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Prayer Is Not Just Another Ministry |
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A few years ago I spoke at a prayer conference at a large church in
metro Atlanta. The Friday night/Saturday event was poorly attended (80
people) for such a large church (6,000 members). The prayer leader
apologized for the small turnout, but revealed that one of the problems
was that most events at this church were not announced from the
platform. She went on to say that so many ministries have events each
month that a rule had been made: none could have “platform time.” To be
fair, any ministry leader could advertise in the bulletin or newsletter
or put up posters but could never
promote during a service. Many churches have similar rules.
Unfortunately, most of these churches relegate prayer to “just another
ministry” status. That’s a problem.
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. . . boring prayer meetings might be more fun than we realize! OK,
maybe not fun. How about, valuable?
It must have been the Holy Spirit working on me because the other day I
began to feel bad about how often I complain about how boring most
church prayer meetings have become. Now, just to be clear, I still think
too many small group or weeknight gatherings produce uninspired prayer.
Same format 52 weeks in a row without any variance. New illness or
crisis but same request; just fill in the blank. Same seating
arrangement (circles never become rows of pews nor vice a versa ).
Lots can be done to remodel corporate prayer, but this is not that
column.
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The Priority of Prayer -- Making It Known |
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By Dennis Conner
How exciting it is to witness the current trend among many churches
across America, to expand their “priority of prayer” in response to
Jesus’ declaration that His house shall be called a “House of Prayer.”
As God allows circumstances in our lives and in this nation to prompt
His people to want more prayer--privately at home and corporately in
their church--there is a Spirit-led prayer movement across
denominational lines that is evidenced in many churches today!
No doubt, what God wanted of His first-century disciples and
churches--to be “worship-based and prayer-laced” through and through--He
still wants of His 21st century disciples and churches! Perhaps this is
true because He never changes (Hebrews 13:8). Perhaps it is also true
because church leadership today is rediscovering that “programs apart
from the genesis and saturation of prayer” demand much (time, money,
resources, etc.) and accomplish little for the kingdom!
As “prayer coaches,” my wife and I frequently hear the same question
coming from pastors, associate ministers and church prayer leaders: “How
can we take our church’s current prayer ministry to the next level and
onward toward becoming a true House of Prayer?”
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July 2010
