A decade or more later the Lord brought Dr. Archie Parrish into my life. He has taught me most of what I know about the practice and necessity of prayer. His emphasis (which is nothing more or less than the biblical emphasis) is on “Kingdom-focused prayer,” wherein we orient all of our prayer life to the advancement of God’s Kingdom on earth. This was revolutionary when he first exposed me to such a concept. Archie also taught me what it means to become a part of a “fire-team.” Borrowed from the Marine Corps concept, a “fire-team” is comprised of four men who cover one another’s backs and, at the same time, all the points of the compass; north, south, east and west. They don’t put out fires, they start them, at least in terms of advancing the gospel and pushing back the kingdom of darkness.

Then there was the late Dr. Stephen Olford who was like a fiery Puritan preacher resurrected from the pages of history. I was only able to hear Dr. Olford preach on one occasion, but I shall never forget it. Small in stature, but a giant of the faith, Dr. Olford ministered the Word of God as I’ve never experienced it before or since. At a Maximum Man conference in Raleigh, N.C., I heard him quote an old Scottish seminary professor of his. He related the words of that professor when discussing the issue of prayer. It was so profound that Dr. Olford never forgot exactly what he said in class that particular day; “Pray when you feel like it. Pray when you don’t feel like it. And pray until you do feel like it.” Simple, pithy and memorable. Oh, that every Christian in America knew those words and practiced their content.

I, along with our elders, am convinced that God is calling our congregation to a fresh emphasis and practice of prayer. Some of you have expressed your own heart in this matter, for which we are thankful. If our church is to make any real progress spiritually, functionally, and statistically, it must be upon our knees. We must get real, get focused and get going. We Christians are adept when it comes to talking about prayer, but we are often not too swift when it comes to actually praying. We desire to see this dramatically change. Our elders on sabbatical and our current executive board of elders has called for intensive times of prayer among ourselves. Most churches never grow beyond their leaders. If we are to be a praying church then prayer must begin with our pastoral staff, elders and deacons. We must pray “when we feel like it, when we don’t feel like it and until we do feel like it.” I am thankful to say that we are praying as we’ve not done since I have been at WPC. We are confessing our own sins and neediness. We are being open and vulnerable with one another. We are seeking the face of our God and it is most refreshing and encouraging.