Let me ask you a question. What is our most immediate thought when somebody says, “Let’s have a prayer meeting?” If I am going to be transparently honest, I would have to admit that many times it’s “ugh” and not “yeah!” Why? Why is it that I feel that way? Why do I leave many prayer meetings with a sense of it being a drudgery and a waste of time? In short, I believe it’s because we have allowed our prayers and our prayer meetings to have a fleshly life of their own rather than participating with God in His burden and mission. We are, therefore, calling this series Putting Prayer in Its Place.
I am eternally optimistic about our churches when I read Mark 16:19-20.
So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat
down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord
working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
Those words, “the Lord working with them,” absolutely fascinate me! They give both a great hope and a glaring warning. We need to remain so in tune with Jesus that we are never doing anything in the flesh, independently of Him—even our praying. The power of the New Testament Church is in its participation with God rather than some imitation of a religious practice which often is no different than other pagan religions.
In this series we hope to give direction in how to enjoy the transforming power of the gospel in prayer. How, as leaders, we can nurture life-giving prayer meetings and participate with God in His burden for our ministries.