PUSH

A long time ago when I was young child I remember that prayer was key thing in ministry. Alot of the great revivals that I had anything to do with was accompanied by prayer. Ironically as time went on it seems as if the culture of the churches I was attending had changed.

They seemed to be more concerned about how people saw our sacred rite and practices and less about the reason why we engaged them. A short period of time has passed but by the time i was preteen it was common to spend 3 of our services listening to the preached and taught word and maybe one service from the whole week given to prayer.

I found myself struggling to maintain a consistent flow because the habit of prayer is broken. Luckily my father did not consent to such madness. It was him who instilled the need to pray beyond just our temporal needs but to find the heart of God and impact change in the world on spiritual/influential level.

Now  the time of change has happened upon us with the death of George Floyd and the church is scrambling for position in the community. Some have always had the deep ties to the community and others have not. Regardless of where and when the fact remains this has long since been an issue. Before there was protesting, riots, black live mattering, conscious community ,church hurt and sexual conduct allegations the degradation of the community between the church and the community had long since had issues. This moment has exposed the lack in the community of connection to the church.

A similar dangerous reality is the canning and marginalizing of the church as political, social institution for both change and influence. Which if we define the church culturally then it will make sense for us to assume that the church would stand in those veins because this where its constituents serve.

I have such an aversion to run out and protest and stand in the name of God against the things that are happening because I sense the lack of intensity we have toward travailing in prayer and engaging the presence of God on the terms he set. I sense this lack of intensity in prayer when i hear the statement..." We can't JUST pray we have to be active"

2 Chronicles points to a really that was produced BY prayer. If no prayer was present this would not have occurred at all. If you examine the text closely you get to appoint where the people of God went to the place where the fight would happened praised God. They did not fight. They prayed, praised...followed the instructions and praised some more _ Battle over they won.

Acts 2 the disciples and group of people who Jesus ascend into the heavens were told to go to Jerusalem and wait until you be endue with power from on high. 120 people made it to the upper room they were in prayer ministering to the Lord and then there came a sound as of a mighty rushing wind.....Preceding the moment of power was prayer.

Some time later in Acts the apostle where threaten by the same Sanhedrin that put Jesus to death not to preach. The churches response was a prayer quoting the world from psalms 2. Then another sense of awe and power came to the church and they all spoke the gospel with boldness and power.

Yet again sometime later in Acts the apostle Paul encounter Christ on his walk to damascus. The Lord pressed him and he became blinded and was brought into the courts of the apostle and ministers minstering unto the Lord. Then holy spirit said separate unto me