10 Toxic Traditions That Are Killing the Church

Praying ceremonial rather than Kingdom prayers.

By how we pray I simply mean that we’ve turned prayers into something that are purely ceremonial, at home and at church. We say a quick ceremonial prayer before meals, before bed with our kids, once or twice during the service, and that’s it. We’ve lost the passion of intercessory prayers, of Kingdom prayers. When’s the last time we’ve diligently prayed that our neighbors come to Jesus? When’s the last time we’ve waited together on the Lord in prayer? How often do we weep because of the brokenness of our families, our communities, our nation? Are our prayers more scripted than heartfelt, more ceremonial than genuine. Try giving an emotionless, scripted declaration of love to your spouse and see how that turns out. Our prayers are too ceremonial and we’re too guilty of that in our churches. This tradition becomes toxic because without prayer we don’t have the power of God to see our community changed.