Prayer meetings

I’m not a morning person, so arriving on the church doorstep at 7 a.m. wasn’t an easy task. Bowing my head for an hour of prayer seemed like a clear invitation for a quick catnap. But I knew our church’s weekly prayer meeting was important.

So, a large latte in hand, I jumped over my personal hurdles and discovered how much I loved praying aloud with other believers. I loved hearing older saints voice their bold prayers. I loved reciting Scripture verses as a form of praise and worship. I loved seeing how God answered our requests week after week.

Like the first disciples, we locked ourselves away in an “upper room,” expecting to hear God’s voice. We realized we were sunk if we didn’t fall to our knees in prayer. My faith grew stronger, as did my ability to wake up before the sun on Wednesday mornings.

Challenges

Public prayer meetings come with all kinds of difficulties.

“I’m a person who finds public prayer uncomfortable,” says Marshall, who attends an MB church in Saskatchewan. “I struggle to be authentic when praying aloud in a group, and I’m often more focused on how what I am saying will be received by others than with speaking to God.”

“It’s nothing more than a vehicle for spreading gossip,” say others. “It’s simply a way for a leader to control a group of people,” or “It’s just too pious!”

Learning

But, despite these challenges, prayer meetings offer some wonderful gifts.

We can learn how to pray by listening to others. When Jesus first recited the Lord’s Prayer, he walked to the top of a mountain and shared his prayer with a group of listeners. Jesus seized the opportunity to draw others into a conversation with God, as well teach them some lessons. That day, the disciples learned from the Master how to pray with humility, sincerity, and intimacy.

We can also learn about situations and events that need attention. Last Sunday, my congregation focused on Zimbabwe, a nation suffering from economic meltdown and widespread violence. Two prayer leaders shared specific requests and instructed us how to pray more intelligently for our African brothers and sisters. (Ironically, in March, Zimbabwean authorities brutally attacked a group of people who had gathered for a peaceful prayer rally. Thank God we don’t have to fear persecution when we gather to pray!) Those prayers also spurred many members to take social action.

Encouragement

Public prayer meetings provide encouragement for believers. I think of Lisa, a middle-aged woman with poor verbal communication skills struggling with a mental illness. Lisa is also a prayer warrior. She faithfully attended our early morning prayer meetings and lifted up her nieces and nephews by name. She whispered the words so quietly we could hardly hear them, but we knew her earnest petitions reached God’s ears. Week after week, Lisa encouraged us by her faith and reminded us to pray more regularly for our own family members.

“There’s an energy that happens when people pray together. We fuel our own prayers as we listen to each other raising concerns and praises to God,” says Gareth Goossen of Make Us Holy Ministries.

When the first Christians prayed, they didn’t hide in closets or keep their expressions of praise locked in their hearts. Their words of faith were voiced aloud in the presence of others. The book of Acts says believers joined together constantly in prayer (Acts 1:14; 4:23–25; 6:4–6; 15:28). Through this, they edified one another, came to agreement about divisive issues, and discerned the voice of the Holy Spirit.

In Ephesians, Paul used a construction metaphor to illustrate how corporate prayer can uplift us. “In [Christ] the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (2:21–22). Paul demonstrates that when we live, worship, and pray together, the Holy Spirit makes himself at home among us, and gives strength and courage.

Changing history

It’s not surprising, then, that prayer meetings have been linked to revival or significant church movements throughout history. Many agree that when a community gathers in prayer, the hand of God moves and lives are changed.

Anabaptism can trace its roots to an eventful prayer meeting. One snowy January night in 1525, a group of believers secretly met in a Zurich home to pray about their dire situation. The radicals were facing harsh discipline for their understanding of believer’s baptism, rather than infant baptism.

As they knelt together in prayer, the Holy Spirit touched their hearts. With fear and trembling, every adult in the room was baptized and pledged to live in separation from the world. Despite years of persecution, the results of that small prayer meeting continue today.

Another famous gathering called the Haystack Prayer Meeting took place on a hot and humid afternoon in 1806. A group of Williamstown, Mass. college students met to pray and discuss the spiritual needs of people in Asia. An unexpected thunderstorm drove the group to find shelter under the lee of a haystack. The young men continued to pray and the Holy Spirit inspired them. The modern mission movement in America was born. Within years, the first Protestant missionaries were sent overseas and the gospel spread throughout the East.

Today, many Mennonite Brethren congregations plan frequent prayer meetings or concerts of prayer. Churches such as Cariboo Bethel Church in William’s Lake, B.C., see corporate prayer as a core value. “The entrance point is humble repentance,” says prayer leader Linda Fornwald. Over the years, an amazing synergy and strength has developed between participants as they intercede for the world, she says.

Prayer goes techno

Church sanctuaries and cozy living rooms aren’t the only places people gather to pray. Some meetings convene over the phone or via email. Karen West, pastor of community care at Waterloo MB Church, says, “We find that people are interested to pray for others, but it’s hard for them to come out to corporate gatherings. Our prayer chain goes out by email, making it really easy to get prayer needs out to those who long to pray.” The church guards confidentiality by not sharing people’s full names.

And although those who pray aren’t physically gathered in one place, “there is something tangible about the experience – an unleashing of God’s power in a mysteriously beautiful way,” says West.

A young mom from Waterloo was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Her urgent request was circulated through the church’s email prayer chain. Many prayed for her as she faced doctor’s appointments, medical tests, biopsies, surgery, and radiation treatment. The young woman is now experiencing healing but, says West, “the greatest healing she has is freedom from anxiety and fear, two things she’s wrestled with all her life.”

Prayer groups also exist in cyberspace.

What happens when googling the phrase “prayer meetings”? It brings up more than 1.4 million results and directions to thousands of online communities, where people share their prayer requests with multitudes of unseen believers. Some sites allow users to share personal requests with an entire group, or post a confidential prayer that only the hosts will see. Others sites help Christians unite in prayer for national or global issues.

Whatever form it takes, corporate prayer is a powerful activity that can enrich our lives, strengthen our communities, and change the world – one word at a time.