In
him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in
the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in
which God lives by his Spirit. —
Ephesians 2:21-22
Not only do individuals pray, and small groups pray
together, but the church universal needs to learn to do what God has called us
to do. We need to pray that God would give the worldwide church the ability to
affect the world that we live in.
We need to have grace-centered, kingdom-focused
prayer, and ask God to allow us opportunities to share our faith. In a sense, we
put targets on people and we pray for them over and over and over, that God
would pierce their hearts with the gospel.
We
need to pray everywhere,
it says in 1 Timothy 2:8. “I desire then that in every place men should pray,
lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling.” We should pray everything.
Philippians 4:6 says, “Don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to
God.” We should pray always. Ephesians 6:18 says, “praying at all
times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert
with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.”
George Barna, in Turnaround Churches, said,
“Until the church owns prayer as a means of intimate and constant
communication with God, the turnaround of the body is severely limited, if not
altogether doomed to fail. It is not enough for the pastor to pray fervently,
nor is it sufficient for a leadership team to pray ardently on behalf of the
congregation.” We must all take part in prayer.
Pray for
that God would give the Church the ability to impact the world, to be
kingdom-focused. Pray “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is
in heaven.” And pray that God would use your church in answering that prayer.