While praying for our country this morning, it dawned on me just have ineffective we as the New Testament church are in our society. It is estimated that there are over 300,000 churches in America. There are reportedly hundreds of millions of Christians. How little impact we are having.
Take in these startling facts. It is estimated between 2006-2012 30,000 churches closed their doors. Once vibrant effective congregations died. Their gospel witness extinguished. Their light dimmed forever.
For those churches still open for ministry about 25% of the congregation are hard pressed to show up 3:8 weekends. About half of the membership is active. That means the other half are not active members.
Church attendance in America is steadily declining. In 1990 20.4% of the U.S. population went to church. In 2000 that number dropped to 18.7%. Just four years later the number declined to 17.7%. If that trend were to continue until 2050 there would be just above 11% of the U.S. population involved in a local church.
Experts see these trends. High paid ministry executives plan to reverse these trends. Creative gurus come up with new programs to reverse these trends. While they work feverishly on these things look around you.
Our society is coming apart. We, as followers of God, are losing the culture war. Sin is promoted, celebrated and embraced across the land. Sin is even legislated into law. Our nation has become increasingly pagan. Society has become increasingly hostile to the church, gospel, Jesus and His followers. Leaders at the highest levels of our civilization act uncivil and barbaric in their methods and rhetoric. Professing to be wise, we has a nation have made ourselves fools. We are society swimming in the sewage of sin as if it were a vacation at the beach.
The church goes right on planning and programming. WILL ANYONE WAKE UP AND REALIZE PLANNING AND PROGRAMS HAVE NOT TRANSFORMED OUR NATION. Not in the past. Not in the present. Nor in the future. Church members and pastors will try everything but pray. Where are the praying churches. I know of a few and God is working powerfully in those places and communities. How few seem interested in following their example.
Does your congregation regularly gather for corporate prayer? I am talking more than just a quick prayer for God to heal all the sick people on the prayer list? Does your church gather to pray for our nation? Does your church cry out for God to send revival and spiritual awakening to America? Do you?
I can recount story after story of how God used praying people to transform whole countries. Like John and Charles Wesley in England. Like Evan Roberts in Wales. Like Hudson Taylor and Jackie Pullinger in China. Like John Hyde in India. Father Nash, Jeremiah Lamphier, Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield in the United States.
Our plans and programs are not working. We must become houses of prayer again if we ever hope to stem the tide of evil in America. It is not glamorous. Intercession is hard lonely work. It is the work God is increasingly calling me to. I'm not interested in any more programs being sent to me from convention headquarters. I am interested in gathering with the people of God to pray. I am interested in fasting and prayer. I am interested in the prayer closet.
When God's people go back to the prayer closet to seek Him we will see great awakenings and revivals like we read about in history. Such moves from God are born in prayer. The church must travail to give birth to such movements no matter how long it takes. Even if it does not happen in our lifetime, we must pray importunately for the generations of our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Plans and programs will NEVER bring another great awakening. God's people praying perseveringly just might.
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