1 in 100…
This past week I walked into the worship center at Highpoint for our noon prayer time. We kick each semester off with 21 Days of Prayer. While over 2,000 people fill this same room on Sundays, only a dozen or two make their way to the campus to pray on a given day.I know. There are moms with kids and with jobs that must be completed. Yet it is still a disappointment to think that less than 1 out of every 100 people choose to pray with us. Maybe 30 can't while 69 don't. The problem is not just present at Highpoint; it is an epidemic in the Christian church. My mind flashes to our recent trip to Jerusalem where we could hear the call to worship multiple times a day for the Muslims to fall to their knees. What a sad contrast we represent.What will it take for us to pray as a church? A tragedy? A crisis? In your own life, what brings you to prayer? Is it when God is blessing you and everything is good? Or is it only when you face a problem that you can't seem to solve? I think of hearing my husband say, "Crisis prayer is easily generated but rarely sustained."There's nothing wrong with coming to God in a crisis. He is a Father who cares for each of us as His children. But don't miss out! As my children have moved to the teen years, I see what everyone said would happen: peers become the first point of interest and Mom and Dad are now consulted on an "as needed" basis. What they don't realize is how many road bumps and ditches they could avoid, if they used the Lord as their source of wisdom instead of an equally incompetent peer.Before we laugh too hard at their behavior, we should think again. As adults, we are guilty of the exact same thing. We run to a friend, counselor, or spouse when the God of the universe is just waiting to be asked. He has the answer and He cares about us. What an unbeatable combination! The wisest human being on earth can't begin to hold a candle to being able to guide you or me like our Heavenly Father can.If you pray because you think you are supposed to, I challenge you to stop. Instead:
- Pray because you can.
- Pray because He cares.
- Pray because He answers.