Anonymous Asks (359)

“How can I stop being nervous about praying publicly?”

I have been praying in church meetings going on fifty years now, and I cannot remember a single time I ever stood up to try to express the corporate desires, praise or worship of the people of God when I was not at least just a little bit nervous.

That’s probably discouraging. Sorry.

Anonymous Asks (230)

“What is the value of a prayer meeting?”

Over three years ago now, I wrote a post in answer to the question “Why should I pray if God already knows what will happen?” that dealt with the reasons a Christian ought to make his or her individual prayer life a high priority. If your question is actually a more general inquiry into the value of prayer, you will find several suggestions there which I won’t repeat here.

As to the value of corporate prayer, that’s a separate question well worth considering.

That Poorly-Attended Prayer Meeting

Another article on the church, and yet another concerned comment about poorly-attended prayer meetings.

It’s a “head-scratcher”, we’re told.

Scratch no more, my good friends. It’s not that tough from where I sit.

I’m not sure that there are all that many Christians who really believe their church can succeed without prayer. Rather, I think the message many Christians are sending when they beat feet in the other direction at prayer meeting time might just be that they’re not convinced their church needs or wants THEIR prayers, or that their attendance on any given week will make the slightest bit of difference either to the Lord or to their fellow believers.

Much of the time I suspect they’re right.

Can I Sit Down Yet?

Ever sat through an 18 minute prayer?

I have, and I promise you it is tough sledding. Anyone who says otherwise nodded off for ten minutes in the middle.

Is that an unspiritual attitude? I’m not trying to be mean. The prayer culprit almost surely thought he was doing a good thing. Perhaps he was trying to avoid a few minutes of awkward silence, or maybe he wanted to make sure every concern he thought was important to God got covered. Maybe he thinks a spiritual prayer is a long prayer, or maybe that’s just what he’s used to.

Maybe his dad prayed like that, and maybe inside he was screaming, “Can I sit down YET?”

Salvaging Corporate Prayer

“Hello? Hello? Is there anybody here?”

How awful is corporate prayer in your church?

You know, that thing that happens when one or more Christians publicly address the Lord on behalf of the entire congregation.

Are such prayers predictable? Painfully long? Full of clichés? Do the same requests get repeated multiple times, sometimes within the same prayer? Do you find yourself struggling to stay awake? Do some of the requests seem merely pro forma? Are there fellow Christians whose prayers make you grind your teeth? Do you feel guilty for occasionally thinking that you’re wasting your time, even though you know prayer is a staple of church life and, in principle at least, pleasing to God? Are there ever meetings entirely dedicated to prayer, or has your church given up on such things? If there are, do you avoid them?

If you answered yes to many or most of these questions, it’s possible you’re completely unspiritual. On the other hand …

In Need of Analysis: Public Prayer

The most recent version of this post is available here.