New Orleans Prayer Guide [The Church]…

September 12, 2007 | 8:45 AM

Joe McKeever, the Director of Missions at the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans (BAGNO), wrote a post on his blog a few weeks ago outlining the status of our local Baptist churches. He broke them down into three categories: struggling, flourishing but with issues, and normal. My church, Edgewater, fell under the struggling category, as did many others. It’s really no wonder why a lot of Baptist churches are struggling. Dr. Charles Kelley, president of NOBTS, always opens up the semester in chapel by telling us that 80 percent of Baptist churches are plateaued and declining. Some say it’s close to 90 percent. In New Orleans, I wouldn’t be surprised if 90 percent were a low estimate. This post isn’t to discuss why that is. I’ve addressed that in other places, and will continue to do so elsewhere. This is a guide to help you, if you’re interested, pray for the people of New Orleans.

I’m asking you to pray for The Church, the inter-denominational universal Body of Christ in New Orleans. That means pray for the Catholics, Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, Mennonites (yes, they’re here), and all the other followers of Christ in this city. How can you pray? Be creative. Be positive. But here are a few I can immediately suggest (please, don’t limit yourself to what I’ve suggested):

• Hope. The number one issue in New Orleans is that the people have lost hope. The Church MUST be a voice of hope to New Orleanians. This is a priority.
• Unity. We don’t work together. Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Pentacostals- we aren’t working together. Until we show that the Body of Christ can get along, we can’t expect the people in our city to get along. And they’re not getting along. Pray for our unity- maybe not in doctrine, but in the common mission to bring hope and love to New Orleans.
• Faithfulness. Pray that our Christ-followers would grow in faith, which would make us more active and bold in offering hope and love.
• Strength. We need emotional strength to go along with our physical strength. The suicide rate is up. It’s difficult when you’re surrounded by people without hope. We need God to give us the strength to endure, so that we can be the voice of hope to New Orleans.

Please pray over these things, and whatever else you can think of, while they’re still fresh in your mind. Know that we are thankful for your encouragement.

Posted in Life, New Orleans, New Orleans Prayer Series, Prayer