Why is the church booming in Africa, South America and Asia - and not in Europe and North America?
One important factor is people praying together.
John Franklin offers a flood of statistics to describe the astounding growth and spiritual power of the Christian church in the Third World in recent decades.
In his book And the Place was Shaken, Franklin says that the number of believers in Nepal jumped from 2,000 in 1990 to 500,000 in 2000. In Korea, the number of Christians rose to 40 per cent of the population at the end of the twentieth century from only 2 per cent at the beginning of the century.
In Uganda, group prayer played a key role in a major revival in recent decades. The number of believers skyrocketed and the deadly HIV/AIDS epidemic which had claimed one-third of the population was brought under control so that the infection rate was reduced to 5 per cent.
Churches throughout the developing world are packed with people praying together. Indian evangelist and mission leader K.P. Yohanan once said that typically churches in India are filled on prayer night - but he noted that is not true in North America.
Franklin says he once felt that churches grew from concerted efforts at evangelism. But he now believes that successful evangelism flows from power with God. And power with God flows from a deep relationship with the Lord - prayer being a vital factor.
When you pray with others, the Spirit of prayer draws you together as one.
And, as Jesus pointed out in Matthew 18:19-20, God acts when people agree in prayer.
I often turn to Acts 4:23-31 for inspiration on praying together. The young church in Jerusalem was faced with persecution and the believers responded by praying.
As they prayed together, they began by worshiping God and celebrating his power and authority. Then, they asked for boldness in preaching the good news and for the power of God to work miracles of healing and other signs and wonders.
The result? God responded by shaking the house they were in and, in the following days and weeks, thousands more were added to their flock and many were healed.
If we want to see God's power at work, we need to pray together as one.
One important factor is people praying together.
John Franklin offers a flood of statistics to describe the astounding growth and spiritual power of the Christian church in the Third World in recent decades.
In his book And the Place was Shaken, Franklin says that the number of believers in Nepal jumped from 2,000 in 1990 to 500,000 in 2000. In Korea, the number of Christians rose to 40 per cent of the population at the end of the twentieth century from only 2 per cent at the beginning of the century.
In Uganda, group prayer played a key role in a major revival in recent decades. The number of believers skyrocketed and the deadly HIV/AIDS epidemic which had claimed one-third of the population was brought under control so that the infection rate was reduced to 5 per cent.
Churches throughout the developing world are packed with people praying together. Indian evangelist and mission leader K.P. Yohanan once said that typically churches in India are filled on prayer night - but he noted that is not true in North America.
Franklin says he once felt that churches grew from concerted efforts at evangelism. But he now believes that successful evangelism flows from power with God. And power with God flows from a deep relationship with the Lord - prayer being a vital factor.
When you pray with others, the Spirit of prayer draws you together as one.
And, as Jesus pointed out in Matthew 18:19-20, God acts when people agree in prayer.
I often turn to Acts 4:23-31 for inspiration on praying together. The young church in Jerusalem was faced with persecution and the believers responded by praying.
As they prayed together, they began by worshiping God and celebrating his power and authority. Then, they asked for boldness in preaching the good news and for the power of God to work miracles of healing and other signs and wonders.
The result? God responded by shaking the house they were in and, in the following days and weeks, thousands more were added to their flock and many were healed.
If we want to see God's power at work, we need to pray together as one.
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