TOGETHER: Healthy churches pray with focus

January 20, 2003

TOGETHER:
Healthy churches pray with focus
___Through my years as a pastor, I prayed God would help me build churches that had a clear vision, a passion to reach people for Christ, a deep and growing love for God, a determination to teach and nurture members toward Christian maturity, a willing obedience to Christ's command to love our community and minister to needs, and a genuine love and care for one another.
___These characteristics grow out of a study of Scripture where Jesus' life and ministry is carefully described. These are the things Jesus demonstrated and commanded. Any church that wants to be all it can be

CHARLES WADE
Executive Director
BGCT Executive Board

wants to grow to be like Christ. We want the same passion, priorities and power that are so evident in Jesus' life.
___As I came to work with our Texas Baptist Executive Board staff, I found they were putting the final touches on an ambitious journey to describe what a strong and healthy church would look like. The two-year study was done with 7,200 Texas Baptists involved. Laypersons, pastors, directors of missions, leaders in the convention and in local churches, as well as ordinary members were interviewed. This was the statement they overwhelmingly preferred to describe a good church: "A healthy church could be characterized by a progressive intimacy with God, genuine relationships among its members and compassionate mission/ministry to its community and world."
___They also found strong agreement that there are 11 characteristics present in a healthy church--the stronger the presence of these 11 characteristics, the stronger and healthier the church. The characteristics are God-centered worship, focused prayer, God-focused vision, Bible-based discipleship, participatory decision-making, enabling servant leadership, needs-based ministry, joyous stewardship, loving relationships, kingdom-based missions and intentional evangelism.
___Our convention is committed to helping your church be a healthy church and to be the presence of Christ in the world. I plan to highlight one of these 11 characteristics each month in this conversation I enjoy with you.
___Consider the importance of focused prayer as one of the 11 signs and means of a healthy church. Anyone who has been around prayer very much knows that God loves people so much that he will answer prayer sometimes just to convince someone he is there and he is for them. The older I get, the surer I am that God wants to answer his children's prayers. We don't ask God for too much. Most of us ask him for too little.
___Prayer gets us in touch with the will of God. Jesus taught us to pray: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done." Jesus prayed the night before he died: "Not my will, but thine be done." Three times, he prayed that prayer. It is a rewarding spiritual journey for Christians and their churches to learn to pray Gethsemane's prayer.
___How can the BGCT help you and your church develop a spiritually healthy congregation--a church where focused prayer is at the heart of everything that is done? Although many entities in Texas Baptist life emphasize prayer, our office of prayer and spiritual development (www.texasprayercenter.org), led by Ted Elmore, is designed specifically to assist your church to become a prayer-based congregation through both strategy and resources. Check with Ted. He is a friend to churches who want to pray.
___We are loved.

Send this story to a friend

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook