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PRAYER FOR YOUR CHURCH

Growth through evangelism

 

Lord, I lift up our church growth to You. Add to our number daily through new converts. Birth spiritual children through us. Let our actions win people over without words. Use us as Your agents to rescue people from darkness and bring them into Your Son’s kingdom. We long to be worthy ambassadors in this ministry You have entrusted to us: that of proclaiming Your message of reconciliation to a lost world. (Acts 2:47; 1 Cor. 4:15; 1 Pet. 3:1-2; Col. 1:13; 2 Cor 5:20)

 
Home arrow May 2006 arrow Is My Church in Need of Spiritual Cleansing?
Is My Church in Need of Spiritual Cleansing? PDF Print E-mail
Points of Interest

By Joseph Winger

How would I know if my church had a spiritual bondage? All churches, like people, exhibit imperfections, but when negative patterns emerge, root issues are usually at work. If at least one of these five profiles clearly describes your church, you may need to do a little spiritual house cleaning.


Profile One: Cyclical Issues
  • Repeated sexual abuse or immorality among the staff or leadership
  • Excessive pastoral turnover or ongoing financial struggles
  • Abnormal physical manifestations seemingly impossible to eliminate (e.g., foul odors, recurring infestations of insects or rodents)
Profile Two: Thwarted Kingdom Advances
  • Failure of your church’s ministry to advance the gospel
  • Squelching of your church’s progress toward spiritual, numerical, or relational growth
  • Repeated serious setbacks following progress
Profile Three: Chronic Illness

    * An inordinate number of illnesses
    * Prevalence of certain types of illness too odd to be just coincidental
    * Frequent attacks of illness against the leadership and their families

Profile Four: Tissue Rejection in the Body of Christ
  • No visitor retention
  • Reluctance to embrace newcomers
  • A cold feeling over the church’s fellowship
  • A can’t “fit in” or find a place to connect attitude
Profile Five: Addiction to Fighting
  • Deep-seated disunity and strife beyond normal disagreements and debates
  • Heated exchanges in board meetings
  • Widespread backbiting, murmuring, independence, and complaining
Profile Six: Environmental Concerns
  • Local territorial bondages (a high degree of suicide, immorality, substance abuse, or poverty, etc.)
  • Extreme resistance to the gospel
  • Lack of favor for the churches in the community
Profile Seven: Spiritual Malaise
  • Discouragement and lack of joy
  • Lethargy, apathy, weariness, and exhaustion
  • Perfunctory, life-less worship
  • Little interest in spiritual matters
Obviously not every problem has spiritual roots. People do get sick, and church families experience disagreements just like any other family. But Satan knows how to capitalize on our human weaknesses and magnify them. He easily traps churches with infighting. He is well aware that any repeated sin can solidify into a stronghold.

Some of the most insidious spiritual bondages are those controlling your community. They may have a strong affect on the health of your church. One city had suffered numerous pastors leaving their churches because of moral failure. Several pastors united to repent, hold each other accountable, and pray against this recurring sin. For years now they have seen a change and, to their knowledge, no pastors have committed this sin.
The enemy doesn’t care which profile describes your church. His only interest is to keep your church from moving forward. Be alert to his schemes and take the necessary steps to eliminate the problem.

Joseph Winger is the pastor of prayer at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO. He has had extensive background in helping to cleanse churches, both in the United States and in Latin America.
 
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