Prayer: No. 1 issue in churches, survey shows - 13 Apr 2005
A NEW SURVEY OF more than 1,300 Christian leaders from around the world has revealed that the need for consistent and passionate prayer in church and personal life is considered the No. 1 issue in today's churches. So if you're running a week of 24-7prayer right now, you're officially doing the right thing!
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TOP 10 ISSUES
Facing Today's Church
1. Prayer: The need for more ongoing, passionate prayer in both personal and church life.
2. Discipleship: The need for involvement of every believer in being continually transformed into the image of Christ.
3. Leadership: The need for clear, biblical vision and direction by church leaders.
4. Evangelism: The decline among Christians in personal sharing of the Gospel.
5. Doctrine/Worldview: The growing pressure to compromise principles to make truths more palatable to an audience. The widening influence of explicitly anti-Christian culture and negative influences on the church.
6. Apathy: The seeming lack of personal interest, support and enthusiasm from the pews for the work of the church.
7. Marriage: The negative effects on families that result from divorce, adultery, etc.
8. Relevance: The seeming inability of the church to answer questions one has living in the "real world."
9. Homosexuality: The rising social pressure to accept same-sex behavior and relationships.
10. Abortion: The church's lack of an effective response to 30-plus years of legalized abortion. |
The announcement this week of prayer as the primary challenge facing church leaders, culminates a Southern Baptist initiative to ask evangelical ministry leaders from a variety of backgrounds to rank the "Top 10 Issues Facing Today's Church.
"This project was an opportunity for us to learn what challenges churches are facing," said Gary McClure, marketing manager on behalf of the survey's organisers LifeWay. "And it will provide data with which we can propose effective biblical solutions to those issues," he said. The two-month online research project began last November with the distribution of thousands of e-mails throughout USA and Europe asking ministry leaders to cite top concerns in their churches.
From the initial list of responses, the 20 most frequently submitted answers were sent back to all the ministry leaders who responded to the first round of e-mails. During December, these leaders used the same Internet survey tool to rank their top 10 from among those 20 issues. The resulting list of 10 issues includes such diverse topics as abortion (no. 10) and evangelism (no. 4). But it was prayer that ministry leaders cited as the most pressing concern in their churches. Sadly the issue of social justice didnt even figure on the list. "In order for today's church to remain strong in the midst of an evil society, it must be a praying church," said Gary Butler, a survey participant from Gospel Lighthouse Church in Anadarko, Okla. "If we as believers ... want to see the same mighty move of God that the early church saw, we must pray just as the early church did. Show me a praying Christian and church and I will show you a victorious Christian and church." 24-7 comments:
"The results of this survey aren't a surprise for those of us involved in 24-7," comments Dave Roberts, co-author of Red Moon Rising, "and we're disappointed at how predictable the outcome has proven to be. However this survey does help explain why we exist and its conclusions are an encouragement for every person seeking to organise a 24-7prayer room anywhere in the world right now... It's official - You're doing the right thing!" |
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