Skip to main content

If We Are So Burdened Then Why Aren't The Prayer Meetings Full?

Erik Raymond

As Christians we are right to be outraged by things we see and hear in the news and our communities. Our hearts break when we consider people being killed by gunfire, abortion, terrorism, and drug overdoses (just to name a few). But being Scripture-formed people we know better than to limit our frustration over sin to those that make the headlines. We also loathe spiritual apathy, hypocrisy, and lukewarmness in the church. We recognize that all sin is, at its core, a rebellion against God and an assault on his honor (Rom. 1:18-25).
So what do we do about it?
I know one thing that a lot of people do is talk about it. We as Christians talk an awful lot about what is wrong. Many people engage the issues on social media and there is a lot of chatter by Christians on the topics. But is this really a strategy for doing anything about it? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for talking. People are shaped and challenged by healthy public discourse. But this can’t be all that we do. It isn’t even the best thing we can do.
Let me put it another way, if we believe that God is good, sovereign, and holy, and that he has told us to cast our burdens on him in prayer then, where are the public prayer meetings by God’s people?
Read the Rest HERE

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Oops!

I can be a real klutz.  I have very few manual skills and I never grew out of the "tripping over my own feet" stage of life.  I have fumbled and dropped more than my fair share of balls. In other words, "oops" has been a regular part of my vocabulary. It is not only in the physical world that I have fumbled things.  I have messed up relationships.  I have prejudged people before ever getting to know them.  I have used and abused those who love me most in this world.  I have failed and sinned my way into more than one tight corner and created untold disasters.  Oops is not even sufficient for the ways that I have blown it. Perhaps that is why something Paul, our worship leader last Sunday, said resonated so deeply with me this week.  He said "Oops is never said in heaven."  Our God never is clumsy.  He never makes mistakes. His plans never go belly-up.  He never fails.  He never ever has to say oops - and that comforts me.
Post a Comment
Read more

The walking, talking providence of God

Today I met a man in Israel I will never forget.  Fifteen years ago he was voting in a primary for candidates of the Likud party.  At the polling station, two Palestinian terrorists burst in upon the crowd who were choosing their candidate for the next election.  They sprayed the crowd with automatic gunfire.  Seven people fell to the floor, wounded by the barrage.  The terrorists moved among the fallen, stopping to shoot each one between the eyes to make sure that they were dead.  Six people died that day.  Today I met the seventh. He was wounded four times in the initial burst of gunfire - once in each leg, once in the arm and once in the side.  The terrorists then put a gun two feet from his face and put a bullet between his eyebrows.  I saw the deep scar with my own eyes.  The next year he spent in a coma. Today I met him at the little restaurant he owns outside the gates of the ancient ruins of Beth She'an.  He stood in f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week of Prayer

This week at our church has been set aside as a week of prayer.  As part of that observance, we put together a "Daily Bread" style devotional on prayer.  Each entry was contributed by one of our missionaries or pastors. Day One I love wonder.  Today our missionary Barry Speck called us to wonder in the sovereignty of God - particularly as it relates to the people in our lives.  There are over seven billion people living on this planet today.  Any of us could have been born anywhere on this planet, yet God has ordained that we are here and that the tiny portion of those seven billion who are around us are the people He has chosen to be in our lives.  When you think of it, the odds are staggering for any particular person to be a part of our lives.  Doesn't that change how you look at your wife, your children or your best friend?  Out of all the endless possibilities, God has chosen these people to be part of our lives. Have you thanked G...
Post a Comment
Read more