CPR - Prayer

So this past Thursday and Friday was the ARC-CPR (Church Planting Roundtable) at Celebration Church in Georgetown, TX. It was great! We met some really great people. A group of about 40 church planters all getting together, sharing their vision and dreams. Pastor Joe Champion and Billy Hornsby led the meeting and covered a ton of awesome compacted material in the two day mini conference. The most refreshing part, beyond the content is the heart behind everything. It is an overwhelming feeling that we are all part of something much greater than we thought possible.

You can attend church conferences and church planting conferences and not hear much of an emphasis on prayer. In this conference, this was not only one of the first things covered, but it was labeled as a non-negotiable. All of the planning, procedures, programs, smoke and mirrors can only at best pale to the preparation time spent in prayer. Talent, gifts, money, procedures, buildings, production crews, etc, are all great, but those things won't last if the ministry isn't bathed in prayer. We have all seen ministries that had it all, fall over night because of a loss of focus on the Cross of Christ and his cause. Prayer keeps us, connects us, propels us, and moves us. It is impossible to have a relationship without talking to and listening to God ... the one who has had plans for us before we were even in the womb. It is all quite incredible.