“Ask and it shall be given unto you.”  Those are the words of Jesus.  A promise with amazing implications.  Limitless resources available not because we work so hard, but because we ask.  It couldn’t get any better.

  So if all of that is true, why don’t our churches pray?  Many churches advertise a midweek prayer meeting but when you get there they take prayer requests, say one prayer over them, and then go on to other things.  Prayer is supposed to be a priority, but it is talked about more than it is practised.

  I don’t have a good answer as to why we don’t pray more.  I do know that all of our successes are prayer successes and all of our failures are prayer failures.  The reason our churches don’t see revival is because we don’t pray.  The reason we don’t grow like we should is because we don’t pray.  Our lack of fervent prayer has resulted in churches that often have many of the trappings of man—good music, impressive preaching, and many other good things, but are without the power of God.

  You see, the power of God is prayed down, not programed down.  There is no substitute for time spent with the Lord, seeking His face, confessing our sins, asking for His help for others and for ourselves.  One preacher said that the apostles spent ten days in prayer, preached for ten minutes and saw 3,000 souls saved.  We pray for ten minutes, preach for ten days and see a few souls saved and say “It’s Pentecost all over again.”  He was right, and it’s high time that the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ get back to the most basic Christian function—prayer.

  Go to the many blogs about praying and you can read many historical examples of the movement of God in answer to prayer.  The Great Awakening, The Welsh revival, the ministries of Moody, Finney, Torrey, and others.  Heaven has always responded to the humble pleadings of the church.  And this day and time is no different.  If we want to see a great movement of God, we must begin a great movement of prayer.

  I have been very fortunate.  The Lord has graciously allowed me to pastor four established small churches and with His help I am now planting a new congregation.  Two of the four churches I pastored went through periods of significant revival.  In both cases it was the result of a movement of prayer among the people.  In one case we planned a day of fasting and prayer along with what the Old Testament calls a Solemn Assembly.  In that church a wonderful revival broke loose and lasted for nine months with souls saved and lives changed for Jesus.

  God answers prayer.  Until His people take hold of this truth and commit themselves to humbly seeking God’s face, we will continue to see business as usual.  But if our churches will turn to the Lord in a great movement of prayer, only heaven knows what great blessings He will pour out on this world.