On Sunday morning, October 13, 2013, I led our entire Cross Church Family in a prayer meeting. I believed it was time to issue a call to the Cross Church Family for spiritual revival in the church and spiritual awakening in America.
Our Purpose
Why dedicate an entire Sunday morning service to a prayer meeting? I felt God leading me to alert our Cross Church family of the need for spiritual revival and awakening in America. I lead them through a spiritual process that was both personal and sequential, and then sent our church out with a burden for revival and a hope for the future. Revival is the manifestation of the presence of God in our lives. Revival begins with me. Revival begins with you.
A Personal Conviction
I have a personal conviction about why we pray for revival and awakening. Personally, I believe we need to pray for personal revival, revival in the church and awakening in the nation, so that we can see the Great Commission of Jesus Christ escalated and accelerated to completion in our generation. I am compelled to call the church to revival and the country to be awakened spiritually, so that we can see the completion of the Great Commission in our generation.
Word-Based, Spirit-Led and Worshipful
We focused solely on praying, and everything we did was based upon the Word of God. I took the Word of God, read it, taught it briefly and then led our people to respond to God through prayer. Throughout the worship experience of teaching and prayer, we expressed various moments through songs of worship.
Built Upon Biblical Principles
I taught through five specific principles, spending four to six minutes on each.
- A Vision for Revival in the Church and Awakening in the Nation
- The Exceeding Sinfulness of our Sin
- Cleansing and Renewal
- Fully Surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and Experiencing the Fullness of the Holy Spirit
- Advancing the Gospel Everywhere
After each principle was taught from God's Word, we moved to prayer. We prayed silently, we prayed together, we prayed on our knees, we prayed standing and we prayed at the altar. My desire was to lead by the Spirit's direction—built upon the Word of God, responding to God through prayer, and expressed through worship.
Wonderful Experience
Without a doubt, the entire service was a wonderful experience. Lay people and pastors want to pray. Those who do not know how to pray want to learn to pray effectively. As spiritual leaders, we need to create a pathway for them. It was a highly memorable day for many, and life changing for some.
Just imagine what would happen in America if every church spent an entire Sunday morning worship service focused on prayer for revival in the church and awakening in America? Just imagine what would happen if each of those services led toward praying about advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ regionally, nationally and internationally, calling upon the church to rise up and complete the Great Commission in our generation?
I am convinced that every great movement of God is preceded by the extraordinary prayer of God's people. Now is the time we rise up as the church of Jesus Christ and elevate prayer in our churches. If we are not careful, we will reduce prayer in local church worship services to routine and less important than announcements.
Jonathan Edwards, the man God used as the catalyst for the First Great Awakening said:
"So it is God's will that the prayers of His saints shall be great and the principal means of carrying on the designs of Christ's Kingdom in the world. When God has something to accomplish for His church, it is with His will that there should precede it the extraordinary prayer of His people."
Oh friend, just imagine, if every church in America turned just one entire worship service into a prayer service, calling upon the God of Heaven to bring revival into our lives personally, in His church, and awakening in our nation, so that we can see the Great Commission escalated and accelerated to completion in our generation.
Dr. Ronnie Floyd has been a pastor for over 37 years. Since 1986, Pastor Floyd has served as the Senior Pastor of Cross Church, Northwest Arkansas, which has baptized over 17,000 people during his tenure. Cross Church was one of the first churches in America to go multi-site. In June 2014, Pastor Floyd was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention. He has authored over 20 books including FORWARD: 7 Distinguishing Marks For Future Leaders, releasing in 2015.
For the original article, visit pastors.com.
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