In 2001 at a CBMC conference (Christian Businessmen’s Connection), Dr. Howard Hendricks delivered these words in a three-part message on prayer.
Build teams committed to prayer. Now, I want to share with you because I find that very few Christians know this. Study this for yourself. Don’t go by my word. If you study prayer in both the Old and New Testament, what the Bible says about prayer mostly is addressed not to individuals, but to groups. That’s a revolutionary truth. Does that mean you don’t pray individually? Of course not. It means that you understand that God honors the collective ministry of a group of believers. The four guys who carried the man into the present of Jesus Christ, and the text says, “When He [Jesus] saw their faith, He said to the sick, ‘Rise, take up your bed, and walk.'” See, He takes very seriously the fact that you get a group of people who covenant before God to unite their hearts in prayer.
By the way, the greatest untapped reservoir in the United States and I’m sure many other countries as well is senior citizens. It’s the fastest growing segment of people in America and the fastest growing segment of that group is over 80. The tragedy is that many of these people are sliding from home, reaching for the bench, throwing in the towel, or can only look forward to retirement. May I remind you of the fact that the average American dies two years after retirement. The reason is they lose their purpose, and we are finding that the greatest group of prayer warriors we are seeing raised up all across our country is senior citizens, many of whom not only have time, but interest, money, and everything else so that they can invest in praying for others.
Another untapped reservoir is youth. There’s a church in our area that has a fantastic group of young people. I love them like crazy. They went to the elders of their church and asked, “Can we open the church on Wednesday mornings to pray?”
“Well, we’ll have to take that under consideration.”
So, after four or five meetings (typical elders), they finally decided, “No, we can’t do that. We don’t have anyone who’s willing to open the church and take the responsibility.” Even some legal aspects to it, which I’m still trying to find out what they are.
So, the kids go down the street to a restaurant operated by a pagan and say to the proprietor, “Could we meet on Wednesday mornings about 6:00 in your restaurant? Promise you we’ll take good care of it, won’t tear it apart.”
This guy is so blown away that he says, “What do you want it for?”
They said, “We want to come and pray.”
He said, “What?”
“Pray.”
“Would you include me?”
“Sure.”
“You got it, and furthermore, I’ll provide coffee and doughnuts for you.”
And one day one of the elders drops into the restaurant one Wednesday morning and sees this group of kids from his church, which shamed the church elders into opening the church; and church has never been the same since.
I think most of our youth programs are an insult to the intelligence of the kids involved. Young people today, I assure you, are not looking for entertainment, and certainly not the cheap kind they get at a church. They’re looking for a challenge; and I’m having the hardest time at my age keeping up with a group of students that are stretching my faith to the breaking point, and I see an increasing number of young people who are very, very serious about their Christian life.