There are four things the church of 2005 desperately needs if it is to make an impact upon our age: fervent prayer, anointed preaching, genuine persecution and divine power.

First of all, there is the need for fervent prayer. Read the history of the revivals on record and you will discover that, without exception, when genuine revival occurred it was ushered in on the wings of prayer. What our churches need is persistent, penitent, passionate prayers.

We have many men and women in our convention who know how to grasp the horns of the altar and pray heaven down to earth, but no one inspires me to want to be a man of prayer more than Fayiz Saknini.

This dear man of God works in our language mission's ministry with Arabic speaking people at the Georgia Baptist Convention. I have had the privilege of being his pastor. His life is a testimony of the power of God to answer prayer. When he prays I believe God must stop what He is doing to listen to Pastor Saknini.

When we pray, we link ourselves to an omnipotent God with whom nothing is impossible. We will never accomplish what God has commissioned us to do unless we pray. We often walk around like spiritual paupers when God has the resources of heaven to bestow upon those who know how to pray.

We also need anointed preaching, the kind that characterized Jonathan Edwards when he preached "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Edwards had not slept for three days and nights. He had spent his time fasting and praying before he preached that epochal sermon and history records that the power of God was upon Edwards when he preached that message.

Preachers must preach as dying men to dying men never sure to preach again. Preaching must never be reduced to a profession. It is a calling; a divine calling and those who stand behind the sacred desk to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ must seek the fullness of God's Spirit and preach as God's emissary from heaven.

Thirdly, today's church needs persecution. Some of you will greet that suggestion with questions or perhaps even scorn. However, we have been told that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Typically the church has had greater success in times of adversity than in times of prosperity.

It is time for God's people to get out of their cocoon of isolation or comfort zone and risk something for the cause of Christ. Quit playing it safe. Timothy Sangster, a pastor in Savannah, spoke in chapel at the Baptist Center last spring and quoted a motto of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang. He said, "If you are not living on the edge you are just taking up space." We've got lots of Georgia Baptists just taking up space.

Knock on the door of the most gospel-hardened soul you know. Enter the pro-life fight. Stand up against the evolutionists, the humanists, and the secularists. Stand up for righteousness in the marketplace. Demand that the Ten Commandments be displayed in the public square.

Stand up for truth. Become a bold witness for Christ and you will put yourself at risk. You may get ridiculed or persecuted. If you do, just praise the Lord! But "beware when all men speak well of you."

Finally, we need divine power. We have become so well-organized. We have the finest communication skills. We have developed the most attractive ministry resource kits. We have polished seminars and "How to Minister" conferences. We have trained soloists and professional instrumentalists and slick media presentations. We have well-educated ministers and impressive buildings, but lack the power of God upon our lives.

We need a visitation of the Holy Spirit upon our churches. We have seen what eloquence, training, education, personality, publicity, promotion and programming can do, but we need to see what God can do. We must remember that it is "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord of hosts."

The songwriter said it best: "All is vain unless the power of the Holy One come down."

I believe 2005 can be Georgia Baptists' best year ever, but not without fervent prayer, anointed preaching, perhaps genuine persecution and certainly not without divine power.