Most Christians have a complicated relationship with prayer.
On the one hand, every Christian understands prayer is not only the means by which we communicate and draw near to our Heavenly Father, it’s also God’s prescribed means for change to happen. In that sense, there’s never a wrong time to pray. This is at least part of what James emphasized in his letter:
Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven (James 5:13-16).
On the other hand, there are few things in our lives as Christians that create a greater sense of guilt. Despite knowing we should pray, we often do not. Or we don’t pray long enough. Or faithfully enough. Or fervently enough. Even though prayer is an incredible privilege, we often find ourselves feeling lacking.
How, then, can you as a church leader encourage the rhythm of prayer in your church this fall?
Here are three immediately simple and actionable ways:
1. Model It.
What place does prayer have in your worship service? Often, we treat prayer as a “transition point” - it’s the way we move from one segment of the worship service to another without disruption. It’s the means by which the worship pastor can exit the stage and the pastor can get on. Or it’s the way the sermon ends and the worship service transitions back to musical worship. Nothing wrong with those various points of prayer, but in modeling it, it should be more.
Consider, at least for a season, devoting a significant amount of time to prayer in the worship experience. This might be an extended pastoral prayer, a time of congregational prayer, or a guided prayer led by someone on the stage.
2. Make Room for it.
In the small group environment, prayer is one of the things that often gets pushed to the end. Our group leaders focus on the content, the fellowship, and the discussion that make up the small group, and if there’s time, we have a prayer at the end to close things out.
The second actionable way to emphasize prayer is to filter a new vision for prayer through those leaders. To do that, they will have to see that prayer is a component of the small group that cannot get shoved to the side in favor of other things. The group leader, for example, might have a target time in mind for when to begin the prayer time during the group in order to make sure room is left for it to happen.
3. Align Around It.
One other way to bring emphasis to prayer is to align the congregation around it. This would mean preaching a sermon series about prayer, and then calling on small groups to have that same emphasis for a season. At Rooted Network, we wanted to make this last point as simple as possible.
That’s why we have created a sermon series outline about prayer you can download for free. This sermon series aligns with the Prayer Bible study for small groups. Using these tools, you can place a 5-week emphasis on prayer that runs from the stage to the individual inside every small group.
Corrie Ten Boom once wrote, “Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees.” She was right. It’s not enough to intend to pray; we must commit to it and follow through. Like a muscle, the rhythm of prayer can be built into your congregation, but it won’t happen by accident.
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By Michael Kelley, Rooted Network Executive Director