If you want prayer to become more meaningful in communion, here are a few ways to encourage more prayer. Remember that variety of prayer is important. If every opportunity for prayer is always the same, it can get stale and less effective. Use wisdom in which elements should be ongoing and which ones should be from time to time.

The Purpose of the Altar

Open the altar as a place for people to meet with God. In many churches—particularly those groups who come out of the holiness movement—the altar is often viewed as a place of shame. Yes it is a place to meet God, but often the only time the altar is emphasized is as a place to confess sins and receive forgiveness. Because of that, many people are reluctant to use it simply as a place of prayer. What will people think if I go forward, they think. You may need to teach your people to use it for other spiritual purposes, such as simply a place to meet God.

Let people know that during communion, it is okay to get up and come forward for prayer. If you want others to use it for this purpose, you may want to encourage leaders to begin doing that. This will give the congregation permission to use it, too.

People seem to have hearts more open during communion. This most certainly is because it is the time in a service that is most clearly focused on Jesus Christ. As His presence seems closer somehow to most people, they will be more open to surrendering to His will for their lives. This provides a great opportunity to bring the issues on people’s heart to Him through prayer.  

One of the easiest ways to facilitate this is to have prayer teams available to pray with and for people. These teams should be pairs (married couples, a pair of men, and a pair of women). They simply ask the person, “What would you like Jesus to do?” Then they pray on the person’s behalf. Encouraging the person to also pray is an excellent idea. The featured resources can help to train people for this ministry.

Communion is a great time to pray for the sick following the principles of James 5. Have a team (preferably elders) with oil available to anoint and pray for those who are sick. Train those who are praying that in this situation they should just pray for healing! Don’t pray for strength to endure, for doctors, etc. When someone comes forward for prayer for healing, we should honor that faith!

As hearts are tuned more toward Christ, people are more open to seeing how sin in their lives has hindered their walks with Jesus. Communion can be a wonderful place to lead people to deal with these heart issues. Remind people of 1 Cor. 11:27-30, and the need to come to the table after dealing with sins. Use this opportunity to encourage forgiving spirits, being right with each other, and reconciliation.

--Jonathan Graf is the president of the Church Prayer Leaders Network.