Church Prayer Meetings

Part 1- The need for and what to consider for a meeting to pray in and for your fellowship

A prayerless church is a powerless church — Epaphras Prays

The Church Must Pray

Prayers of the people of God ought to be conducted both privately and publicly. Without this, the ministry of the church is weak and ineffective. It may have many members, with lots of programs and ministry groups, it may have charitable service to the community and outreach, serve the poor, have a dynamic logo and charismatic pastor, etc.—but God will call His Church: A House of Prayer.

This isn’t a title, but an assignment which describes the activity the members should be involved with. Yes, there is equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, and while there are many different ministries, they must all be in prayer!

The Church must prioritize prayer, promote prayer, preach prayer, and practice prayer. That is, above all other church activity, or ministry, or business, it’s time, effort and energy needs to be devote primarily to praying. Actually praying.

We’ve heard the prayer closet described as the furnace room of a home, that its ductworks reach every room and heating each one. Prayer also ought be preached from the pulpit, and practiced in the sanctuary.

Church prayer time must first be private, meaning each saint rising of a morning and giving the first and best part of their day to devotional praying in their closet. Church prayer time should also be public, meaning there is a room and a time (or times) at the church devoted to gathering with other praying saints for the express purpose of intercessory prayer to God on behalf of The Church.

A prayerless Christian will never learn God’s truth; a prayerless ministry will never be able to teach God’s Truth. Ages of millennial glory have been lost by a prayerless Church.The coming of our Lord has been postponed indefinitely by a prayerless Church. Hell has enlarged herself and filled her dire caves in the presence of the dead service of a prayerless Church.—E.M. Bounds

If your church does not have a prayer dedicated time, start one yourself. If there is no prayer-leader, be one! Don’t just wait for the pastor to do it, or ask another leader. Make this your area to serve in The Church. Talk with the elders, find a time and room, and make announcements to the members. Then be the servant-leader.

The Prayer Meeting

When the time, or times for the meetings are set, then here are some things to consider.

In our experience, prayer meetings among members of a congregation are attended by just a handful. It makes sense then to meet in a small room, or library. Gather the chairs around a table, or better in a small circle. This allows for each prayer to participate more frequently.

When a church prayer meeting is held in the sanctuary, often the arrangements can intimidate the shy. Because of the room setup—the stage facing the seats, it creates a leader-to-members atmosphere. This means folks come to the stage to pray in turn and some can dominate the time while others are uncomfortable standing up front.

A small circle encourages all to be involved, taking a few moments to pray and then be silent for others, then perhaps praying again, each taking turns but in no particular order. Each participant should respect the others time who also wish to join in.

And do not be afraid of silence. One tendency is to fill every moment with words, but often we should be still and wait upon the Lord. This will help each get a sense of the dynamics of the prayer time, whether to linger a bit longer on this theme or verse, or that it is time to move on to another one. Praying in the Spirit is to be led by the Spirit, Who leads us to pray as we ought, with The Word as a prayer road-map.

Strive for one hour once a week to start. We know of prayer groups that meet over a lunch-hour (Noon) or perhaps a weekday evening. Sunday evenings are common, as well as Sunday morning (7 a.m.) Then work toward adding more days or times. The more meeting there are, the more people can meet, more often. Each day or time can have a different leader.

Invite your pastor(s), and other ministry leaders— to pray with, not lead, the group. Pray for them! Continue to invite others; folks will more likely respond to personal invites rather than bulletin inserts.

Next time in Part 2, we will consider The Leader and The Prayers

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Pray For The People Of God From The Word Of God

Here are three passages we are praying from (one passage per day):

• Monday - Ephesians 1:2

• Tuesday - Ephesians 1:16-17

• Wednesday - Ephesians 1:18-19

Will you join me in praying these verses, and ask one person to join you?

Until Thursday, grace and peace

Photo by No Revisions on Unsplash