The Priority of Prayer in the Association

After fifteen years of serving as pastor of three churches, I stepped into an area of ministry that God confirmed as His clear direction - that of leading a prayer mobilization ministry in the Charlotte region. Six years of that work opened my eyes to real needs in churches and communities, and prepared me for what the Lord had in store next - serving as anassociational director of missions. I had known since my first year of seminary that I was called to serve in associational missions, but the way God led me there helped me to see the importance of prayer when one serves in that area of Kingdom work.

Southern Baptists are at a crossroads in North America, and we have come to that awareness partly because of studies that show a vast majority of churches are either plateaued or declining. What must be done to reverse decline, to revitalize churches, to move congregations toward a position of growth and strength? We can work on mechanics and logistics, on strategic plans and values clarification, but all of this must flow from a realization of our desperate need of God and a reviving move of His Spirit in the churches. Our problem is, first and foremost, a spiritual one. We must focus on building and maintaining dedicated relationships with Father God in Jesus' name and by the power of the Spirit. The road to revival leads directly through the place of prayer.

As associational leaders, we cannot assume that our pastors are praying together, or that they are practicing prayer on their own - we need to encourage and equip them to pray individually and corporately. We also need to be praying for them, standing in the intercessory gap for the pastors and the churches on a regular basis.

At a state-wide prayer team meeting recently, Pastor Michael Barrett mentioned that every Sunday morning he looks forward to getting an email from a friend who prays for him and several other pastors each week. His excitement over this support gave me the idea of emailing the pastors of our association each Sunday morning with a Scripture-based prayer for that day.The response to this intercession has been amazing - many pastors are responding with thanks, and with specific requests to be lifted up. This work of prayer is building stronger relationships between myself and the pastors, and is modeling the kind of partnership in prayer that wedesperately need in the church and in the culture.

It was in January, 2009 when I took a group of pastors away for a two day leadership summit. They knew that the first day would have a prayer focus, but they did not know how much time would be spent in prayer. After our orientation, the first hour-long session was a season of prayer together. Afterward one of the pastors asked how long we had prayed. When I told himit had been exactly one hour, he was surprised and called his wife to tell her about it. During our evaluation at the end of the retreat, the prayer time came up in discussion. Two of the six pastors present had never spent an hour in prayer with other pastors. One indicated his hesitation at the idea of doing so, but then emotionally described the blessing he experiencedas we sought the Lord together.

The associational missionary has a unique opportunity to be a prayer advocate for pastors and churches. One of my greatest burdens is to see churches become healthy, growing, and multiplying, making disciples in Jesus' name. To get to that place, we must be people of prayer.
Because of the wide-open Kingdom possibilities before us, the enemy of our souls will do all he can to discourage this prayer activity. Jesus placed a high priority on the oneness of the fellowship when He prayed in John 17, so we should not be surprised when the forces of evil look to dissuade us from uniting in prayer. A sober awareness of the truths presented in Ephesians6:10-18 regarding the spiritual struggles we face is absolutely necessary.
The road to revival leads directly through the place of prayer. May we lead the way in our associations, interceding for our pastors and churches, and calling them all to "seek the Lord until He comes and showers righteousness on us" (Hosea 10:12).