RanBec Ministries

If It's Broke, Fix It!

I grew up in a minister's home, and I have been involved in vocational Christian ministry for thirty-five years. Currently, I have the opportunity to visit in many churches throughout the year. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that the church is the bride of Christ. I believe in the church. However, I have also become saddened because I think the body of Christ is broken.

The truth is, many of the churches I visit have great services. The music is upbeat, the preaching is good, and the people appear to enjoy the experience. I have, however, noticed a lack of spiritual power in the church. When you're the outsider, looking in at the church, the answer seems obvious. Churches have lost the fervent hunger to converse with the Father. Spiritual power comes through prayer, and it is crystal clear that there is little praying in the church --- not in the worship service, not in the Bible study hour, nor in the homes of God's people.

Let's just look at the worship experience for a moment. Most churches spend an hour in what they call the worship service. They spend five minutes making announcement, twenty minutes in music worship, and twenty to forty minutes in God's Word. Then they spend five minutes receiving the offering and five minutes in the invitation/alter call and concluding remarks. There is usually an opening prayer, a closing prayer, an offertory prayer, and a pastoral prayer. All the praying doesn't add up to ten minutes.

It's interesting that Jesus tells the Jewish leaders of the day that God's house was to be a house of prayer. Let's take a look at the entire verse.

Matthew 21:13 (NASB)

And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you are making it a robbers' den."

Jesus didn't say it was to be a place to worship in song or to read God's Word, though those things are important. He said God's house was to be a house of prayer. While the Jewish leaders had allowed the synagogue to become a place for merchants, where they charged exorbitant prices and robbed the poor, I believe God's people today have robbed God by making other things more important than prayer.

The strength of the church will only be as strong as the relationship they have with the Father. And that relationship depends upon conversing with Him. It's time for the church to repent and make prayer a priority.

--Randy Davis