Most of my work as a consultant has been with traditional churches seeking a renewed focus and a new dream. One particular church, however, asked me to help them accommodate an already renewed growth. They were literally running out of space for all age groups.

I studied the church statistics for the most recent five years along with the demographic data for a 5-mile radius of the area. The 60-year-old church was in a sparsely populated, blue-collar and agricultural community. The growth rate of the community was almost zero, yet the church was experiencing rapid growth.

When I visited, I was shocked at what I saw. The church building was in deplorable condition. The parking lot had several pieces of asphalt missing. The roof was leaking in three sections. Offices had been subdivided, with volunteer labor, to make multiple Sunday school classes. Only rough concrete remained as a floor.

How could such a worn, rag-tag church building be the home of rapid growth? I discovered the answer in my initial interviews with church members.

Three years earlier, a group of men began a daily 5 a.m. prayer time for the church. From that small beginning, prayer exploded in power throughout the church. Lost and unchurched people were literally drawn to the formerly staid and stale church. Like the first church in Jerusalem, this church was, "enjoying the favor of all people" (Acts 2:47).

One particularly fascinating interview I conducted was with a young couple who had recently become Christians as a result of the church's ministry. On more than one occasion they hired a baby sitter to watch their preschool child during worship services because the preschool department had no more room! Imagine all this to attend a traditional church!

It should be no surprise that the role of prayer in the renewal and growth of the church is receiving increased attention. Yet church futurists who proclaim the ineffectiveness of the traditional church for the Kingdom of God continue to focus on peripheral issues rather than the key issue of prayer. With only a few exceptions, the pundits fail to see the immeasurable impact that prayer has upon these churches.

This prayer movement -- perhaps unprecedented since the Acts revival at Pentecost (see Acts 2:40-47) -- will undoubtedly impact traditional churches for four reasons: First, the sheer number of traditional churches means that the movement is more likely to find its way into these fellowships. If my observation that over 90 percent of American churches are traditional is correct, then more traditional churches will be touched by the prayer movement than any other kind of church.

Second, members of traditional churches are hungry for a great touch of God's Spirit. They know that their churches are falling short of God's plan for them, yet they feel uncomfortable abandoning many of their distinctive ministry styles to change to a nontraditional model. In their hunger, these believers often turn to God with an uncommon fervency in prayer.

Third, a phenomenon that offers no easy explanation is the presence of a singular prayer warrior in many traditional churches. One person is touched by God in an extraordinary manner. He or she (though most of the prayer warriors that I have known are females) has a burden for prayer that will not abate. Through formal prayer ministries or simply through informal channels, this person becomes a leader and a conduit through which the burden for prayer spreads to the congregation.

Finally, we must ultimately recognize that a sovereign God moves as he pleases. He is choosing to move among churches whose flame has ebbed to no more than a flicker. God is touching traditional churches because he desires for the vast majority of churches to awaken from their spiritual slumber.

In 1994, Billy Graham spoke to the North American Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Louisville, Ky. As the famed evangelist reflected on a half century of ministry, he paused a moment, then continued. "You know," he said, "more than at any point in my ministry I am aware of the tremendous power of prayer. I really believe we are in the midst of spiritual awakening. Wouldn't it be terrible if you slept through this movement of God?"