Preaching and Prayer: The Primary Means to Revival (Part 1)
The Purpose of Preaching and Prayer in the Gathered Church
This series of posts comes from a research paper I wrote for a class at Boyce College.
The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have seen a change in practice regarding church growth and revival. Commonly, that change has manifested itself through pragmatism, which is the practice of organizing the church around what seems to work. Of course, this will always be relative to how we define what works, which has been an issue of great division across the evangelical world. My argument in this paper is that, in order to see true revival, the church must return to an emphasis on preaching and prayer.
Background Information
At the 2021 Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Nashville, there were many evidences of the current trend toward pragmatism. Throughout the meeting the phrase, “The world is watching,” was often repeated.[1] This shows a prevailing mentality in the largest denomination of evangelicals in the world that what the world sees should be our greatest concern. At the same meeting Resolution 1 was passed, which states in part, “That we will not permit our personal, social, theological, or political interests to supersede the urgency of evangelism and distract us from the task of the gospel’s advancement through the whole world.”[2]
Since the Southern Baptist Convention is the largest mainline denomination, it gives us a good pulse on the general evangelical mindset of our day. What we learned from this Resolution, and the general tone of the 2021 SBC Convention, is the belief that “the urgency of evangelism” ought to trump theology and that theology will “distract us from the task.”[3] It is clear that the emphasis has been placed on a “whatever works” mentality. However, we do not need “what works.” We need to return to God’s way.
This paper will be laid out in three major sections. First, we will deal with the purpose of preaching and prayer in the gathered church. Second, we will talk about two shifts in the modern church away from these things. Finally, we will deal with a popular counter argument, which states that strategy and programming simply serve to enhance preaching and prayer.
The Purpose of Preaching and Prayer in the Gathered Church
It would be wise to start with a foundational understanding of God’s design for preaching and prayer in His gathered church. By doing this first, we will be able to better understand how we have drifted from it. First, we will look at preaching.
The Purpose of Preaching in the Gathered Church
Let us look first at the purpose of preaching in the gathered church. After sternly charging Timothy, Paul said these words, “…preach the word.” He then went on to explain the purpose of this preaching, which is to “reprove, rebuke, exhort…” (2 Timothy 4:2, NASB). This was Paul’s great advice after explaining to Timothy that “in the last days difficult times will come,” and “evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:1,13, NASB) Paul’s advice to Timothy for how he ought to deal with all the chaos and darkness that will come was no more than to faithfully preach the Word of God.
There is no instruction to study the demographics of the community or construct a nice welcome center that will make people feel like home. There is no vision casting or church mission statement to hang on the wall. Timothy is to simply exposit God’s Word faithfully and not shrink back from the hard parts. The purpose of this faithful exposition is to call people to obedience and faithfulness to the Lord.
An additional purpose of preaching is that it carries God’s people through the whole salvation process. In the same letter to Timothy, Paul gives us a little more understanding of the purpose of preaching in the gathered church. He calls the Bible “…the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15, NASB) Timothy is already saved, yet Paul tells him the Word of God can give him “wisdom that leads to salvation.” This tells us that Scripture, preached and applied, enables God’s elect to not only be converted, but also sanctified and glorified.
The preaching of the Word carries God’s predestined saints into conversion, through sanctification, and to final glorification, which is the culmination of salvation. Those are things a good, strategic program simply cannot do.
The Purpose of Prayer in the Gathered Church
Prayer has several purposes in the gathering of God’s people. One purpose is to seek the Lord’s blessings. God loves to respond to the petitions of His people for blessings, especially spiritual blessings. C.H. Spurgeon said, “I believe that God’s church could have inconceivable blessings at this moment if she were only ready to pray.”[4] The Bible promises us that God will hear the prayers of His saints and respond to His church in forgiveness and restoration (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Another purpose of gathered prayer is to humble ourselves before the Lord. “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble…Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:6-8, NASB) God’s promise is that He will draw near to those who seek Him and give grace to those who are humble. In prayer, we lay ourselves down in humility before Him expecting, in faith, His nearness and grace.
God also uses prayer among His people to advance His will on earth. “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” (James 5:15, NASB) It is obvious from this text that prayer actually accomplishes something. In Revelation 8:3-6, we find that prayer is a vital ingredient in the eschatological movement of God on earth. Commenting on this passage, Spurgeon notes, “As soon as the prayers of the saints were mixed with the incense of Christ’s eternal merit…The will of the Lord was done.”[5]
Knowing that this kind of power is given to prayer, it is no wonder that Thomas Lye stated, “I had rather stand against the canons of the wicked than against the prayers of the righteous.”[6] It follows that if prayer is a vital part of moving God's hand on earth, then it is a primary means of revival.
Next week, we will look at two shifts that have been made in the modern church away from the primacy of preaching and prayer.
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[1] Jared Longshore, “Scotch-taping the Fault Line: SBC Reflections,” Founders Ministries (blog), June 24, 2021, https://founders.org/2021/06/24/scotch-taping-the-fault-line-sbc-reflections.
[2] The Southern Baptist Convention, “On Baptist Unity And Maintaining Our Public Witness,” last modified June 21, 2021, https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-baptist-unity-and-maintaining-our-public-witness.
[3] The Southern Baptist Convention, “On Baptist Unity And Maintaining Our Public Witness.”
[4] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “Ask and Have,” in Spurgeon on Prayer and Spiritual Warfare, an anthology (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1998), 127.
[5] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “Praying Successfully,” in Spurgeon on Prayer and Spiritual Warfare, an anthology (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1998), 128
[6] Thomas Lye, “Stand Fast in the Lord,” in Sermons of the Great Ejection, ed. Banner of Truth Trust (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2012), 125.