Our church is embarking on a 30-day prayer project. I've asked each person to pick 3 people for whom they will pray for 30 days. One person needs to be a family member (immediate or extended family). I then asked each person to pray for one person from the side of the auditorium on which they sit and another person from the other side of the auditorium. Scripture commands us to pray for one another. God chooses to work through the prayers of His saints (I give an example of this in the sermon). So when we fail to pray, we are limiting God's working in our midst.
It was a practice for some time in our church to have men meet in the pastor's office to pray before services. Somehow, we let this slide. About the same time that we quit doing this prayer time, people began to get job transfers to other parts of the country. The steady stream of visitors slowed to a crawl. Giving became more sporadic. Oddly, none of us older people recognized what was happening. But our young people noticed! They asked me, "Why did the men stop praying before services?" Then they pointed out that it was about the time that we let this prayter time just atrophy on its own that things in the church began to atrophy as well.
Well, thanks to some brilliant young people for pointing this out to us. The men are meeting again to pray. They know now that it not only makes a difference in the life of our church. It also makes a difference in the lives of our young people. They take notice of this example and it impacts their lives.
If the men at your church aren't meeting to pray before service, suggest they start. It makes a difference. Listen to this sermon and commit to this 30-day prayer project on a personal level. Leave a comment on the sermon page to let me know what a difference it made.
