我们思想复兴这题目已经有近一个月的时间，今天我们会继续讨论是甚么使教会须要复兴。一般来说，今天的教会存在另一个导致它们迫切需要复兴的问题，就是注重活动过于祷告。今天的教会，很明显非常擅长如何举行活动、如何从广告得到最佳效果、如何为特定的目的做研究和制定目标、如何找出趋势并根据这些趋势做预测等事情。教会不大擅长的是教导信徒如何祷告──以充满力量的祷告、祈求神让世界知道祂伟大的同在。在此我需要重申，我所说的只是一般的情况，因为我知道有很多人的教会是例外的，包括一些读到今天的信息的朋友。

我并非以责备的口吻来谈及教会的这些问题。我们得明白，研究事情背后的原因是有益的，如：研究如何有效布道，或是如何令教会增长等都是好的。这些研究无疑是对这一代教会的生命和发展都有极大的贡献。

不过问题是，我们很容易满足于研究和调查方面所取得的成功，这样的满足令我们裹足不前，对神不再有更深切的渴慕，也不再渴望看见神透过复兴来显现那崇高和超然的工作。我们正在处于属灵悲剧的时代，我们的所作所为反而妨碍了神的工作；而只有祷告，才能使我们的眼目专注于神。

Another issue in today's Church which makes the need for revival urgent is the way in which the Church, generally speaking, has become more activity oriented than prayer oriented. There can be little doubt that today's Church has learned a good deal about how to organise events, how to get the best results from advertising, how to research and target specific objectives, how to identify trends and make predictions based on those trends...and so on. What it is not so good at is teaching people how to pray - to pray powerfully for God to make His mighty presence known in the world. I would point out again that I am speaking generally, for I know there will be many reading these lines who come from churches which are exceptions to what I am saying.

Now do not hear me speaking in condemning tones of the prowess of today's Church in the areas I have mentioned. It is good to research and study underlying principles, such as, for example, what makes for effective evangelism or how churches grow. There can be little doubt that the study of these things has greatly contributed to the life and development of the Church in this generation.

Here, however, is the problem: it is so easy for us to become satisfied by our successes in the field of study and research that our satisfaction deadens our desire and robs us of a sense of need to see God work in a sovereign and extraordinary way through revival. We are in a time of spiritual tragedy when our activity becomes a blockage to His activity. Only prayer can keep our eyes fully upon Him.