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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Email, Facebook and the decline of biblical/corporate prayer!

I am not sure other churches are experiencing an increasing dependence on cyberspace sharing/access to people's prayer needs or if they are seeing a decline in attendance at corporate prayer times, but the issues is worth some consideration.

In my church we have recently decided to stop sending out prayer requests, through our official church email, which mention people who have asked to be removed from our church role. It makes much sense that we would honor people's desires to not be associated with the church in an official capacity, by not continuing to mention them in our official church communications. Of course we encourage people to share requests and pray for all people as they feel led personally.

Much to my surprise, some people were outraged by this, especially a few who had asked to be removed form the role in previous years. They had several concerns including: suggesting it means we don't believe in prayer, thinking it may hurt our image in the community and believing it may prevent a person from getting what they want from God, because they did not get enough numbers of people praying for them.

Of course these objections are full of bad theology including the reality that "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16). So it is not necessary that we get many people on board to have God's best done for us. God listens to each of us for Christ's sake, if we have been reconciled to God in Christ!

Further we can consider Paul's advice to Timothy in 1 Tim. 5:23 No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities. (NKJV)

Paul never suggests that God will always heal when asked and does not suggest Timothy needs to get more people praying for his frequent illnesses.

This makes sense when you consider Paul's own experience -

2 Cor. 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (NKJV)

God's word does not say all who pray will be healed or getting more people to pray will necessarily move God's hand! Assuming God is doing what is best for Paul, Timothy and us, even when He says no to our prayers, do we really want to get many people to pray in hopes He will do something else? Paul got God's best in learning to depend on God, even while his prayer request met with a firm no!

Further, when we consider how many of the prayer requests we send out have to do with health needs, and the scriptures clearly tell the sick they should do as we read in -

James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. (NKJV) This is not a prohibition against sharing prayer requests about illnesses, but while one has become an absolute demand of church goers (email/facebook prayer request sharing), the biblical practice outlined in God's word has become almost unheard of! If someone becomes dependent on email/facebook prayer request sharing, are they likely to be confronted about sin, salvation and their need to obey God as they find comfort in Him, even if they are still sick?

OK, but this off-theology of prayer is only part of the problem I see here. The bigger issue is how dependent we have become on cyberspace for communicating prayer needs and how lax we are at attending in person corporate prayer times. Is it easier to communicate by email and facebook? Yes, but what about coming together to share our needs and call out to the Lord for His guidance and the power to carry out His will -

Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. (NKJV)

I would love to see the place where we pray shaken by God, but even more important, I would love to see the people of God coming together in person, to pray for God's power, to go into the world (in cyberspace and in person), sharing the word of God boldly!

What do I see? An incredible amount of emphasis on physical needs and our desire for healing, especially in cyberspace, while corporate prayer times, spiritual needs and people's eternal destinies seem to get very little attention.

What will you do?

You could get mad, or you could come and pray with the body of Christ in person, and expect God to use and change us, for His purposes and glory!

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."






7 comments:

  1. Thank you for that great reminder. The Spirit certainly uses your words to speak truth and bring conviction.

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  2. I learned how to pray in times of corporate prayer, not sitting in front of my computer screen. In person I can hear the desperation, the exaltation, the weakness and the strength of God's people. I can look around and see the flock, remembering that I am a sheep who hears the Shepherd's voice, is known by the Shepherd and follows Him (John 10:27).

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  3. I think it is very judgmental to assume that all people who post prayer requests on social media fail to gather in corporate prayer at their local churches. What's wrong with doing both? Since the Bible tells us to pray without ceasing and to bear one anothers' burdens, wouldn't it behoove us to use every means available to do so? Also, if a member leaves a particular church body to join another, they are still a part of the universal church body. Removing them from the prayer request email chain seems more like retaliation than honoring their desires to no longer be associated with the church. May we all ask God to search our hearts to make sure we have pure motives in the decisions we make concerning His church body.

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    Replies
    1. Certainly there is nothing wrong with doing both, I think that is what was being stated... don't do "prayer chains" instead of corporate prayer.

      If a person desires not to be part of a particular church body, why would they want their business shared with those people? Why would they think they should know the business of those still attending that church? By your own statement "no longer be associated with the church" assumes as much. The statement you made about being "more like retaliation" is judgmental in itself and accusing leadership of sin... are you comfortable making that statement? Have you personally gone to church leadership with your concerns (if you are a member of that church), or are you just on the outside throwing stones? Don’t you not think that church leadership may know more about individual situations than might be on the surface?

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  4. If they leave due to unrepentant sin, should they be considered as "part of the universal church body", or should they be treated as unbelievers and not even eaten with? Refer to the Bible before you answer flippantly.

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  5. I went to a Church years ago and it had over 1000 people attending on Sunday, and at prayer, we were lucky to get 8, that is sad.
    I tend to think sheep are selfish, Thank God he is merciful, your rite on Pastor.

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