We Americans live and breathe pragmatism, methodology, techniques, technology, and all the other things that fill our lives with "what I can do about it" and time-related pressures. Some of this stems from a good thing: a Puritan view of personal responsibility. God gives us resources, we need to use them to the best of our ability. Fine. But when it comes to the Church, everything about her life is built upon personal inability: "Apart from Me ye can do nothing." The cornerstone of the Church is the person, Christ. In the same discourse as the previous quote, he says, "Ask and ye shall receive."
God uses means; he uses means when it comes to the enlarging of the blessings of our ministries and our churches. But the chief means given to us is prayer.
I wonder what God can do to build and grow a church? Could He perhaps do things we never even thought about? The Bible shows Him doing that a good deal.
I wonder what God might do to build and grow a church if we pray? It is interesting that the only thing Jesus told the disciples to do for the growth of the Church, before His ascension, was to wait on Him to grant them the Spirit. So they did, by getting together and praying. How much of what followed was due to their creativity?
I've been increasingly impressed with my wife's prayers. When she says she's praying for something, it usually happens. Not long ago, she was praying for two more families to join our church within a certain space of time. They did. How's that for church growth?
Be still and know that I am God.
God uses means; he uses means when it comes to the enlarging of the blessings of our ministries and our churches. But the chief means given to us is prayer.
I wonder what God can do to build and grow a church? Could He perhaps do things we never even thought about? The Bible shows Him doing that a good deal.
I wonder what God might do to build and grow a church if we pray? It is interesting that the only thing Jesus told the disciples to do for the growth of the Church, before His ascension, was to wait on Him to grant them the Spirit. So they did, by getting together and praying. How much of what followed was due to their creativity?
I've been increasingly impressed with my wife's prayers. When she says she's praying for something, it usually happens. Not long ago, she was praying for two more families to join our church within a certain space of time. They did. How's that for church growth?
Be still and know that I am God.
Comments