I really appreciate the way the author words her prayers in the book.  They’re very “vertically” worded, focusing not so much on the person for whom I’m praying but on the God to whom I’m praying.  So many prayer resources are focused horizontally, emphasizing the results we want to see rather than the God on whom we call.  Stormie has a great focus in her prayers. 

Main idea

The main idea of the book is that the imminence of Jesus’ return should impact the way we pray - indeed, the way we live, but prayer is the emphasis of the book.

Without getting into controversies about dates, times, and events, the author encourages the church in these days to have the same sense of urgency that the early church did - a sense of urgency built on the belief that Jesus might return in their lifetime.  In light of this, our prayers should be informed, God-centered, and kingdom-focused.  Dave argues powerfully for moving beyond the typical concerns that tend to dominate our prayer lives - health, finances, relationships - and into a focused, consistent emphasis on the coming of God’s kingdom, both in our lives individually and in the sense of Christ’s return to earth.

Key Scriptures

Titus 2:11-13

2 Peter 3:11-12

“watchmen” passages: Lam. 2:19; Jer. 6:17; Eze. 3:17; Isa. 62:6

Gospel “end times” chapters - Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21

Revelation 5:8; 8:3-4

 Key Points

• Jesus’ return should give a sense of urgency and scope to our prayers.
• The early church believed that Jesus would return in their lifetime, and this belief significantly impacted their prayers, evangelism, lifestyles, etc.
• Jesus calls his people to be informed and aware of the times in which they live.
• We are to “watch and pray”.  What we see around us should move us to prayer.
• The spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth is the final event before Christ’s return (Matthew 24:14).
• We are not just to passively look forward to Christ’s return but to actively speed its coming (2 Peter 3:12).
• Therefore, our prayers should be greatly concerned with the spread of the Gospel to the least-reached areas and peoples of the earth.

My Response

While I do not share the author’s dispensational view of end-times events, I completely agree that all Christians should be looking forward to Christ’s return, preparing ourselves and living holy lives in anticipation.  This focus should result in a sense of urgency largely lacking in the lives of most churches and believers today - urgency in prayer, urgency in world evangelism, urgency in preparing the Bride for the return of the Bridegroom.

Personally, as a result of reading this book, I am re-committing myself to pray for the unreached and least reached peoples of the world and for the persecuted Church around the world. I find it hard to maintain this focus in the midst of the demands of everyday living, but I need to set my heart and mind on things above, not on earthly things (Colossians 3:1-4, which, interestingly, also has reference to Christ’s return).

{FTC notice:  I purchased this book from Prayershop Publishing, www.prayershop.org, at the normal discount available to all members of the Church Prayer Leaders’ Network.  If you don’t understand why I’ve included this notice and you’d like more info, check out this CBS News article.}

I attended the Urbana conference twice when it was still held at the University of Illinois - once in 1984 and again in 1990.  It was at those conferences that God called me very clearly to a commitment to pray for the world.  I was exposed to God’s heart for those who have had no real chance to hear the Gospel, for areas of the world in which the Church suffers great persecution, for peoples impoverished both spiritually and physically.  At Urbana, I learned to broaden my prayer perspective well beyond the walls of my college, my church, and my personal life.  Although I can’t say that I’ve always been as faithful as I wish I had been in praying for the world, I can say that my prayer life has been greatly enriched by “standing in the gap” for countries and peoples around the world.

If you’re open to the idea of praying in wider circles than you’ve yet experienced, I urge you to check out some of the links below, which will help you get started with resources for praying for the world.

Praying for the persecuted church

“Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” — Hebrews 13:3, NIV

Voice of the Martyrs

International Christian Concern

Prayer for the Unreached Peoples

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”  — Matthew 24:14, NIV

“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.”  — Revelation 7:9, NIV

Global Prayer Digest

Joshua Project

Global Mapping International

I hope you will also join me in praying for Urbana 2009.

Praying in community is important for many reasons, several of which I cover in the book.  But Phil emphasized one today that I hadn’t considered before, and that’s how we learn from each other when we pray together.  I’ve often said that prayer is more than we think it is because God himself is bigger than we can possibly imagine.  It follows naturally that none of us has all the answers on prayer and none of us prays in a way that completely captures all that prayer should be.  As we pray together, then, we have the opportunity to learn about prayer and learn about God from the ways in which others pray. 

This is not to say that everyone prays equally well in a group setting - we all know that’s not the case.  And it’s not to say that we should necessarily imitate anything we hear.  But praying in community does give us an opportunity to see and experience God in a different way - through the eyes of others - opening up the possibility that we can know God better by knowing a different side of him than we typically see when we pray.

This viewpoint can also help us from becoming judgmental about the way others pray.  Some pray liturgically, some conversationally, some charismatically.  It’s possible to acknowledge that each of these styles (and more) captures a part of what prayer is without insisting that any given style is “right” or is “more right” than the others.  Surely unity in prayer is accomplished more fully by appreciating diversity than by insisting on conformity - as long as our hearts are in tune with God.

This is not to say that all prayer styles are equally fit for community prayer.  As I stated in “Together in Prayer”, some prayer styles are best left either to the prayer closet or to groups whose composition is rather homogeneous in terms of prayer style.  But surely there must always be room to grow and to learn more of God by experiencing different types and styles of prayer, whether or not we choose to adopt them for ourselves.

For more about the National Pastors’ Prayer Network, see www.nppn.org.

Welcome to my blog.  My intent is to moderate a discussion on community prayer, or prayer in a primarily small-group setting.  I’m hoping that you will find the topics and entries both interesting and engaging, and that you’ll contribute your ideas as well!  The idea is that we’ll all learn from each other.  I hope eventually to also start a discussion about writing, under a separate category…but it all depends on the ability of this old dog to learn new computer tricks.