Monday 18 February 2013

PRAYER

'The proportion of horizontal communication that goes on in the church (in planning, arguing and expounding) is overwhelmingly greater than that which is vertical (in worship, thanksgiving, confession and intercession). Critically important committee meetings are begun and ended with formulary prayers, which are ritual obligations and not genuine expressions of depoendence - when problems and arguments ensue, they are seldom resolved by further prayer, but are wrangled out on the battlefield of human discourse. The old midweek prayer meetings for revival have vanished from the prgrames of most churches or have been transfomed into Bible studies ending with minimal prayer.'
Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life, p.153.