News Articles by Kie Bowman

Most of us agree with John Maxwell’s well-known adage, “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.” By that definition, the pastor’s leadership influences the ministry of the local church. This is particularly true in building a culture of prayer. Your culture determines your future, so it cannot be left to chance. 

There are about 20 biblical examples of Jesus praying. Here are 3 that serve as lessons for our prayer lives.

A large number of Americans are optimistic about personal change. We make resolutions and set goals even though we are generally terrible at keeping them.

Do you pray to get things done? Do you believe some things will only occur if you pray, or that God can refuse to act until someone prays?

Earl was an IMB Missionary in Central America before he retired, but he wasn’t always a Christian. In the 1970’s Earl liked to drink and get high with his buddies from school. When he got home late at night, reeking of weed and alcohol, he tried to tip-toe past his parents’ bedroom on the way down the hall to his own. But Earl’s parents were prayer warriors, and he often saw and heard them kneeling beside their bed, praying their son would give his life to Christ. 

Metaphorically speaking, prayer and Scripture combine to be nuclear energy for your spiritual life. It’s the combination of the two forces of the Word and prayer that creates dynamic, spiritual fusion.

Charles Spurgeon was right. He once said, “He who prays much will pray more and he who prays little will pray less.” In fact, a new survey finds that the Americans who want to pray more are the people who already pray.

Prayer connects us to Heaven. Fasting disconnects us from Earth. For these reasons, churches are setting aside days for fasting and prayer in January 2024. 

We learn about grace, worship, sacrifice, and generosity from shepherds and magi. But if we want to learn about prayer at Christmas, the stars of the pageant don’t really tell the story. Instead, to learn about prayer we turn to the “bit players” in the Christmas story. Let’s pull the curtains back to get a glimpse of the heroes of prayer.

According to the late Stephen Olford, “Only one thing will ever take the place of great preaching – and that’s greater preaching!” The concept of what constitutes “greatness” is a reflection of priorities. In this regard, the earliest preachers saw the greatness of preaching as an outgrowth of their commitment to prayer (Acts 6:4). Eventually, in the process of preaching, the two apostolic ministries uniquely conjoin when we preach on prayer.