Pillars of Discipleship – #1: Prayer

It’s 7:14, time to pray. Many years ago, Francis Chan visited the underground church pastor from China. His experience blew him away, hearing of the stories of conversion and life as a Christian in China. In listening to one particular pastor that he and his church were thriving even with all of the persecution. Francis asked the pastor what the secret was, and the pastor shared with him five pillars of their church. Notice he called them pillars because these are the part of their belief that will cause them to grow in discipleship and withstand under the persecution. They have to agree to these pillars in their life before they are allowed to enter into a relationship with Jesus and thus the other church members. His first one is so significant to their lives that without it you will not be able to stand under persecution as well as the struggles, valleys, and storms of life. It is a simple pillar and action, but it is the foundation that gives us strength for living. What is that first pillar that has strengthen the churches in China? A deep, deep commitment to prayer. Prayer is our lifeline to God. We struggle so often in life because we are so weak in our prayer life. We struggle because of our unwillingness to pray for God to do great things in our life, because we realize that God will call for all of us before the great things can be done. Our first pillar to life-changing discipleship has to start with prayer. Let’s pray today as if our lives depended upon it – because in the spiritual world of war, they do.