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THE PRAYING CHURCH 1 THE PRAYING CHURCH 2 THE PRAYING CHURCH TOM GROSSMAN SR. 3 THE PRAYING CHURCH Published by: www.prayingchurchinstitute.org The Praying Church ISBN: 978-1-62847-183-0 Copyright © 2013 by Tom Grossman Sr. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: English Standard Version 4 THE PRAYING CHURCH THE PRAYING CHURCH Foreword. 7 Introduction. 17 Part I - Laying the Foundation. .27 Chapter 1: A New Path for Discipleship. .29 Chapter 2: It Happens Every Sunday. 43 Chapter 3: Origins of Worship-Based Prayer. 61 Chapter 4: The Great Commandment and the Great Commission. .91 Chapter 5: Expectations for the House of Prayer. 101 Part II -Implementation Strategies. .107 Building a Worship-Based Prayer Leadership Team. 110 Prayer Leader Directions. 115 Worship Leader Directions. 122 The Worship-Based Prayer Model. 125 The Praying Church Institute. .126 5 6 THE PRAYING CHURCH FOREWORD PASTORS AND PRAYER LEADERS I almost gave up several times while attempting to write a book about the Praying Church. I thought, “Surely, Lord, You have someone more qualified, articulate and competent to tell this story.” Yet, my ministry friends kept encouraging me, so what I offer will be one small piece of a giant puzzle that the Lord is putting together to prepare His church for the return of Christ. The subject of prayer is on the hearts of many in church lead- ership. There is longing for authenticity in church life which is really a cry for God’s presence. Jesus is determined to have a church after His own heart, what He calls His “house of pray- er”. This book is not about the duty and obligation we have as Christians to pray. It is also not about praying over lists or binding the devil. On the contrary, this book is about God’s incredible heart of love for His people and how we can better experience that love through what we call Worship-Based Prayer. I pray that a new vision for enjoyable, sustainable, worship- filled prayer will emerge in your heart. I pray that you will begin to experience more of God’s presence and power in your church community day after day. Jesus said, “My church will be called a house of prayer.” In this statement, Jesus gave a simple and easy to understand di- 7 THE PRAYING CHURCH rection for church leaders for every age. When you combine this mandate with the Great Commandment, to love God wholeheartedly, we have the way and means to change lives and see genuine discipleship that will fuel fulfillment of the Great Commission. Before we start the book let me address a few key points. The statistics below are not the reason we need to pray; on the con- trary, they are the fruit of prayer-less-ness. Without the spir- itual power and satisfaction we receive from the Lord in pray- er, the church has become easy prey for our great enemy. Here are some well-known statistics: 1. 1500 senior pastors a month are quitting the ministry disillusioned and burned out. 2. There is a steady flow of good people walking out the back door of the church. 3. Only one U.S. denomination is experiencing positive growth (1% per year). 4. Over 70% of youth upon graduating high school drop out of church. 5. Christian youth and young adults increasingly accept homosexuality as normal and acceptable. 6. The Southern Baptist Association in Texas has figured that it now costs over $30,000 to win and baptize one adult! In addition: 7. “Never before in the history of telecommunications media in the United States has so much indecent (and obscene) material been so easily accessible by so many 8 THE PRAYING CHURCH minors in so many American homes with so few re- strictions.” U.S. Department of Justice “We are seeing an escalation of the problem in both men and women who regularly attend church,” said ChistiaNet.com president Bill Cooper. “The most recent studies available suggest that one out of every two people - that's 50 percent of the peo- ple sitting in our pews, are looking at and/or could be addicted to Internet pornography. Truth be told, that statistic could be even higher” (Insight for Living Website, Chuck Swindoll) Jesus mentioned days like this: “And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” (Matt 24:12, ESV) Another version says it like this: “Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.” (Matt 24:12, NLT) But, here is the good news! Those who thirst for God’s mercy will discover that God is more than willing to pour out His presence on our thirsty hearts if we would simply take the time to ask. God is already pouring His Spirit out on thirsty hearts around the world and has promised His church in the last days the same power and presence that was available to the early church. 9 THE PRAYING CHURCH “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” (Acts 2:17-18, ESV) There is a line in a song that says, “I don’t want to talk about You (God) like You’re not in the room.” As we set our eyes on becoming a praying church, we are asking the Almighty, All Present and All Knowing God to have His way. We cannot talk about prayer without understanding that prayer involves a two way relationship with God Himself. The God of Genesis Chapter One wants to draw near to us and reveal Himself. As you read this book, I hope that this will be like no other book on prayer that you’ve ever read. Why? I don’t want you to read another book and put it on your bookshelf. My heart is that you will say, “Our church can do this.” Shouldn’t heart to heart prayer and worship be normal Christianity? “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” (John 15:9) This book is not about grueling labor and duty. It is not about guilt and law. On the contrary, this book is about God’s in- credible heart of love for His people and how we can better experience that love through what we call Worship-Based Prayer. 10 THE PRAYING CHURCH I pray that a new vision for enjoyable, sustainable, worship filled prayer will emerge in your heart. I pray that you will begin to experience more of God’s presence and power in your church community day after day. MESSAGE TO SENIOR PASTORS AND PRAYER LEADERS This book is written to senior pastors and prayer leaders so that working together with the Lord they can build a praying church. As a house of prayer director, leader and teacher since January 2000, I have seen incredible success in building enjoyable prayer when there is clear vision, leadership and communication. On the other hand, I have witnessed many needless misunderstandings and miscommunications among church leaders that have stifled what otherwise could have been a powerful ministry. The pastor need not be at all of the meetings for this ministry to be successful. At the same time it will be difficult for the pastor to promote something effectively without some firsthand knowledge. My own church, Grace Community in Arlington, TX, has a senior pastor that is shamelessly promoting prayer. Pastor Gary Hutchison is convinced that the church is only limited by our prayer effort. At this time we have 64 Worship-Based Prayer meetings per month in our church’s prayer room. Pas- tor Gary leads two of these meetings per week. Both pastor and prayer leader can start by reading this book and being willing to have conversations about their concerns. In addition, they can visit a ministry like ours for a few days to 11 THE PRAYING CHURCH get some personal experience. Why? Because Worship- Based Prayer is as much caught as taught. Prayer leaders need to understand a few things about their pas- tor. Senior pastors wear many hats. They preach and teach; they give guidance, marry and bury, visit and pray for the sick. They deal with incredibly difficult marriage counseling issues. They also oversee various ministries, pay the bills, recruit, promote and envision others. Of course, pastors must also find time to study and pray, as well as take care of their fami- lies. If we were to expect the pastor to also become the prayer director for the church it would be too much for him to bear. Instead the pastor must have a reliable prayer leader that can serve the pastor’s vision for prayer. THE NEED FOR TRAINED, COMPETENT PRAYER LEADERS IS IMMENSE Before a prayer leader can be used in ministry he needs to un- derstand these additional roles that pastors have. The senior pastor is the head Watchman and Gatekeeper for the congre- gation. In Bible times watchmen worked in shifts walking along the walls of the city at night looking for those who would try to sneak into the city without permission. This could be an invading army or bandits with bad intentions. If trouble was coming the watchman had the best vantage point to see it coming.