“The hard part is now. The hard part is prayer,” said my friend, referring to the CRC’s 10-year plan. He shared how pumped he was after Synod’s decision that the CRC would multiply disciples. He spoke to his men’s group. And to the council. And an education team. Folks were polite—but mostly the big plan prompted blank stares and lead balloons. After all, our needs are great! Is this vision too ambitious? How to even begin?
Prayer.
“When God has something great to accomplish for his church, it is his will that there should precede it the extraordinary prayer of his people,” wrote Jonathan Edwards.
Prayer preceded the moves of God in Acts: before the first Pentecost, the Samaritan outpouring, the Gentile Pentecost, and the sending of missionaries. Prayer marks every page of the early church’s story—33 times to be exact.
The modern mission movement began in 1727 with a continuous 100-year prayer meeting (yes, 24-7) out of a rural German church. The first Great Awakening, the Prayer Revival of 1857, the Korean Revivals of 1903-1907, and what’s happening in China in our day show extraordinary prayer precedes renewal.
The 10-year vision’s stated foundation is “prayer and fasting.” It recognizes the need to get small and to honor God with big requests.
We confess how small we are in truths like, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you”; “It is not by our sword, nor does our arm bring victory. But it is your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you love your people”; and, “Apart from you, we can do nothing” (2 Chr. 20:12; Ps. 44:3; John 15:5).
When my friend said prayer is “the hard part,” I think it’s because prayer admits this smallness—that we aren’t enough –and invites God to change us.
The 10-year vision also calls us to pray big.
Legend says that Alexander the Great’s general asked Alexander to fund his daughter’s wedding. But the royal treasurer balked at the sky-high amount: “That would be the most pricey event Greece has ever seen!”
But Alexander said, “My general does me honor. He believes I am rich enough to meet his request, and I am generous enough to grant it. Proceed.”
The story echoes lines in a lesser-known hymn of John Newton: “You are coming to a King. Large petitions with you bring. For his grace and pow'r are such, none can ever ask too much” (“Come My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare”).
Our God can do “exceedingly, abundantly more than we ask or imagine.” But we need to ask.
What if, in each CRC congregation, two people were set apart to pray every day for the “big ask” of our 10-year plan?
What if, during every Sunday service and at every fall classis meeting, time was set aside to pray for God to move in our denomination?
What if you stopped reading this article to set an alarm on your phone for 10:02, so at that time daily you prayed Luke 10:02 (“Ask the Lord of the harvest”) for the CRC?
What if every pastor led his people into more corporate, more expectant prayer? It is said, “The pastor who is not praying is playing. No church is greater than her prayer life.”
Yes, prayer is hard. The vision is daunting. It’s bigger than our ability, bigger than our resources—but not bigger than our God.
Let us pray.