When I was growing up, we would have ‘prayer meeting’ every Wednesday night at our Baptist Church. I can remember how boring I thought it was (I’m just being honest). Our pastor would ask if anybody had prayer requests and we would hear many stories of sickness, surgeries, and unsaved friends and relatives. My dad would write the names on a piece of paper he had.
Then, when it seemed like everybody had talked about every problem they could think of, we would all go down in the front and kneel down near the pulpit and one by one people would pray. This seemed to go on for a long time.
Every now and then, two people would begin to pray at the same time and it was kind of like the old ‘Chip & Dale’ cartoons… ‘you go, no you go, no you go’. This was all done while everybody’s eyes were closed.
And there was a code that when you were done praying, you said ‘In Jesus’ name’ but didn’t say ‘Amen.’ That gave someone else a chance to continue your prayer. When the final ‘Amen’ was prayed, usually by the pastor, we sang all verses of ‘Sweet Hour of Prayer.’ As a child, it was one of the worst events of church. ‘Do I have to go to prayer meeting?’ I’d ask every Wednesday night.
I’ve changed my attitude as an adult. But if I am honest, praying is still one of those thankless, less-glamorous, even boring activities that we are supposed to do. However, now, I have a deeper appreciation for it. It’s like medicine. When I was a kid I didn’t like the taste of cough medicine and griped when my mom made me take it. But as an adult, it still tastes the same, but I know what it does for me. So, I take it willingly, voluntarily. I even buy my own medicine.
We started a prayer meeting Sundays at 9:00 am and 5:30 pm. We’re going to pray for the church service and some of our ministries. We’re going to pray for people to come to church and say ‘Yes’ to Jesus. We’re going to pray that people will be saved.
Will you have fun? I doubt it. Will it be the most amazing time you have ever attended? Not to be pessimistic, but probably not. We’re just going to go to our Heavenly Father and beg Him to allow His will to be done in our lives and in our church, as it is in Heaven. We are going to pledge to Him to try to do His will as best we can.
But I do hope you will take some time, whether you attend our prayer meeting or not to read the following quotes about prayer. And even if you cannot attend our prayer meeting Sundays, will you take some time to pray for our church, myself as pastor, and the ministries of our church? Will you pray for yourself and family that you will do God’s will and God’s will may be done in your life? If so, this post has done a lot of good.
Here are some thoughts about prayer…
The trouble with our praying is, we just do it as a means of last resort. ~Will Rogers
Prayer may not change things for you, but it for sure changes you for things. ~Samuel M. Shoemaker
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. ~Abraham Lincoln
We must move from asking God to take care of the things that are breaking our hearts, to praying about the things that are breaking His heart. ~Margaret Gibb
Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden. ~ Corrie Ten Boom
Work as if you were to live a hundred years, pray as if you were to die tomorrow. ~ Benjamin Franklin
Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians than praying together. Never do they love one another so well as when they witness the outpouring of each other’s hearts in prayer. ~Charles Finney
To get nations back on their feet, we must first get down on our knees. ~Billy Graham
Call to me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know. (Jeremiah 33:3)
I love the Lord because he hears my prayers and answers them. Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe. (Psalm 116:1,2)