October 2010

Vol. 7, No. 10

By Joanthan Graf

I was recently in a church in a denomination that was voting on merging with a second denomination. The Sunday I was there was the last day members could enter their votes. I overheard the member in charge of the voting trying to collect a vote from another member. The member who hadn’t yet voted wanted to pass because she didn’t know what it was all about. But the vote collector tried to push her to vote.

. . . sometimes more is, well, more!

By Jenny Almquist

Almost a year ago my husband and I--along with our three children--left our church to help start a new church in our city. Let me first say that doing this is not for the faint at heart. Any romantic thoughts you may have about church planting should be few and far between. However, to see the Kingdom advanced in a way that can only happen by doing this is exciting; and being a part of opening the doors wider to the kingdom is also thrilling and very exciting.

By Jonathan Graf 

The church I attend when I am home, Christ Community Church in Brazil, Indiana, has recently had an upsurge in its evangelism and local outreach emphasis. People visited every home in the village of 6,000 dropping off invitations and information about the church. Several special outreach events were planned as well. Alongside of that has been some wonderful prayer emphases as well.

Prayer Leader OnLine

Vol. 7, No. 9

By Alvin VanderGriend

One of the most important assignments believers have is to pray family and friends to Christ. Jesus interceded for future converts when He said to the Father, “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their [disciples’] message” ( John 17:20). Paul interceded for the salvation of fellow Jews with heartfelt prayer: “Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved” (Romans 10:1, TNIV). In a letter to Timothy, Paul urged that “requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone.” Such praying, said Paul, “pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” The New Testament picture is certainly clear. Prayer precedes conversion.

In most churches in the western world, only a small fraction of believers participate in expressions of corporate prayer. This is a sad statement, and it is the reason why the American church is virtually powerless.

But one of the most significant reasons why many do not participate is that corporate prayer in most churches is not corporate prayer, but personal prayer done in a group. By that I mean, usually everyone brings their own prayer practices into the larger group. Here are two personal prayer practices that hinder true corporate prayer:

By Steven Furtick

A few years ago, I started realizing that I prayed some pretty dumb prayers. Not that I think God needs me to be eloquent or profound when I talk to him. It’s just that a lot of the stuff I was praying was, well, rather pointless and obtuse. Here are a couple of examples from Furtick’s Book of Dumb Prayers.

By Steven Furtick

A few years ago, I started realizing that I prayed some pretty dumb prayers. Not that I think God needs me to be eloquent or profound when I talk to him. It’s just that a lot of the stuff I was praying was, well, rather pointless and obtuse. Here are a couple of examples from Furtick’s Book of Dumb Prayers.

. . . the armor of God is the uniform of prayer.

By Mark Mirza

Note: Most churches and pastors would love to see the men of their church become prayer warriors. But the sad truth is that in most churches far more women than men pray. First Baptist Atlanta bucks the norm. Twice a month, its men—dubbed “Sons of Thunder”—come out to pray. Led by singles pastor, Mark Mirza, more than 100 men come out every other Saturday morning to lift up the ministries of the church in prayer. Here are some tips from Mark on how they do it.

Understanding Different Prayer Styles

By Alice Smith

The prayer meeting begins. The first person to pray is motivated by mercy. He prays with passion and tears, a fever erupting in his heart. His unbridled emotion begins to irritate the woman next to him.

Moms In Touch International announces that September 19, 2010, will be its first annual Bless Our Schools Sunday,

We believe one of the best ways to recharge and feel a renewed passion for prayer ministry is to experience a CPLN conference. This Fall we have three different conferences:

September 2010

Vol. 7, No. 9