Ekklēsia Nikaō, Part III: The Greatest Failure of the Church

Witches on the Move, Prayer Meetings & The Mother of All Sin

August. 2017. Burbank California.

I had just landed after a couple of flights, waiting to be picked up. Both planes made good time that day, so I had a few hours to kill. I sauntered over to a nearby coffeeshop to listen to some music, read a bit, pass the time. There may have been coffee cake involved. And in my hands was George Müller’s classic Answers to Prayer.

In it, Müller tells of a man he met, distraught over the spiritual apathy of his six unbelieving sons. True to form, George simply said: “Continue to pray for your sons, and expect an answer to your prayer, and you will have to praise God.” Six years later, the same man found Müller and confessed a miracle: two months after taking the challenge from Müller to pray more earnestly for his sons, five of them came to Christ — within an eight-day period. Phenomenal.

The very next sentence I read might as well have been a blinking neon sign:

“May the Christian reader be encouraged by this, should his prayers not at once be answered; and, instead of ceasing to pray, wait upon God all the more earnestly and perseveringly, and expect answers to his petitions.”¹

The word poked me right in the eyes: expect.

I shuffled in my seat. Feathers = ruffled.

[Click here if you haven’t read Part I or here for Part II]

THE AIRPLANE

On my first flight that day, I sat down on the left side of the aisle. Row 18. Window seat (I really like window seats). No one was taking up the two remaining spots next to me… until an older man came up. A short, stocky guy with salty stubble, a wide mouth, short-cropped grey hair, and a white T-shirt complete with a couple umber stains. His eyes locked with mine in a frenzy of passengers, everyone pushing for an ideal squat to pop. (NOTE: You know this feeling, right? When the person desperately looks to you for visual permission to sit? Just me? Cool.)

Finally, he frantically sat down and leered at me with anxious, big eyes, smiling nervously.

“I’m scared as h***, man!” he laughed, clearly skittish. “Gloria, right here — next to me!”

I slowly nodded and coughed out a faint laugh, eyebrows up in feigned hospitality. The legroom, I thought through bared teeth. It’s gone. Great.

Here’s the deal: on this morning, I was a bit frustrated. Tired. Missing my wife and son already. Yet as uncomfortable as I was, I almost immediately felt the Holy Spirit prompting me: “you need to pray with them.” My eyes went wide. Really? Them, now? Weasels have nothing on the slipperiness of Jonahs trying to escape their Ninevahs. I stalled.

I found out his name was Tommy, traveling home with his wife, Gloria. They were very kind and quizzed me about my life; told me about their children in Nevada; showed to be truly precious people. I sensed my relational barriers soften and fall as we opened up to each other, and I felt shame for my initial indifference. How selfish am I? Our whole flight, I wrestled back and forth with the Spirit on sharing the Gospel with them and praying with them. Each time He would speak to me, I kept waiting for “the right time” or “the moment” to reveal itself. And then, finally —

— It never came.

We said goodbye, wished each other safe travels. I never told them the good news of what Jesus had done for them. I didn’t dare to expect a miracle.

And here, just a few hours later, there was that word: expect. Conviction crawled over me like a swarm of bullet ants. I’d prayed with people before. I’d seen miracles. What happened?

Simply this: tiredness, selfishness, shyness and honestly, doubt. I let doubt get in the way of Tommy and Gloria experiencing just a drop of the goodness of Jesus’ Life-giving water that day. I asked God for forgiveness.

Then, a whisper: You need to listen, obey, and expect Me to be faithful.

Like a surgeon’s scalpel, it sliced into me. And though it may seem like a simple concept, I really believe this is the Modern Church’s greatest failure: we don’t expect God to do what He says He will through us.

Not really.

THE ENGINE

Down in the canyons of my hippocampus,² there are flares and gleams of our old church sanctuary. The aroma of anointing oil hangs low. The lights are low, too, with songs of worship playing in the background. I grew up here. Bodies scatter the pew-lines: some kneeling, some prostrate on the floor, others standing with hands up, profoundly moved. Tears flow freely and purely like rivers racing down from the heights of the nearby Sequoias. What’s happening isn’t a typical church service.

It’s a prayer meeting.

Today, gatherings like this are rare.

Currently, our society is seeing a real uptick in general spirituality (more on that later), and people are, in fact, praying. But it’s mostly done solo³ and corporate prayer is becoming a rusting antique of a bygone era. Once common prayer services that formerly checkered the calendars of our churches have gone all but extinct.

Faith gatherings across the nation are less likely to incorporate organized, corporate prayer times than in previous decades:

“Over the past year, many churches have adapted how they run prayer ministry to fit an increasingly digital and hybrid context. Still, recent data from the State of Digital Church study found that two in five churched adults (38%) report they did not engage in a digital or in-person prayer experience with their church over the course of the pandemic.”⁴

Digging deeper, we find: “Only 2% of people surveyed would say they’re very satisfied with their overall prayer lives.”⁵ To put it simply, people 1) are not really praying together and 2) are dissatisfied with the depth of intimacy with God experienced in prayer.

Hmm. I wonder what the solution might be?

Patiently awaiting us is a call to fan the flames; to exceedingly and abundantly expect; to dream and build together into what God is doing.

To fuel the engine of prayer.

Up and over, across, and through, the rugged locomotive of God’s story in the earth has steamed and chugged along the precipices of every tumultuous era of humanity. The scope of this series doesn’t permit a full overview of the ecclesiological history of prayer, but spare me a few examples:

• Peter’s miraculous escape from prison in Acts chapter 12, fueled by the prayers of the saints, is a model for effective prayer in the Body. Particularly important is the way Luke’s preface ends in verse 5: “So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.” It obviously made a difference.

• The Desert Fathers had cavernous insights on prayer. Following the examples of Jesus, John the Baptist, and Elijah, they left the cities to seclude themselves in the desert, pursuing disciplines such as silence, solitude, and prayer. This was the beginning of Christian monasticism, with times of gathered prayer and reading of the Word built into each day.⁶ One of the Fathers, Agathon of Scetis of the 4th century, said “prayer is warfare to the last breath.”⁷ Anthony the Great noted “The devil is afraid of us when we pray.” Sign me up.

• The Early Church Fathers often affirmed the practice of praying 3 times a day — sometimes more. According to the Didache, believers were instructed to gather every Sunday for the breaking of bread, confession and thanksgiving.⁸ And they did it communally — big factor.

• During the Middle Ages, canonical hours for prayer were instituted to reflect these earlier teachings. An ascetic life was embraced to eliminate distractions from Christian piety.

• A small Moravian community in Herrnhut, Germany led by Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf (phew), began a vigil of daily prayer in 1727 that lasted over 100 years, launching hundreds of missionaries across the world.

• John Wesley, his brother Charles, George Whitefield and others in England were devoted to meeting for prayer. This sparked the embers that ignited the Great Awakening in America and Britain in the 1730s and 40s. Late night prayer meetings saw the power of the Spirit falling in some pretty unique ways.⁹ The Wesleys, Whitefield and others turned the quickly broadening Western world upside down with their ministry.

• William Carey (1761-1834), missionary to India considered the founder of the missions movement in the modern West, believed prayer to be a duty that unites Christians across denominational lines. In his famous Deathless Sermon on May 30, 1792, he urged prayerful emphasis on world missions, repeating the now famous phrase “expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”¹⁰

• In 1907, the Great Pyongyang Revival began with groups of people coming together for prayer, weeping with confession of sin in meetings which would go into the wee morning hours.¹¹ Korea experienced a spiritual renewal as people assembled to seek Jesus together.

George Whitefield Preaching in Bolton, June 1750 by Thomas Walley (1817–1878)

Whether you want to talk about the moves of God at Azusa Street, to the Welsh Revival, to the Protestant Reformation, to India during the early 1900s, to sub-Saharan Africa, or the Asbury Revival or the Jesus People movement — prayer has always been the engine that drives the Church forward into pioneer territory.

The always-Tweetable (wait… X-able? That’s weird) Prince of Preachers himself, Charles Spurgeon, had bold thoughts on what he called an “engine” for believers:

“Intercessory prayer is exceedingly prevalent. What wonders it has wrought! The Word of God teems with its marvelous deeds. Believer, thou hast a mighty engine in thy hand, use it well, use it constantly, use it with faith, and thou shalt surely be a benefactor to thy brethren.”¹²

Consider J.B. Johnston, the less-notorious Presbyterian minister of the 1800s, who came out with this absolute banger of a line:

“The prayer-meeting is the rallying point where the power of faith in the church concentrates, and takes hold of the arm that moves the world.”¹³

Come on, somebody. Let’s go.

The locomotive moves when the engine of prayer roars.

Prayer is the mechanism to empower the Church with God’s heart and vision. To see miracles break out in our midst. For many, though, it feels like something has stalled; there’s a wrench in the engine.

THE SURF

Thousands of years ago, the first generation of newly freed Israelites tragically proved unable to enter the Promised Land due to their unbelief (Hebrews 3:19). They did not expect the LORD to lead them even though they had seen incredible things. Looking back at the witness of Church history, it seems we are at this point.

In my heart I believe we have become like ancient Israel of late. As the Overcoming Church — the Ekklēsia Nikaō — God has so much for us to enter into for His glory, but we are quickly losing opportunity because of our unbelief. Doubt is creeping in, taking our harvest little by little. Remember the words of James:

“But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

— James 1:6

Unstable surf. Winds of doubt. And we wonder why we experience storms.

The provoking reality is we must believe and expect that God is at work. He is at work in you! I love how Jesus operated on earth as a man who simply trusted His Father and fully believed Him.¹⁴ He said that his disciples, His Church, would go on to do the same things He did while He was here and walked in power.¹⁵ Healing, miracles, prophecy, wonders only God can do; these are available today. But not for those who don’t believe.

We must pray. Repent. And change.

Church, our greatest failure is doubt. It’s what D.L. Moody called “the damning sin of the world today; that is what unbelief is, the mother of all sin.”¹⁶ How many times will I let opportunity for healing or salvation pass people by because I don’t expect God to move when I step out in faith? How many times will I stop praying because I don’t see an answer? With all God is doing in the earth, how much more would be accomplished if we just listened to Him and obeyed?

Such doubt should bring us to a holy grief and repentance, catalyzing a dynamic practice of expectation.

“And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

— Matthew 21:21-22

A little something hit me the other day: an echo of Tommy and Gloria, wandering around in my memory. I sighed. What if I chose to be bold in witness? Why didn’t I expect Jesus to be powerfully present? Are they even still alive? If not, are they — I couldn’t finish the thought. I wondered what could have been if I simply had the will to obey. Instead, I was a coward.

And friends, cowards don’t make history. So, let’s start moving some mountains.

THE DOOR

I can’t overstate how imperative it is for Christians to recover an authentic and deep spirituality. A deep supernatural spirituality, as an important qualifier.

Materialistic worldviews are less en vogue today. Appetite for mystical spirituality is rising. People are growing more “spiritual,” but less religious. About a quarter or more of Americans believe in things like telepathy, alternate worlds, reincarnation and “manifesting,” and at least 50% believe that “we create our own reality” and “everything is god and god is everything.”¹⁷

The Catholic Church can’t even handle the amount of calls they’re getting for exorcisms. The spirit world is bursting at the seams. Why?

Consider the following from (the frequently fantastic) Blaine Eldredge in his recent post, The Mystical Visions of René Descartes: A Christian guide to a reenchanting world, where he lays it down:

We are living in a schizophrenic age. On the one hand Western Christianity is in decline and faith in general is out of style. On the other hand the Western world is reenchanting at a blistering rate. I mean really: There are more witches in the U.S. than there are Presbyterians, therapists are looking to Animism to address intergenerational trauma, and even activists are trying their hand at (very amateur) spells to achieve their goals. As one Wiccan memorably put it: “Anger brings people together in ways hope sometimes can’t.”

This is something more than a pagan revival; it is a full-blown spiritual arms race.

The last line perfectly sums up what’s happening. From the occult to political propaganda, things are heating up, inspired by demonic forces behind the scenes. Remember when Paul mentions the “rulers” (archás), the “powers” (exousías), the “world forces of this darkness” (kosmokrátoras tou skótous toútou), and the “spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (pneumatiká tēs ponērias en tois epouránios) from Ephesians 6:12? They be wylin’ out here.¹⁸

Friends, the spiritual door is wide open. The forces of darkness are sprinting for it. Do we see?

The Church is at an impasse where we must decide; will we wrap our arms around a full-bodied, miraculous, faith-filled spirituality, or settle for occasional shots of self-help and moralistic therapeutic deism¹⁹ while we we erode an imprint into our Sunday seats? Our time is limited.

To quote Eldredge again: “Will Christians recover their spiritual inheritance in time to be useful?”²⁰

A few doses of hope are in order.

Witches aren’t the only ones on the move. Christians are talking about spiritual disciplines again, looking to grow in their prayer lives.

Books geared toward helping people pray, hear from God and experience a rich, Biblically grounded spirituality as disciples of Jesus are finding an audience.

Recent apps like Hallow, PrayerMate and others offer guided prayer and aide in developing rhythms. Churches are experiencing seeds of renewal in powerful times of extended prayer. Two of my meetings this week were all about churches pivoting away from being event-based to really zooming in on deep discipleship in young generations.

Young people have flocked to prayer and worship gatherings in schools, like the thousands who took part in the 16-day-non-stop services at Asbury University, or the hundreds of students baptized at Auburn or Florida State.

Organizations like 24-7 Prayer and others are waving the flag of continuous and corporate prayer.

Interestingly, per one report: “Eight in 10 reported regularly praying by themselves. Younger respondents — in particular millennials and Generation Zers — were more likely than younger boomers and Gen Xers to report that they prayed regularly with members of their spiritual group or family” (emphasis mine).²¹

Something sensational is beginning to sprout.

Young people are hungry. They want a robust and pulsing spirituality, and they want a supporting community to experience it with. Gen Z and up-and-coming Alpha are longing for a faith that touches the finger of a transcendent God and also requires something real from them.

Returning to communal prayer is the answer.

Our moment is here. Where’s the fire, the bright-eyed hope, the longing to see the nations restored to Christ? Have we so quickly forgotten that the Cloud Rider and Chaos-Crusher is the One Who makes death work backwards and holds the cosmos together?

The following questions are meant for you to wrestle through with the Holy Spirit and, hopefully, stir some fresh desire to seek God in your life of prayer:

1. When was the last time you had a deeply spiritual experience with God?

2. How and when do you pray?

3. What miracles are you reluctant to expect God to do in your life?

4. Where do you need to grow in your journey with Jesus?

5. Are you afraid of the supernatural or the miraculous? If so, why?

6. What friends do you pray with and for?

Start the prayer group text. Invite friends over at set times. Listen to albums specifically designed for prayer like the one we wrote for our church or Prayers to the King by Highlands Worship (it’s terrific). Wake up earlier. Poke the coals. Stir the fire.

The locomotive of God’s story rolls on.

The Overcoming Church must fan the flames of the engine of prayer to fully appropriate our role as “the called and chosen and faithful” (Revelation 17:14). Belief is our secret weapon; expectation our calling card. The Spirit of God smiles on the Church when our hearts are embodied by these. The Tommys and Glorias of our world are waiting.

Augustine sharply observed: “faith means believing what you don't yet see, and the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.”²²

The door is open. Let us boldly charge through it in faith and prayer and expect our God to work wonders.

Ekklēsia Nikaō, Part I: The Hidden in Plain Sight Message of Revelation

Ekklēsia Nikaō, Part II: Sex Scandals, Demons & Bonfires

Ekklēsia Nikaō, Part IV: The Body Politic

Ekklēsia Nikaō, Part V: Bad, Mad & Unwise in the Eras of a Swiftly Decomposing World

1. Müller, G. (1960). Answers to Prayer from George Muller’s Narratives. Chicago: Fleming H. Revell Company. p. 74 (Original work published 1898).

2. The hippocampus is the part of the temporal lobe most commonly associated with memory (you’re welcome). It is also named after the seahorse (Greek hippókampos), which it serendipitously resembles. See Yassa, M. A. (2024, August 10). Hippocampus | Definition, Location, Function, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/hippocampus

3. Miller, P. E. (2023, January 31). Who killed the prayer meeting? Crossway. https://www.crossway.org/articles/who-killed-the-prayer-meeting/

4. Barna Group. (2023, August 16). ChurchPulse Weekly Conversations: Jon Tyson on Fatherhood, Evangelism & Prayer - Barna Group. https://www.barna.com/research/cpw-tyson/

5. Crossway. (2019, November 2). Infographic: How is your prayer life? https://www.crossway.org/articles/infographic-how-is-your-prayer-life/

6. Irvin, Dale T.; Sundquist, Scott W. (2001). History of the World Christian Movement. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. Pp. 210-212

7. The sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Apophthegmata Patrum: The Alphabetic Collection (B. Ward, Trans.). (1975). Liturgical Press. pp. 21-22.

8. See Didache 14:1-3.

9. Check out this journal entry from Wesley on January 1st, 1739: “Mr. Hall, Kinchin, Ingham, Whitefield, Hutchins, and my brother Charles, were present at our love-feast in Fetter-Lane, with about sixty of our brethren. About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of his Majesty, we broke out with one voice, ‘We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.’” See John Wesley, Works of Wesley (London: Wesleyan Methodist Book Room, 1872; Grand Rapids: Baker Book House Company, 1986), 1:170.

10. Gonzalez, Justo L. (2010) The Story of Christianity Vol. 2: The Reformation to the Present Day. Zondervan. p. 419

11. Kidd, T. (2018, April 28). The North Korean Revival of 1907. The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/evangelical-history/the-north-korean-revival-of-1907/

12. Spurgeon, C. H. (2016). Morning and evening. Discovery House. p. 152.

13. Johnston, J. B. (1870). The prayer-meeting, and its history: As Identified with the Life and Power of Godliness, and the Revival of Religion. . . . University of Michigan Library. p. 82.

14. Without going into a long diatribe/argument on the hypostasis and humanity of Jesus, see the New Testament letter of Hebrews, especially chapters 4 and 5.

15. See John 14:12.

16. Moody, D. L. (1881). Secret Power: Or, The Secret of Success in Christian Life and Work. Moody Press. p. 71.

17. Orth, T. (2022, November 29). Most Americans endorse at least some aspects of the new-age spiritual movement. YouGov. https://today.yougov.com/health/articles/44581-most-americans-hold-some-new-age-beliefs-poll

18. Wylin’/wilding (verb): to be out-of-control; wild; crazy (you’re welcome, again).

19. Smith, Christian; Denton, Melinda Lundquist (2005). Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 162–163.

20. Eldredge, B. (2024, August 21). The mystical visions of René descartes. The Paradise King. https://blaineeldredge.substack.com/p/the-mystical-visions-of-rene-descartes

21. Banks, A. M. (2023, May 4). More Americans pray in their car than in a place of worship. The Salt Lake Tribune. https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2023/05/04/more-americans-pray-their-car-than/

22. Augustine, S. (1990). The Works of Saint Augustine: A translation for the 21st century. New City Press. p. 238. https://wesleyscholar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Augustine-Sermons-20-51.pdf