A Theological Framework for Prayer '88

From Gospel Translations

Revision as of 22:10, 26 November 2008

How our hearts long to see the day when the unity of Christ’s body will be manifest in truth and power! 

Not power without truth! For the apostle says the last days will be shot through with demonstrations of power with lying signs and wonders” flourishing among people who “refused to love the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).

Not truth without power! For the apostle describes those who “have all knowledge” but do not have the spiritual fruit of love (1 Corinthians 13:2), who “possess knowledge” but are puffed up with pride (1 Corinthians 8:1).

But we long for a unity of Christ’s body that stands on the truth of Scripture and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

A movement of prayer is not the end product of such a unity. The movement is an imperfect expression of it and a pathway to it. How then shall we state the truth that unites us? We don’t want to belittle the truth as insignificant, but we must admit that we have a long way to go before we stand in total agreement—when all the veils are removed and we no longer see through a glass darkly.

David Bryant recently expressed it like this,

The foundation for the movement of united prayer … is nothing less than the Scriptures, the saving lordship of Jesus Christ, and a full commitment to the revealed will of God in Jesus Christ on the part of all who lead the prayer movement. Over the years it has become increasingly apparent: if leaders of the prayer movement are genuinely committed to the Scriptures and the lordship of Christ, as expressed by the basic spirit and vision of the Lausanne Covenant for World Evangelization, then there is ample security for such a cooperative effort in prayer across the major denominational and organizational lines.

This is the position we would like to take as we labor under God to bring forth a united movement of Christian prayer in the Twin Cities.

Knowing that many doctrinal differences will exist among those who pray, we take our stand in good faith in the “spirit of the vision” of the Lausanne Covenant, praying that the movement of prayer will not only express our imperfect union of love and hope, but also lead, under the sovereign lordship of Christ, to even greater manifestations of truth-honoring and power-filled unity. May a perishing world become the beneficiaries of our growing unity and our earnest prayer!