CrossTalk - Emmanuel Baptist Church

On Wednesday night we have a combined teaching and prayer time which follows our midweek dinner. At 7:00 pm I teach for 15 minutes about prayer. We discuss things like how to pray, what to pray for, what to do when you don't want to pray, and how to pray when you don't know what to pray for. Then, we kneel our knowledge into action and tether the teaching to 30 minutes of prayer time. The style of our prayer time varies from week to week ranging from small groups, large groups, leader called prayer, and others. I believe this humble agenda honors God and brings him glory. Please join us.

Some might wonder if people will be reluctant to come for an extended time of prayer. William Cooper said that

Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.

We will be concerned with neither the fear of man or Satan. We are boldly driven by our love for God and our desire to humbly declare our allegiance to him. Spurgeon said years ago:

The condition of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings. So is the prayer meeting a grace-ometer, and from it we may gauge of the amount of divine working among a people. If God be near a church, it must pray. And if he be not there, one of the first tokens of his absence will be [laziness] in prayer...

Jim Cymbala, Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle and author of "Fresh Wind Fresh Fire" declared similarly that:

From this day on, the prayer meeting will be the barometer of our church. What happens on [Wednesday] night will be the gauge by which we will judge success or failure because that will be the measure by which God blesses. If we call on the Lord, he has promised in his word to answer, to bring the unsaved to himself, to pour out his spirit among us. If we do not call upon the Lord, he has promised nothing- nothing at all. It's as simple as that. No matter what I preach or what we claim to believe in our heads, the future will depend on our times of prayer.

Although well said, Spurgeon and Cymbala are dirt and blood like you and me. God said,

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 2 Chronicles 7:14-16 NIV

Brothers and sisters in Christ please join us on Wednesday night and declare your humble dependence on God for all things.

Chapter 1	Why Pray?
Chapter 2	How to Pray
Chapter 3	What to Pray For (Part 1)
Chapter 4	What to Pray For (Part 2)
Chapter 5	Praying Beyond the Sick List
Chapter 6	Praying When You Don't Know What To Pray
Chapter 7	Prayer Ruts
Chapter 8	Roadblocks to Prayer (Part 1)
Chapter 9	Roadblocks to Prayer (Part 2)
Chapter 10	Prayer and Listening (Part 1)
Chapter 11	Prayer and Listening (Part 2)
Chapter 12	Prayer and Fasting (Part 1)
Chapter 13	Prayer and Fasting (Part 2)
Chapter 14	Prayer and Gossip
Chapter 15	Prayer as a Barometer

CrossTalk - A Study Series on Prayer