Twenty-two
The Prayer Meeting
“Hello pastor, I am visiting here in Mill Valley and I
wondered when your prayer meeting was?”
That question cut me to the quick: we had no
prayer meeting.
“My mother is quite ill and I flew in from Miami
to be with her. I would like to have some prayer.”
I hung up the phone vowing to begin a prayer
meeting at Miller Avenue.
Erroll Hulse has written an excellent tract titled,
“The Vital Place of the Prayer Meeting”. It may
be obtained from the Chapel Library, 2603 W. Wright
Street, Pensacola, FL 32505. (This is a ministry of the
Mount Zion Bible Church in Pensacola.) I can never
do better than what Erroll Hulse has done in that
excellent piece of work on the prayer meeting.
Prayer is, of course, vital to the life of the church
and to every believer individually. I must admit this is
an area in which we are not strong at Miller Avenue
Church and I wish this were not the case. However, by
the grace of God and the leadership of Anatoli Sokolov,
a Baptist pastor and recent immigrant from Moscow,
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The Prayer Meeting
Russia, we now have a wonderful prayer meeting at
Miller Avenue that begins one half hour following the
Sunday morning worship service.
Recently I preached a sermon based upon Acts 6:1-
6. That passage describes a problem that developed in
the primitive church in Jerusalem. The apostles were
distracted from vital ministry because of the necessity
of caring for the widows of the church. To resolve the
situation, the apostles meet with the disciples (the
church) and announced, “It would not be right for us
to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to
wait on tables.” (Verse 2) Thus issued the selection of
the first deacons who were assigned the task of serving
the widows of the church. The apostles’ intent was to
focus on “prayer and the ministry of the word.” (Verse
4) “Ministry of the word” refers, I believe, to the
preaching of the gospel and to the “apostles’ teaching”.
Prayer, preaching, and teaching go together.
In that sermon on Acts 6, I encouraged everyone
to make a list of the names of those who were
unconverted among their family, friends, and other
associates. Alongside the name I suggested noting the
date of the initial prayer. The point was to pray regularly
for the people whose names were on their list, pray
that they would hear the gospel and be converted. I
believe that it is important to pray for those we think
are unconverted and bring them before the throne of
God on a regular basis, pleading that God would draw
them to Jesus. The prayer meeting is a likely setting
for these prayers.
Our best efforts need to be in the prayer meeting.
Not everyone in the church will come to the prayer
meeting, but those who delight in prayer and feel the
burden of prayer will gather together. The size of the
group is irrelevant.
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For Pastors
That we are taught to pray is abundantly clear from
the Scripture. Through Jesus we have access to the
Father who hears our prayer. We are taught to make
our needs known to Him, and though He knows our
needs before we ask Him, yet we are told to bring our
requests to Him.
Prayer has seemed paradoxical to me. The will of
God will be done. His purpose will be accomplished
because He is the sovereign God, yet in the prayer
meeting we bring our requests before the throne of
grace and have the confidence that God will hear and
that He will act according to His will to bring glory to
our Lord Jesus Christ.
It sometimes evolves that the prayer meeting takes
on the character of a Bible study or a preaching meeting.
However, prayer meetings are best if they are in fact
prayer meetings. A prayer meeting need not be lengthy,
but it needs to be serious. It has been my experience
that the focus should be on prayers for the unconverted,
for those who are ill, and for those who need to be
encouraged in their faith. We can pray for those who
have the rule over us in the secular world. We can pray
for Christian leaders around the world and for churches
around the world. We can pray for difficult
circumstances wherever and whatever they might be.
But it is best if it is a time of prayer and not discussion,
because we have a tendency to want to discus issues
rather than bring them to the Lord in heartfelt prayer.
There are many forms the prayer meeting might
take. Let me suggest three of the most common. One,
after a short exhortation to prayer or the reading of a
verse on prayer, various people can bring any request
before God aloud while the others listen to and “agree”
with the prayer. Two, either sitting or kneeling, each
person can pray aloud or silently, and this perhaps after
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The Prayer Meeting
a short word or two on the subject of prayer. Some of
the best prayer meetings I have ever been in have been
small and we have been on our knees. It was in such a
prayer meeting that God called me into the ministry.
Three, a prayer request is made then someone in the
group recalls a promise in Scripture that speaks to the
request. For example, a request is made for new
Sunday school teachers and then another person (or
the same person) reminds the group of the saying of
Jesus: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are
few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send
out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:37-38).
Then the specific prayers are made. This pattern can
continue until the meeting time expires. (I think it is
best if there is a definite ending point and that the
leader adheres to it.) There are, of course, many more
forms for the prayer meeting.
Many wonderful things happen in prayer meetings.
During the Third Great Awakening in America, 1858-
1860, the prayer meeting was central, more so than even
preaching. Somehow we are more sensitive to God’s
Holy Spirit at prayer; our hearts may become tender
and open to the words of Jesus. I believe the Holy Spirit
impresses upon us the truth of His word in that quiet,
rare, and wonderful time when we turn our heart, soul,
and mind to the Lord, coming into His very presence.
Can you remember a prayer meeting where you had
the sense that you were in the presence of God?
Few have I suppose. What prayer meeting format
seems best to you?