Posted on 05/15/2008 12:12:09 PM PDT by Between the Lines
INDIANAPOLIS (BP)—Prayer is news at this year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis.
A chaplains’ luncheon and a Missional Network discussion also may yield a few lines of ink.
This year’s prayer emphasis at the Southern Baptist Convention has been boosted by the efforts of Indianapolis-area pastors who have caught a vision of what can happen when people spend more time praying.
At last year’s meeting of the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana, a first-of-its-kind prayer room featured videos, maps and other visual aids along with Bible verses, specific requests and journals to facilitate prayer. The room was filled throughout the annual meeting, and the results were overwhelming, Dale Eakes, this year’s SBC prayer team coordinator, told Baptist Press.
“Churches are discovering more creative and innovative ways to incorporate prayer into their congregations,” said Eakes, pastor of Warren Baptist Church in Indianapolis. “A local pastor shared with me that his church knew what worship was and that they were good at it, but prayer was not something they practiced very much together.
“He has changed his services so that now instead of worshipping 95 percent and praying only 5 percent or less, they have sought to include prayer in at least 50 percent of their service. The results: New converts have been added and a greater sense of the need to do something great in the name of Jesus is sweeping over the congregation,” Eakes added.
Indianapolis churches are realizing a passion for church planting and evangelism on a level that has not been seen in a long time, the prayer coordinator said.
“The great part is that the leaders of these ministries are local pastors who understand the need for prayer and have taken that passion to their local churches,” Eakes said. “The local association is on fire to see something great happen in the name and grace of Jesus. This is a fire that is quickly spreading throughout the state.”
At the SBC annual meeting, messengers are urged to pray throughout the convention hall during the hour preceding each session, and they’re asked to visit the prayer room to ask God to direct the decisions being made during the business proceedings.
“The prayer room at the SBC is a national ministry, but it will be driven by the passion of the local prayer warriors,” Eakes said.
I thought visual aids to prayer were idolatrous.
These days you have to ask, what sort of prayer. Beyond that, they should be careful that it doesn’t become a ritual they do before men rather than a humbling of themselves before their Sovereign Lord. God who sees in secret will answer their sincere prayers. He isn’t much interested in folks who just try to look spiritual to others.
“I thought visual aids to prayer were idolatrous.”
They certainly CAN be. My first reaction of one of revulsion. My (SBC) church looked like a RCC grotto on Good Friday, with iconic art, a million candles, mood music - I ran away. Seriously considering leaving permanently.
As long as you’re not praying to a visual aid, and remember Who your prayer is directed toward, I don’t think that there is anything wrong with it.
I am very glad that the Southern Baptists are emphasizing prayer. It is something that WILL make a difference; I am weary of worrying and fretting about THIS world that we live in and am wanting to focus on the Kingdom of God more. His is the only eternal one.
Again, MTWD, you speak from ignorance.
On Good Friday Catholics traditionally place veils over all iconography, they extinguish all candles, the altar is bared of all the linens and lace, the priests do not wear vestments except for the few minutes they are distributing the Eucharist (and even that vestment is a plain chasuble), parts of the Mass which are normally sung are omitted, and the only musical accompaniment is generally an accapella singing of verses from Lamentations and Paul.
A Catholic Church never looks less decorated or more austere than it does on Good Friday.
I once recieved a prayer cloth in the mail with testimonies about others who had been blessed by this cloth. The cloth was actually paper. It also had a return address where I could send $$ to support the “ministry”.
Oral Roberts and many other Pentecostal Christians advocate the use of prayer cloths and cite Acts 19:11-12 for their use.
I didn’t mean our church looked as an RCC would look on Good Friday - sorry about the lack of explicit terms. It looked like any RCC grotto in any number of places around the world on any given day. You are right about my ignorance regarding what an RCC might look like on Good Friday.
“Oral Roberts and many other Pentecostal Christians advocate the use of prayer cloths and cite Acts 19:11-12 for their use.”
Sad to say, you are right on that. Any church or “ministry” that does so is way off the reservation of proper interpretation and application of Scripture and is to be avoided.
The videos and visual aids made me wonder too. Without a clearer definition it’s hard to tell why or how they would use them in prayer.
Our church is rather iconoclastic so your not very likely to see a cross much less candles or religious art.
The mood music certainly was not a classic, theocentric hymn; but I don’t think our music man grooves on Mangione. (I played trumpet in high school - Chuck was cool, Bill Chase was da bomb!) I merely got a whiff of it - spooky sounding, maybe clarinets.
“The videos and visual aids made me wonder too. Without a clearer definition it’s hard to tell why or how they would use them in prayer.”
Oh good grief, you watch the videos, check out the pictures or other information, so you know specifically what needs praying about. Once you close your eyes, you don’t see the stuff.
It’s not that hard to figure out!
A videotaped prayer request and a video prayer aid don’t sound like the same to me, but I will take your word for it and presume the author had a bad choice of words.
>>He has changed his services so that now instead of worshipping 95 percent and praying only 5 percent or less<<
Prayer is worship.
I don’t understand why they feel compelled to label them as separate. The entire service is “worship” (or at least it should be), the singing, offering, praying, preaching, fellowship, reading of the word - all of it is worship - not just the 20 minutes of “Raise the Praise” sugar music.
Re: visual aides - if there’s no Biblical support for it’s use in the worship service, it has no place in worship. Scripture shows singing, offerings, praying, preaching, and reading of the word - therefore it’s acceptable worship. Anything else is extra-biblical and not necessary.
“Re: visual aides - if there’s no Biblical support for it’s use in the worship service, it has no place in worship. Scripture shows singing, offerings, praying, preaching, and reading of the word - therefore it’s acceptable worship. Anything else is extra-biblical and not necessary.”
Church of Christ?
>>Church of Christ?<<
No, a Christian who believes that God’s word is sufficient.
In other words, just your opinion.
I remember as a kid hearing once that Satan does not mind if we worship, evangelize or engage in any christian activity as long as we do not pray. Because without prayer the church only accomplishes what it's man-made abilities allow it to do. But with prayer they can accomplish what God wants them to do.
I would add to that list the Lord's Supper and silence.
Anything else is extra-biblical and not necessary.
Well, there goes the alter call / invitation.
Nope - God’s word.
Are you suggesting that the Apostle’s used visual aides?
Or, worse yet, that we should not use God’s only source of His revealed will, Scripture, as the final authority on how He desires to be worshipped?
I’m merely following what Scripture guides. If there’s no Biblical example of it, then it has no place in worship.
Of course - I didn’t mean for my list to be total.
Baptism and public confession/testimonials could be added too.
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