While in Germany last week I had the opportunity to make a video at one of the most significant locations of the prayer history of the church. In a small village in southern Germany a prayer meeting would take place that would impact the world. Listen in as I share the story.
Will you let your heart be stirred for the next thing that God will do as we pray?
One of the reasons that people don’t go to a prayer meeting is that they think that it is going to be boring. Even if Christians “should” go to the prayer meeting even if it is boring there are ways to change it so boring is not the first thing that comes to mind when people hear the words, “prayer meeting.”
Reason 1: Lack of expectation that God will meet with us.
From a Bible perspective when we gather for prayer we can be assured that God is, “there in the midst of us.” But often it is the leader’s job to play the role of Elisha with his servant when he prayed, “Open his eyes.” When people expect to meet with God their attitude will be very different. As George Muller used to say, “God has dealt with me according to my expectation.”
Cure: There are ways to increase people’s expectation of meeting with God. Here are three examples of that. Songs of worship can raise our awareness that we are meeting with God and not going through religious activities. Drawing our attention to Bible passages of God’s power with His people can have the same effect. Finally, along a similar line, stories of powerful prayer meetings from history can increase expectation in the room.
Reason 2: Lack of anticipation of the importance of the meeting.
Many people in our day and age place a high value on time. Things are equated with boring if they are considered a waste of time. I think that is part of the reason that people, especially men, often skip the prayer meeting for other activities. Overcoming this perception can increase the attendance of the prayer meeting.
Cure: One of the ways to help people to see the importance of the prayer meeting is to line up the agenda of the prayer meeting with important items. When the early disciples met for prayer in Acts chapter 4 about the persecution they were facing no one probably questioned the importance of the meeting. And the room was shaken. Maybe make the agenda for your prayer service the Big Hairy Audacious Goals that God has put on your heart for the church. Maybe put signs around the room with pictures of lost people in need of God.
Reason 3: Leaders governed by obligation instead of desperation in calling the meeting.
I was a senior pastor for about nine years before starting this ministry back in 2005. There always seemed like there was more to do than I had time to do it. It is easy with that type of environment to feel like a prayer service is just another item on the list of things to do. If this is how the leader feels it will quickly be felt by everyone else and drain the energy in the room.
Cure: There are two steps to overcoming this challenge. Both are important. First, the leader needs to reconnect with their “why.” This may be as simple as changing the agenda of the prayer meeting like we talked about in the last reason. The second part is to set up the time and structure of the prayer meeting as the leader so that you want to come. Don’t feel obligated to have a morning prayer service if you are a night owl. Maybe to start with a 30 minute prayer service before Sunday morning is better than adding another night to your agenda when you are feeling overwhelmed.
Reason 4: No balance of spontaneity and predictability.
There is nothing wrong with routine in your prayer service. Structure can provide security to people who are new to a prayer meeting. Knowing what is happening next can even help the veterans of the prayer service feel comfortable to focus on prayer. But structure can also create boredom if we are not careful.
Cure: Hopefully you will see that the first three reasons are foundational to fixing this challenge as well. Let me encourage you as leader to create a simple broad stroke plan with predictable parts, but don’t be afraid to change to follow the moment. Let the components be like your playbook that gives you the comfort to call an audible with confidence.
May your prayer service be with expectation as you meet with God and do the work of prayer that changes the world.
They say that one of the greatest fears people have is speaking in public. It might be even higher if we were to ask Christians about leading in prayer. I teach pastors that leading in prayer is one of the main reasons that people don’t come to prayer meetings. I have even heard of someone who left a church because she was called on to lead in prayer.
I was doing a seminar at a church and after the seminar a lady came up to me and asked for some pointers on praying better in public. She loved praying when she was alone, but she never felt comfortable leading others in prayer. I don’t think she is the only one.
But leading in prayer does not need to be a terrifying situation. It can actually be a great opportunity to make a difference for the kingdom. With a few tips and tricks you will be raising your hand to volunteer to be the person to pray in public.
Realize that it is not about being impressive– Pretty words do not impress God or engage the hearts of people that you are leading in prayer. Actually using the language you use everyday is more likely to get people praying with you than something that makes people go “wow!” The Bible is filled with simple, straightforward prayers that God answered.
Keep it short. Elijah prayed what was probably a 60 second prayer and fire fell from heaven. Revivalist Charles Finney actually encourages short prayers in the prayer meeting. If you are a leader trying to engage new people in praying in public I would even recommend having a bunch of people pray 1 sentence prayers.
Engage your emotions. Leading others in prayer is often about connecting the people you are leading with the request and then bringing that request to God. Emotion is a great way to do that. If you are praying for a prayer request think about the feeling of those connected to the request. This is not about emotionalism but connecting to the emotion.
Connect to scripture. The people you are leading have more faith in prayer when it is connected to the word of God (Romans 10:17). Even if you don’t feel like a Bible scholar there maybe a story that comes to mind that will give you the content for your prayer. If you are praying for a big challenge someone is facing you might think of David and Goliath or a person who is alone may remind you that “the Lord is our shepherd.”
Practice– Somehow we think that since praying in public is a “spiritual” activity we should automatically feel comfortable with doing it. Maybe a better way to think about it is a skill like cooking. The more you practice, using the recipe above the more comfortable you will become. So my encouragement would be to volunteer to pray whenever you get a chance. Whether it is at your small group or as a family the more you pray in public the more confident you will become.
Do these things and before you realize praying in pubic will be a skill that you are not terrified at having to do. But something even more important will happen. You will now be able to help people to touch heaven and see God’s kingdom advance. Let’s be a people who pray together!
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