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One aspect of church worship that’s always been a challenge for me is communal prayer. Partway through the church service every Sunday morning, a designated member of the congregation leads the church in community prayer, incorporating prayer requests from the community and sometimes asking the rest of the congregation to add their voices to the prayer as they feel called to do so.

Community prayer doesn’t come easily for me. I’m a private person for whom public and community prayer doesn’t come naturally. But there’s something powerful in a group of believers gathered together for prayer, and Bible Prayer Fellowship argues that it’s a crucial part of Christian worship:

Every congregation and all believers everywhere need united agreement in prayer and faith. True, we can play privately, but we must also come together with the church expecting to find one accord in prayer. The church in Acts began in one accord in prayer (Acts 1:14; 2:1). United prayer was a top priority of the apostles and the people (Acts 6:4; 4:18-33; 12:1-25; 15:1-30). United agreement in prayer is necessary because of who we are.

We are related to Christ and each other like the members of our natural body are. Our head coordinates the life and action of all the parts of our body (I Corinthians 12). Christ is the head over all things to the church.

We are one family. We pray to “OUR Father.” Andrew Murray said that it is unnatural for the children in a family to always meet with their father separately and never know a shared relationship with him.

Read the rest of “Why Pray Together?” at the Bible Prayer Fellowship website.

What’s been your experience with communal prayer? What does it bring to worship that private prayer doesn’t? Have you seen tangible effects of community prayer in your community?

Share your thoughts!

Today’s devotional comes from A Slice of Infinity, a daily series by noted Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias. Drawing on an unusual experience from a visit to a communist country, Ravi shows that powerful witnessing can take place when we simply model for others what prayer and worship look like:

A few years ago, two or three of my colleagues and I were in a country dominated for decades by Marxism. Before we began our meetings, we were invited to a dinner hosted by some common friends, all of whom were skeptics and, for all practical purposes, atheists. The evening was full of questions, posed principally by a notable theoretical physicist in the country. There were also others who represented different elements of power within that society. As the night wore on, we got the feeling that the questions had gone on long enough and that we were possibly going in circles.

I asked if we could have a word of prayer with them, for them, and for the country before we bade them good-bye. There was a silence of consternation, an obvious hesitancy, and then one said, “Of course.” We did just that—we prayed. In this large dining room of historic import to them, with all the memories of secular power plastered within those walls, the prayer brought a sobering silence that we were all in the presence of someone greater than us. When we finished, every eye was moist and nothing was said. They hugged us and thanked us, with emotion written all over their faces. The next day when we met them, one of them said to me, “We did not go back to our rooms last night till it was early morning. In fact, I stayed in my hotel lobby most of the night talking further. Then I went back to my room and gave my life to Jesus Christ.”

I firmly believe that it was the prayer that gave them a hint of the taste of what worship is all about. Their hearts had never experienced it.

Over the years I have discovered that praying with people can sometimes do more for them than preaching to them. Prayer draws the heart away from one’s own dependence to leaning on the sovereign God. The burden is often lifted instantly. Prayer is only one aspect of worship, but one that is greatly neglected in the face of people who would be shocked to hear what prayer sounds like when the one praying knows how to touch the heart of God. To a person in need, pat answers don’t change the mind; prayer does.

Read the complete devotional at Ravi Zacharias’ website.

Pointing people to God doesn’t always mean handing out tracts, preaching to them, or outwitting them in an apologetics debate—sometimes it’s as simple as showing them what worship means in your own life.

Whether it’s in the morning, during lunch or in the evening, most people try to block out some time every day for prayer.

What about you, when do you pray?

Share your thoughts!

Meditation is defined by m-w.com as the act of engaging “in mental exercise for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness.” Let’s assume that we’re talking about meditating on a particular passage or phrase in the Bible, or on an aspect of God.

So, what do you think, should Christians meditate?

Share your answer!

There’s that old saying that there are no atheists in foxholes, but do those foxhole dwellers need to confess that Jesus is Lord before God will grant them safety? Or does God answer every prayer offered to Him regardless of one’s standing in the Kingdom?

So, what do you think, does God listen to the prayers of non-Christians?

Share your answer!

Those that have participated in guided prayer know how fulfilling it can be. It gives a structure to your scattered thoughts and emotions and helps you offer your day to God.

Examen.me is a new site that walks you through a number of these prayers (also called examens). What makes the site interesting is that it allows you to keep a fully searchable (and fully secure) journal. As you walk through the different questions, you can type out your thoughts and prayers for later review. It’s always fascinating to see how God faithfully answers prayer throughout the months and years.

Want to explore the site a bit before you sign up? You can try it without the journal feature here.

Part of discipleship is understanding the necessity of the spiritual disciplines, and there’s no greater discipline than Prayer. Dr. Krejcir of Discipleship Tools writes about prayer in this way:

Prayer is not just a selfish wish list to get God to cater to our needs and whims; rather, it’s true purpose and the reason it is also a discipline is to shape us by what He has revealed, and to grow in faith, character, perseverance, and maturity.

No one would argue that a healthy prayer life is integral to a Christian’s life, but health is not just a matter of daily repetition. The same article from Discipleship Tools has a series of questions to ask yourself concerning prayer:

1. How would you define The Discipline of Prayer? Are you a person who naturally prays in all situations you face—from daily life to future activities for your own needs and those of others, too? If not, why not?

2. What part does prayer play in your relationships with church members, friends, coworkers, and family? If you see a need, do you first pray? If not, what do you do? What should you do?

3. How does prayerlessness counteract prayerfulness? What is the cost to the Kingdom of God when the church does not engage in prayer or teach and encourage its people to be people of prayer?

Personally, I know that far too often prayer is a secondary solution rather than my primary action. If any of these questions piqued your interest there are a few more and some other thoughts on prayer to ponder in the rest of the article.

In yesterday’s post, we looked at an article arguing that Bible study was an integral part of any healthy Christian church. Hopefully your church already incorporates Bible study into its worship and congregational life—in sermons, in Sunday school, in Bible study groups, etc. But there’s another practice that is both a means by which your church can become more effective, and a basic reason for a church’s existence in the first place: communal prayer.

The Bible Prayer Fellowship is a ministry centered around (you guessed it) prayer, and one thing they’re especially passionate about is getting congregations to come together and pray as a community of Christ-followers.

So… what’s the big deal about community prayer? Why not just have everybody pray individually, on their own, in their own homes? That’s the big question tackled in Oliver Price’s article Who Needs Prayer Meetings?

“I never cease to be amazed at the church’s neglect of true, heartfelt, corporate prayer.” says George Verwer, director of Operation Mobilization. After visiting thousands of churches around the world, Verwer concludes that most churches essentially have no prayer meeting. Some have canceled midweek services for lack of interest. Others have shifted to Bible study or activities, allowing only a brief five or ten minutes for prayer.

Yet a few are attempting to overcome the general neglect of corporate prayer with encouraging results. They see signs that the praying associated with the early church may be revived. What can we do to help?

First, we need a fresh understanding of the purpose of corporate prayer, its priority in the church, and the moral and spiritual power it provides. Prayer meeting can be one of the most satisfying and attractive meetings in the church.

Price goes on to explain why prayer and prayer meetings are absolutely critical to the health of any church community—community prayer brings a congregation together, it’s tied to evangelism, and it inspires a bold spirit. Once you’ve read through that introduction, take a look at these follow-up articles that explore the how’s and why’s of church prayer meetings:

• Why Pray Together?—a thorough survey of Bible verses that tell us how and why a church should be praying together.
• A Church Praying for Revival—the story of one church and its experience praying together for revival.
• When Jesus Comes Into Your Prayer Group—a short reflection by Oliver Price about the presence of Christ in our prayer meetings.

Not convinced yet? There are a lot more articles about the power and importance of prayer at the Bible Prayer Fellowship website. Read through some of these and ask yourself if your church is practicing Biblical, community prayer.

Since 1952, The National Day of Prayer has been a day set aside for the citizens of the United States to come together to pray regardless of their faith. Today is a great reminder for Christians of what they’re to do every day, which is to be in communion with God through prayer.

The following video from the National Day of Prayer Task Force’s website is of Tony Dungy talking about prayer:

The gospel.com community has a number of ministries that have posted prayer calendars. If you’re looking for somebody to pray for today (and in the future), try these ministry prayer calendars:

Mission Possible

Nurses Christian Fellowship International

Arab World Ministries

Life Action Revival Ministries

Most Christians understand the importance of prayer. We pray for big issues like world peace and evangelism, and for small issues like personal health and safety. But how often do you pray specifically for the members of your family?

In a series of posts at the Life Action Ministries blog, Byron Paulus is writing about the importance of praying for your spouse and children—not just when they’re sick or have special needs, but as a part of your everyday prayer life. The series begins with a brief introduction, followed by posts about specific things to pray about for your kids: that they’ll develop an active faith in Christ and that they’ll grow up to be men and women of moral integrity. Paulus promises four more posts in the series, so keep an eye on the Life Action blog for more to come!