LifeWay had commissioned a survey of 1,300 ministry leaders across our nation, as well as Europe, posing the question about the present challenges churches face. From the all of the responses, there were 20 that were identified the most, and from those 20, these leaders were requested to rank those that were most critical. The number one most critical issue facing the church today is prayer. I have posted the report below, which includes resources for each of the issues mentioned. R.A. Torrey’s How to Pray was mentioned as a prayer resource, which we mentioned in a post earlier about the tyranny of the urgent.
Why do I mention this? Prayer is the easiest thing to do as a Christian. There is no fear of rejection, no fear of getting it wrong. It is as easy as talking and listening. And yet, it is commonly considered the biggest challenge facing the church. Why is this? Obviously our enemy wants to keep us from it. It is our connection to the source of life and our sense of purpose. No matter how easy prayer is, it will not come easy without doing it. I would like to help you do it. By allowing attacking our wrong mindsets about God, I will help you overcome the biggest obstacle to prayer… disbelief in the goodness of God.