Juan Sanchez says he wonders — if he sat down and had coffee with you to talk about your church, would you say your church is marked by prayer?
“We need to cultivate a culture of prayer in our congregations,” said Sanchez, pastor of High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin, Texas. “It is alarming that Christians can gather on a Sunday morning and all they do is hear a sermon and sing. Those things are important, but there are more responses to who we are in Christ than just singing and preaching. Prayer is vital to our church’s life.”
During his sermon at this year’s virtual Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference Nov. 16, Sanchez preached from James 5:13-16 and encouraged pastors to have churches marked by prayer.
“Prayer is God glorifying,” he said. “It admits our need and glorifies Him as a great Provider.”
Pastors should model prayer during their worship gatherings, he said. An example, he said, might be praying Psalm 146 for someone who might be walking through a season of suffering.
“Let us pray for our people, teach our people how to pray and model prayer before them,” Sanchez said.
The conference sermons are still available online at albaptistpc.com/virtual-conference.
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