Comments on: Survey Says . . . God Help Us!

By: Larry Golden

Larry Golden — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:53:36 +0000

This is interesting. I have been interviewing pastor lately. Thier churches were identified as healthy and growing. Everyone of they placed a high priority on prayer in the life of the church.

By: Dr. Dan

Dr. Dan — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:01:23 +0000

It’s a Lifeway survey. So maybe you can tell me why the discrepency. Does Lifeway ever interview the same pastors you interview in their surveys. There may be a difference in interviews done on the field in the midst of ministry and surveys done from an office in a nice comfortable building. The results surprised me too.

By: Kim Butts

Kim Butts — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:47:59 +0000

Dan - I really love the Monday Morning Memos! Keep them coming! By the way, I have seen several studies along this line…and am wondering if those who come from a cessasionist/dispensational background struggle with the effectiveness of prayer. We find in most churches we get into that 99% of the prayer requests are all health related. If pastors believe that miraculous healing is not for today, how do they reconcile that with praying for those who are physically, spiritually or emotionally sick? Many are following what they have been taught in Bible College and/or seminary and their own experiences rather than doing a serious study of what Scripture has to say about the ministry of Jesus. I love Jack Deere’s book, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, which tells of his journey out of cessationism through studying Scripture. I have to believe that pastors of thriving churches (especially in other nations) fully believe that prayer is the source of it all! So, perhaps this mindset in the lives of so many American pastors is what has led to the need for texts like Giving Ourselves to Prayer. If pastors are not convinced, or do not believe in the power of prayer, and that God still does the miraculous today…prayer is left as a devotional side issue on the periphery of churches.

By: Jaymi Blankenship

Jaymi Blankenship — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:13:32 +0000

I appreciate your heart so much! Shortly upon my arrival to my new position as Associate Pastor of Student Ministry, I found that there was no prayer going on to prepare for our Sunday morning service. So I asked a guy who has exhibited spiritual hunger to join me early every Sunday morning to just pray over every room and every chair in our sanctuary. I also asked our Pastor to join us, and he has come twice. The great thing is that our Sunday morning services have never been the same sense. Prayer is so important. Any relationship has to have communication to sustain, and prayer is not just us talking, but requires that we listening too.

By: Bob McEachern

Bob McEachern — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 03:51:16 +0000

Dan, Well Said! True, researched, Biblical and totally practical in light of reading the Bible. When we served in Korea, many people asked about the powerful prayer there. Often the theology might have been a little shaky. But, over here we study it, write books, have seminars, and talk about it. Over there, they “just did it”. And it worked.

By: Kim Sharp

Kim Sharp — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:39:36 +0000

Dr. Crawford, first of all, let me say “thank you” to you for what you are doing. Wow! You are such a servant of the Lord. Thanks for sharing the statistics with us…..now we know specifically what to pray for and how to pray. I am grateful that we have a pastor here in Livingston at CBC who has always put prayer at the very top of the list. Bro. Barry is so burdened for the lost in our community and even abroad that he mentions prayer regularly in our services and especially at prayer meeting on Wed. nights. Jim and I will be praying with you about the specific needs you mentioned. I certainly didn’t know the harsh reality of some of the needs there. It sure puts things going on around here in a totally different perspective, that’s for sure! So, you can count on us to be praying faithfully for these requests. God bless you and, again, thank you for all that you do for our Lord!