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While they couldn’t articulate this, I am positive one of the primary
reasons most people do not participate in all-church prayer meetings is
because they do not sense a connection to God while there. They are
bored with praying for needs and situations that they will never know
the outcome of. At most prayer meetings the focus of the prayer is on
circumstances not on God.
A number of churches today are finding that providing a more dynamic,
God-focused prayer meeting will bring people. The Brooklyn Tabernacle
has known this for years—it’s one of the reasons it draws 2,000 plus to
its Tuesday night prayer meeting. Grace Church in Eden Prairie, MN, has
just completed a year under its new pastor, Dr. Daniel Henderson—a man
who lives and breathes the importance of corporate prayer. Their Sunday
night “Fresh Encounter” prayer meeting, which focuses on worship and
the attributes of God, is largely responsible for changing the entire
atmosphere of the church. People are flocking to it—from area-wide
churches, not just Grace—because they sense the presence of God there.
King of Kings Church in Manahawkin, NJ believes one of the reasons God
is blessing it with life, is its vibrant, God-focused, Thursday night
prayer meeting.
Of course you shouldn’t stop praying for needs in the life of the
church. But find ways to do that so it doesn’t stay the focus of your
corporate prayer meeting (if you have one). Find ways to encourage more
people to pray through a list of needs (offered in the bulletin, or
emailed to church members each week). Make sure small group praying for
each other and prayer chains are functioning well. Offer a time for
leaders and trained prayer teams to pray for people’s needs during a
Sunday morning worship service. Positioning teams around the sanctuary
at a set time in your musical worship part of the service works well;
or at the end of the service.
Then change the focus of your prayer meeting! Weave worship—with songs
that are all focused on exalting Jesus Christ or on God’s
attributes—throughout the prayer meeting. Have set times of prayer in
groups, but around a theme that a leader gives to the people—no prayer
requests! Then, when you have had a few prayer meetings under your
belts, try something bold to get people to come. Without warning people
that it’s coming, turn one Sunday morning worship service into a
God-focused, worship-based prayer meeting. At the end, tell people that
they have just experienced the new format of our Wednesday (Thursday or
whatever) night prayer meeting. If they want to keep meeting God in
that way, come to the weekly prayer meeting.
For help on how to develop this kind of prayer meeting, purchase
Henderson’s book, Fresh Encounters: Experiencing Transformation through
United Worship-Based Prayer (NavPress 2004). You can purchase it
through your local Christian bookstore or go to
https://store.prayerleader.com to receive your CPLN discount.
--Jonathan Graf is the president of CPLN. He is available to put on a
prayer conference at your church. Contact him at
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February 2006 
