Aside from the occaisional bored yawn when a missionary came for a Sunday evening, little was actively done to seek out the real needs of any particular missionary's life. I now wonder just how common that attitude is in our churches. I also remember counting the number of envelopes available on several weeks in succession and finding, from a church of seven hundred, that less than seven letter blanks were taken over the period. I wish I could honestly say that I had taken them. I also wonder just how difficult such a problem would be to remedy.
American churches face many problems as they seek to challenge themselves to pray honestly.
For me, just looking at Paul's series of requests is enough to straighten out any kinks in my prayer life. First, Paul felt the pain of the lost. But it seems quite clear from accounts elsewhere that Paul was on the receiving end of pain handed out by the Gospel's dedicated opposition, something Americans, from the beginning of their history have been dedicated to avoiding. Very likely, without the constant reminders that he was not in the game alone, Paul would have become deeply depressed, both because of, and causing more lonliness. I can say with some confidence that Paul places high priority on the kind of prayer he advocated in the attached list purely because without it, he, and his ministry, would surely have gone to ground under Satan's intense pressures.