According to my humble judgment, the greatest need of the present-day church is prayer. Prayer should be the vital breath of the church, but right now it is gasping for air. One of the great Bible teachers of the past said that the church goes forward on its knees. Maybe one of the reasons the church is not going forward today is because it’s not in a position to go forward — we are not on our knees in prayer.
We seek out panaceas to resolve the conflicts of the world and to heal our own personal and private wounds. Many are consulting the psychiatrist, the doctor, the minister, and anyone else who will listen. But we do not seem to recognize that the great need in our own personal lives is prayer. In fact, prayer is the greatest neglected resource that we have; it’s a power that we simply are not using today.
The disciples went to our Lord and said, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). They did not ask Him how to pray — they weren’t looking for lessons on technique or an outline for ritualistic prayer. They had obviously heard our Lord pray, and they wanted to learn how to pray on the same high level as He did. This is a request many of us today need to make: “Lord, teach us to pray.” (Introduction to J. Vernon McGee On Prayer by Dr. J. Vernon McGee) http://ttb.org/SHOP/Products/J-Vernon-McGee-On-Prayer__14919-ONP.aspx
