The condition of a church may be very accurately gauged by its... by Charles Spurgeon. Colossians 4, 2. Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

The condition of a church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings. If the spirit of prayer is not with the people, the minister may preach like an angel, but he cannot expect success. If there is not the spirit of prayer in a church, there may be wealth, there may be talent, there may be a measure of effort, there may be an extensive religious machinery, but the Lord is not there.

It is a sure evidence of the presence of God that men pray, as the rising of the thermometer is an evidence of the increase of the temperature. In the same way, the prayer meeting is a grace-ometer, and from it we may judge of the amount of divine working among His people. God is always working in a praying church, and if God is not there, then one of the first tokens of his absence will be a slothfulness in prayer.

O God, you are my God.
Earnestly I seek you.
My soul thirsts for you.
My whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.
Psalm 63, 1.