We who experienced the nearness of a recent tornado can appreciate the experience of a certain Kansas farmer. He heard that a tornado was coming so he went down into his cellar. It was an awful storm. Windows were knocked out of his house and roofing was snatched away. His barn was blown away and his car flipped over. After the terrible storm finally passed, a neighbor came to the cellar and called down to him: "Is anybody down there?" The farmer replied, "Nobody is down here but me and God, and we are having a heated conversation."

That kind of prayer we understand. Almost all Americans offer what I call crisis prayers. But how many Americans, and especially church members, pray daily? One Gallup poll revealed that 75 percent of Americans pray daily and that 95 percent of them report hav…