“That we may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” Ephesians 1:18
I have been giving some thought as to why our church’s prayer meetings tend to have such a low turnout. When we have a picnic or a pot luck dinner we have large turnouts , but not when we gather for prayer. Why is that?
I often thought that it was because we are all busy people and to meet every Wednesday night for prayer was just to much for us. But then when I gave it some more thought, I realized that was not true as when we are invited to go out to dinner or to a game we arrange our schedule and go. So could it be that we don’t attend prayer meeting because we already know how the meeting is going to go? Could it be because our meetings focus on needs, prayer requests. For sick children, terminally ill relatives or church members, financial needs, prayer for our governments, and situations going on in the world and maybe if we think about it prayer for the persecuted church. We find it to depressing to attend.
If you identify with this I can assure you that you are not alone. If our prayer meetings only support one aspect of prayer, they will become boring and negativity will soon step in. Therefore we need to embrace all aspects of prayer. In the first chapter of Ephesians , Paul gives us a great starting point. He reminds us that we need to communicate with the One who is in control, and that should be our motivation to pray. In verse 18 Paul prays that his eyes would be enlightened so that he might know God better.
Yes lifting our troubles and needs before God is very acceptable and needed but we must also express our thankfulness, joy and peace to Him in prayer.
So why not attend your church’s prayer meeting this week virtually. Speak up and give honour and glory to God. Your prayers will be refreshing to others and God will be blessed that you did.