4 Lessons
One striking difference between our Christian forebears and us is their repeated emphasis on prayer and our comparative de-emphasis of it. They prayed frequently and fervently. We pray infrequently and languidly. They called prayer meetings. We call staff meetings. They had revival and reformation. We have apathy and apostasy. A leading reason for these distinctions is that they were inclined to believe what God said about prayer. We are often less confident in God’s word when it comes to his promises about prayer. A blunter way to say this is: we commit the sin of unbelief. Prayer changes things. When we pray, we are asking God to change things. And when he answers our prayer, he does change things. This brings us to a most telling fact that we don’t often consider: if we are perfectly willing to accept the way things are as God’s unchangeable will, we will never be people of prayer.
This is a series of four conversations centered on Andrew Sandlin’s book, Prayer Changes Things: Curing Timid Piety. Andrew Sandlin, Jack Carter and Craig Dumont follow (somewhat) the chapters of the book as they talk about praying big prayers and receiving big answers from God.
About Andrew Sandlin
P. Andrew Sandlin is Founder & President of the Center for Cultural Leadership. He is also faculty of Blackstone Legal Fellowship of the Alliance Defending Freedom; the H. Evan Runner International Academy for Cultural Leadership of the Ezra Institute for Contemporary Christianity; and the De Jong Distinguished Visiting Professor of Culture and Theology of Edinburg Theological Seminary.
He founded CCL in 2001 with the conviction that only eminently equipped cultural leaders will actually create a new Christian culture — and that only transformed Christians can transform the present anti-Christian culture of the West.
Andrew was born into a devout Christian home. He has been preaching and teaching and lecturing for 30 years. A consummate eclectic, Andrew has been a pastor, assistant pastor, youth pastor, Sunday school superintendent, Christian day school administrator, home school father, foundation’s executive vice president, journal editor, scholar, author and itinerant speaker.
An interdisciplinary scholar, he holds a B. A. in English, history, and political science (University of the State of New York); he was awarded an M. A. in English literature (University of South Africa); he has taken doctoral work in English (Kent State University); and he holds a doctorate in Sacred Theology summa cum laude (Edinburg Theological Seminary). He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society.
He is married and has five adult children and three grandchildren.