Prayer...thoughts, questions, dreams...

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Some questions and thoughts are heavy on my heart tonight about prayer.

5 different people have come to me in the last 3 months to share their burden for more prayer at CCF. I agree, I agree, I agree and I share the same burden. I believe that prayer opens the windows of heaven, keeps us connected to God and God connected to us as His church! I want to see so much more prayer at CCF...a deeper hunger for it, more people doing it and it becoming a more intricate part of who we are.

Tough questions on my heart (this is me being real here):

  1. Why have so few people attended every prayer initiatives that we have offered in the past? We have tried Sundays, Saturdays and Weekday Mornings (over the last 3 years).
  2. Why did we average 12 people at prayer for all of 2007? I know that I am throwing my vest open in asking these questions, but I need answers. The only way you get answers is by asking questions.
  3. Is prayer lived out in the church only as a calendar event (I sure hope not because people have voted with their feet and they don't seem to be giving up another night for the church)? Or are there other ways to build prayer deeply into the life of the church? If so, what are they?
  4. How can members/lay people become involved in leading different prayer initiatives? I cherish the day when people lead out and live out their ideas and passions for prayer. In being very honest, I feel that oftentimes people share their ideas and passions and then sit and wait on me or the Pastoral Team to carry them out. I am not sure that is how it should work. I want people to feel released to move with and LEAD what they feel passionate about regarding prayer. It should not require pastoral presence or leadership to validate it. How do we get there? How do I (we) encourage this as leaders? How are standing in the way?

Bottom Line is this...we need to pray more! Without ceasing! How do we do it? I have never pastored a church before CCF. I feel that this is one of my blind spots and I am not afraid to say it. However, I am afraid to ignore it. What do we do? I believe that if we put our heads and hearts together, we will see something happen! Something more!