
•
ask the Lord to help your church
become a place
•
where people feel they can settle
and grow,
•
where the life and vitality
of your church will be such that parents and especially children
and young people will want to be there and see all other distractions
as just that,
•
where love so blossoms and life
so abounds that historical cliques will be undermined and
disarmed and the power of enemy strongholds broken,
•
where rituals are held in their
right place as add-ons that support the church but do not
hinder the moving of the Spirit,
•
where activities are reassessed
and only those with God's blessing clearly on them, continue,
and that there be a new openness to listen to God for vision,
for purpose and direction for the days to come.
b)
Countering
Leavers
•
read again the reasons why people
leave negatively
•
ask the Lord to help your church
become a place
•
where teaching is comprehensive,
meeting the needs and the questions of people, resolving conflicts
between so-called bible interpretations and so-called world
understanding,
•
where the life and reality of
the Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit is taught and demonstrated
so that each person has the opportunity to be filled and opened
out in personal ministry,
•
where fresh wisdom is released
to know how to establish personal ministry and counselling
(as needed) within the church, that is accountable to the
leadership,
•
where fresh wisdom is released
to know how to teach and guide and equip the people of God
into friendship groups where a new measure of security can
be brought,
•
where safeguards are in place
to provide accountability in respect of financial or other
ethical matters.
c)
A Vibrant Church
•
read again the four key facets of
vibrant churches
•
ask the Lord to help your church
become a place where
•
the word of God is preached
fearlessly and comprehensively with authority,
•
strong friendships blossom and
provide mutual support,
•
the Holy Spirit is given free
reign and people are taught and empowered,
•
each person is equipped by the
Spirit and is enabled to exercise their gifting within the
body and feel fulfilled in that gifting, harmonizing with
the rest of the body.
d)
Emboldened Leadership
•
read again the difficulties encountered
by leaders
•
ask the Lord to raise up (if it
is not there yet) a leadership team that
•
flow in unity and harmony as a
mutual-support, Holy-Spirit-led ministry team,
•
learn to hear the voice of God
collectively and catch His purpose and direction,
•
are equipped with grace to bring
wisdom, authority, protection and provision to the flock,
•
are gifted with grace to make
decisions that are shared in wisdom and humility, that blesses
the church and draws the church on,
•
are gifted with faith, vision,
revelation and power to bring healing, deliverance, equipping
and empowering as they teach the church to grow and develop
in relationship with Christ and in personal ministry.
iii)
the Power
– as we come to God, ask
•
for His forgiveness for our past
inadequacies
•
for His mercy to come with fresh
power that
•
releases His word (preached and
prophetic) to come with fresh anointing that breaks chains and
strongholds, and sets captives free (salvation, and
freedom in existing believers),
•
releases His Spirit to be experienced
in all aspects of church life, in worship, in caring, in teaching,
in creativity, in new directions outwards,
•
creates a yearning and holy dissatisfaction
that will not be satisfied until He comes with this power and
transformation of the church
•
releases a new sense of His glory
in our midst as we gather.
There
is probably more, as the Spirit leads you as you pray, but this
is all I have for the moment.
How
lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord ;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
(Psa
84:1,2)
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