How to Lead a Good Prayer Meeting

Several years ago–I can’t remember if it was three or four–we experimenting with turning one Sunday evening service a month into a prayer meeting. I’m happy to say the experience stuck and these monthly prayer services have become a highlight of our life together as a church.

 

Over the past couple years, and especially over the weekend after I tweeted something about our prayer service, I’ve had people ask me what we do at these prayer meetings and what they look like?

In general, the service is 60-75 minutes long. We usually start with a hymn and then have a brief (15 minute sermon). We haven’t always included the sermon–and there is a danger of the sermon eating up all the time for prayer–but we’ve found that a brief sermon gets the heart ready for prayer and is also helpful for non-Christians who may be visiting. The rest of the service is set aside for prayer, which is normally led by me, or sometimes by one of our other pastors. Rather than go into a blow by blow of this past week’s service, I thought it would be helpful to share some lessons we’ve learned about planning for and leading an effective prayer meeting.   Continue at Kevin De Young

The Killer Prayer Meeting

1. The same people praying. And only them.
2. Long prayers, full of a devotional and theological language which that praying person just loves, and uses every week.
3. The same one person bringing the Word every week.
4. Monologues. I love them, and they definitely have a place at prayer meetings. But every week? Questions and discussions get people thinking and sharing, and help them to get ready to pray.
5. Bible input which flies well beyond the realms of any usefulness to the prayer meeting.
6. The same loyal core of participants, who’ve long since really given up expectations of the meeting growing. But they still growl at non-attenders for not joining their fearsome band.
7. The same prayer points offered week by week. Sure, be the persistent widow, but don’t persistently pray about the same ten items each and every week. Vary your contents and your priorities.
8. Never meet with other churches.
9. Never invite other church leaders / Gospel workers to be involved.
10. Never ask for encouragements and news from each other.
11. Never look for answers to prayer.
12. Make it a long meeting. The longer, the more spiritual, surely?   Continue at Reclaimed               IMAGE

Why Should You Go to A Prayer Meeting?

Chances are someone has invited you to a prayer meeting. Your immediate response is probably predictable. “What time is it? And where do you meet?” Your next response is also highly predictable, “Why should I go to a prayer meeting?” My goal in this post is to provide help with the latter question.

Here is my short-list of 6 reasons why you should go to a prayer meeting.

1. Privilege- Sometimes we forget that prayer is a privilege. And it is not a cheap privilege. When we pray we are communing with the God of the universe, the originator and sustainer of all life. Further, we are talking to our Father. He is more than a cosmic superintendent he is our caring Savior. This family relationship, this access was purchased with the highest price, the royal currency of Christ’s blood. Don’t allow yourself to crowd out privilege with inconvenience.

2. Community- In the NT we know that personal prayer is to be prioritized and protected (Matt. 6.6). But we also see community prayer modeled and prescribed (Acts 1.14; 2 Tim. 2.1-8). There is great refreshment in the gathering of believers, in-dwelt and led by the Holy Spirit, calling upon Trinitarian Community while in the church community.

3. Edification- Every time I pray with other believers I find myself edified. People often have different devotional soups on the front burner. God is preparing, teaching, and showing them different things than he is me. As these other believers pray they speak of what they are learning and how God is leading them to be sympathetic and burdened for others. This is surprisingly impactful and is a useful tool for my edification. Continue at  Erik Raymond

How to Have a Church Prayer Meeting

A little over a year ago our church began devoting one Sunday evening service a month exclusively to prayer. Honestly, I wasn’t sure it would take. But a year into the switch I think our people are growing to appreciate the prayer service more and more. We don’t get everyone to come back for prayer, but it’s roughly the same size we get for our regular Sunday evening service (around 125 people, or about 1/4 the size of Sunday morning).

Here are seven things we’ve learned about having a church prayer meeting.

1. Pray. Don’t make your “prayer meeting” a time for 5 hymns, a short message, sharing requests, and 10 minutes for prayer. Get down to business and pray.

2. Start on time and end on time. This may not be true for every culture, but in America punctuality helps. People know what to expect. We will pray together for one hour.

3. Plan. If you are praying with a few mature, seasoned pray-ers, you may be able to get by with little preparation. But leading a church-wide prayer meeting takes, well, leadership. You have to think through what you are going to do. Recently I planned the prayer service around the fruit of the spirit. At other times we’ve prayed for different ministries in the church. We’ve used prayer books and lots of Scripture. We’ve borrowed from ancient patterns of prayer. We’ve even walked through the building to pray. The point is you can’t wing it with 100 people. You have to prepare.   Keep Reading >>>

See Also: Sample Prayer Service