Posted on 11/22/2013 9:25:59 AM PST by Alex Murphy
VATICAN CITY An unprecedented summit of Christian leaders convened here earlier this month to take part in a summit to address what many fear could be the greatest spiritual crisis of our time a shortage of prayer.
With the global economic crisis touching more and more lives around the world, we have just one question, said Cardinal Sean Patrick OMalley. Where is all of the extra prayer that these people need going to come from?
A portion of the summit, which included both evangelical and Catholic leaders from around the world, was focused on finding alternative sources of prayer to solve the looming prayer gap over the long term, but the vast majority of the sessions targeted ways to get Christians to reduce their need for prayer and become good stewards of what leaders are calling supernatural resources. All of these discussions culminated in a loud and clear message to Christians: reduce your prayer footprint.
While no formal definition of a prayer footprint exists, it is generally understood to be a rough calculation of the total amount of prayer used to address the requests and needs of a given Christian. Leaders are suggesting a number of simple steps for believers to reduce their contribution to the expected prayer shortage.
We see a lot of low-hanging fruit out there, said Rob Bell, founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Grandville, Michigan. People need to use some common sense. When you ask for prayer, you will most likely get prayed for at the expense of something else and probably something more important than your bunions. Then theres all that stuff hanging out there on the prayer chain that was resolved weeks ago, not to mention things that are really hopeless anyway.
But a joint statement signed by the 200-plus summit attendees suggests that small changes in the way Christians around the world ask for and receive prayer wont be enough.
All available data points to Christians praying less and less while requiring more and more prayer, the statement reads. Eliminating obvious waste in the prayer process will alleviate prayer problems in the short term, but the long term solution will have to include both a significant reduction in the prayer footprint of the average Christian and a vigorous search for alternative sources of prayer.
Accomplishing those goals, said summit attendees, will require a fundamental paradigm shift in the Christian community.
We know that the average Christian prays just five to ten minutes a day, and that the number of Christians is finite, said Focus on the Family Founder James Dobson. This is going to lead to some tough questions. Does your sisters ankle sprain really need to use up supernatural resources in these times? Do we need to pray for every single person who has a non life-threatening illness, or can we lump them all together into a single line item? As Christians, we need start thinking seriously about shepherding this resource in a responsible way.
Summit attendees also began the process of establishing guidelines to help Christians calculate their prayer footprint, as well as details of a Supplication Mitigation system that allows Christians to offset an overuse of supernatural resources by purchasing prayer credits. Proceeds from the sale of these credits will go to fund research into alternative sources of prayer.
Weve been looking into the possibility of prayer centers in India to handle some of the anticipated prayer load, Bell said. Weve also given some thought to approaching the Screen Actors Guild to get actors and extras in church scenes on TV and in movies to take an actual list of prayer requests when they have to act like theyre praying. These are the kinds of creative, out-of-the-box solutions we need at a time like this.
Its unclear whether the prayer footprint summit will be an annual event, but organizers are making an unusual request of the public.
Please dont pray for our efforts, OMalley said.
....We see a lot of low-hanging fruit out there, said Rob Bell, founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Grandville, Michigan. People need to use some common sense. When you ask for prayer, you will most likely get prayed for at the expense of something else and probably something more important than your bunions. Then theres all that stuff hanging out there on the prayer chain that was resolved weeks ago, not to mention things that are really hopeless anyway....Weve been looking into the possibility of prayer centers in India to handle some of the anticipated prayer load, Bell said. Weve also given some thought to approaching the Screen Actors Guild to get actors and extras in church scenes on TV and in movies to take an actual list of prayer requests when they have to act like theyre praying. These are the kinds of creative, out-of-the-box solutions we need at a time like this.
Its unclear whether the prayer footprint summit will be an annual event, but organizers are making an unusual request of the public. Please dont pray for our efforts, OMalley said.
I had no idea! Thanks for posting this timely warning.
Everyone should print this off, make a bunch of copies and pass them out at church this Sunday!
Is there a shortage of supernatural resources?
Has God complained that he can't handle the volume?
Teaching Christians how to pray effectively, and what to pray for, including what to ask for others and what to ask for themselves, is very valuable.
But at 10 minutes/Christian/Day, we shouldn't be reducing our prayer footprint. We should be increasing our prayer footprint and learning how to make it more effective by asking for the important things not the trivial things.
I suspect he meant, "...low-hanging fruits..." This is Rob Bell, after all.
On rereading, maybe it’s the prayer chain that’s complaining.
You've been warned - not that it's gonna help much.
How often are we to pray? My Pastor said something like this a few years ago.
Islam: Five Prayers daily.
Jewish: Three times a day and more depending on the day.
Christian: All the time.
Exactly!
I think The Almighty has enough bandwidth...
Mega PrayerPower unleashed by angel technologies.
"It's bigger than fracking!"
Thank you and pray again.
16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is Gods will for you in Christ Jesus. Who are going you believe ? 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
Is it just me, or isn't that exactly the opposite of what the title suggests?
Wow... prayer rationing.. who’ve thought?
People have been very skeptical about the coming prayer crisis, I wonder how they feel now?
Ya know, sometimes there’s so much realism to life in these articles that it becomes difficult to separate fact from fiction.
For some of us, “See Spot! See Spot run!” is deeply intellectual material.
With the global economic crisis touching more and more lives around the world, we have just one question, said Cardinal Sean Patrick OMalley. Where is all of the extra prayer that these people need going to come from?
I seriously believe that the above quote from Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley was taken out of context.
The writer wants us to believe that we should pray less often, and only pray for the serious things. The Catholic church believes that we should pray MORE often. It keeps us in touch with God. It doesn’t have to be down-on-the-knees long prayers, it can be as simple as a few words. And it can take place silently anywhere at any time.
God is everywhere, not merely in a church, or with a prayer group.
FWIW, I don't think it was.
When I am weary, hurting, I call on your Name and I feel at peace. When I am to weak to carry the burden, YOU carry me.
We need MORE prayer not less prayer! The nation that turns it’s back on Jehovah will suffer. The OT is full of times when God punished His chosen people because they turned their backs on Him and started worshiping idols. And the NT promises He will do so again, this time instead of a flood it will be fire and brimstone. And Praise GOD a RAPTURE of those Sealed to HIM!
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