Churches are sustained by God through prayer. If we do not pray, our church will die. But God loves to uphold churches by His power when they depend on Him through prayer. Today I opened the history of a church that began as a Bible study in 1867. It remains an active and healthy church 168 years later. At one point, the author asks the reader, “What would have happened without prayer?” From the beginning, the church was a praying church. “For four years, they continued to pray, until by 1871 their group had grown large enough to open a Sunday school.” Their first pastor was called eight years later, in January 1879. He challenged them, “I shall expect from you an earnest cooperation and unceasing prayer for direction and aid in our work.”

It is easy to feel guilty about prayer. As a pastor, it is easy to make others feel guilty about prayer. How could we ever pray “enough”? You might have felt a twinge of guilt just seeing the word prayer in the title.

Let’s enjoy prayer.

When prayers go long on Sunday morning—whether it’s the prayer of confession, the pastoral prayer, or even the prayer before the sermon—just ask yourself, “What else do I have to do today?! I get to pray with my church!” When we gather, we take time to pray. We don’t pray as a buffer between service items. We pray on purpose. Our prayer time is planned time to bring everything to God.

Say and mean “amen!” While someone is praying during the service, feel free to say “amen” whenever you agree and are helped. It lets the one praying and the congregation know you’re praying and that something was helpful. This requires active listening and cooperative prayer.

The word “amen” comes from Hebrew. The root means “firm, reliable, true, or faithful.” To say amen is to say, “Ain’t that the truth!?” Vocalizing a hearty “amen” at the end of our prayer together encourages the one praying and the whole church—and it is a form of worship to God. It is only noise if it functions like a religious chant, but it is worship when it expresses heartfelt agreement. When our prayer is through and for the glory of Christ, our “amen!” is a chorus harmonizing with heaven:

13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:13–14)

Prayer is corporate worship. Prayer is worship because, at its essence, it is a plea to God: “We need help!” We want to pray long enough that we feel that transfer in our hearts. God has never been impressed by the length of prayers. In fact, Jesus would rather see short, honest prayers than dragging, proud, public prayers (Matt. 6:5). That said, we want to pray long enough that our prayers are part of our worship—not just a transition between parts of the service. We gather to worship, and prayer is worship.

When was the last time you looked forward to gathering because you knew that when we got there we would get to pray together? Don’t let prayer be an accident that happens each week alongside other purposes. Intend to gather to pray. It’s only Thursday, and I’m already looking forward to gathering for prayer this Sunday.

What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer!

For His Glory,
Pastor Nathan