Day 35 – Tuesday
Keep it Going!
Now that we’re on the back end of Lent, and at the tail end of our covenant time together, I want to talk about how to keep prayer going in your church. Of course, we recognize that above all, it is GOD’S church, and we want Him to have His way with His people. But I say YOUR church for two reasons.
First, I say YOUR church in acknowledgement that while this call to pray together for at least an hour a day originated with my challenge to the members of the church where I serve, this thing has blossomed beyond the membership of Antioch Baptist Church in Scottsville. Over the past thirty-five days, I’ve learned that many who did not sign a covenant card are either going to my blog and reading this, or reading it on Facebook. In addition, others have told me that they are passing copies of these devotions around to their friends. So I’m aware that these ideas that I’m about to share could possibly affect more than one church.
Second, I say YOUR church because whether you’re in a place of formal leadership or not, the fact that you’ve committed to an hour of prayer a day means that you are already a prayer leader in your church. God has given you a place of ownership and responsibility in the prayer ministry of the church that you attend. Your pastor (whoever he or she may be) needs your encouragement, support, and help in the prayer ministries that may spring from the prayer revival that God has begun in us. I hope that you will consider what part you might play in leading effective prayer ministries in YOUR church.
At Antioch we are preparing for a new kind of Wednesday night meeting. The focus is shifting from a Bible study where we also pray, to a united worship-based prayer experience that’s filled with music. It will be pastor-facilitated, but teaching will be done in a mutual format. If you can’t quite grasp what that’s going to look like, then I encourage you to come and find out. These meetings will start shortly after Easter (date to be announced later). We will be calling these meetings Renewal Services, because that’s exactly what they are—an oasis of renewal in the middle of the week.
On Sundays at Antioch, our adult Bible study will enjoy the 5-week video curriculum, Fresh Encounters: Experiencing Transformation Through United Worship-Based Prayer [i], by Daniel Henderson. This will begin on the same week as our Renewal Services, and will give us a common understanding of prayer in general, and this type of prayer service, specifically. I hope you will be a part of these two prayer ventures at Antioch, or that you would seek God’s will for something similar at your church.
In his book by the same title, Daniel Henderson gives a handful of ideas regarding unique prayer ministries that you could start at YOUR church. Please don’t leave it to your pastor. If one of these ideas gets you excited and you feel that God wants this at YOUR church, don’t tell your pastor that he ought to start it. Instead, tell him that God is calling YOU to be a prayer pioneer, and ask him for whatever support you need. So today and tomorrow, we’ll be looking at ideas from Daniel Henderson:
Powerhouse Prayer MeetingsI remember reading the story of two young men who arrived early to a service at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London to hear Charles Spurgeon speak. As they waited to enter the auditorium, a man approached and asked if they would like to see the power-generation room of the church. Not wanting to be rude, they complied. The gentleman took them to a downstairs door and opened it to reveal a packed house of people gathered for prayer prior to the service. “That, my friends,” is the power source of our church.” With that he extended his hand and introduced himself. His name was Charles Spurgeon.
What is a “powerhouse” prayer meeting? It is a specific prayer time that occurs prior to or during a worship service (or other event where the preaching of God’s Word is taking place).
This can be a good place to start a prayer ministry because it occurs at the same time people attend church. Prayer for the pastor and the Sunday services should be the strategic focus for this prayer time. For it to be effective, you need to continually keep guard so the focus doesn’t change. Because of their experience with group prayer, most people, through a lack of understanding, will take prayer meetings right to people’s needs. You‘re praying fervently for the empowering of the Holy Spirit for your pastor. It is getting intense and passionate. Then all of a sudden, brother Bill begins to pray for his sick sister. The Spirit-empowered passion is broken! You will need to continually educate the people who come to pray as to the focus for which they are to pray. Make sure, though, that there are opportunities to pray for people’s needs elsewhere. Those with brother Bill’s heart, too, need a place to pray for that (Henderson, Pp117-118).
Personally, this is one that I’m really excited about myself. This is, however, a prayer ministry that no pastor can take the leadership role with. He’s busy preaching during such a meeting! At Antioch, a group like this could meet during Sunday school (which is between the two worship services—but where would they meet?), or anywhere during the worship services. Whoever led this at 8:30 would need to be an 11:00 worship-attendee, and whoever led it at 11:00 would need to worship at 8:30, but otherwise it’s do-able. At Antioch, we have a policy not to have committee meetings during worship services, but this is quite different. It’s part of worship—just in a different room. This is how it might take shape at Antioch. What do you think Powerhouse prayer meetings might look like at YOUR church?
Early Watch
This is an early-morning prayer meeting for those who want to pray before going to work, or those retirees on their way to breakfast at Hardee’s (you know who you are). Henderson suggests that each early watch meeting have a prayer-focus, rather than being open-ended. He suggests that a group could pray for church leadership, or missionaries around the world, or government leaders, or have a specific scriptural focus. “Why?” Henderson asks—and then he answers his own question. “If you look at the times of corporate prayer in Scripture, all are narrowly focused (see Ezra 8:21-23; 2 Chronicles 6-7; and Acts 12:5 as examples). We can better pray in agreement…when we are not jumping all over the place with everyone’s agenda (pg. 118).”
Affinity Group Gatherings
These are prayer gatherings that have a common interest or stage of life. Examples may be:
· Young mothers
· Senior citizens
· Businessmen
· Teenagers (wouldn’t it be great if they developed a heart for prayer?)
· Recovery and support groups (gathering for prayer, not regular meetings)
· Can you think of any others?
Concerts of Prayer
Concerts of prayer are periodic events involving the whole church in a unique setting and style of praying. They are usually facilitated from the platform and involve a variety of expressions through small group prayer, large group prayer, and personal intercession. I have led them on Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, and mid-week. We often conduct concerts of prayer for our church and for a gathering of churches from around the community (Henderson, pg. 119).
All-Night Prayer Meetings
Hey—if the youth can have a lock-in, then why not adults?
An all-night prayer meeting can extend from 6, 9, or 10p.m. to 6 a.m. In a sense it is an extended concert of prayer. But it functions best when a wide array of expressions including lively worship, prayerwalking, interactive small group prayer, scheduled breaks and (very) energizing refreshments are planned. If you are starting out with these nights of prayer, while you should encourage people to try to attend the entire thing, make sure they know that they are welcome even if they can only attend a portion of it. The worker who gets off from second shift at 11 can come then; the person who goes in to work at 7 Saturday morning, and needs to sleep to do her job, can leave at 10 p.m., and so on (pg. 119).
So what do you think? Do any of these ideas get you charged up for corporate prayer? Maybe God is calling YOU to be a prayer leader at YOUR church! Pray about it. Tell your pastor you’d be interested in starting one of these types of ministries. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about some more ideas for prayer ministries at YOUR church. We need to pray together, because only by praying together can we truly become HIS church!
[i] http://www.navpress.com/product/9781600063558/Fresh-Encounters-Daniel-Henderson-with-Margaret-Saylar
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