By Remco Brommet
Imagine if the nearly 85 million Americans who identify as evangelical Christians—born again, baptized, assured of salvation, Bible-believing—discover that prayer matters to God and start devoting themselves to intercession with unprecedented ardor.
Imagine if every church in the U.S. has a weekly prayer meeting that rivals their Sunday morning service in attendance and fervor, where believers cry out together for God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done in every aspect of life and in every tribe and nation.
Talk about waking the sleeping giant!
Increasingly Post-Christian
That has been my daily prayer for the past two years: Lord, awaken the sleeping giant that is the American Church. Awaken us from our Laodicean slumber (Rev. 3:14–22).
We seem to be moving rapidly deeper into the end times. Wars, shakings, diseases, natural disasters, and shifts in the global balance of power are unfolding in rapid succession. Meanwhile, ever-greater violence and lawlessness among the people and alarmingly totalitarian measures by the governments of even the staunchest democracies are on the rise.
Intensifying persecution and attacks on churches that are common in countries where Christianity is illegal—until now far from our bed where we still enjoy freedom of worship—are suddenly on our doorstep. Because of our stance on biblical truths regarding gender identity, abortion, freedom, and other moral absolutes, an increasingly post-Christian American society that is moving away from such truths now considers us bigots, haters, and hindrances to progressive thinking.
Even the most faithful Christians in my own circles have expressed shock at how quickly all this has come upon us. But anyone familiar with the words of Jesus knows that tribulation and persecution are coming. We are just not sure what it will look like.
Unfortunately, prayerlessness, biblical illiteracy, and addiction to comfort have lulled us to sleep. We’ve become unaccustomed to spiritual warfare, forgotten the power and importance of priestly prayer, and lack dependence on the fullness of the Holy Spirit at work in us and through us.
So, we are caught off-guard.
Now More than Ever
That is why I believe an awakening of prayer is needed today more than ever! Prayer without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17) ensures we are firmly attached to Christ the Vine to receive everything we need to live in an unstable world and face hatred on account of Christ (Mark 13:13).
Not only that, but prayer is the power behind missions as we work toward finishing the Great Commission. Without it, the advance of the gospel stagnates. Prayer moves the hand of God in the lives of those we pray for, believer and unbeliever alike.
Prayer is God’s appointed means to win great victories and accomplish mighty things. The prayers of all the saints are received upon the altar in heaven before the throne of God and return to earth as mighty acts (Rev. 8:3–5).
Those reasons and more are why we need a new movement of prayer in our churches—not just when there is a crisis that shocks us into realizing we need God, but because we know that prayer matters greatly to God and should therefore matter to us. We must realize that if we don’t pray, we will continue to weaken spiritually and leave the blessings God intends to pour out on His Church and on humanity through the prayers of His people locked up in heaven.
At its core, praying for an awakening of prayer in our churches is praying for the ignition of desire for the presence and supremacy of Christ in the hearts of His people. He must be uppermost in our thoughts and affections.
Ignition of Burning Desire
I invite you as prayer leaders and mobilizers to pray with me for a renewed conviction that prayer is vital to our personal and corporate walk with God, and for the ignition of a burning desire for Him amid the turmoil of our day.
In addition, I encourage you to evaluate your church’s prayer culture. Is it need-focused or Kingdom-focused? What do we need to teach and do differently to restore the centrality of thirsty, Kingdom-advancing, demon-busting, revival-seeking prayer in our churches?
Don’t be discouraged! I sense God is getting ready to prepare His Bride for the return of the Bridegroom. Your work for His Kingdom to awaken prayer in our churches is vital. He delights in and responds to your prayer for Him to awaken the sleeping giant and ignite prayer in your church.
REMCO BROMMET has pastored several churches, served as a law enforcement and fire service chaplain, and led prayer movements for revival and spiritual awakening around the country. He is the author of Prayer Matters and blogs at deeperlifeblog.com.
