In the course of your ministry, what role does prayer play in the life of your congregation? I ask, because my observation has been that in the last twenty years there seems to be an ever-lessening emphasis on the importance of prayer within the spiritual lives of the people in our churches. This concerns me very much.
I did a study several years ago into the kinds of events in the life of a church that might spur the members of the congregation to pray more consistently and more fervently. I was not at all surprised to learn that during times of revival, the strong sense of Christ’s presence when the church gathers for worship often drives people to pray. It’s almost as if a coming to life again in a church has this distinctive side benefit of promoting prayer as a major spiritual discipline among God’s people.
In relfelcting on this phenomenon, I have made this the subject of Podcast No. 45, which I have chosen to feature this week. I invite you to click the link on this page that will take you to my Sermon-Coach website where you can listen to this Podcast.
There’s no question in my mind that people with an ever-developing sense of spiritual formation are a praying people. As ministers of Christ, we should desire to do everything we can to promote this important spiritual discipline. I sense that you might agree with me on this and will find helpful what I share in this featured Podcast.
I continue to feel very grateful and am humbled by the many positive comments about my latest book entitled The Sermon Sucking Black Hole—Why You Can’t Remember on Monday What Your Minister Preached on Sunday. This book is now available at Amazon.com by clicking here.
This book gives some solid tips to the people sitting in the congregation to help them remember what you’ve said from the pulpit when they come to worship services in the church where you serve as pastor.
Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.
(385)
